Democratic Illusion - Weapons of Economic Non-Engagement
Kim.E guides you through what numerous countries, mostly in Africa, have in common. She expresses her opinion on the journeys that led to those commonalities, and reveals historic events to validate her claims. Kim.E discusses the impact Western colonialism and neocolonialism have on those regions, as well as the capitalist ideologies that have contributed to the poverty in those countries, and claims that democracy and religion are often used as weapons of war to gain economic control.
Look at this map. What do you see? What do you think all these countries have in common?
Well, it´s obvious that most of these countries are in Africa. Haiti, which is part of the Caribbean, is quite secluded, and five other countries are in the Middle-East and Asia. Do you know what all these countries have in common? They are all amongst the poorest countries in the world.
Not only that, 7 of these countries, namely: Haiti, Niger, Mali, Sudan, Yemen, Ethiopia and Myanmar currently have political and military conflicts that have killed hundreds of thousands of civilians and displaced millions more. Millions of people, especially in Yemen and South Sudan, are facing acute starvation. Hundreds and thousands of women have been raped, thousands of children, some as young as seven years old, have been recruited as soldiers and forced labourers, and villages have been destroyed.
The human disasters in these countries are an absolute tragedy that most people know very little about, mainly because they are not news-worthy topics for mainstream media, and they are generally ignored by Western governments and leaders. Yeah, I get it, global leaders have enough happening on their own home turf, and shouldn´t be expected to solve the world’s problems, albeit, all global leaders, especially the UN ambassadors from 193 countries, should be well informed about all human atrocities around the globe, because they are the ones who can make a difference. They obviously don't.
Most conflicts have been caused by terrorist groups, many of which are radical Islamist jihadist groups that are factions of ISIS and Al-Qaeda. It is important to mention, that between 1979 and 1989, the CIA funded, armed and trained the Afghan Mujahideen through Operation Cyclone, a program designed to counter the Soviet Military presence in Afghanistan. Parts of this group evolved and formed other groups, including the Taliban and Al-Qaeda.
In 2004, an Iraqi extremist network led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi merged with al-Qaeda to form ISIS´s predecessor group, al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), which Zarqawi led until his death in 2006. In 2013, AQI changed its name to ISIS. It separated from al-Qaeda in 2014 and declared itself a caliphate, which is a form of Islamic government led by a caliph, a political and religious leader who is considered the successor to the Prophet Muhammad.
In Syria, the CIA was involved through operations like Timber Sycamore, where various rebel groups, some with extremist elements or ties to groups like Al-Qaeda, received training and funding. The USA funds, arms and trains various factions in numerous countries to oppose regimes that have sided with Russia or do not align with U.S. values, with U.S. democracy, and with U.S. economic and foreign policies. Many of these groups then evolve become the terrorist groups that plague areas, like the continent of Africa.
Islamophobia was massively propagated by the USA and the West after 9/11 in 2001, and subsequently infested the world with hatred, fear, hostility and prejudice against everything and everyone affiliated with Islam and Muslim. 9/11 gave the USA, the Western’s world’s notorious bully, all the validation it needed to invade countries, start wars, murder civilians, kill terrorists, displace millions of people, and destroy the livelihoods of millions more, all while proudly flying the Democracy flag and hollering “The Right to Self-Defence”, even when the USA was abusing everything that democracy is meant to stand for.
I wonder why most of the Islamic jihadist groups only made their world debut after 9/11? Did the USA intentionally create an enemy, just like it has done with Russia over decades, and then use that enemy to provide the justification it needed for its military decisions through practicing its masterful art of deception and manipulation via fear-porn propaganda? Did the lies and deception give Congress the validation it needed to endorse the flow of billions of taxpayer's dollars into the Military Industrial Complex's massive war machine? Did the enemy propaganda ensure the West’s unequivocal support for its own devious actions disguised as True Democracy, Stability in the Region, A Moral Fight Against Terrorism, Protect U.S. Citizens? I dunno!
What we all know is that on the 7th October 2001, less than a month after 9/11, USA´s successful Islamophobic propaganda campaign had paved the way for the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan with Operation Enduring Freedom, which was intended to dismantle al-Qaeda and remove the Taliban from power. Wow, they're bloody amazing to have coordinated an invasion of a country miles away in under four weeks, don't you think? Operation Enduring Freedom? Don't you just love the hypocrisy dripping from the names given to USA operations? At the time, no one was discussing the fact that Osama Bin Laden, Al-Qaeda´s key figure, was a Mujahideen fighter who was initially funded, armed and trained by the CIA. I wonder how the world would have felt about that bit of news?
