The road to hell is paved with good intentions.
“Instead of just wishing me a ‘Happy Birthday’ I’d love for you to consider donating $3 towards eradicating Malaria in Malawi. I’m turning 24 and want to raise $240 to support this great cause.”
Although I spend little time on Facebook these days, I saw this status of a close friend of mine who was raising money for a former classmate of his. While such holier-than-thou signalling is common on Facebook, this request caught my eye. His friend “is doing great things in Malawi” (sic) such as building houses for Malawians, supporting widows and orphans, fighting malaria and HIV. His NGO’s Facebook page reminded me of The Sims, a video game in which you build housing for helpless automata and then help run their lives. In Malawi, he was building his Sims homes, buying them schoolbooks, paying their school tuition, and then watching them make even more Sims. “Oh look!” reads another update, “Their first baby has been born…. Changing the world is easier than you think,” writes their patron.
“Simply donate $2.”
It seems so fun and harmless at a first glance: a SWPL donates some cash and a Malawian gets a house or, a mosquito net, at least. The SWPL thinks he’s being a good Samaritan and the Malawian’s happy for the help. Everybody wins. In reality, things are not that simple. In the long-run, a dollar does nothing for Malawi; Malawi need the forces of evolution and natural selection acting on its population for many many generations to really improve its situation.
International aid NGOs pour billions of dollars annually into the poorest countries with the belief that if they tackle those countries’ immediate challenges, such as hunger, epidemics, housing shortages, and lack of basic hygiene, the counties will “escape from poverty.” What they don’t do is help the underdeveloped countries to become capable of addressing those challenges without external assistance. Multiple studies have indicated over and over again that foreign financial aid is just a permeable bandaid solution to persistent problems. In the long run, aid programs make these countries more dependent on assistance. International handouts cannot give Malawi the mean IQ of China, South Korea, or Ukraine, three countries that used to be desperately poor but subsequently developed. Iodine and Iron supplementation might help Malawians marginally close the gap, but the truth is Malawians need to experience the same selection pressures as Europeans on a thousand-year timescale.
Turning back to a specific intervention, the anti-malaria nets, for which he was raising money, often fail to serve their intended purpose. Prioritizing the immediate problem of hunger over the distant risk of getting malaria, Africans use these nets for fishing, which has caused an ecological disaster in local waters. Fish are harvested so quickly and so extensively that their population stocks have crashed. As a result, Africans are back to the brink of famine. The average New York Times reader exclaims, “Oh, what a vicious circle!”
“Spend $10 on a net and save a life” – what an easy sales pitch for the kind and noble NGO worker. But wait – do we really want to save a life? In whites across the world, the average fertility rate is 1.8 offspring per woman. In Malawi – it’s 5.47 per woman, meaning that a single Malawian man might have up to 15 children in his life span, as polygamy is still widespread in primitive African cultures. Malawi has a population of over 17 million. By 2100, the population is forecast to increase five fold to over 87 million people. Where will Malawi get food and medicine for another 70 million Malawians? Likely the same NGOs as today, bulked up to handle even greater problems.
Although their motivations were generally not humanitarian, European colonization brought Africa revolutionary declines in child mortality, as well as access to basic hygiene and medicine. The result has been a staggering continent-wide population boom.
Africa’s share of global population rose from 9% in 1950 to 12% today. On top of the positive legacy of colonialism (e.g. infrastructure, schools, roads, mines, irrigation, etc.), today, Africa receives generous international handouts that further cut African mortality rates. The African population boom continues unabated. Right now, the annual growth rate is 2.6%, implying a population doubling every 28 years. With this growth rate as a backdrop, Africa’s share of global population is expected to rise to 25% by 2050 and 39% by 2100.
In a sort of dark humor, the UN recently raised African estimates because unlike every other population group, whose rising wealth led to falling birthrates, Africans show very minimal reductions in fecundity, regardless of their economic conditions. Meanwhile, the global white population is growing at a rate of 0.5% per year. Although the U.S. population is projected to grow by 89 million residents from 2010 to 2050 and amount to 401 million, much of that growth will be Asians, blacks and Hispanics. Whites are expected to represent only 44%. From 2000 to 2100, Europe’s share of world population is expected to be cut in half: 12.0 to 5.9%.
