Better off in Rhodesia than Zimbabwe

For those a little hazy on African geography, Rhodesia and Zimbabwe refer to the same land mass at different points in history. Welcome to the 4th dimension.

Rhodesia was the name given to the country settled by white, British pioneers around the turn of the 20th century. It was named after the legendary Cecil Rhodes, the man with the vision of British Africa -- and a railway to unite it -- extending from the Cape to Cairo.

Later Rhodesia was divided. When the British lost the will to maintain their empire/commonwealth, Northern Rhodesia became Zambia. Southern Rhodesia resisted black rule, and declared independence from the U.K. on November 11, 1965.

The next 15 years, now known as the UDI period, saw illegal (and largely ineffective) UN sanctions against the government led by Ian Smith, and a vicious terrorist war waged by "Africans" -- black Africans, that is -- against the "settlers" -- white Africans, that is -- from bases in Mozambique and Zambia. It was during this time that I first visited Rhodesia.

The Rhodesians, betrayed by their kith and kin in Britain and dismayed by loss of support from South Africa and Portugal, were finally coerced into accepting "majority rule" in 1980. At that time Rhodesia was renamed Zimbabwe and power was handed over to Comrade Robert Gabriel Mugabe, as he is still called in official documents and the sycophantic state-run media.

Zimbabwe is now governed by the principle of "one man one vote"...the one man being Comrade Bob, who has clung tenaciously to power ever since, despite being aged at least 85 and appearing to have somewhat lost the plot. As for the country, the once breadbasket of Africa has become a basket case.

I wish I had a dollar for every time a Zimbabwean said to me "Things were better in the old days." Or "It's too bad you [meaning whites] aren't still running things." That sentiment resonates even more loudly today, according to a recent article by Nicolas D. Kristof in The New York Times.

"Postcard from Zimbabwe" is well worth reading for a true picture of the life of the ordinary "Joe Povo" under Comrade Bob's despotic rule. Thanks to Agent 17 for drawing my attention to it.