This video is about two low income countries: Ethiopia and the Congo, now called the Democratic Republic of Congo. In both situations, we see extreme examples of political repression by the authority. In Ethiopia, the government authority is taking land from the people and selling it to other countries and they called it “Global Agricultural Capitalist”. Over one and a half million people have been displaced without their consent. This is impacting the minorities of the country, and any resistance is resulting in persecution, beatings, and being denied basic human rights. Sixty percent of the budget of Ethiopia comes from other countries, meaning the country is very poor itself. Over time, those outside the country are learning about what is happening in Ethiopia. In the United States, organizations are educating congress and other governmental agencies to stop funding companies who are taking people’s land. The concept of colonialism governed the Congo as it was run by King Leopold of Belgium. Under his reign the whites had the power over the people of the Congo. Historians estimate 1 to 15 million Africans died classifying it as a genocide that was worse than Hitler and the Nazis. Again, this is an example of racism, discrimination, and a division of labor where the wealth was not to the people but to the politicians. Because the Democratic Republic of Congo has an ample supply of minerals, diamonds and other natural resources, they are constantly under war with themselves as well as other nations. The people of the Congo worked in the rainforest to extract rubber from the trees at any cost. It affected their health and this time period and place is considered to be the beginning of the HIV virus. The zoonosis of the disease is thought to be through food consumption, but spread through polygyny. sunflower123
This was very well put. I did not catch that there are organizations informing congress and other governmental agencies about the Ethiopian relocations, so I am really glad that some action is being taken to prevent this injustice. I think it is extremely unfair and sad how the wealthy have so much more political power than the poor. The people of the Congo Free State and Ethiopia had essentially zero power to decide anything about their government. The impoverished people of these countries also have negative health due to their economic status. Like you said, it is thought that the poor state of the Congo people is what caused HIV to spread to humans. -Chameleon123
Before watching and hearing about something like this, you could of never guessed things so terrible could happen. It is amazing how cruel people can be for power and money. These people were turned on by their own government. The leaders are suppose to be people that can be trusted to make the best decisions for the country as a whole and without a doubt respect its own people. It is also very sad about the people of Congo and the Belgians. These people were controlled and sent into slavery for such a long period of time and only a terrible thing came out of it and is still seen today and that is the HIV virus. Scuba123
Ethiopian land is being taken away from the Ethiopian people by foreign investors and the goods are being sold globally. The Ethiopian people, about 1.5 million of them, are being relocated to places where they are cut off from healthcare, educational opportunities, and fertile land and they are being denied the right to take part in the politics of their country. Ethiopia is an agro-pastoralist country and therefore they have a preindustrial economy. The foreign investors are taking advantage of the poorness of Ethiopia and using their agriculture as a primary sector for their profit, not giving any of it back to feed the starving people in Ethiopia. In the Congo Free State, King Leopold II bought the land as a personal union with Belgium and worked all of the Congo people extremely hard to get rubber for his profit in export. He abused his power as a leader, working half of the Congo people to death and cutting off the hands of people who did not work up to his expectations. As a result of the hard work and lack of food, Professor Lawrence Brown suggests that the Belgian colonization is the origin of HIV/AIDS. The Congo people were sent out to the jungle to harvest the rubber and being as hungry as they were, Brown said it is not unlikely that they would have eaten the meat of dead chimpanzees to stay alive. Unfortunately, this caused the transmission of the virus from animal to human. Brown says that the railroads and the reusing of syringes spread the disease from there. This is a good example of how the economy of a nation can determine the overall health. Poverty-stricken countries like the Congo Free State are bound to have poor health. Both the land grabs in Ethiopia and the Congo genocide are bitter examples of political oppression. -Chameleon123
It is amazing to me, and yet also disgusting, that no one has taught about the situation in the Congo with King Leopold the II. We hear so much about the horrors of the holocaust, yet not even a word about the absolute devastation that occurred under his reign. The pictures of the people without hands because they "lacked the will to work" broke my heart. It also breaks my heart how this country has so much to offer to others (their natural resources), yet they have so little and live in such extreme poverty when they really should be one of the leading, and wealthiest nation, of all. sunflower123
I think you make a lot of good different points though out your entire post. I think it is really sad how they lower income nations throughout the world are constantly taken advantage of based on the fact of their social class. I do not think higher income nations are any more important than lower income nations. I also think the people in each different nations are not any better in either nation. High income nations should be using their resources to help the ones in need. It is unfair for high income nations to be thriving and advancing so fast while leaving others to fall behind. Lives are being lost every day in these low income nations. I believe that something can be changed by higher income nations to help the low income nations. LItv123
This video is very hard to sit down and watch. As you listen to what the man is explaining what different countries are doing to the poor countries it is very wrong. Their land is being taken from them and sold at a cheap price. The power these countries hold over Africa is very sad and it is based solely on high countries economic standing. The way these people are treated so little by people of higher power in their own country is really surreal to watch. Their entire community is being sold and they do not even have enough education in their own countries to know what is happening to them. Both videos we watched on the blogs are the concept of colonialism. The way different nations can do this and not even care about what happens to the entire continent of Africa is a prime example of authoritarianism as well. African nations are collectively divided and sold at a very low price. Africa is clearly culturally lagging and being taken advantage of over the centuries. The innocent lives of people over there are being stripped of all their rights and they do not even know what is happening yet. The epidemic outbreak of HIV swarmed these different areas and nothing could be done to stop it. They were not economically advanced. Over half of the Congo population was destroyed by this disease. At one point he describes it as the “Congo holocaust”. That is a very powerful statement. More people were killed in the Congo than in the holocaust that really brings the whole epidemic into perspective. The way that the virus was spread is really interesting. I never knew that a railroad could contribute to the outbreak. The way the African people were treated overall is awful and is something that can not be changed or taken back. We can only move forward and help those who are in need of help. Litv123
Wow. I am blown away by not only the atrocities taking place in Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, but also the fact that there has been no mainstream media attention to this event. The fact that over one and a half million people have been uprooted from their homes and land and yet receive no worldwide attention astounds me. This is not voluntary at all, it is forced displacement. The people are being forced off of their land because large corporations are coming in and buying the land for a cheap price, planting crops, and then exporting the crops for a profit. It would not be quite as bad if the crops were staying in Ethiopia itself, but that is not the case. Although investors say that the industrialization of Ethiopia will improve the people’s quality of life through trickle-down economics, this has not been observed yet. The issue in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is also equally horrifying. Belgian colonialism, under King Leopold committed horrible acts towards the indigenous people of the Congo; around ten million people were killed in what is called the Congo Holocaust which is more people killed than in the Nazi’s holocaust. HIV and AIDS spread rampantly during this time of occupation, especially thanks to the railroad that was built through slave labour there. The railroad was made so as to more efficiently move the raw materials (such as rubber, natural minerals, and diamonds) which the natives were mining. These STDs spread quickly because of the sexual abuse many of the Belgian overseers committed. The STDs then spread throughout the world because there were Haitian workers in the Congo at the time. The Haitians then went back to their home and most likely a few traveled to the United States, bringing the disease with them. -ThreeTwo123
I couldn't agree more. Although there are many important things to learn about the Holocaust and its place in history, the forced genocide by labor under King Leopold II is something I can't say I ever learned about in my time in the public school system. You'd think especially as it contributed to the production of tires and the manufacturing of cars across the globe that surely it would be an important point in teaching history. At least the origin of the labor that had been undergone in order to mass produce the tires which still keep our cars rolling today.-MrG123
I agree. I am not sure which is more horrifying. I was surprised and disturbed to hear about the Congo Holocaust. I never learned about that in any of my history classes. It is scary to think that the Congo Holocaust was responsible for more deaths than the Nazi's Holocaust. MrG123, I went to a private school and never learned this either. I agree that it should be taught in school since it is important to production and manufacturing. It was awful hearing about the political oppression that the people of the Congo and Ethiopians had to face. No healthcare, no fertile land, being forced to move, no crops for food, and all the other issues they had to face are unfathomable. If people tried to fight for their rights and freedoms, they were tortured, raped, imprisoned, and/or killed. It is hard to imagine a situation like that since we live in a country with so much freedom. -softball_savvy123
Given notice by King Leopold, the major European powers sprung into action. Within forty years, by 1914 and the end of the scramble for Africa, Great Britain dominated the breadth of the African continent from Egypt to South Africa, as well as Nigeria and the Gold Coast; the French occupied vast expanses of west Africa; the Germans boasted control over modern-day Tanzania and Namibia; the Portuguese exerted full control over Angola and Mozambique. Only Ethiopia and the African-American state of Liberia remained independent. Conquest was relatively easy for the European states: because of previous agreements not to sell modern weapons to Africans in potential colonial areas, Europe easily held the technological advantage. Bands of just a few hundred men and barely a handful of machine guns could obliterate thousands of Africans in mere hours. Leopold negotiated for the state to take the indebted and scandal ridden colony off his hands. In 1908 it was renamed “Belgian Congo”. Leopold died a year later, unmourned and booed at his own funeral. He never set foot in the colony he ruled despotically for over two decades. Forced labour in the Congo continued under the civil administration though there was some improvement. Belgium tried to brush Leopold’s misdeeds under the carpet. He is remembered in Belgium for most of what he built with his Congo wealth, such as the monumental Arcade du Cinquantenaire in Brussels, and for his advocacy of strong fortifications in the eastern part of the country, which slowed the advance of German troops in 1914 at the beginning of World War I. His most important legacy, however, remains the human catastrophe that the rubber forced-labour system brought to the Congo, a heritage that continued to echo in that region more than a century after Leopold’s death.-MrG123