Besides being the poorest countries in the world, what else do these countries all have in common. They are also the most religious countries in the world. As you can see, all of the above African countries, as well as Haiti, follow Christian and Islam religions, while the poorest, most religious countries in the Middle-East and Asia follow Buddhist, Islam and Hindu religions.
Religion is the cause of many major problems ravaging Africa and the world today, which is rather hypocritical, especially considering that the Abrahamic religions share the same 10 Commandments, and “Thy shalt not kill!” is a very important one, yet the worst genocides past are present, had religious motives. Is religion strategically used as a weapon of war? It most certainly is! Religion, especially the Abrahamic religions, have been used for thousands of years to divide, conquer, control, deceive, abuse, and eliminate the masses. The reality is that millions of people who claim to be religious, and therefore virtuous in nature, have supported and often rejoiced in the abhorrent actions carried out in the name of religion against other human beings, especially those of other religions? The current Palestinian Genocide and the atrocities they have endured over the last 75+ years is a great example of such behaviour.
It's as if many religious folk have become the blood-thirsty, vengeful spectators seated in a Roman Colosseum gleefully observing the torture, abuse, death and suffering of other human beings. Granted, there are also masses of non-religious folk who support the death of humans in the name of democracy, stability, and security, albeit they do not follow an organised religion that forbids harming thy neighbour, who is not only the bloke next door, but all human beings.
Why is it common practice for most people to dehumanise other human beings? When we discriminate against someone else, we also dehumanise them. Most of us fail to see the humanity in fellow human beings, and have lost, or never gained, the values that connect us all on a humane level. We have become the dehumanised people who practice dehumanisation.
What I find astounding is that most religious people I have met naively or ignorantly believe they are good people just because they practice religion. If we separated ourselves from our religion or any other beliefs we have that define who or what we are, and we took a deep, brutally honest look at ourselves, our thoughts and our behaviours, we will recognise our judgement, our idolatry, our lack of responsibility, our discrimination, our sense of superiority, and our inability to love all human beings unconditionally, to provide support and understanding for all people unconditionally, and to do whatever we can to help all human beings equally. The world needs good people, not religious people. Religion should be a private practice, like meditation, that is between you, your four walls and your God. Religion needs to leave the world stage, and take with it, all the immense human suffering it has caused over thousands of years.
What else do almost all these poorest, most religious countries on this map have in common? They were colonised by the UK, France, Belgium, Germany, Portugal, Egypt, Italy, and the Ottoman Empire. The Western world probably still believes to this day, that the colonisation of Africa was very important. This is largely due to the extremely powerful indoctrination achieved through the educational system that was, and still is, used to deceive and to manipulate the minds of the youth with ideological justifications, like “The White Man's Burden”, a concept which was popularised by Rudyard Kipling's 1899 poem, whereby Western European countries had a moral obligation to "civilise" what they saw as "backward" or "savage" societies in Africa. Westerners believed, and many still believe to this day, that African societies were primitive and that colonisation was necessary to bring progress, modernity, and civilisation to the continent. How delusional they were and still are!
Let´s take a look at some of the misconceptions Westerners had. What many Westerners do not know is that pre-colonial Africa had active trade economies, long-distance exports on trans-Saharan, Indian Ocean, and Silk Road trade routes. Most regions had well-established systems of governance, ranging from small chiefdoms to large empires and kingdoms with complex hierarchies and administrative systems. Many also had powerful military forces and organised political structures. They had developed complex agricultural systems, advanced craftsmanship, religious institutions, and centres of learning like Timbuktu in Mali and monasteries in Ethiopia. Not quite sure what is savage and backward about all that!
What most Westerners suffered from then, and is certainly common practice nowadays, is racial superiority, an ideology which may have evolved from Social Darwinism, which suggests that "superior" races are destined to rule over "inferior" ones. This racist ideology was used to justify the subjugation and exploitation of African peoples under the belief that Western domination was natural and beneficial for the "advancement" of humanity. Agh! If we only we questioned science instead of trusting it blindly!
By the way, the term "race" was first used in English in the 16th century to refer to lineage or nationhood, and not skin colour as we understand it today. Racial descriptions like black and white, were created in the 17th century because European colonisers needed to categorise people in a hierarchal manner. This was the first step towards legal dehumanisation which also had misleading science to back it. North America was probably the first country to use “black” and “white” as a legal definition with laws like "one-drop rule", a racial classification that determined that anyone with even one ancestor of African descent was considered black. Legal dehumanisation was also the justification needed for European colonisers to continue with slavery and their pursuit of colonial domination, and to maintain racial purity and control.
Westerners often perceived then, and many still believe to this day, that their culture, religion, and social systems are inherently superior. The colonisers´ cultural imperialism was imposed upon the colonised peoples through their language, values, institutions, education, religion, and governance. Cultural imperialism is definitely common practice everywhere nowadays, especially on social media, where superiority complexes caused by cultural imperialism are revealed ad nauseam.