Looks like I might need to crack open The Rising Tide.
The rapid population growth in the world’s poorest countries like Malawi will only exacerbate hunger, malnutrition and the spread of infectious diseases. Additionally, the African population boom will mean an even greater flood of African immigrants streaming towards developed countries. Absent massive political changes in Europe, the “migrant crisis” of 2015 will seem like a joke in 2025. Even America is going to be subject to this surge. A recent Pew Research study showed that African immigration to the U.S. has increased from 80,000 in 1970 to 1.83 million in 2013, and the rate shows no signs of falling.
People donate to Africa for many reasons – some do it to publicly status signal, others do it because of pathological white guilt, and I admit there are some “pure” altruists. In this case, however, the fact that it was an evangelical Protestant operating the NGO makes his motives more transparent. First and foremost, helping those “in need” likely does produce positive “feels.” Second, his work in Africa is closely tied to his church, which should help them gain converts. These good works should help grease the skids into heaven. Lastly, founding and leading an NGO which helps Africans gives him a golden ticket to Stanford GSB or Kennedy School of Government. The bottom line remains. Even if his motivations are kind and pure, raising funds for charity programs in Africa is, at best, a waste of money, and at worst, contributes to a population explosion that will more than likely end with a combination of famine, pandemics, and mass migration to the West.
At the very worst, it will lead to war and radical population reduction measures.
What scares me is the fact that, to a Western Liberal, civil war, famine, etc. justifies even more acceptance of Refugees. If European frogmen don’t start sinking the ships, within a few years one could easily imagine 100,000 Sub-Saharan Africans landing on the shores of Spain, France, and Italy per week. Given an unarmed invasion like that, Europe would be done for.
The only way this insanity will stop is when enough Eloi begin to experience, daily, the consequences of their actions. Their children suffer beatings and useless schools that are little more than holding pens. Their property values and quality of life collapse. Until then the madness will not end and I suspect may even escalate.
The idea of Human Rights has proven to be catastrophic for the white race. Blacks and Muslims have zero interest in this strange, foolish infidel idea and cannot believe their dumb luck. The more resentful and envious they become the more they live around whites. You can see this in the most liberal of all gentrifying places on earth, Washington, DC. A post at a forum rages against white privilege, racism, etc. at these hardcore feminized liberals. There are increasing instances of violence towards card carrying Obama voters. All 13 DC council members are Democrat. The only Repub who ran recently had his headquarters vandalized, probably by gays. DC is in true race war mode from blacks who have lived with whites for 400 years. But we absolutely must import more and more, plus Muslims for good measure. Total Madness.
The Eloi are increasingly baffled, fearful and enraged by black and Muslim violence. Being “caring” and “tolerant” they cannot defend themselves. However, they demand more police/military to do the dirty work. But their policies tie the hands of those appointed to defend them. The dwindling numbers of competent police are fearful of reprisals if something goes wrong. And because they lack support the police/military become demoralized and ineffectual.
If you try to point this out in a reasonable voice the Eloi become very angry. The feedback loop is broken, they never learn, and the “cycle of violence” increases as more blacks and Muslims are imported.
“Even if his motivations are kind and pure, raising funds for charity programs in Africa is, at best, a waste of money, and at worst, contributes to a population explosion that will more than likely end with a combination of famine, pandemics, and mass migration to the West.”
Yup, the Malthusian ceiling is a rubber-sheet that is bound to snap back, and then some.
Everything you say is true with the exception of “International aid NGOs pour billions of dollars annually into the poorest countries with the belief that if they tackle those countries’ immediate challenges, such as hunger, epidemics, housing shortages, and lack of basic hygiene, the counties will “escape from poverty.”
Where does the money really go? How much of it really winds up “helping” anyone?