It is unfortunate that those who have the most power have a common tendency to abuse that power. I have always been told that power corrupts; this is clearly visible through the acts of King Leopold II. I could not agree more with your statement that Leopold's most important legacy remains to be the human catastrophe that the rubber forced labor system brought to the Congo. I still cannot believe that I have not heard about this until now. Although I realize that it would not be taught in an American history class, it should be taught in world history (which I took in high school) or should at least be touched on in an ethics class. -ThreeTwo123
This video is broken up into two separate sections both dealing with Africa. The first section talks about how many Ethiopians are being displaced from their land by large corporations coming in and buying their land. This is causing many Ethiopians to be forcibly displaced from their villages by what is called the Villagization Program. The program was meant to modernize East Africa, by selling millions of hectares of land to investors. The investors are buying fertile land at a cheap price. These companies are buying the land and not producing any food for the people of the area, rather they are exploiting the land and using it for their own profits, sending the product to other nations. The displaced people are being made to leave where they have fertile soil, educational opportunities, and health care, leaving them to live in poverty and keeping Ethiopia as a low income area. Unfortunately until lately the media has not made the situation known, but the word is getting out. The second part of the video talks about the holocaust that happened in the Congo. In the Congo there were over ten million Congolese murdered. This is more than the amount of Jewish people murdered during the holocaust that happened in Hitler’s Germany by the Nazis. When this happened the Congo was known as the Congo Free State. The area was personal property owned by King Leopold of Belgium, in which he owned for 26 years. During this time Leopold got rich because of the exploitation of the land and people he took advantage of there. Dr Lawrence Brown tells of the Belgian colonization and the beginning of the spreading of the HIV virus, also known as AIDS.The first cases of the HIV virus can be documented back to Leopoldville in 1920. Dr. Brown also states how people were forced to make railroads, basically forced into slavery, to help export Ivory and rubber being collected for export. The slaves were not treated good, tortured, some even had their hands cut off if their production results were low. Dr. Brown also states that the transmission of the HIV virus came from the people in the Congo eating improperly cooked chimpanzee meat. The laborers were starving and desperate to eat anything they could, weather properly cooked or not. So this is one theory of how man got the disease. From there it was spread through unprotected sex, improper use of hypodermic needles, and prostitution. Diver123
Maybe I am ignorant or in my own little bubble, but I was unaware of this major problem occurring in Ethiopia. Natives of Ethiopia have issues with lack of education, cut off from fertile land, and have no healthcare. If anyone tries to resist against these problems, they will be killed, tortured, raped, imprisoned, or things to that nature, so it is nearly impossible for natives to fight against this. The political oppression that these natives from Ethiopia is facing is unimaginable. Ethiopia is definitely a low income nation. Natives are even being kicked off of their land and are moved by force to different locations. There is a lot of colonization occurring in Ethiopia that needs to be put to a stop. The Ethiopian people are being stripped from their freedoms and rights. Besides there being political oppression, there is also a problem with economic oppression. The Congo is having similar horrifying problems including colonization. I was surprised and disturbed to hear about the Congo Holocaust. There were more people killed in the Congo Holocaust than the Nazi's Holocaust that Americans are more familiar with. In the Congo Holocaust, there were more than ten million people from the Congo that were murdered. I was surprised I never learned about this in my World History class in high school. HIV, AIDS, and other STDS were a major issue during the Congo Holocaust. It eventually spread outside of the Congo because some people from Haiti were working in the Congo at the time. It was the beginning of these viruses. The genocide that these places faced is saddening, but a good example of severe political oppression and colonization. People placed the blame of the spread of AIDS, HIV, and other STDs on poverty but that is not the case as we can see in today's society. -softball_savvy123
I agree that it is quite surprising that Africa is such a large continent with a very complicated history that affects every other country but yet we are not learning about African history in our normal World History classes. Almost every high income nation has some roots in an African countries and I had little knowledge about the involvement of the countries until after watching these videos. The problems facing these nations because of European inference are still prevalent today. If our generation wants to solve global issues like world hunger we need to understand why they became problems in the first place. -Glass123
I didn't know what was going on in Ethiopia either. It's very sad that the Ethiopians are being removed from their land with no health care and the ability to learn. The video made me think of the kids that come on the TV commercials. It's very sad how the disease HIV/AIDs came about in the 1920s. In our time this would be the Great depression days. During the Great Depression people within our own country lost everything. Now let’s look back at Congo, people lost their lives due to harsh conditions and outbreak of the HIV/AIDs disease. It has been widely spreaded from the disease to start from Congo. I feel that the Belgian government should have been mindful of what was going on at the time. At the time it was about wealth, they didn’t care anything about the health of the Africans. I’m quite sure in today’s society in other countries colonization stills exist. Rendezvous123
This video shows global stratification and how global stratification affects health through social epidemiology. Dr. Lawrence Brown of Morgan State University explains how the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s link to the development of AIDS is connected to colonization by Leopold. Leopold demonstrated a global power relationship because he became very wealthy from exploiting the people and resources of the Congo without ever sharing this wealth with the people of the Congo. Leopold destroyed the people through genocide he has been said that he killed more Congolese people than the Nazi’s killed in their holocaust the people who Leopold did not kill were enslaved. Diseases like AIDS are transmitted to humans through human to animals contact; under the conditions Leopold slaves were living they had to give up cultural patterns because they were starving in a state absolute poverty. In the normal life of the Congolese people they would have cooked meat to an acceptable temperature but because they were starving they did not cook the meat properly and this led to the transmission of AIDS. Leopold enslaved the people of the Congo and forced them to build a railway allowing for the spread of disease because people were able to interact with more people through this advancement of technology. Leopold offered medical treatment to the slaves of the Congo but they would often reuse needles without cleaning them thus inadvertently spreading AIDS. AIDS is often associated with the sex worker industry; Dr. Lawrence Brown also attributes the manifestation of the sex worker industry to Leopold as well. He says that Leopold’s men would force the women of the Congo to perform sexual favors and this promoted the sex worker environment. The Democratic Republic of the Congo is still a low income nation today and the lasting effects of Leopold’s control and power will live on far into the future. -Glass123
Interesting points! I didn't even think about global stratification while watching this. It is horrible to know how bad this situation was. What really frustrated me was that I had never even been taught about this before. It is horrible to think that Leopold's strict rules and regulations lead to the Congolese people having to lessen their values. This happened through the sex worker environment as well as time to properly prepare food being shortened. The did have to give up cultural patterns. And it's horrible to think that the Congo is still affected by this today. -M&M123
I think it is horrible that the Congo is still suffering from what Belgium did to this country. Being forced to work in such poor conditions is unjust and immoral. I must have not been paying attention when Dr. Brown discussed how the beginning of sex work was linked to King Leopold. The fact that forcing these Congolese men to work caused them to force congolese women into performing sexual favors for them is disgusting. I can see how this promoted the sex slave industry, and it is sad that so many terrible things came out of King Leopold's purchase of the Congo. If only race and discrimination didn't play a part in this, maybe mass genocide wouldn't have occurred and the Congo could have benefited economically from this high income nation. daisy123
The first issue in this video is businesses taking land in Ethiopia. They began growing crops and then taking them out of the country. This is so unfair! People were literally using Ethiopia to make their own countries better. These people were clearly not considering the people of Ethiopia. The social disposition that occurred here is unbelievable. Many of the people were forcefully removed so that more of their land could be taken from them. None of these people received any benefits whatsoever. It is happening all over Ethiopia, and mainly to the minorities. It’s another case of the big guy picking on the little guy. It is so bogus to see people use their strengths against other people’s weaknesses. These people of Ethiopia had nowhere to go to change what was happening or to speak out about what was happening. Issues like this take away people’s voices. Thankfully, awareness is being raised about these issues inside of Ethiopia. Watching this video made me see connections to what’s happening in Ethiopia to what Americans did to Native Americans. They came in, learned how to plant crops and live sufficiently, and then took over the land. It makes me wonder, if we didn’t have people supporting the Ethiopians today, would the same thing happen? Or, if people had known what was going to happen to the Native Americans, would it have been stopped? The second part of this video about Belgian colonialism was very insightful. I had never heard of this issue before. I could not believe that more people were killed in the Congo by belgians than people killed by Nazis in the Holocaust. My question is why is this not in history books? This issue is huge! This was an abuse of power. The Belgians had put the people from the Congo into conditions that forced them to get these diseases and to become insufficiently nourished. It was almost as if these people had to choose between death or disease. The perversion that the Belgians brought into the culture of these people from the Congo is repulsive. It’s unacceptable for this to have happened. -M&M123