Many Westerners, especially missionaries, believed that it was their religious duty to spread Christianity throughout Africa, and also received support from many colonial governments. They viewed African traditional religions as pagan and sought to "save" African souls by converting them to Christianity. How many religious folk have the same thoughts concerning non-religious people today?
The colonisers framed their colonial endeavours as a humanitarian effort to eradicate slavery, warfare, and other social issues in Africa, and felt that their intervention was morally necessary. My oh my, how deluded we all are! This is the same bloody playbook still used nowadays. Eradicate terrorism, end warfare, provide aid, bring stability to a region, interfere in governance and promote democracy. Western hegemony is propagated as the only morally acceptable solution that can save the world, and provides all the credible reasons for the USA and its Western allies to interfere with the governance of countries around the world. The problem is that most people still believe that.
Back to our map. So, what else do all these countries have in common besides being the poorest, most religious countries in the world, and former European colonies?
All these countries are resource rich. Well, of course they would be. That’s why there is constant political and military conflict in these countries. Interesting, isn´t it, that a country like Singapore, which has no natural resources and even imports water, is safe, stable, with very low crime rates, and has a highly stable political environment. That situation would certainly be very different were Singapore to have rare natural resources that greedy multinational corporations desperately wanted to get their filthy hands on, or if Singapore were a strategically important country for the USA.
Besides natural resources, many of the countries on this map are strategically important for the West and its allies because of their proximity to global trade routes, like Yemen’s location on the Bab el-Mandeb strait. Many countries are also crucial for U.S. operations, and many receive military training from the USA to counter terrorism in their area. Some countries have U.S. military bases, like the one in Djibouti, which has the largest U.S. military base in Africa. Up until March 2024, Niger had a major U.S. drone base used for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) missions. The USA was forced to stop its military operations and should have left the country by mid-September 2024.
Okay, so if these countries are resource rich, why are they so poor? Well, the Western narrative would be that many African leaders are corrupt, mismanage resources, and siphon off national wealth for personal gain. This view is supported by numerous high-profile cases of corruption and embezzlement involving African politicians and elites. Poor governance is blamed for inadequate public services, underdeveloped infrastructure, and policies that fail to address poverty.
Yes, all that is true, but what also must be considered is that wherever and whenever the USA and its western allies are involved in a country with the honourable pledge to promote democracy, provide stability in the region, improve the infrastructure, and provide healthcare initiatives, like toxic immunisation promoted by GAVI, the government and its leaders MUST be in alignment with U.S. values, U.S. foreign policies, U.S. democracy, and U.S. economic strategies. Even if your African leadership aligns with economic solutions that are for the betterment of your people and your economy, you will be ousted if they do not align with the USA´s and the West’s economic and foreign policies, a vile tactic that is everything but democratic, not so? Oh, what a farce the fight for democracy is!
Being a leader in Africa does come with its downfalls. You could be assassinated like over 20 have been since the 1950s. You could be ousted in a military coup. There have been a total of 242 military coup d’états in the world since 1950, and 109 of them were in Africa. Sudan has had the highest number of coup d’états attempts with a whopping 19 since 1950, of which 7 were successful. I wonder what the definition of successful is in this context, and who benefited from that success? Besides that, who supplies the weapons, and who funds and trains the opposition or rebel groups? I’m sure the CIA has all the answers, considering the amount of intelligence it has gathered in the region.
But there is one major point to be considered. Although most of Africa finally gained its independence from colonialism by the mid-1970s, it is still colonised through neocolonialism and economic colonialism. Do you really think the greedy West would just hand over the countries that provide enormous wealth to Western Nations, and thereby enable the lavish lifestyles, the comfortable livelihoods, the security, and the stable economies that most people in the West relish? Nope, of course not! They’re not that stupid!
Many of the poorest countries are heavily reliant on foreign aid, development assistance, and loans from international financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. While these loans can provide short-term relief, they often come with strict conditions that shape the country's economic policies, limit their sovereignty, and their ability to make independent decisions. Not very democratic, not so? Countries are forced to adopt harsh measures, privatise state-owned enterprises, or open up their economies to foreign investors under the pressure of debt repayment.
Poor countries often have trade agreements that disproportionately benefit wealthier nations or multinational corporations. These countries export raw materials at low prices and import manufactured goods at higher prices, trapping them in unequal trading relationships. For example, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is rich in natural resources like cobalt and diamonds, but much of the extraction is controlled by foreign companies. The profits from these resources are often funnelled out of the country, while local communities see little to no benefit.
