What the White Man Brought to South Africa The following article was written in late 2011 but not accepted for publication because it was regarded as too contentious. “I can remain silent no longer. On 24 October 2011 Julius Malema was reported in various press reports as saying the white man brought nothing to South Africa this follows repeated claims that whites are criminals and thieves – see below for one of many examples: sowetanlive.co.za/news/2011/10/24/resist-whites-land-grab---malema It is my opinion that Malema and other alienated youth are rapidly stirring racial tension to extremely unhealthy levels. Last Saturday, 22 October 2011, I watched a program on the History Channel on the rise of Adolph Hitler and the Third Reich -- something that I studied in some detail earlier in my life – my father spent years as a prisoner of the Nazis. I then watched a program on the lead-in to the Russian Revolution at the end of the First World War (Dr Zhivago). The psychology of massive unemployment, harsh accusations and incitement was too close to what alienated youth are saying and doing today to go without comment. In both cases millions of the unemployed were killed as cannon fodder. The passive non-response of those who could have changed history but did not believe that what was happening could be so bad, also has parallels. It is my considered contention that unless robust CONSTRUCTIVE action is taken to contain and reverse the toxic racial psychology that is being fueled by the alienated youth there will be massive black on white violence in the not too distant (less than ten years) future. I submit that in order to prevent this it is vital that ALL South Africans confront the truth about the value that white people of European descent have brought to South Africa. In writing what follows, which is the result of careful consideration over some years now, I do so as a graduate engineer with considerable experience. This experience has included the realization that it is a fundamental engineering principle that success is accomplished by designing against failure. I have also come to understand that designing against failure requires that one focuses on the factors that will cause failure and the systematic disciplined intellectual response of taking the necessary CONSTRUCTIVE measures necessary to prevent failure. Thus, where I discuss negative issues I am NOT seeking to be destructive but rather to put difficult issues on the table that I believe MUST be addressed if South Africa is to aspire to a High Road long term outcome. It is my sober and considered opinion that if we do not recognize that the current rhetoric is stoking the fires of black on white genocide and take measures to educate, inform and counter that rhetoric we will make the same mistakes as the people of Germany in the early 1930s and of Russia in the late 1910s. Having said this, let us soberly consider what the white man DID bring to South Africa over 300 years ago: 1. Reading, writing, numeracy, time Reading, writing, writing technology, printing technology, bound books – the ability to duplicate and distribute knowledge, postal services, newspapers, the ability to mobilize and inform people, written instructions, recipes, numbers, numeracy, arithmetic, mathematics, surveying, design drawings, measurement and management of time – the ability to conceptualize and design complex systems, astronomy and navigation -- the fundamentals of creating value without which even the most basic prosperity is out of reach. 2. Education Basic education within the family, career school teachers proud of their vocation, universities – formalized sharing of established knowledge, equipping with regard to fundamental technical and knowledge principles, creating the foundation for each generation to achieve beyond the achievements of their parents generation – the essence of growing a civilization from what existed three hundred years ago to what exists today. 3. Basic technologies Basic technologies including woodwork, carpentry, cutting uniform planks and beams, making wagon wheels and wagons, wood turning, metal working, weaving of fabrics, knitting, needlework, stone masonry, kiln fired bricks, porcelain, straight, level, plumb – the fundamentals of basic establishment of a place to live and of migrating into unknown territory. 4. Agricultural and food technology Agricultural knowledge, experience, tools and products. Domesticated and cultivated plant and animal species, trees for timber and fruit, plows, domesticated oxen, yokes, ropes, preservation of food, manufacture of foods from basic materials, a culture of cultivating surplus NOT subsistence and the associated self-discipline – saving seed for next year no matter how hungry you are, cultivating surplus for commercial purposes – the essence of establishing sustainable life in a foreign land. 5. Mining technology Mining knowledge, experience, tools and methods, the ability to identify diamonds, gold and other minerals, the ability to develop underground mines and extract and beneficiate the minerals including chemical and metallurgical processes, furnaces, etc – the essence of the ability to move from an agricultural economy to an economy of abundance. 6. Commerce Commercial knowledge and experience, currency, trading, banking, economics, managing finance, motivating and organizing people commercially. Exchange crops for tools, materials, other foodstuffs, etc – the essence of moving from a subsistence economy to a vibrant multifunctional growing economy. 7. Military technology Military knowledge and experience, swords, rifles, cannon, explosives, military discipline and drills, enabling them to defeat those who attacked them -- note that they did NOT destroy the inhabitants of the land which they could easily have done – the essence of establishing sustainable economy when surrounded by others who coveted what they had. 8. Diverse additional technologies Diverse other technologies and engineering -- build ships, bridges, pump water, build dams, imposing buildings, roads, subsequently railway lines -- the diversity of engineering technical ability on which South Africa is today reliant in order to prosper. 9. Medicine Medicine, antiseptic’s, antibiotics, pharmacology, pharmaceutics, surgery, anesthesia, contraception and birth control -- the full spectrum of life sciences to preserve life when confronted with injury, illness, disease, etc. 10. Social, government, judicial Cultural, social, religious learning, complex music and instruments, complex art, formal Government, democracy, formal judiciary, courts, codified laws and legal practices, policing, all that was necessary for an advanced civilization to be established. 