tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3164556861454970487.post949217248695079457..comments2023-10-08T05:00:23.559-04:00Comments on Clarissa's Blog: V.S. Naipaul's A Bend in the River: A ReviewClarissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11027134365260069910noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3164556861454970487.post-33043449193602812202011-01-04T16:01:20.595-05:002011-01-04T16:01:20.595-05:00Thank you for a great comment, Tom! One gets very ...Thank you for a great comment, Tom! One gets very tired of simplistic approaches to colonialism that insists on seeing us, former colonial subjects, as perennial victims. Things are always a lot more complex than that.Clarissahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11027134365260069910noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3164556861454970487.post-62889686294767753192011-01-04T08:21:07.058-05:002011-01-04T08:21:07.058-05:00Nice review. I've heard of Naipaul, of course...Nice review. I've heard of Naipaul, of course, but never read his books. I'll probably fix that now.<br /><br />Post-colonialism is an interesting and complex subject. I've lived and worked in a number of post-colonial societies, including two African countries, and I've studied post-colonialism from political and development standpoints. It's important to distinguish among societies/countries both in terms of the historical period during which they were colonies and the nature of the people themselves. It's hard to do that because of the limitations of political correctness, especially where Africa is concerned. Many people are firmly wedded to the idea that everybody everywhere is exactly equal in every respect, and that's partcularly true of many of the USAID development specialists I knew and worked with in Africa. To show how bad it can get, I was once told flat-out by a very senior USAID official that any idea of reducing aid to Africa is, by definition, racist.<br /><br />Many of these same people honestly believe that there's never been an African Einstein, Newton, Tesla, Salk, Goddard ... (the list is very long) because of the evils of colonialism. That simply isn't true. There are differences among peoples of all kinds, and these differences explain why some societies fall prey to colonialism in the first place, find it very difficult to escape, and develop slowly if at all when left to their own devices. As evil as colonialism was <i>in some cases</i>, the fact remains that in much of Africa there wouldn't be a paved road, a modern building, or a modern infrastructure if the former colonial power hadn't built them. In many cases, there wouldn't even be a literate language; in most post-colonial African societies, educated people read, write, and think in the language of the former colonial power.<br /><br />So when we bemoan the era of colonialism, especially in Africa, we need to keep some perspective on how bad things might have been if it hadn't existed.Tom Carterhttp://opinion-forum.comnoreply@blogger.com