Many of these countries are economically dominated by multinational corporations, which control critical sectors such as mining, agriculture, and energy. These corporations often extract resources without sufficient reinvestment in the local economy. For example, Niger has large uranium deposits that are mined by foreign companies, like French-owned Orano (formerly AREVA). France benefits from Niger's uranium for its nuclear energy needs, while Niger remains one of the poorest countries in the world, with little of the resource wealth benefiting its citizens.
In some of the poorest countries, foreign governments and corporations engage in land grabbing, acquiring vast tracts of agricultural land for export crops or biofuels, often displacing local communities and limiting their access to resources. This is common in countries like Ethiopia and Mozambique, where foreign investors from wealthier nations or corporations control large areas of arable land, leaving locals with less land for subsistence farming.
High levels of foreign debt are a significant mechanism of control in many poor countries. Countries are often forced to borrow from international lenders to finance development projects or address crises. When they default or struggle with repayment, they become more vulnerable to external influence. Zambia, for instance, has faced debt crises, particularly from Chinese loans tied to infrastructure projects, which have raised concerns about the loss of control over critical national assets. Similarly, many African countries are beholden to Western creditors and face ongoing pressure to restructure their economies in ways that benefit foreign interests.
Former colonial powers often maintain significant influence over their former colonies through economic, cultural, and political ties. For example, France maintains strong economic and military relationships with several of its former colonies in West Africa, including Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, through mechanisms like the CFA franc, which is a currency used in 14 African countries that is linked to the French treasury. This monetary system, while ensuring stability, also restricts the monetary policies of these countries and keeps them economically dependent on France. What I find interesting is that at the time of writing this, most of the world is unaware that France has been booted out of Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger. I wonder why such important facts haven’t been reported non-stop on mainstream media?
Now when we take a sober look at the reality of this map, it is clear, that although there may be corrupt African leaders and incapable politicians who cannot revive their economies and provide for their peoples, they cannot exceed, by any measure, the corruption and the exploitation of the West. The USA, Europe, and its allies are all complicit in the disastrous situations and humanitarian conditions that prevail in these countries.
If all the foreign powers were booted out of Africa along with their military and all the terrorist groups it directly or indirectly funded, armed and trained, then Africa would be a safer place. If the corrupt African politicians, who intimately snuggled up to the West for personal, financial gain, were found guilty in court and sentenced to jail, but not before paying back every penny, then Africa would be less corrupt place. If all debt was forgiven based on the obvious fact that Africa has been exploited over hundreds of years, then the IMF and the World Bank would lose their powerful grip on such countries, and Africa would become a powerful place. If all multinational companies had to pay back the billions they made in profits through the exploitation of natural resources, then Africa would be a more financially stable place. If all the trade deals and multinational corporate contracts were re-negotiated with Africa being the main financial benefactor, then Africa would be a rich place. That is my African dream.
Of course, the USA, the West, and all its allies would suffer because of such measures, and the comfort of their lifestyles may be implicated, which of course, I do not wish on anyone. What I wish is that we all take profound look at who we have become, at the false superiority we gloat in, at the judgement and discrimination we have of others, especially those who do not align with our values, our beliefs, our desires, and our expectations. What about our greed and our status-driven egos, or our false religious values, our service-to-self intentions, our manipulation and our personal deception?
When we, the masses, question our person and our existence, we will see that we are all versions of those people who do harm to others, just like the colonisers, the missionaries, the superpowers like the USA, Europe and its allies, the multinational companies, the corrupt leaders, the military, and the terrorists I have mentioned in this blog. We are all complicit in all the tragedies of the world, all the destruction and abuse in the world, all the exploitation, manipulation and degradation in the world, whether through personal intent, naivety or plain ignorance.
Are you contributing towards positive change in the world, or are you nurturing all the negativity and the suffering? You would know when you listen to your thoughts and observe your actions. Change to become a good person to all people all the time, then your world will become a much nicer place for those around you, which will subsequently inspire those around you to do the same. That is how massive change attracts momentum, and it all begins with you, yes, you! As Gandhi said “Become the change you wish for in the world”. Today’s a damn good day to start doing just that, don't ya think?
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Time is an invaluable asset. Thank you so much for sharing yours with me.
Kim.E xx
Credits:
Artwork | Creative Writing + Editing | Recording + Editing: Kim.E - IsNotSo.com
Disclaimers:
This article serves the sole purpose of providing the reader with information without the intention to discriminate against, promote or influence the opinions of others.
Kim.E is an ordinary person with a personal opinion, and has written from her perspective and level of knowledge. She considers herself to be neither a professional nor an amateur in any field. This blog is for information purposes only.
Kim.E is not responsible for the accuracy of the information she has researched. It is the sole responsibility of every reader to pursue and explore their own channels of information to either confirm or reject what they have read.
