Why is Socialism so Prevalent in Africa? | George Ayittey

George Ayittey is a Ghanian economist and the founder and president of the Free Africa Foundation. He also taught economics at American University and is an associate scholar at the Foreign Policy Research Institute.
Ayittey talks about the failure of Africa's experiments with socialism throughout the 20th century. He tells stories about the inefficiency, waste, and bureaucratic corruption in countries like Ghana, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe, and says that wrangling Africa's political class is of paramount importance when it comes to African development.
Full talk from the Future of Freedom Conference in 1989, in San Francisco, licenced under creative common: • The Failure of African...
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[@Lowbrow_Mthakathi]

I wish my African political thought courses included this man and not the men he is speaking of.

[@hshs5756]

I found that the two videos I watched just before this one equipped me much better to understand what he was saying. They are this kzbin.info/www/bejne/qITXfWqknrdqndU and this kzbin.info/www/bejne/n5jCoqOEm717f7c

[@brandanb9735]

Similar issue in my global history courses. The postcolonial process and global wealth inequality are ALWAYS presented through the Marxist lens. I wish I knew of Dr. Ayittey earlier.

[@brucelomax3375]

Africa has been on foreign aid longer than most Canadian/British taxpayers have been born. Let that sink in. Why? Enquiring minds need know.

[@Tounushi]

I wonder what would happen to Africa when the gibs end permanently.

[@kmg501]

Why? Because of egalitarians, that is why. They are despicable short sighted fools who imagine themselves enlightened and virtuous. They are neither, they are just stupid meddling fools.

[@DrEhrfurchtgebietend]

The British empire invested more money in africa than it got out

[@Veldtian1]

R Selection breeding behaviorism.

[@shauncameron8390]

@@kmg501 Namely bleeding hearts and activists.

[@2Hesiod]

Socialism accuses capitalism of it's own worst fault: exploitation.

[@billmelater6470]

It's projection.

[@2Hesiod]

@@billmelater6470 It's the Left...

[@2Hesiod]

@@billmelater6470 It is projection because, at bottom, socialism is envy and envy is at bottom destructive. Instead of improving themselves, envious people tear down others. They take from others instead of improving themselves.

[@charlesross9260]

@@2Hesiod Socialism sounds so very attractive because everyone would be working together for the benefit of all.

[@2Hesiod]

@@charlesross9260 Holy pretenses.

[@simonsebuliba510]

This man is the African Thomas Sowell!!!!! I didn't know about Dr. George Ayiteey

[@AhmedAlsawi-fj1hn]

❤❤

[@nrm224]

Bingo.

[@jamessakeah9791]

These were the stooges used by the west to do their bidding in Africa.

[@afro_samurai8713]

⁠@@jamessakeah9791maybe you’re so brainwashed by socialist ideology you consider strong opposing views as those from western stooges, maybe…

[@kimwiser445]

I saw a video about how the shoe company Toms puts shoe companies in Africa out of business. They donate shoes in Africa when you buy their shoes. The unintended consequence is that this has forced small shoe maker businesses to close. I wonder how much of the aid that is given does more harm than good?

[@sequorroxx]

That is actually one of the best weapons of USAID, the IMF, and other globalist financial manipulators. They dump a lot of food and agricultural products onto these societies, heavily subsidized so that locals can't compete. Local government rulers get to dole out the 'free stuff' and get re-elected(or the dictatorial equivalent). This drives out farmers and empties villages, forcing people into the urban centers of these third world countries. Then, the rulers put them to work making cheap goods to export to western nations, per the conditions on the foreign aid by these globalist economic hitmen. Multi-national corporations move their factories over seas and we suffer both the taxes to fund this foreign "aid" and job losses.

[@jasonc0065]

One form of aid that would do net good is paving the roads. Give them the interstate network already. Why don't they do that? We solve the water crisis but not the road crisis. Roads help the revolution. That's why. French sabotage in a nutshell.

[@peterquill2131]

Best medication for the suffering in Africa is to cut all aid and let them take responsibility for themselves.

[@placesandspaces3489]

How about the Westerners and others who need our resources pay fair market prices instead of making deals with corrupt officials to cheat the African citizens. How about not assassinating the leaders who are visionaries and attempted programs within the nations that clearly were working. Then, we wouldn't need your aid.

[@はくミッツ]

same for Palestine

[@audience2]

40 years later and the most successful parts of Africa have returned to free market capitalism.

[@brandanb9735]

True. It's an underreported and underappreciated trend.

