MY DEAR QUANTELLA:

I CAN SPEAK ONLY FOR MYSELF, AND I HAVE ONLY BEEN A GUEST ONCE, BUT FOR MYSELF–NO. I AM NOT A RACIST. I CHOOSE MY FRIENDS ON THE BASIS OF THEIR CULTURE, IN THE SENSE OF THEIR CHARACTER, THEIR PRINCIPLES, THEIR BEHAVIOR, THEIR KINDNESS, THEIR TRUSTWORTHINESS, AND THEIR ATTITUDES TOWARDS LIFE. I LOOK FIRST AT EYES: IS THERE KINDNESS, HUMOR, AND INTELLIGENCE THERE? I LOOK NEXT FOR A SMILE THAT INDICATES GOOD HUMOR AND A FRIENDLY NATURE. IF I DO NOT FIND THOSE I LOOK NO FARTHER, BUT I AM KIND TO EVERYONE AS A LIFE-LONG CHARACTER TRAIT.

I KNOW THAT I AM NOT ENTIRELY FREE FROM PREJUDICE, IF IT CAN BE STIGMATIZED THUSLY. I FIND THOSE WHO ARE VILE-TEMPERED OR FOUL-MOUTHED DISTASTEFUL, AND I HAVE A PARTIALITY FOR THOSE WHO ARE INTELLIGENT AND ERUDITE, THOSE WHO CAN LISTEN INTELLIGENTLY EVEN WHEN CONVERSATION TURNS TO AN AREA OUTSIDE THEIR EXPERTISE.

THE BEST MALE FRIEND I HAVE, OTHER THAN MY MATE, IS HALF BLACK AND HALF INDIAN AND I DIDN’T EVEN NOTICE IT FOR THE FIRST TWO WEEKS HE WORKED FOR ME–WHEN HE POINTED IT OUT. DESPITE SEEING ASIA WITH HIS SHIRT OFF, I GUESS I JUST THOUGHT HE HAD A GOOD TAN–IF I THOUGHT ABOUT IT AT ALL. IT DIDN’T MATTER, YOU SEE. I VALUE HIM FOR HIS CHARACTER, HIS WORK ETHIC, HIS ENORMOUS KNOWLEDGE, HIS SENSE OF HUMOR, HIS KINDNESS, HIS DEVOTION AND THE CARE HE TAKES OF ME AND OUR ANIMALS…AND THE FACT THAT ANYBODY WHO CALLED ME A BIGOT WOULD HAVE TO ANSWER TO HIM!

Yes, these African countries have had decades of imcompetent leadership. DECADES OF INCOMPETENT LEADERSHIP SINCE COLONIAL POWERS LEFT. THEY SCARCELY HAD MODELS OF ENLIGHTENED GOVERNMENT BEFORE THE ARRIVAL OF THOSE WHO DID MUCH TO BRING COMMERCE, INFRA-STRUCTURE, EDUCATION, AND OPPORTUNITY. THE FOREIGNERS MADE A PROFIT BUT THEY EARNED IT. Yes, they have practiced genocide etcetera, etcetera….but so did Saddam and Hitler. Is the graft, corruption and whatnot any better because the offenders where non-black? NO, OF COURSE IT IS NOT. NOR IS IT ANY MORE ADMIRABLE, NOR IS GENOCIDE TYPICAL OF “CIVILIZED” NATIONS, ALTHOUGH GRAFT AND CORRUPTION ARE BECOMING SO INCREASINGLY. Africa had been used for centuries as the world’s grocery store. I’LL GO…TEA, RUBBER, GOLD, DIAMONDS, APES, IVORY, PEACOCKS, MALACHITE, URANIUM, AND THE SLAVES THAT ARABS AND BLACK KINGS SOLD TO THE BRITISH THERE FOR A WHILE. GROCERIES? WHAT, OTHER THAN DATES? MAYBE COCONUTS AND BANANAS?

Britain “bought” people and gold there and now China buys gold and oil there. The contracts that have been written are probably awful and I’m sure they did not have anyone representing them. GEE…PERHAPS THEY COULD HAVE USED SOME OF THE EARLY CHECKS TO BUY GOOD LAWYERS INSTEAD OF SWISS BANK ACCOUNTS, PALACES, AND UZIS.

CAN YOU IMAGINE ANYONE TAKING ADVANTAGE OF NELSON MANDELA AND HIS CHARMING BRIDE? I WOULDN’T THINK CHEATING A MAN WHO THOUGHT UP “NECKLACING” WAS A GOOD IDEA.

But maybe that’s only for white countries…NO, DEAR, BUT ONLY IN SOME WHITE COUNTRIES CAN ONE SAY ANY OFFENSIVE THING ONE FEELS LIKE WITHOUT RETRIBUTION WORSE THAN THAT I HAVE METED OUT, AT LEAST IF ONE IS ON THE “POLITICALLY CORRECT” SIDE OF THE TABLE.

YOU HAVE INSULTED MR. GIBSON, ME, AND A HOST OF DISTINGUISHED CONTRIBUTORS, WHEN IF YOU HAD READ THE TEXT MORE CAREFULLY YOU WOULD HAVE SEEN THAT THE COMMENT WHICH AROUSED YOUR IRE WAS FROM ANOTHER READER. IT WAS ALSO FACTUAL, SO FAR AS IT WENT.