I agree, it is completely unfair that neocolonization is still being seen today. It sad that other high-income nations are taking advantage of Ethiopia and using them to gain more wealth. What’s even worse is that the government of Ethiopia and other high income nations are allowing it to happen. The modernization theory says that high income-nations can help low-income nations flourish by helping them develop new technologies which can help boost the economy and allow development and growth to occur within that low-income nation. Though richer nations have this power to help, they often take advantage and use their power to gain wealth for their own nation. That’s when the dependency theory kicks in. Colonialism and neocolonialism causes a low-income nation to rely on a high-income nation because they do not have the technologies and power to compete and thrive on their own globally. I hate how greed is always thrown in the equation. Why can’t we all help each other instead of taking advantage of those that don’t have the power to stand up for themselves? Check123
This video takes a look at Ethiopia and the land theft of the country. The people of the low-income country of Ethiopia were being taken advantage of by their own government. Ethiopia is living in a postindustrial economy with a primarily agro-pastoral society. They do not have technologies of first-world countries. These people have been displaced to other regions and the land has been auctioned off to the highest bidder. The minorities of Ethiopia were experiencing political repression by the government and forced to live in poor villages set up by the government leaders. They were experiencing absolute poverty along with severe persecution. The lands that are being taken away from the native people are being sold to mostly agricultural companies. These companies are producing massive amounts of food, but none of the people of Ethiopia are getting it. It is mostly being exported to other higher-income countries for profit. The Ethiopians of the country have no freedom, especially media freedom. Anyone resisting the government and speaking out are being arrested and beaten. The video also talks about the rule of King Leopold of Belgium and the people of Congo. The absolute holocaust that occurred and the democracy of the Congo that colonized. We also take a look at the spread of HIV/Aids from the repercussions of the Belgians in the Congo as they tore the country apart. These people were experiencing brutal prosecution and intense slavery. The way that people were treated led to the existence of the HIV virus and the railroads built by slavers lead to the spread of the virus. Through human trafficking, these people were dispersed throughout the world. HIV theoretically came into being by the Congo people eating chimpanzee meat, probably in a manner that was not safe to eat. They did this because the people were starving and forced to go into the forest to collect rubber down from the vines. They were in an environment of extreme hunger. Scuba123
Very well put. You summed up both video sections nicely. I think that selling out to corporations and not being able to have your people profit from it is amazing. Ethiopia has the land, the price for selling the land could and should've included some of the food produced help out the people in the area, maybe let Ethiopia get a percentage of the yields. The people that live here do need the help. Big corporations should offer that in the contract, instead of depleting the land of its rich resources. Then when the land becomes barren, nobody want its. Of course offering to help the people of Ethiopia does not increase sales it cuts into the bottom dollar, and large corporations don't want that. Diver 123
This video is a very good example of political oppression and how global stratification can negatively impact low-income nations such as Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of Congo. 60% of Ethiopia's wealth comes from outside nations, showing just how poor this country is. Ethiopian government authority is taking away land from its citizens and selling it to foreign investors for a low price. About 1 and a half million Ethiopians were relocated without their consent. They were forced to move to places cut off from educational opportunities, good healthcare, and fertile lands so they could continue to grow crops to survive. They were even denied their right to exercise political rights. High-income nations took advantage of this nation in extreme poverty and used their agro-pastoralist lifestyle as their primary means of profit. Any resistance of the Ethiopians could result in persecution, beatings, excision of limbs, or even death. As other outside countries are becoming aware of what is happening, some organizations are trying to stop funding foreign companies taking and selling Ethiopian land. Another horrific example of political oppression happened in Congo when King Leopold II purchased this nation with Belgium government authority. Belgium had complete control over this country. Racism and discrimination played a big role as Belgium was a white-ruled country. King Leopold forced the people of Congo to work and extract raw materials such as diamonds and rubber. He worked people to death, and those not reaching his high expectations would have their hands and feet cut off because they "lacked the will to work". Anywhere from 1-15 million people died, and it is now considered the worst genocide to occur globally. This time period in Congo is also believed to be where the HIV outbreak first originated. From lack of food and overworking these people in the the rainforest, it is thought that the spread of the virus started from ill food consumption and dispersed through polygamy. This is a prime example of how politics and economics can determine the health of a nation. What happened in these nations is immoral, and it's a shame that they are still suffering today. daisy123
This is a great depiction of what happens when one individual or a certain individuals within a group gain too much power. The exploitation of the people from this country is so inhumane and degrading. Using people and lying to them just to get more money is wrong. And the spread of disease is just as horrifying to think that a person has been deprived of food to the point where they have to make decisions of eating food that has not even been cooked all while contracting an incurable disease that they probably had no idea about is sad. It greatly depicts political oppression and the outcome of it. Benoodles123
Ethiopia, a periphery country, has been subject to brutal colonialism via political oppression. The government used “villagization” of Ethiopia portraying it would bring about better social services and better educational services would be provided to benefit the people. The government is planning to sell of several properties of land which will provide better agricultural development for Ethiopia. This type of dependency theory is evidenced by 60% of Ethiopia’s budget coming from donor, or more wealthy nations. This government is facilitating poverty for the people of Ethiopia causing unsafe and severe living conditions for many of the indigenous people. 1920 Kinshasha marked the beginning the Congo Holocaust. The monarchial government held several Africans in bondage for the benefit of trade of rubber. While in bondage, the spread of AIDS became prevalent around the 1980’s but had reared its face in the 1920’s. During this time, the health system of Belgium was vaccinating people against certain disease processes that they possessed while using the same needles to vaccinate other individuals against whatever they may have had. This aided in the spread of HIV/ AIDS they also practiced human trafficking not only for work purposes but as well as for sexual favors which also aided in the spread of the disease-causing demise for many people. There was another theory of how AIDS became rampant at this time. Due to the brevity of the situation, many people did not have a good source of food and living conditions were treacherous causing people to succumb to their demise. These living conditions caused people to eat raw unhealthy meats which may have been infected with the disease. Global stratification has discriminated against low income nations for many years leaving the country non-profitable due to using up their goods for the benefit of higher income nations. The government officials hold the people of the county in slavery causing them to lose their human rights and become property of someone else. These officials forcibly take or tell the individuals how much better things would be for them once their land or goods become profitable. Benoodles123
The first thing I noticed about this situation is that people are unfairly taking away precious land from natives and using it for themselves instead of the native people. They are selling Ethiopia’s land space, which is good quality for agriculture, and not using it for the people. This blows my mind because Africa is one of the lowest income places in the world and one of the hungriest. They could have so much more space to grow food. It shows how different the cultures’ values are in different parts of the world. The foreign investors of the land have a need for more money while the African people have a need for food. The communities are also being forced to move out of their lands. There were supposed to villages for the 1.5 million people displaced but there were not. This seems like an authoritarianism government because the people do not have a voice in the matter. This seems like how a war would start because when the government takes that much control over its’ people and it is affecting them dramatically, they might feel a need to revolt to take back their way of living. The other situation in the Congo was due to a Monarchy. The King killed over 10 million of his people just to enrich his monarchy. The practices of the Belgians during that time caused the spread of HIV throughout the area. The affect of this disease shaped the culture. Another disease spread that was caused by animal/human contact. This is because of the work that the people of Congo were forced to do. The colonization forced people to trek into the forest and extract rubber, all while starving. Some people might have ate animals and got a disease. Today, a lot of the cultures of the Congo still exist because of what the King and the Congo government did to the people. -Kiwi123
I think it is sad that the media is not bringing attention to what is happening in Ethiopia. The country’s government is selling agricultural rich parts of their land to foreign investors. The people of Ethiopia are being sent to separate villages that are not suitable for living. Because Ethiopia is a low-income country, the authoritarianism government is desperately trying to gain money by selling their land. In doing so, they are cheating their people and turning a blind eye to their contribution of allowing more absolute poverty to take place. Neocolonialism is also able to occur when these foreign investors invest in Ethiopia's land. Foreign corporations are then able to control Ethiopia's economy without direct political control. In addition, multinational corporations are also able to make a mark in Ethiopia and further take advantage of the country. The dependency theory can explain the disadvantage that Ethiopia has. Because Ethiopia can still be argued as an agrarian society, they lack the technology that other middle and high-income nation have. Considering that sixty percent of Ethiopia's wealth comes from outside nations, Ethiopia significantly relies on other countries because it has been under control of other high-income nations in the past. Ethiopia has not had a chance to grow and thrive on its own with new technologies like the the rest of the world.
