No scrubs
For you to fully participate in this blog post, I need you to Youtube “TLC no scrubs” and then pause the video at 00:00
Now we’re going to sing together.
“A scrub is a guy who thinks he’s fly and also know as a buster, always talkin bout what he wants and just sits on his broke ass. So. NO!”
We’re now going to sing the west African version. Same tune. Please insert your nation here if you feel how I feel at the end of the post. Because I’m done listening to people talk about how Africa is somesort of Utopia where if corrupt politicians and white people hadn’t gotten to it the rest of the people are in fact good.
No they’re freaking not so let me explain to you how we’re all to blame for this.
1. Corrupt politician.
You stole from your country because you are emotionally little children who want to play at being world leaders, the only problem with the games you play is that you have real people’s lives at stake and children actually die as a result of your lies, stealing deprivation and abuse.
2. Ex pats.
You are second because you are one of the most egregious offenders. Sending money to “Africa” that you can’t afford in the following denominations? £50,£100,£200, £500 £1,000. You are part of the problem where people think the west is the home of free money and charity is easy to come by. You didn’t tell them that that £200, you put on your credit card, you are holding off your landlord with excuses and that you are sleeping in 1 room on the floor. No instead you talk big, send big money and feed into the expectations that charity is easy to come by. You also build houses you can’t afford to live in because the truth is that pouverty and hard living is going to kill you. You have lived your life as the sacrificial lamb for others carried problems that aren’t your own for people you only have a distant affection for. People you may not have seen in years. Instead you forsake the people right in front of you. You are feeding delusions of grandeur.
3. Corrupt civil servants.
Every single person that takes a bribe is a criminal. But criminality is a culture. My dad once tried to re-register his land which was quite valuable as the US embassy had just started to be built up the road. His friend introduced him to the person handling his case who asked for…£16,000. Yep. He was bold as brass and asked for a bribe to get the work done. So dad got another friend to introduce him to the director who would get it done for free. But if my dad’s friends didn’t know the director he’d have been in a position where he was forced to pay a substantial bribe to secure land that he already owned, it was just that the records had been destroyed in the war. Criminals one and all and that culture seeps into...
4. The General populace.
Every time you disobey a government order because you have no respect for the government. You are screwing the country. Stealing land that doesn’t belong to you. Screwing the country. Every time you avoid (read evade) taxes you are screwing the country. Every time you accept less than you deserve in terms of roads, pay, hospital care or anything else the government is meant to be in charge of. You are screwing the country. Every time you let a child die of hunger or preventable disease. you are screwing the country. Every time you don’t educate your children, instead send them to work. You are screwing the country. You may say you don’t have a choice but you do. You can hold the government to account for what they promised. You can stop accepting crumbs for you and your children. You can stop voting tribally. You can stop letting corrupt elections slide. You have options, you have power. It is only because politicians know you will not burn the whole place down that they continue doing what they are doing. There is no threat to their life or their lifestyle. But you hold the power, if only you would use it.
5. The Rest of the world.
We are tacitly approving the impoverishment and degradation of human beings like those in Sierra Leone with our everyday choices. Giving to charity? You are part of the problem. I will do a blog on this subject separately, but believe you me, Rock bottom is a place everyone needs to go to. I say it again. Rock bottom is a place everyone needs to go to. Therefore for as long as you give to charity, building schools and roads and hospitals that their own government will not do. Their own neighbours and people who live with them and see these poor often amputee people in Sierra Leone and do absolutely nothing. Then you are part of the problem. If you don’t buy fairtrade, you are part of the problem. If you are investing in any sort of mining companies, you are part of the problem. We are so wrapped up in our own problems that we can’t see that we are the cause of other peoples. You don’t need cheap clothes from Bangladesh made by children. You don’t need cheap electronics made by Chinese slave workers. (as the descendant of slaves I do not use those words lightly) we are the rod for someone else’s back. I’m not saying “ditch capitalism” I’m saying be mindful. Your decisions matter.
So now we sing “Sa Lone is the country who thinks she fly and is also known as a basket case. Always talking bout how good she is but sits on her broke ass.”
Grace and Courage.
Annetta Mother Smith.