WHAT IS PARTICULARLY AMUSING IS THAT I WROTE A REBUTTAL TO THAT STATEMENT, MYSELF. I ATTRIBUTE THE FAILURE OF SUCH BLACK NATIONS NOT TO PIGMENTATION BUT TO CULTURE, AND I WILL REITERATE THAT IN A LIFETIME OF WATCHING BLACK NATIONS CHANGE HANDS AND NAMES, ALL THAT EVER REALLY CHANGES IS WHO IS IN POWER AND WHO IS RAIDING THE TREASURY AND MURDERING ENEMIES. THAT IS A PART OF THEIR CULTURE, AND UNTIL THEY CHANGE IT THEY WILL REMAIN IGNORANT, SELF-SERVING, AND SAVAGE.

LBT

Hey, don’t look at me that way! I’m not the one who made that comment. While I will agree that to the best of my knowledge no black-governed nation has prospered in the last several thousand years, that doesn’t prove that blacks are incapable of governing well. It proves that ignorant savages are unlikely to govern wisely, Mau Maus being a pretty good case in point. Or Saudis. Or the French, perhaps! We could say as easily–and with as much truth–that almost no nation run by those descended from Conquistadors has ever been ruled sensibly, well, or ethically, and I posit that the reason for both is precisely the same.

The reason that blacks as a rule have been less successful than whites is CULTURAL, not due to an excess of melanin in their skin. The same could be said in Latin America; a small number of Europeans thrust primative cultures in a new direction without sufficient supervision and support to inculcate the best Western values, although the Catholic Church tried, and perhaps some things are innate, because in general Latin Americans seem pretty happy with Banana Republics. Does it really matter if it as an Aztec priest or Hugo Chavez who rips your bleeding heart out if that is your idea of right and normal? (Well, okay, I may be being melodramatic. I don’t know how Hugo disposes of his enemies. Probably simple gunshots.) By all accounts many of the blacks loved the white plantation owners and their children, but when the tribes assembled and the call went out, whoops! there went another rubber tree plantation.

I still like my theory of causation at least in the US. Simple educational levels are not sufficient to account for different success rates, and I can quote you figures to show that levels for blacks and whites in the Fifties were all but identical in terms of literacy; the big difference was in illegitimacy.

A quick consideration of successful Blacks in our country will demonstrate my point. What do Maxine Waters, Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, Ted Kennedy, Barney Franks, and Tom Daschle all have in common?

They are all demagogues who have learned how to milk the system and I despise all of them.

What do Maxine Waters, Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, Dr. Walter Williams, Thomas Sowell, and Gary Gibson have in common?

Black skin in assorted shades. The last three have the sort of attributes that we can admire: they are intelligent, articulate, principled, and would make terrific dinner partners. They have the character and kindness to make good friends. Gary has a standing invitation to visit the rancho.

What I told Gary privately was that any nation he founded and governed would be a success and that I would volunteer to be Vice Potentate–after a good stint at th’ tannin’ salon ’cause I brown up real’ nice. Just joshing; I know better than to think I would need a kinky wig and black contacts, because the kind of nation Gary would lead wouldn’t care that my skin is fish-belly white.

There, now, do you suppose Eric Holder feels all better?!

“Thank you for the James Kunstler article on South Africa. It is an interesting contrast to the PBS article on the revitalization of the Joberg gold mining tunnels. I am more inclined to believe Kunstler.

“The Melrose Arch is a true example of community building, a possibility that is mostly ignored globally.

“Keep up these thought-provoking articles in Whiskey.”

You’re welcome and we aim to try.

But one Shooter makes this point:

“Unfortunately but undeniably, NO black governed nation has ever prospered. On the contrary, nations blacks have seized from white rule, and those that have always been black governed have steadily and often rapidly become dependent on the other nations of the world for gifts, grants, and donated food, [and are] usually ruled by despotic dictators, kings, and ‘emperors’.

“Haiti, taken from the French when it was a productive society, and Mugabe-transformed Zimbabwe where rich, bountiful farms are now fallow wastelands are just two prime examples countries the incompetence, inability, and corruption have destroyed. A few years ago more than a few highly reputable studies disclosed that after the 40+ years and many billions of aid from a wide spectrum of nations, the entire African continent is much worse off, living standards unimproved, hunger and extreme poverty widespread, all the efforts and treasure totally and completely wasted and the area daily descending into hell on earth.”

And I had such high hopes for the republic I was planning to found. (Check my picture on the Whiskey & Gunpowder authors’ page to see why that was funny.)

Haiti — the first independent black nation to emerge after white folk got so globally adventurous — isn’t exactly a shining example.

I’d like to point out, however, that it was the white nations of the world that had those cute little multi-year nervous breakdowns in 1918 and again in 1938.

And this whole fiat money experiment and encroaching collectivism don’t bode too well for the pale-faced nations either. That one thing you started in North America in the late 18th Century held some promise, but you see how that’s turning out. Nice republic…too bad we couldn’t keep it.

I’d say that human governments in general just don’t stand the test of time. It’s a basic Whiskey Bar tenet: The world goes to Hell…regularly…

We’ll talk more tomorrow.

Regards,
Gary Gibson
Managing Editor, Whiskey & Gunpowder