The video also discusses the colonization of Congo by Leopold, the King of Belgium. Being a monarchy, Belgium allowed King Leopold to take advantage of the Congolese people and used them to gain wealth and power for Belgium, leaving nothing for the people of Congo. Charismatic authority in no way was used to control the people of Congo. King Leopold controlled the Congolese with fear. The Congo Holocaust emerged in the 1900s, which killed millions of Congolese. These horrific actions by Belgium created an authority that created fear and prevented a revolution from occurring in Congo. In addition to near genocide, the Congo holocaust also developed AIDS/HIV. By starving the people, the Congolese were desperate for food. By not cooking animal meat properly, the transmission of AIDS from animal to humans occurred in the early 1900s. Through sexual contact, the disease eventually spread globally and arose in the 1980s. It is sad to see that such devastating events occurred in Congo that only left the country in poverty and disease. One would think that this horrific event in history would stop other high income nations from taking advantage of low income nations. Check123
I agree with you! Why is it that the media doesn't cover these horrific events? Although, like the woman from the Oakland Institute said since Africa is our ally in fighting terrorism, we tend to turn a "blind-eye" on the horrific torture and violation of human rights that is happening in Ethiopia. With regard to the Congolese, King Leopold II was a murderer and should have been sent to jail or convicted or something, but since he was rich,royalty and was making money, no one said anything or they didn't know what was happening. It is infuriating to see these African people starved to death, and eating any kind of animal to barely survive. The Belgians were so cruel, and inhumane to these people that they basically created a virus through them. The animal to human contact, the commercial sex, and the horrible working conditions when building the railways. These people were being hosts of a horrible disease. These people didn't do anything to deserve to be forced to live and work like that. All they did was be born in a low-income country. Class system plays in this scenario, because if they would have been born somewhere else, that would have never happened. There is so much racism, social inequality, and violation of human rights in the world. We should do our very best to prevent it, and to stop it. panda123
I agree. The mass media does not pay attention to the injustice happening in Ethiopia, and it is wrong. It is due to the country having censorship laws, and if anyone speaks out against the government, they are severely punished. You also bring up how contact with and eventual colonization by Europe led to many of the nations' downfalls, which was no fault of their own. In the 1400s, Portugal began trading with Africa, mostly Nigeria, and the trade was mutual and civil. When many other western nations became involved with Africa was when strong stratification and near slavery took place. It began with good intentions and snowballed into the cruelty that was the early twentieth century. aardvark123
This video discussed the history and current issues on two low-income African countries. Bill Fletcher first talked about the problems that are happeing with Ethiopia. The country is going through a process called villagization, which is where they are forcibly Ethiopians are being forced to leave their land. There is a lot of mistreatment of citizens in the country where they are being beaten, raped, and killed for refusing to leave or protesting against these events. Since they are being exiled, Ethiopians are having to learn how to grow their own food, and fend for themselves with no help from their government. Fletcher and his guest also discussed on how the Ethiopians are creating a resistance to these events. It is positive that the Ethiopians are standing up for their rights, and keeping the resistance strong. The other country that was discussed, was what was happening in the 1920’s with the Congo Free State which is now called the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is considered to be the greatest Holocaust of the 19th century. In the Congolese holocaust there was 10 million killed, and the Jewish holocaust there was 6 million murdered. That is an infuriating, and sad statistic. The main thing that Bill Fletcher and Dr. Brown discussed was about a new angle with the Congo Free State under Leopold II. Dr. Brown believed that the HIV-AIDS virus had been started in the 1920’s which is when King Leopold was still in power. They talked about three possible theories: animal-to-human transmission, commercial sex workers, or the building of the railroads. The Belgians starved the Congolese, which made them eat dead possibly rotten meat, which is the animal human contact theory. Secondly, the Belgians used woman as sex slaves. We can easily see gender stratification here. Rarely, do you see women doing the heavy work, or they are being used for both, but they used the Congolese women for their sexual desires. That is another explanation for the spread of the virus, because one woman could have been shared with multiple men. The last theory, the railroad building, the trip of going back and forth to the jungle and the environment in which they were living, could have contributed to transmission of the disease. In both countries one can see similarities. Both are going through or have gone through serious government oppressions, and the reasonings are similar as well. Because both countries have had dysfunctional people in power which comes out in the present day issues. Dr. Brown said at the end, talking about the civil war, and the cruel punishment with the amputation of the hands in the Democratic Republic of Congo; that,“ So much of what is happening in the Congo today takes root in the period of Leopold II.” It is sad that the most problems and the most loss occurs in low-income countries, and officials in government obsessed with power. panda123
King Leopold Belgium II was the ruler of the land that the Congolese lived on. During the 19th century the Congo which was known as the Congo free state murdered more than 10 million Congolese. The legacy of that holocaust still lives with us in today’s society. This video showed how the spread of HIV/AIDs came about in the 1920’s. Professor Lawrence Brown found an article about the Belgium colonization. He wanted to write something to give people an understanding of how the social determinants of health would have impacted the development and the ignition of HIV. This was considered the Congo Holocaust. King Leopold ruled the Congo for over 26 years. HIV started in the 1920’s in the Kinshasa which was known as Leopold Ville. The CIA did not start so they didn’t create the virus. The transportation of people was all in the service of colonization. It is a theory that animal to human transition. The theory of a Chimpanzee somehow some from or fashion was consumed by an African Congolese and thereby transmitting the semen form of the virus. The Belgiums disregarded the feeding style. It is believed that due to the extreme hunger it caused them to eat a dead chimpanzee that wasn’t cooked all the way, because they were to hunger to cook it all the way. The Belgiums had something to do with the transition and creation of HIV/AIDs whether it may have been from the colonial public health system, commercial sex workers, animal to human transition, or the railroads. The Belgium government plays a powerful role in this disease. I found it very interesting to hear what is considered a theory of how the disease HIV/AIDs was spreaded. I had once heard that it was due to people in Africa having sexual intercounters with animals. I would have never thought it would be a possibility that it came from the African Congolese eating an uncooked chimpanzee with the other possibilities. I have found it very sad and interesting on the possibilities of how this disease was created, transmitted, and spreaded. It was the the spreading of the disease beyond the border came from the Hashins having the disease not knowing about it. This creation of this disease still affects today’s society. Rendezvous123
European Colonization in Africa brought about many problems for the native African people. The Europeans exploited the different countries for their rich natural resources, and because many nations there are low income, they were easily taken advantage of. The colonists disguised their intentions by masking their presence in Africa as trying to benefit the nations through industrialization, bringing about a sort of Eurocentrism to Africa. They really ended up selling a majority of the land to corporations in order for them to produce cheaper materials, again, taking advantage of the fact that many nations of Africa are low income and do not have labor laws or any policing of work, so the companies can just work the native Africans to death without any repercussions. They could do that because they were giving the Africans a job and, therefore, the opportunity for a better life, but the exploitation of the native people got to be so bad. The people were starving, and they could have been severely punished if they were to act out against the injustice happening, such as amputations that would render them unfit to work. A sort of social conflict eventually came about within Africa because the nations were all controlled by Europeans. The Europeans owned most of the land, especially the lands with abundant natural resources, and the Africans were forced to work for them. Though the Africans made up the majority of the population, they were actually the minority in many cultures because they were so disadvantaged. That was when apartheid started to come into societies. The white people were getting richer by taking from the black people, an outright social conflict perspective, and that inherently made them ‘better’ than the native Africans. The colonization had taken its toll on the continent, and when industrialization started to pop up in the areas, the conflict and segregation between classes only became stronger. aardvark123
This video is about two low income countries: Ethiopia and the Congo, now called the Democratic Republic of Congo. In both situations, we see extreme examples of political repression by the authority. In Ethiopia, the government authority is taking land from the people and selling it to other countries and they called it “Global Agricultural Capitalist”. Over one and a half million people have been displaced without their consent. This is impacting the minorities of the country, and any resistance is resulting in persecution, beatings, and being denied basic human rights. Sixty percent of the budget of Ethiopia comes from other countries, meaning the country is very poor itself. Over time, those outside the country are learning about what is happening in Ethiopia. In the United States, organizations are educating congress and other governmental agencies to stop funding companies who are taking people’s land.
