Seriously though….optimism isn’t adopted simply because it’s bad to have a negative outlook or even because it’s good to have a good one, optimism is usually adopted because it gives you more power to act…..I am not actually proposing optimism, I am proposing that instead of asking ,”What’s wrong with Africa?” we ask, “How can we use all the resources we have been blessed with thus far to improve Africa?”

Lest we forget, fifty years ago we were on colonial gulags picking tea and coffee for the Lord Barings of the world so in some respects we have made some forward motion though sadly it’s only affected a minority of us.

Every European nation has been a colony or oppressed at some point in their history…if they simply adopted a fatalistic view, I highly doubt they would be in the positions of dominance they’re currently in. Lest we forget that the States was founded by some oppressed folk from England and apparently Britain was once a colony of Rome and so on and son on…..

If you look at the US and Europe a century or two ago, I’m sure you’ll find most of the statistics were similar to those of Africa and yet those nations got to work, the unions organized and fought until child labour was abolished, they had an 8 hour workday, women’s rights were acquired, civil rights etc etc…lest we forget there were movements around each of these issues just as there is an environmental one now.

I really don’t know whether we need a strong leader like Gaddafi or Garvey or we simply need a strong civil society, but I think both hypothesis are worth testing as the means (i.e. the leadership and economic structure) don’t matter as much as the result of a more egalitarian and equal society.

As for Asia, in truth that land is truly one where they have manufactured economic miracles. But if you have lived in the diaspora like I have you look at Asian people, White people and all people and realize they are human beings with just as much potential as you do. Therefore rather than sitting and sulking on what the Asians have that we don’t, let’s ask them what they did to turn their country around, study what Europe and the States did to turn their nations around (not what they tell us they did, what they really did) and attempt to implement them.

Wasn’t one of the foundations of the US and European economy clothing manufacturing which stole a lot of its methods from Asia? Let’s learn from our brothers and sisters…..Asia isn’t a reminder of our failure as a continent, it’s a target and an ideal to learn from and work towards.

You say i am a doomsdayR: I think, to have false optimism, just because people tell you it is bad to be negative, while you know that you are actualy dying, is, what, madness? Better, say: “I am dying. I need help” instead of saying “The devil is a liar. I am well!”

Also check out the Pygmalion effect here for further illustration http://www.answers.com/topic/pygmalion-effect?cat=health

Isn’t an idea or information only as valuable as its application….me thinks if we adopt this view to ideas and information in general it makes us much more effective as human beings and we have a huge output of great action instead of endless information input.