For example, after Typhoon Yolanda in the Philippines, billions were supposedly donated to the various relief agencies but to-date places like Tacloban are still in shambles. No one accounts for who gave what (at least publicly); who received what; where the money went; and what was actually put to use for the public good. Instead land that people used to live on is expropriated for private building projects and other things that look like they will “raise” the city from the ashes but in truth will only make money for a few. Lazy journalists do not hold their SJW agency brethren to account, nor do lazy contributors or board members of said “do-gooder” organizations hold said not-for-profit leaderships accountable for directing funds to causes to which donations were made. It is all a big scam in the first place with consequences that only feed their machine. The problem only gets worse, the need continues to grow and the PR machine cranks up every time an opportunity “too good to waste” comes around.
I was reading a blog where someone was helping raise funds for a missionary to go help some poor village in south america build a well. I asked myself, “What ever happened to self reliance?” What did the Aztecs, Mayans, and Incas do before the white man and his missionaries and NGO’s came around? Didn’t they move to water sources? Didn’t they make their own wells? Didn’t they simply hump buckets of water from the source to where it was needed? Didn’t they improvise like the Romans and build aqueducts?
Let these people fend for themselves. Where is it written that America or the Western World must end poverty, hunger and suffering for the entire planet when it’s population keeps growing at an exponential rate? Good grief. Where is the common sense? The SJW’s have convoluted the Christian message of spreading the message of salvation with acts of good works, and then perverted it by doing those works with other peoples money of which only a small fraction actually gets spent on its intended purpose. It’s all a big scam. Like civil rights in the US, it is an industry.
Agreed, that too.
China is rapidly taking over the eastern coast of Africa.
I respect the Chinese for their very very long view of history and a pragmatic approach to political challenges.
4 Billion Africans is a global problem, it’s not hard to guess how the Chinese will approach this issue.
I do regret that the beautiful wildlife of Africa will be long gone before this happens.
Barely_Intrepid,
Thanks for commenting. You brought up some really good points. I think as long as hunting in Africa is legal and well managed, the wildlife will be fine. However, with the aforementioned trends it seems like all the large mammals will be going extinct in our lifetime.
Illegal hunting of rhino horn is a serious problem, and mostly the fault of the Chinese, but the production of synthetic horn has been approaching such a point where eventually it could replace the real thing.
You mentioned China in your post. Could you elaborate more about how you think China will deal with the situation in Africa?
Jim
I try to tell my fellow Christians about these realities all the time and they never listen. They want that temporary hit of “feels” to make them think their doing something.
I’ll second that. When it comes to signalling virtue I don’t think there’s much difference between the secular “progressive” Christian sect and “theistic” Christians. I’ve got Christian relatives that do the Doctors-and-Dentists-without-borders thing and they bask in holier-than-thou righteousness—they do it for the “saint badge”, the pats on the shoulder and the admiration/adoration (i.e. status in their church).
This is a very timely article and needs to be repeated.
My brother and his family donate to African charities for Christmas.
I do not and am deliberate about that point. This is a source of consternation, and perhaps surprise for some.
They are status and moral signalling their superiority as someone else’s expense.
I always wonder: Why are you sending charity to non-whites in Africa when you are creating the opportunity to do charity for non-whites right in your community. And usually without your consent through taxation!!!
The opportunities are limitless!! So dig in and then tell me all about it!!
As a kid, I spent some time on the Okavango Delta in Botswana. It is a mind bogglingly beautiful place, teeming with wildlife and incredible fishing. At the time, you could take a small boat with an outboard up a seemingly limitless number of channels. When you were thirsty, you could stick your face in the cool water and get your fill, without the risk of catching Bilharzia.
If U.N. growth projections are correct, I can’t see the place existing much longer—it’ll get raped and pillaged in trying to satisfy the insatiable demand for fresh, potable water. As for Chinese development, this physically beautiful continent will be razed to the ground, and covered in asphalt and concrete, never mind the demand for snorting rails of powdered black rhino horn off exquisite ebony furniture.