ReplyDeleteThe concept of colonialism governed the Congo as it was run by King Leopold of Belgium. Under his reign the whites had the power over the people of the Congo. Historians estimate 1 to 15 million Africans died classifying it as a genocide that was worse than Hitler and the Nazis. Again, this is an example of racism, discrimination, and a division of labor where the wealth was not to the people but to the politicians. Because the Democratic Republic of Congo has an ample supply of minerals, diamonds and other natural resources, they are constantly under war with themselves as well as other nations.
The people of the Congo worked in the rainforest to extract rubber from the trees at any cost. It affected their health and this time period and place is considered to be the beginning of the HIV virus. The zoonosis of the disease is thought to be through food consumption, but spread through polygyny.
sunflower123
This was very well put. I did not catch that there are organizations informing congress and other governmental agencies about the Ethiopian relocations, so I am really glad that some action is being taken to prevent this injustice. I think it is extremely unfair and sad how the wealthy have so much more political power than the poor. The people of the Congo Free State and Ethiopia had essentially zero power to decide anything about their government. The impoverished people of these countries also have negative health due to their economic status. Like you said, it is thought that the poor state of the Congo people is what caused HIV to spread to humans. -Chameleon123
DeleteBefore watching and hearing about something like this, you could of never guessed things so terrible could happen. It is amazing how cruel people can be for power and money. These people were turned on by their own government. The leaders are suppose to be people that can be trusted to make the best decisions for the country as a whole and without a doubt respect its own people. It is also very sad about the people of Congo and the Belgians. These people were controlled and sent into slavery for such a long period of time and only a terrible thing came out of it and is still seen today and that is the HIV virus. Scuba123
DeleteEthiopian land is being taken away from the Ethiopian people by foreign investors and the goods are being sold globally. The Ethiopian people, about 1.5 million of them, are being relocated to places where they are cut off from healthcare, educational opportunities, and fertile land and they are being denied the right to take part in the politics of their country. Ethiopia is an agro-pastoralist country and therefore they have a preindustrial economy. The foreign investors are taking advantage of the poorness of Ethiopia and using their agriculture as a primary sector for their profit, not giving any of it back to feed the starving people in Ethiopia. In the Congo Free State, King Leopold II bought the land as a personal union with Belgium and worked all of the Congo people extremely hard to get rubber for his profit in export. He abused his power as a leader, working half of the Congo people to death and cutting off the hands of people who did not work up to his expectations. As a result of the hard work and lack of food, Professor Lawrence Brown suggests that the Belgian colonization is the origin of HIV/AIDS. The Congo people were sent out to the jungle to harvest the rubber and being as hungry as they were, Brown said it is not unlikely that they would have eaten the meat of dead chimpanzees to stay alive. Unfortunately, this caused the transmission of the virus from animal to human. Brown says that the railroads and the reusing of syringes spread the disease from there. This is a good example of how the economy of a nation can determine the overall health. Poverty-stricken countries like the Congo Free State are bound to have poor health. Both the land grabs in Ethiopia and the Congo genocide are bitter examples of political oppression. -Chameleon123
ReplyDeleteIt is amazing to me, and yet also disgusting, that no one has taught about the situation in the Congo with King Leopold the II. We hear so much about the horrors of the holocaust, yet not even a word about the absolute devastation that occurred under his reign. The pictures of the people without hands because they "lacked the will to work" broke my heart. It also breaks my heart how this country has so much to offer to others (their natural resources), yet they have so little and live in such extreme poverty when they really should be one of the leading, and wealthiest nation, of all.
Deletesunflower123
I think you make a lot of good different points though out your entire post. I think it is really sad how they lower income nations throughout the world are constantly taken advantage of based on the fact of their social class. I do not think higher income nations are any more important than lower income nations. I also think the people in each different nations are not any better in either nation. High income nations should be using their resources to help the ones in need. It is unfair for high income nations to be thriving and advancing so fast while leaving others to fall behind. Lives are being lost every day in these low income nations. I believe that something can be changed by higher income nations to help the low income nations. LItv123
DeleteThis video is very hard to sit down and watch. As you listen to what the man is explaining what different countries are doing to the poor countries it is very wrong. Their land is being taken from them and sold at a cheap price. The power these countries hold over Africa is very sad and it is based solely on high countries economic standing. The way these people are treated so little by people of higher power in their own country is really surreal to watch. Their entire community is being sold and they do not even have enough education in their own countries to know what is happening to them. Both videos we watched on the blogs are the concept of colonialism. The way different nations can do this and not even care about what happens to the entire continent of Africa is a prime example of authoritarianism as well. African nations are collectively divided and sold at a very low price. Africa is clearly culturally lagging and being taken advantage of over the centuries. The innocent lives of people over there are being stripped of all their rights and they do not even know what is happening yet. The epidemic outbreak of HIV swarmed these different areas and nothing could be done to stop it. They were not economically advanced. Over half of the Congo population was destroyed by this disease. At one point he describes it as the “Congo holocaust”. That is a very powerful statement. More people were killed in the Congo than in the holocaust that really brings the whole epidemic into perspective. The way that the virus was spread is really interesting. I never knew that a railroad could contribute to the outbreak. The way the African people were treated overall is awful and is something that can not be changed or taken back. We can only move forward and help those who are in need of help. Litv123
DeleteWow. I am blown away by not only the atrocities taking place in Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, but also the fact that there has been no mainstream media attention to this event. The fact that over one and a half million people have been uprooted from their homes and land and yet receive no worldwide attention astounds me. This is not voluntary at all, it is forced displacement. The people are being forced off of their land because large corporations are coming in and buying the land for a cheap price, planting crops, and then exporting the crops for a profit. It would not be quite as bad if the crops were staying in Ethiopia itself, but that is not the case. Although investors say that the industrialization of Ethiopia will improve the people’s quality of life through trickle-down economics, this has not been observed yet.
ReplyDeleteThe issue in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is also equally horrifying. Belgian colonialism, under King Leopold committed horrible acts towards the indigenous people of the Congo; around ten million people were killed in what is called the Congo Holocaust which is more people killed than in the Nazi’s holocaust. HIV and AIDS spread rampantly during this time of occupation, especially thanks to the railroad that was built through slave labour there. The railroad was made so as to more efficiently move the raw materials (such as rubber, natural minerals, and diamonds) which the natives were mining. These STDs spread quickly because of the sexual abuse many of the Belgian overseers committed. The STDs then spread throughout the world because there were Haitian workers in the Congo at the time. The Haitians then went back to their home and most likely a few traveled to the United States, bringing the disease with them.
-ThreeTwo123
I couldn't agree more. Although there are many important things to learn about the Holocaust and its place in history, the forced genocide by labor under King Leopold II is something I can't say I ever learned about in my time in the public school system. You'd think especially as it contributed to the production of tires and the manufacturing of cars across the globe that surely it would be an important point in teaching history. At least the origin of the labor that had been undergone in order to mass produce the tires which still keep our cars rolling today.-MrG123
DeleteI agree. I am not sure which is more horrifying. I was surprised and disturbed to hear about the Congo Holocaust. I never learned about that in any of my history classes. It is scary to think that the Congo Holocaust was responsible for more deaths than the Nazi's Holocaust. MrG123, I went to a private school and never learned this either. I agree that it should be taught in school since it is important to production and manufacturing. It was awful hearing about the political oppression that the people of the Congo and Ethiopians had to face. No healthcare, no fertile land, being forced to move, no crops for food, and all the other issues they had to face are unfathomable. If people tried to fight for their rights and freedoms, they were tortured, raped, imprisoned, and/or killed. It is hard to imagine a situation like that since we live in a country with so much freedom. -softball_savvy123
DeleteGiven notice by King Leopold, the major European powers sprung into action. Within forty years, by 1914 and the end of the scramble for Africa, Great Britain dominated the breadth of the African continent from Egypt to South Africa, as well as Nigeria and the Gold Coast; the French occupied vast expanses of west Africa; the Germans boasted control over modern-day Tanzania and Namibia; the Portuguese exerted full control over Angola and Mozambique. Only Ethiopia and the African-American state of Liberia remained independent. Conquest was relatively easy for the European states: because of previous agreements not to sell modern weapons to Africans in potential colonial areas, Europe easily held the technological advantage. Bands of just a few hundred men and barely a handful of machine guns could obliterate thousands of Africans in mere hours. Leopold negotiated for the state to take the indebted and scandal ridden colony off his hands. In 1908 it was renamed “Belgian Congo”. Leopold died a year later, unmourned and booed at his own funeral. He never set foot in the colony he ruled despotically for over two decades. Forced labour in the Congo continued under the civil administration though there was some improvement. Belgium tried to brush Leopold’s misdeeds under the carpet. He is remembered in Belgium for most of what he built with his Congo wealth, such as the monumental Arcade du Cinquantenaire in Brussels, and for his advocacy of strong fortifications in the eastern part of the country, which slowed the advance of German troops in 1914 at the beginning of World War I. His most important legacy, however, remains the human catastrophe that the rubber forced-labour system brought to the Congo, a heritage that continued to echo in that region more than a century after Leopold’s death.-MrG123
ReplyDeleteIt is unfortunate that those who have the most power have a common tendency to abuse that power. I have always been told that power corrupts; this is clearly visible through the acts of King Leopold II. I could not agree more with your statement that Leopold's most important legacy remains to be the human catastrophe that the rubber forced labor system brought to the Congo. I still cannot believe that I have not heard about this until now. Although I realize that it would not be taught in an American history class, it should be taught in world history (which I took in high school) or should at least be touched on in an ethics class.