[@shauncameron8390]

Including the once-socialist Ghana.

[@MrFwalk]

Lol almost every nation in Africa is capitalist. Interesting you said the most successful parts. Nigeria is a staunch capitalist nation. I wouldn't call that successful. Ghana, my own country is calling for socialism to come back.

[@MrFwalk]

Lol almost every African country is capitalist. Interesting you said the most successful parts. Nigeria is a staunch capitalist nation and has been for a long time. Ghana, the country he is talking about and my country is calling for socialism to come back. So I don't understand what you are saying here.

[@jasonc0065]

Even the DRC today seems to have stumbled onto it. Amini Cishugi is Congolese capitalist.

[@megaman1808]

It's important to remember that the Mali, Ghana and Songhai empires had a huge advantage that made it possible for them to become mighty and important, and that was access to metallurgy, a large river for agriculture and transportation, and Horses. These three things were only possible to get in the western part of Sub-Saharan Africa, a geographic area between a dessert to the north and a rainforest to the south

[@KuftuKa]

Everyone should read Ayittey

[@DoctorDejay]

A great addition of knowledge of where those wars in starving African countries back in the 80s and 90s came from. We all knew it was Socialism, but an inside perspective of inner workings is even better.

[@petuniawigglebottom3392]

Excellent lecture, and it should be required viewing in the u.s..

[@MoreSkulls]

Given the awesome history of governments, it's hard to believe that the people in charge would be corrupt.

[@brianbob7514]

This really makes me sad

[@NathansHVAC]

Cheer up. Life is better now even in the socialist schiff holes.

[@anaconda470]

Extraordinary. Noone talks about socialism in Africa. Everyone is blaming 19th century colonialism for current economical failure of the continent. Like the second half of the 20th century never existed.

[@nrm224]

Love this speech

[@jamesstaggs4160]

Didn't know Lenin equated colonialism with capitalism. I can't really find any similarities between them but nobody said leftists ever have any idea what they're talking about.

[@jasonc0065]

There are similarities with crony capitalism. Letting corporations become foreign policy is the cruelest form that it takes.

[@laisphinto6372]

that isnt capitalism that is coorporatism and coorporatism is fascism

[@calabash4221]

Just remember that prior to colonialism Europe sent their corporate to enter into agreements with the indigenous people and hence paved way for colonialism

[@thisisobviouslynotmyrealname]

its ironical that the Soviet Union was the last imperialist power in the western world.

[@dongaetano3687]

PI, can't support at this time as old guy working hard, but hope for a better year coming. Not here too often but your pick of vids is always excellent. I see the pics in my notifications and wish I had time to view them all. Great work - have a good 2020

[@tacitustoday3571]

The trans saharan trade and the east African trade was primarily Arabic. The black free markets as he calls them were places of bata not free markets as we understand them today. In this clip at least he does not mention the tribalism that play such a huge role in producing basket case black failed states.

[@vrldc8966]

I would think that the fact that they are peasant enterprises and they might be based on barter doesn't make them any less free markets. They're just not free markets applied to the economy of scale that we have in capitalism today.

[@u.802]

rest in peace mr ayittey

[@teweldeambassajir4856]

He is exactly right about Ethiopia.

[@benjaminlamptey1867]

Wow, somebody already said much of what I've been trying to say in 1989😅. And he's also a Ga man😂. And he also knows some African history, almost everyone you ever get to meet is completely ignorant of African history. I gotta meet this guy.

[@sonofode902]

Curse of Ham. Vicious cycle of enslaved and to enslave mentality (spirit). It is not physical (skin), its metaphysical, in other word it is mentality, principle, values, tradition passed down through generations on that part of the world. Gin

[@ericevans8211]

I loved the presentation, but think there was another reason Socialism failed in Africa: it was tried.

[@AnAn___]

Any currently living economists similar to George Ayittey?

[@theashdey9383]

What Africa MUST do to develop even faster than the west or China : - Very low personal income tax rate - Very low corporate tax rate - Very low capital gains tax rate - A law that requires that for every regulation that is passed, two or more regulations must be abolished. - Most if not all state-owned companies must be fully privatized. With these measures, some parts of Africa will even look like Dubai and poverty in Africa will be a distant memory.

[@saidabeid8249]

This was done already by the third president of Tanzania but nothing changes, He privatized all the companies owned by the government during his time of presidency till now tanzania still is a poor country with all resources it has.Infact is the only country with Tanzanite worthful stones.I don't know what should be done to help Africa

[@DrEhrfurchtgebietend]

Wanna see this guy talk with thomas sowell

[@mustang607]

Why are authoritarian regimes so prevalent in Africa?

