A real world perspective
I figure the most important conversation i've had in a long time should be documented somewhere:
[13:33] alaced16: nothing so new here though...i feel like i've been living here for ever...
[13:33] alaced16: went on a township tour though
[13:34] alaced16: where like 80% of the population lives
[13:34] alaced16: it was serious
[13:34] alaced16: i damn near cried i don't know how many times\
[13:34] Aluball17: what's the deal there
[13:34] alaced16: like...810 kids in this small ass school...
[13:34] alaced16: well...
[13:34] Aluball17: poverty ?
[13:34] alaced16: lots of poverty
[13:35] Aluball17: like we never seen huh ?
[13:35] alaced16: like cape town is gorgeous with excellent real estate beaches etc,. but only 20% of the ppulation lives there
[13:35] alaced16: like never
[13:35] Aluball17: sounds like brazil
[13:35] alaced16: just like brazil...i actually took photos...i felt a way about doing it..but i had to be able to remember
[13:35] alaced16: and i made friends with some lil kids and stuff
[13:35] alaced16: but yo chris...it is soo serious
[13:36] Aluball17: werd
[13:36] Aluball17: are you goin back anywhere
[13:36] Aluball17: like SA
[13:36] alaced16: like would i come back again in the future
[13:36] alaced16: ?
[13:36] Aluball17: yea
[13:36] alaced16: for sure...i have so many mixed feelings about this place
[13:37] alaced16: its too beautiful not to love it..but too impoverished for oyu to ignore how people are suffering
[13:37] alaced16: the class system is absurd
[13:37] alaced16: but the thing about it is that no one seems to be complaining about it...that's what's getting me...and i don't mean it in a negaative way
[13:38] alaced16: but really...people just keep doing them...working hard...trying to maitain for their families
[13:38] alaced16: but its the kids that bug me out though...
[13:38] alaced16: they are really going through alot
[13:39] alaced16: i did the robben island tour to go see nelson mandela's prison two weeks ago
[13:39] alaced16: that was cool...
[13:39] alaced16: choppy boat ride though
[13:40] alaced16: thought i was going to hurl 3x
[13:41] Aluball17: werd
[13:41] Aluball17: but compared to ghana
[13:43] alaced16: well compared to ghana I can't definitively say that the poverty is greater but it seems so because of the way that the living conditions are so segregated...in Ghana people are like 98% black so the disparity between classes although great is a lot less where you have a nummerous amounts of whites, coloured and indian all who are living economically well above the blacks
[13:43] alaced16: so i would say that because of the beauty of the place and the vast development and urbanization, it only makes the poverty look that much worse
.[13:44] alaced16: imagine the slums of brazil right across the street from the opulence of san diego
[13:44] alaced16: and that is cape town
[13:44] Aluball17: i see ... this is gonna be a dumb question
[13:44] Aluball17: but what kinda coruption in the gov't takes place
[13:44] Aluball17: to keep this structure in place
[13:44] alaced16: down here?'
[13:45] alaced16: well not really much corruption is needed...its just not taking active reformation policies after apartheid...the gov has just been slow to reverse the kind of segregation that took place before democracy came here in 94. It really is an issue of no one government wanting to rock the boat to much since racial tensions were volatile in the past
[13:46] alaced16: like right now they are talking about land redistribution and everyone is really timid b/c they are afraid to be too radical
[13:33] alaced16: nothing so new here though...i feel like i've been living here for ever...
[13:33] alaced16: went on a township tour though
[13:34] alaced16: where like 80% of the population lives
[13:34] alaced16: it was serious
[13:34] alaced16: i damn near cried i don't know how many times\
[13:34] Aluball17: what's the deal there
[13:34] alaced16: like...810 kids in this small ass school...
[13:34] alaced16: well...
[13:34] Aluball17: poverty ?
[13:34] alaced16: lots of poverty
[13:35] Aluball17: like we never seen huh ?
[13:35] alaced16: like cape town is gorgeous with excellent real estate beaches etc,. but only 20% of the ppulation lives there
[13:35] alaced16: like never
[13:35] Aluball17: sounds like brazil
[13:35] alaced16: just like brazil...i actually took photos...i felt a way about doing it..but i had to be able to remember
[13:35] alaced16: and i made friends with some lil kids and stuff
[13:35] alaced16: but yo chris...it is soo serious
[13:36] Aluball17: werd
[13:36] Aluball17: are you goin back anywhere
[13:36] Aluball17: like SA
[13:36] alaced16: like would i come back again in the future
[13:36] alaced16: ?
[13:36] Aluball17: yea
[13:36] alaced16: for sure...i have so many mixed feelings about this place
[13:37] alaced16: its too beautiful not to love it..but too impoverished for oyu to ignore how people are suffering
[13:37] alaced16: the class system is absurd
[13:37] alaced16: but the thing about it is that no one seems to be complaining about it...that's what's getting me...and i don't mean it in a negaative way
[13:38] alaced16: but really...people just keep doing them...working hard...trying to maitain for their families
[13:38] alaced16: but its the kids that bug me out though...
[13:38] alaced16: they are really going through alot
[13:39] alaced16: i did the robben island tour to go see nelson mandela's prison two weeks ago
[13:39] alaced16: that was cool...
[13:39] alaced16: choppy boat ride though
[13:40] alaced16: thought i was going to hurl 3x
[13:41] Aluball17: werd
[13:41] Aluball17: but compared to ghana
[13:43] alaced16: well compared to ghana I can't definitively say that the poverty is greater but it seems so because of the way that the living conditions are so segregated...in Ghana people are like 98% black so the disparity between classes although great is a lot less where you have a nummerous amounts of whites, coloured and indian all who are living economically well above the blacks
[13:43] alaced16: so i would say that because of the beauty of the place and the vast development and urbanization, it only makes the poverty look that much worse
.[13:44] alaced16: imagine the slums of brazil right across the street from the opulence of san diego
[13:44] alaced16: and that is cape town
[13:44] Aluball17: i see ... this is gonna be a dumb question
[13:44] Aluball17: but what kinda coruption in the gov't takes place
[13:44] Aluball17: to keep this structure in place
[13:44] alaced16: down here?'
[13:45] alaced16: well not really much corruption is needed...its just not taking active reformation policies after apartheid...the gov has just been slow to reverse the kind of segregation that took place before democracy came here in 94. It really is an issue of no one government wanting to rock the boat to much since racial tensions were volatile in the past
[13:46] alaced16: like right now they are talking about land redistribution and everyone is really timid b/c they are afraid to be too radical
posted by Anil at 7:00 PM
1 Comments:
Definitely an interesting convo. I think that this kind of stuff happens in a lot of places. Right now, I'm reading about Africa kind of from a different perspective - Angelina Jolie's to be exact. Intellectually, it might not have much value, but the book is her diary as she traveled to a bunch of places as a Goodwill Ambassador for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. "Soft," but gives her impressions as she's traveling - it's pretty sad, and so many times it's caused me to tear. Umm.. well, I kinda went off on a tangent, but yesh, damn interesting convo.
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