Delete-ThreeTwo123
This video is broken up into two separate sections both dealing with Africa. The first section talks about how many Ethiopians are being displaced from their land by large corporations coming in and buying their land. This is causing many Ethiopians to be forcibly displaced from their villages by what is called the Villagization Program. The program was meant to modernize East Africa, by selling millions of hectares of land to investors. The investors are buying fertile land at a cheap price. These companies are buying the land and not producing any food for the people of the area, rather they are exploiting the land and using it for their own profits, sending the product to other nations. The displaced people are being made to leave where they have fertile soil, educational opportunities, and health care, leaving them to live in poverty and keeping Ethiopia as a low income area. Unfortunately until lately the media has not made the situation known, but the word is getting out. The second part of the video talks about the holocaust that happened in the Congo. In the Congo there were over ten million Congolese murdered. This is more than the amount of Jewish people murdered during the holocaust that happened in Hitler’s Germany by the Nazis. When this happened the Congo was known as the Congo Free State. The area was personal property owned by King Leopold of Belgium, in which he owned for 26 years. During this time Leopold got rich because of the exploitation of the land and people he took advantage of there. Dr Lawrence Brown tells of the Belgian colonization and the beginning of the spreading of the HIV virus, also known as AIDS.The first cases of the HIV virus can be documented back to Leopoldville in 1920. Dr. Brown also states how people were forced to make railroads, basically forced into slavery, to help export Ivory and rubber being collected for export. The slaves were not treated good, tortured, some even had their hands cut off if their production results were low. Dr. Brown also states that the transmission of the HIV virus came from the people in the Congo eating improperly cooked chimpanzee meat. The laborers were starving and desperate to eat anything they could, weather properly cooked or not. So this is one theory of how man got the disease. From there it was spread through unprotected sex, improper use of hypodermic needles, and prostitution. Diver123
ReplyDeleteMaybe I am ignorant or in my own little bubble, but I was unaware of this major problem occurring in Ethiopia. Natives of Ethiopia have issues with lack of education, cut off from fertile land, and have no healthcare. If anyone tries to resist against these problems, they will be killed, tortured, raped, imprisoned, or things to that nature, so it is nearly impossible for natives to fight against this. The political oppression that these natives from Ethiopia is facing is unimaginable. Ethiopia is definitely a low income nation. Natives are even being kicked off of their land and are moved by force to different locations. There is a lot of colonization occurring in Ethiopia that needs to be put to a stop. The Ethiopian people are being stripped from their freedoms and rights. Besides there being political oppression, there is also a problem with economic oppression. The Congo is having similar horrifying problems including colonization. I was surprised and disturbed to hear about the Congo Holocaust. There were more people killed in the Congo Holocaust than the Nazi's Holocaust that Americans are more familiar with. In the Congo Holocaust, there were more than ten million people from the Congo that were murdered. I was surprised I never learned about this in my World History class in high school. HIV, AIDS, and other STDS were a major issue during the Congo Holocaust. It eventually spread outside of the Congo because some people from Haiti were working in the Congo at the time. It was the beginning of these viruses. The genocide that these places faced is saddening, but a good example of severe political oppression and colonization. People placed the blame of the spread of AIDS, HIV, and other STDs on poverty but that is not the case as we can see in today's society. -softball_savvy123
ReplyDeleteI agree that it is quite surprising that Africa is such a large continent with a very complicated history that affects every other country but yet we are not learning about African history in our normal World History classes. Almost every high income nation has some roots in an African countries and I had little knowledge about the involvement of the countries until after watching these videos. The problems facing these nations because of European inference are still prevalent today. If our generation wants to solve global issues like world hunger we need to understand why they became problems in the first place. -Glass123
DeleteI didn't know what was going on in Ethiopia either. It's very sad that the Ethiopians are being removed from their land with no health care and the ability to learn. The video made me think of the kids that come on the TV commercials. It's very sad how the disease HIV/AIDs came about in the 1920s. In our time this would be the Great depression days. During the Great Depression people within our own country lost everything. Now let’s look back at Congo, people lost their lives due to harsh conditions and outbreak of the HIV/AIDs disease. It has been widely spreaded from the disease to start from Congo. I feel that the Belgian government should have been mindful of what was going on at the time. At the time it was about wealth, they didn’t care anything about the health of the Africans. I’m quite sure in today’s society in other countries colonization stills exist. Rendezvous123
DeleteThis video shows global stratification and how global stratification affects health through social epidemiology. Dr. Lawrence Brown of Morgan State University explains how the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s link to the development of AIDS is connected to colonization by Leopold. Leopold demonstrated a global power relationship because he became very wealthy from exploiting the people and resources of the Congo without ever sharing this wealth with the people of the Congo. Leopold destroyed the people through genocide he has been said that he killed more Congolese people than the Nazi’s killed in their holocaust the people who Leopold did not kill were enslaved. Diseases like AIDS are transmitted to humans through human to animals contact; under the conditions Leopold slaves were living they had to give up cultural patterns because they were starving in a state absolute poverty. In the normal life of the Congolese people they would have cooked meat to an acceptable temperature but because they were starving they did not cook the meat properly and this led to the transmission of AIDS. Leopold enslaved the people of the Congo and forced them to build a railway allowing for the spread of disease because people were able to interact with more people through this advancement of technology. Leopold offered medical treatment to the slaves of the Congo but they would often reuse needles without cleaning them thus inadvertently spreading AIDS. AIDS is often associated with the sex worker industry; Dr. Lawrence Brown also attributes the manifestation of the sex worker industry to Leopold as well. He says that Leopold’s men would force the women of the Congo to perform sexual favors and this promoted the sex worker environment. The Democratic Republic of the Congo is still a low income nation today and the lasting effects of Leopold’s control and power will live on far into the future. -Glass123
ReplyDeleteInteresting points! I didn't even think about global stratification while watching this. It is horrible to know how bad this situation was. What really frustrated me was that I had never even been taught about this before. It is horrible to think that Leopold's strict rules and regulations lead to the Congolese people having to lessen their values. This happened through the sex worker environment as well as time to properly prepare food being shortened. The did have to give up cultural patterns. And it's horrible to think that the Congo is still affected by this today. -M&M123
DeleteI think it is horrible that the Congo is still suffering from what Belgium did to this country. Being forced to work in such poor conditions is unjust and immoral. I must have not been paying attention when Dr. Brown discussed how the beginning of sex work was linked to King Leopold. The fact that forcing these Congolese men to work caused them to force congolese women into performing sexual favors for them is disgusting. I can see how this promoted the sex slave industry, and it is sad that so many terrible things came out of King Leopold's purchase of the Congo. If only race and discrimination didn't play a part in this, maybe mass genocide wouldn't have occurred and the Congo could have benefited economically from this high income nation. daisy123
DeleteThe first issue in this video is businesses taking land in Ethiopia. They began growing crops and then taking them out of the country. This is so unfair! People were literally using Ethiopia to make their own countries better. These people were clearly not considering the people of Ethiopia. The social disposition that occurred here is unbelievable. Many of the people were forcefully removed so that more of their land could be taken from them. None of these people received any benefits whatsoever. It is happening all over Ethiopia, and mainly to the minorities. It’s another case of the big guy picking on the little guy. It is so bogus to see people use their strengths against other people’s weaknesses. These people of Ethiopia had nowhere to go to change what was happening or to speak out about what was happening. Issues like this take away people’s voices. Thankfully, awareness is being raised about these issues inside of Ethiopia. Watching this video made me see connections to what’s happening in Ethiopia to what Americans did to Native Americans. They came in, learned how to plant crops and live sufficiently, and then took over the land. It makes me wonder, if we didn’t have people supporting the Ethiopians today, would the same thing happen? Or, if people had known what was going to happen to the Native Americans, would it have been stopped?