[@bolbox7040]

People with low iq live there.

[@goosiechild]

you heard the man. it's all whitey's fault.

[@goosiechild]

@Omne Obstat the idea of authoritarian rule? pretty sure they had that before colonialism, Rousseau. along with slavery, child sacrifice and vampires.

[@shauncameron8390]

This is what socialism enables.

[@laisphinto6372]

socialism

[@joanhuffman2166]

Foreign aid takes money from poor people in rich countries and gives it to rich people in poor countries.

[@michieleverett6665]

With the exception of a few countries the continent of Africa remains in the third world. Socialism promises all but never delivers.,

[@laisphinto6372]

with all the focus on white people they really should have look at eastern europe because the exact same things happened there

[@richardque4952]

In 1960.ghana has average income is slightly higher than south korea.10 years later is was complete reverse.

[@jasonc0065]

"With the possible exception of land". He concedes a talking point to Malema. Seretse Khama nationalized diamonds. CIMCO could have been the Francophone Debswana, if it weren't for the Assassination. Some mixed economy solutions worked. CIA being evil is also part of the story. Georges Nzongola-Ntalaja writes that Nkrumah's false gospel corrupted most Congolese leaders. Ghanaian soldiers betrayed them. Does Ayittey understand?

[@spencerantoniomarlen-starr3069]

Of course the CIA is evil and has been for a long time. But something being immoral tells you absolutely nothing about how it effected the economies and polities of countries in the long run.

[@ubuntuawakening4577]

I think Ayittey has completely bought into the religion of capitalism. I don't think he is interested in other Geopolitical factors that also contributed to the outcomes we had. I mean, in South Africa we largely have the same economic model we had during colonialism, with a few Blacks becoming rich and the masses becoming poor. So it is not my experience that capitalism is the bedrock of prosperity. In fact, I would argue that many decolonial scholars foresaw present day South Africa decades ago and therefore Lenin's argument that capitalism is the extension of colonialism seems to hold some Truth. Just for clarity, I don't believe in any ideology, we need to apply whatever approach will yield the best outcomes for us. But first we need to get rid of foreign interference! How the hell are we supposed to frickin get anything done with these foreign interests in our backyard??? This is what I hate about Western hypocrisy, they want to revise history so it absolves them from the devastation of colonialism and slavery. That's why I don't take many Western commentators seriously, they don't know what they talking about. This has been our lived experience for the past 500 or so years. By the way, one of the biggest reasons life is so nice on your side of the world is the exploitation of Africa's resources. If you care so much about Afrika, pressure your governments to withdraw from their economic interests in our countries and we can establish new trade relations based on terms that also benefit the majority of our people.

[@jasonc0065]

@@ubuntuawakening4577 for being a capitalist, I wonder why Ayittey praises the Obama economy. Any American capitalist knows that Obama is a communist and that the Obama economy sucked. The assassination of Gaddafi is actually eastern imperialism from a disciple of communist Bill Ayers. Ayittey approves of this assassination. I expected Ayittey to agree with Thomas Sowell on both capitalism and colorblindness, but I am seeing something very different in the way in which Ghana's capitalists support an ideology that hates whites and blames them for 1619. It is time for whites to hate capitalism now. Profit motivates divide and conquer in general. Lumumba turned out to be color-blind, and we never knew. The CIA hides stuff from us.

[@Inkognito91]

The "Wealth based on Free Market" argument not completly correct. The wealth for example of the Malian Empire based to a huge margin on taxing the salt and gold trade.

[@joanhuffman2166]

1. Socialism was the idea of the day at the time of independence for most African countries. 2. Socialism gives to educated people much greater opportunities to exercise power over others. At the same time it limits the consequences of bad decisions to the person exercising this power.

[@JanstonCordell]

The solution to this question is simple: Both Communism and Socialism prey upon the stupid.