ReplyDeleteThe second part of this video about Belgian colonialism was very insightful. I had never heard of this issue before. I could not believe that more people were killed in the Congo by belgians than people killed by Nazis in the Holocaust. My question is why is this not in history books? This issue is huge! This was an abuse of power. The Belgians had put the people from the Congo into conditions that forced them to get these diseases and to become insufficiently nourished. It was almost as if these people had to choose between death or disease. The perversion that the Belgians brought into the culture of these people from the Congo is repulsive. It’s unacceptable for this to have happened. -M&M123
I agree, it is completely unfair that neocolonization is still being seen today. It sad that other high-income nations are taking advantage of Ethiopia and using them to gain more wealth. What’s even worse is that the government of Ethiopia and other high income nations are allowing it to happen. The modernization theory says that high income-nations can help low-income nations flourish by helping them develop new technologies which can help boost the economy and allow development and growth to occur within that low-income nation. Though richer nations have this power to help, they often take advantage and use their power to gain wealth for their own nation. That’s when the dependency theory kicks in. Colonialism and neocolonialism causes a low-income nation to rely on a high-income nation because they do not have the technologies and power to compete and thrive on their own globally. I hate how greed is always thrown in the equation. Why can’t we all help each other instead of taking advantage of those that don’t have the power to stand up for themselves? Check123
DeleteThis video takes a look at Ethiopia and the land theft of the country. The people of the low-income country of Ethiopia were being taken advantage of by their own government. Ethiopia is living in a postindustrial economy with a primarily agro-pastoral society. They do not have technologies of first-world countries. These people have been displaced to other regions and the land has been auctioned off to the highest bidder. The minorities of Ethiopia were experiencing political repression by the government and forced to live in poor villages set up by the government leaders. They were experiencing absolute poverty along with severe persecution. The lands that are being taken away from the native people are being sold to mostly agricultural companies. These companies are producing massive amounts of food, but none of the people of Ethiopia are getting it. It is mostly being exported to other higher-income countries for profit. The Ethiopians of the country have no freedom, especially media freedom. Anyone resisting the government and speaking out are being arrested and beaten. The video also talks about the rule of King Leopold of Belgium and the people of Congo. The absolute holocaust that occurred and the democracy of the Congo that colonized. We also take a look at the spread of HIV/Aids from the repercussions of the Belgians in the Congo as they tore the country apart. These people were experiencing brutal prosecution and intense slavery. The way that people were treated led to the existence of the HIV virus and the railroads built by slavers lead to the spread of the virus. Through human trafficking, these people were dispersed throughout the world. HIV theoretically came into being by the Congo people eating chimpanzee meat, probably in a manner that was not safe to eat. They did this because the people were starving and forced to go into the forest to collect rubber down from the vines. They were in an environment of extreme hunger. Scuba123
ReplyDeleteVery well put. You summed up both video sections nicely. I think that selling out to corporations and not being able to have your people profit from it is amazing. Ethiopia has the land, the price for selling the land could and should've included some of the food produced help out the people in the area, maybe let Ethiopia get a percentage of the yields. The people that live here do need the help. Big corporations should offer that in the contract, instead of depleting the land of its rich resources. Then when the land becomes barren, nobody want its. Of course offering to help the people of Ethiopia does not increase sales it cuts into the bottom dollar, and large corporations don't want that. Diver 123
DeleteThis video is a very good example of political oppression and how global stratification can negatively impact low-income nations such as Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of Congo. 60% of Ethiopia's wealth comes from outside nations, showing just how poor this country is. Ethiopian government authority is taking away land from its citizens and selling it to foreign investors for a low price. About 1 and a half million Ethiopians were relocated without their consent. They were forced to move to places cut off from educational opportunities, good healthcare, and fertile lands so they could continue to grow crops to survive. They were even denied their right to exercise political rights. High-income nations took advantage of this nation in extreme poverty and used their agro-pastoralist lifestyle as their primary means of profit. Any resistance of the Ethiopians could result in persecution, beatings, excision of limbs, or even death. As other outside countries are becoming aware of what is happening, some organizations are trying to stop funding foreign companies taking and selling Ethiopian land. Another horrific example of political oppression happened in Congo when King Leopold II purchased this nation with Belgium government authority. Belgium had complete control over this country. Racism and discrimination played a big role as Belgium was a white-ruled country. King Leopold forced the people of Congo to work and extract raw materials such as diamonds and rubber. He worked people to death, and those not reaching his high expectations would have their hands and feet cut off because they "lacked the will to work". Anywhere from 1-15 million people died, and it is now considered the worst genocide to occur globally. This time period in Congo is also believed to be where the HIV outbreak first originated. From lack of food and overworking these people in the the rainforest, it is thought that the spread of the virus started from ill food consumption and dispersed through polygamy. This is a prime example of how politics and economics can determine the health of a nation. What happened in these nations is immoral, and it's a shame that they are still suffering today. daisy123
ReplyDeleteThis is a great depiction of what happens when one individual or a certain individuals within a group gain too much power. The exploitation of the people from this country is so inhumane and degrading. Using people and lying to them just to get more money is wrong. And the spread of disease is just as horrifying to think that a person has been deprived of food to the point where they have to make decisions of eating food that has not even been cooked all while contracting an incurable disease that they probably had no idea about is sad. It greatly depicts political oppression and the outcome of it. Benoodles123
DeleteEthiopia, a periphery country, has been subject to brutal colonialism via political oppression. The government used “villagization” of Ethiopia portraying it would bring about better social services and better educational services would be provided to benefit the people. The government is planning to sell of several properties of land which will provide better agricultural development for Ethiopia. This type of dependency theory is evidenced by 60% of Ethiopia’s budget coming from donor, or more wealthy nations. This government is facilitating poverty for the people of Ethiopia causing unsafe and severe living conditions for many of the indigenous people.
ReplyDelete1920 Kinshasha marked the beginning the Congo Holocaust. The monarchial government held several Africans in bondage for the benefit of trade of rubber. While in bondage, the spread of AIDS became prevalent around the 1980’s but had reared its face in the 1920’s. During this time, the health system of Belgium was vaccinating people against certain disease processes that they possessed while using the same needles to vaccinate other individuals against whatever they may have had. This aided in the spread of HIV/ AIDS they also practiced human trafficking not only for work purposes but as well as for sexual favors which also aided in the spread of the disease-causing demise for many people. There was another theory of how AIDS became rampant at this time. Due to the brevity of the situation, many people did not have a good source of food and living conditions were treacherous causing people to succumb to their demise. These living conditions caused people to eat raw unhealthy meats which may have been infected with the disease.
Global stratification has discriminated against low income nations for many years leaving the country non-profitable due to using up their goods for the benefit of higher income nations. The government officials hold the people of the county in slavery causing them to lose their human rights and become property of someone else. These officials forcibly take or tell the individuals how much better things would be for them once their land or goods become profitable. Benoodles123
The first thing I noticed about this situation is that people are unfairly taking away precious land from natives and using it for themselves instead of the native people. They are selling Ethiopia’s land space, which is good quality for agriculture, and not using it for the people. This blows my mind because Africa is one of the lowest income places in the world and one of the hungriest. They could have so much more space to grow food. It shows how different the cultures’ values are in different parts of the world. The foreign investors of the land have a need for more money while the African people have a need for food. The communities are also being forced to move out of their lands. There were supposed to villages for the 1.5 million people displaced but there were not. This seems like an authoritarianism government because the people do not have a voice in the matter. This seems like how a war would start because when the government takes that much control over its’ people and it is affecting them dramatically, they might feel a need to revolt to take back their way of living. The other situation in the Congo was due to a Monarchy. The King killed over 10 million of his people just to enrich his monarchy. The practices of the Belgians during that time caused the spread of HIV throughout the area. The affect of this disease shaped the culture. Another disease spread that was caused by animal/human contact. This is because of the work that the people of Congo were forced to do. The colonization forced people to trek into the forest and extract rubber, all while starving. Some people might have ate animals and got a disease. Today, a lot of the cultures of the Congo still exist because of what the King and the Congo government did to the people. -Kiwi123
ReplyDeleteI think it is sad that the media is not bringing attention to what is happening in Ethiopia. The country’s government is selling agricultural rich parts of their land to foreign investors. The people of Ethiopia are being sent to separate villages that are not suitable for living. Because Ethiopia is a low-income country, the authoritarianism government is desperately trying to gain money by selling their land. In doing so, they are cheating their people and turning a blind eye to their contribution of allowing more absolute poverty to take place. Neocolonialism is also able to occur when these foreign investors invest in Ethiopia's land. Foreign corporations are then able to control Ethiopia's economy without direct political control. In addition, multinational corporations are also able to make a mark in Ethiopia and further take advantage of the country. The dependency theory can explain the disadvantage that Ethiopia has. Because Ethiopia can still be argued as an agrarian society, they lack the technology that other middle and high-income nation have. Considering that sixty percent of Ethiopia's wealth comes from outside nations, Ethiopia significantly relies on other countries because it has been under control of other high-income nations in the past. Ethiopia has not had a chance to grow and thrive on its own with new technologies like the the rest of the world.
ReplyDeleteThe video also discusses the colonization of Congo by Leopold, the King of Belgium. Being a monarchy, Belgium allowed King Leopold to take advantage of the Congolese people and used them to gain wealth and power for Belgium, leaving nothing for the people of Congo. Charismatic authority in no way was used to control the people of Congo. King Leopold controlled the Congolese with fear. The Congo Holocaust emerged in the 1900s, which killed millions of Congolese. These horrific actions by Belgium created an authority that created fear and prevented a revolution from occurring in Congo. In addition to near genocide, the Congo holocaust also developed AIDS/HIV. By starving the people, the Congolese were desperate for food. By not cooking animal meat properly, the transmission of AIDS from animal to humans occurred in the early 1900s. Through sexual contact, the disease eventually spread globally and arose in the 1980s. It is sad to see that such devastating events occurred in Congo that only left the country in poverty and disease. One would think that this horrific event in history would stop other high income nations from taking advantage of low income nations. Check123
I agree with you! Why is it that the media doesn't cover these horrific events? Although, like the woman from the Oakland Institute said since Africa is our ally in fighting terrorism, we tend to turn a "blind-eye" on the horrific torture and violation of human rights that is happening in Ethiopia. With regard to the Congolese, King Leopold II was a murderer and should have been sent to jail or convicted or something, but since he was rich,royalty and was making money, no one said anything or they didn't know what was happening. It is infuriating to see these African people starved to death, and eating any kind of animal to barely survive. The Belgians were so cruel, and inhumane to these people that they basically created a virus through them. The animal to human contact, the commercial sex, and the horrible working conditions when building the railways. These people were being hosts of a horrible disease. These people didn't do anything to deserve to be forced to live and work like that. All they did was be born in a low-income country. Class system plays in this scenario, because if they would have been born somewhere else, that would have never happened. There is so much racism, social inequality, and violation of human rights in the world. We should do our very best to prevent it, and to stop it.
Deletepanda123
I agree. The mass media does not pay attention to the injustice happening in Ethiopia, and it is wrong. It is due to the country having censorship laws, and if anyone speaks out against the government, they are severely punished. You also bring up how contact with and eventual colonization by Europe led to many of the nations' downfalls, which was no fault of their own. In the 1400s, Portugal began trading with Africa, mostly Nigeria, and the trade was mutual and civil. When many other western nations became involved with Africa was when strong stratification and near slavery took place. It began with good intentions and snowballed into the cruelty that was the early twentieth century. aardvark123
DeleteThis video discussed the history and current issues on two low-income African countries. Bill Fletcher first talked about the problems that are happeing with Ethiopia. The country is going through a process called villagization, which is where they are forcibly Ethiopians are being forced to leave their land. There is a lot of mistreatment of citizens in the country where they are being beaten, raped, and killed for refusing to leave or protesting against these events. Since they are being exiled, Ethiopians are having to learn how to grow their own food, and fend for themselves with no help from their government. Fletcher and his guest also discussed on how the Ethiopians are creating a resistance to these events. It is positive that the Ethiopians are standing up for their rights, and keeping the resistance strong.
ReplyDeleteThe other country that was discussed, was what was happening in the 1920’s with the Congo Free State which is now called the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is considered to be the greatest Holocaust of the 19th century. In the Congolese holocaust there was 10 million killed, and the Jewish holocaust there was 6 million murdered. That is an infuriating, and sad statistic. The main thing that Bill Fletcher and Dr. Brown discussed was about a new angle with the Congo Free State under Leopold II. Dr. Brown believed that the HIV-AIDS virus had been started in the 1920’s which is when King Leopold was still in power. They talked about three possible theories: animal-to-human transmission, commercial sex workers, or the building of the railroads. The Belgians starved the Congolese, which made them eat dead possibly rotten meat, which is the animal human contact theory. Secondly, the Belgians used woman as sex slaves. We can easily see gender stratification here. Rarely, do you see women doing the heavy work, or they are being used for both, but they used the Congolese women for their sexual desires. That is another explanation for the spread of the virus, because one woman could have been shared with multiple men. The last theory, the railroad building, the trip of going back and forth to the jungle and the environment in which they were living, could have contributed to transmission of the disease.
In both countries one can see similarities. Both are going through or have gone through serious government oppressions, and the reasonings are similar as well. Because both countries have had dysfunctional people in power which comes out in the present day issues. Dr. Brown said at the end, talking about the civil war, and the cruel punishment with the amputation of the hands in the Democratic Republic of Congo; that,“ So much of what is happening in the Congo today takes root in the period of Leopold II.” It is sad that the most problems and the most loss occurs in low-income countries, and officials in government obsessed with power.
panda123
King Leopold Belgium II was the ruler of the land that the Congolese lived on. During the 19th century the Congo which was known as the Congo free state murdered more than 10 million Congolese. The legacy of that holocaust still lives with us in today’s society. This video showed how the spread of HIV/AIDs came about in the 1920’s. Professor Lawrence Brown found an article about the Belgium colonization. He wanted to write something to give people an understanding of how the social determinants of health would have impacted the development and the ignition of HIV. This was considered the Congo Holocaust. King Leopold ruled the Congo for over 26 years. HIV started in the 1920’s in the Kinshasa which was known as Leopold Ville. The CIA did not start so they didn’t create the virus. The transportation of people was all in the service of colonization. It is a theory that animal to human transition. The theory of a Chimpanzee somehow some from or fashion was consumed by an African Congolese and thereby transmitting the semen form of the virus. The Belgiums disregarded the feeding style. It is believed that due to the extreme hunger it caused them to eat a dead chimpanzee that wasn’t cooked all the way, because they were to hunger to cook it all the way. The Belgiums had something to do with the transition and creation of HIV/AIDs whether it may have been from the colonial public health system, commercial sex workers, animal to human transition, or the railroads. The Belgium government plays a powerful role in this disease. I found it very interesting to hear what is considered a theory of how the disease HIV/AIDs was spreaded. I had once heard that it was due to people in Africa having sexual intercounters with animals. I would have never thought it would be a possibility that it came from the African Congolese eating an uncooked chimpanzee with the other possibilities. I have found it very sad and interesting on the possibilities of how this disease was created, transmitted, and spreaded. It was the the spreading of the disease beyond the border came from the Hashins having the disease not knowing about it. This creation of this disease still affects today’s society. Rendezvous123
ReplyDeleteEuropean Colonization in Africa brought about many problems for the native African people. The Europeans exploited the different countries for their rich natural resources, and because many nations there are low income, they were easily taken advantage of. The colonists disguised their intentions by masking their presence in Africa as trying to benefit the nations through industrialization, bringing about a sort of Eurocentrism to Africa. They really ended up selling a majority of the land to corporations in order for them to produce cheaper materials, again, taking advantage of the fact that many nations of Africa are low income and do not have labor laws or any policing of work, so the companies can just work the native Africans to death without any repercussions. They could do that because they were giving the Africans a job and, therefore, the opportunity for a better life, but the exploitation of the native people got to be so bad. The people were starving, and they could have been severely punished if they were to act out against the injustice happening, such as amputations that would render them unfit to work. A sort of social conflict eventually came about within Africa because the nations were all controlled by Europeans. The Europeans owned most of the land, especially the lands with abundant natural resources, and the Africans were forced to work for them. Though the Africans made up the majority of the population, they were actually the minority in many cultures because they were so disadvantaged. That was when apartheid started to come into societies. The white people were getting richer by taking from the black people, an outright social conflict perspective, and that inherently made them ‘better’ than the native Africans. The colonization had taken its toll on the continent, and when industrialization started to pop up in the areas, the conflict and segregation between classes only became stronger. aardvark123
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