[@laisphinto6372]

socialism is the root . communism is an offspring just like fascism and Nationak socialism is an offspring of socialism. all promise paradise to the people,all centralize Power into one single authority and all have one enemy the evil capitalist to blame when it fails. the thing is it "works" at first all the time especially when the country has riches when it spends it away but in the long run corruption sets in, Ressources are wasted and nobody wants to work. the socialist state Hungers for more Ressources and it wnats it immidiatly so it goes after its people or like most of them wants to feast on other nations

[@ubuntuawakening4577]

I think Ayittey has completely bought into the religion of capitalism. I don't think he is interested in other Geopolitical factors that also contributed to the outcomes we had. I mean, in South Africa we largely have the same economic model we had during colonialism, with a few Blacks becoming rich and the masses becoming poor. So it is not my experience that capitalism is the bedrock of prosperity. In fact, I would argue that many decolonial scholars foresaw present day South Africa decades ago and therefore Lenin's argument that capitalism is the extension of colonialism seems to hold some Truth. Just for clarity, I don't believe in any ideology, we need to apply whatever approach will yield the best outcomes for us. But first we need to get rid of foreign interference! How the hell are we supposed to frickin get anything done with these foreign interests in our backyard??? This is what I hate about Western hypocrisy, they want to revise history so it absolves them from the devastation of colonialism and slavery. That's why I don't take many Western commentators seriously, they don't know what they talking about. This has been our lived experience for the past 500 or so years. By the way, one of the biggest reasons life is so nice on your side of the world is the exploitation of Africa's resources. If you care so much about Afrika, pressure your governments to withdraw from their economic interests in our countries and we can establish new trade relations based on terms that also benefit the majority of our people.

[@mistycloud4455]

A.G.I Will be mans last invention

[@sebbyapudo7357]

I don't agree with most of what this guy is saying. First because I think that him and many other people erroneously view socialism as an American would (I.e tainted western propaganda way of looking at it) or second he does not fully understand what socialism is and it's variations. Most if not all traditional African societies were theoretically socialist (Living communally/Sharing resources comunally etc..). I think most Communist (Marxist-Leninnist) African countries "failed" for lack of a better word because of Western interferrence

[@sickandtired967]

Muh not real socialism

[@I-am-not-a-number]

Social justice for whites in Africa.

[@hrosemd]

Sic semper...

[@nsyln]

Can capitalism and nature coexist in the long run? Can socialism and nature coexist in the long run?

[@thastayapongsak4422]

Former is true, Latter is impossible. Capitalism is the nature of human.

[@nsyln]

@@thastayapongsak4422 I actually believe that both will fail within today's context of nationhood.

[@nsyln]

@justin miller Let me clarify what I meant. Socialism was never developed as a one nation concept but as a concept that all nations should develop with a centralised governing principle while today's concept of nationhood can never allow a truly free market.

[@nsyln]

@nickyiil When I say nature I am referring to every concept of sustainable development where man and his environment thrive without stating any economic or technological basis.

[@nicosmind3]

@@nsyln Look at the Briitsh fishing industry before the EU ruined it with the common fishery policy (theres a well know fallacy called the Tragedy of the Commons). Before the EU fishermen all had their separate patches and it was withing their interest to not over fish it and keep is sustainable. But within years of that policy starting the fishing stocks were decimated and the fishing industry dramatically shrank. Whole towns which had many fishing boats seen those boats completely disappear. From a town with 100s of fishermen go to zero. And the EU sti doesnt understand or care about the cause, and doing nothing which will actually address the problem. Instead theyve introduce quotas but those quotas are causing more problems. Nets dont care about quotas and by the time the fishermen hall them in most of those fish are dead. But rather than return to port cause theyve enough fish to make their trip worth while they instead have to dump them overboard and keep looking for fish theyre allowed to collect. Then kill more theyre not allowed or reached their quota. Dump them over board and try again

[@hugh-johnfleming289]

Legislative ignorance.

[@DrFumesta]

Before I watch I'm gonna guess it has something to do with the sub 90 IQ levels.

[@NathansHVAC]

You didnt watch

[@dolomaticus1180]

Nope, its called socialism, it will wreck any country who tries it and here is a fun fact: the people pushing it have IQ levels easily above 120, but are all in on the delusion.

[@daniellassander]

So if you watched the video, what was it really about, and was IQ ever mentioned?

[@spencerantoniomarlen-starr3069]

IQ was never mentioned in the video

[@stoneageprude3021]

Rip

[@dominicsoore8967]

Shameless so call economist

[@di-li]

До чего не умный человек. Или лжец. Марксизм он, судя по его тезисам, не знает и не понимает. Отстаивает интересы буржуазии. What a stupid person. Or a liar. Marxism, judging by his theses, he does not know and does not understand. Defends the interests of the bourgeoisie.

[@ankundamwebembezi6358]

A new group of bourgeoisie is formed under marxism