11. Strategic and creative thinking, innovation and executive ability More abstract but even more critical than all the above the white man brought strategic and creative thinking, innovation, logic, decision making and the ability to execute those visions and make them a reality. Problem solving, understanding cause and effect. The ability to visualize a better future state, to plan how to get there, to mobilize men, assets and capital to make that visualization a reality – the essence of what moved South Africa from the state it was in when the white man arrived to the state it is in today as an advanced industrialized and internationally competitive commercial nation. The ability to MAKE IT WORK! 12. Religion and knowledge of the things of the Creator Developed and formalized religion, the Bible, comprehensive teachings, knowledge of the Creator NOT service of demons and witchcraft. NONE of the above were present in any material way in South Africa before the white man arrived. There is substantial evidence, supported by current black teachings, which depict King Shaka dressed in animal skins, that the people living in South Africa when the white man arrived were living in huts made of grass and other basic materials, wearing animal skins, using the most basic forms of technology possible and with virtually no technical ability whatsoever and no writing. Furthermore they lived in a subsistence economy where no material commerce existed. There is abundant evidence and record of this and no black man that I have heard of has disputed this. To the contrary, our President is at pains to wear this tribal dress at certain functions and those involved in the commemoration of King Shaka have made sure that he is depicted dressed in this way. Tribal villages built as tourist attractions stress this very basic, that is primitive, existence. In fact, there is every reason to assert that if the white man had never come to South Africa Julius Malema would not be called Julius and he would be living in a grass hut wearing animal skins if one of his elders had not beaten him to death for insubordination. He would certainly NOT be wearing clothes, watches, etc produced using technology invented by white men to designs conceptualized by white men, he would not be driving a car and living in a house and using technology such as cellular telephones also invented by white men to designs conceptualized and originated by white men. I am NOT being racist, I am simply pointing out verifiable facts which are available to any person who honestly seeks to establish the truth of South African history. Insofar as the assertion as to the above having been introduced and led by the white man this can be substantiated in countries around the world. North and South America and Australasia, not to mention the rest of Africa, demonstrate essentially the same progression of primitive cultures being advanced by the white man to world class technology along similar lines to that experienced in South Africa. In ALL cases the single common factor is white men and women of European descent. It is vital to recognize that the knowledge, experience, technologies, methodologies, etc, etc that the white man brought to South Africa as listed above were the culmination of development over hundreds and in many cases thousands of years. White people did NOT wave a magic wand in order to be able to do these things, they learned incrementally as a society how to do and make these things and they codified this knowledge and brought it with them. This being so, on what basis is it assumed that people who have not gone through this learning experience can summarily claim entitlement to the same privileges that centuries of learning have purchased for white people? Claim accelerated access, yes, but just hand it over and expect it to continue working? Having established the truth regarding what the white man in fact brought to South Africa three hundred years ago and evidenced that Julius Malema (an most of the ANC) is seriously and dangerously misinformed, let us move to some other considerations that necessarily flow from the above: Some Critical Considerations Ongoing technological, educational and knowledge and experience advancement led by white men In the 360 years since the white man established the first settlement in South Africa, the sub-continent has moved from a situation in which human beings existed under the most basic subsistence conditions to a point where South Africa has for many years held its own with other countries around the world in terms of Civil Infrastructure, Commerce, Banking, Mining, Medicine, Education, Engineering, Justice, etc, etc – in fact, in all the areas listed above South Africa has, for many years, ranked with the best. Throughout this period the principal leadership has come from white males assisted and supported by white females with some support from people of mixed race and people of Asian origin and some from those of African origin. There HAS been involvement from black people but it is a harsh reality that black people have seldom provided the initiative, the strategic concept, the vision to drive these technological and sociological advances. Black people claim that this is the consequence of oppression by whites and, it is so that there HAS been some measure of discrimination and that in later years there WAS some harsh race based legislation. My parents and my generation of my family have NEVER supported that activity and throughout our lives have done the best we can to uplift black people, to work within the democratic mechanisms available to us to oppose apartheid, etc. Accordingly, in reading what I write here you should NOT draw the conclusion that I am some sort of maverick racist who has survived from a dark and desperate past. I AM a liberal intellectual who has been passionate about this country all my life but who has recently reached a point where I can no longer contain my concern and feel I must respond to the statements that are being made by Malema and others and the increasingly harsh and hostile discrimination that I experience as a white person. Frankly I am tired of having to fill in race based questionnaires in order to conduct business, I am tired of continuous declarations, right up to the President himself, that there are “too many whites” (the necessary arithmetic and logical equivalent of not enough blacks). I have worked hard all my life, so have all the white people that I know, I have never received or given so much as a cent in backhanders in order to secure business and I do not know a single white person who has done this. I know that I and my fellow white people and particularly my fellow white men have, through the sweat of our brows, built this economy to what it is today just as our white brethren in many other nations have done in those nations. I do NOT mind sharing what I have but I resent being called a criminal and a thief and I resent it being said that my forebears brought nothing to this country. I am certain that virtually all white people feel the same way. So, let us consider a few other necessary conclusions from the information that I have presented above: Nobody lifted up the white man The white people of South Africa and, in fact, the white people of the world, have NEVER had a people of superior accomplishment uplift them, teach them new things, give them new technologies, give them access to advanced commerce, etc. The white people of South Africa and the world have developed ALL the significant technologies and methodologies that make up the essence of global commerce and prosperity that are outlined under the headings above THEMSELVES, of their own creative initiative, of their own hard work, long hours, sleepless nights, etc. Yes, they HAVE been ably assisted by people of other races and nations but the strategic creative initiative has come first and foremost from the white, European peoples. In Asia this has been amplified by the Asian peoples who have seized these technologies and methodologies and made them their own and, in some cases taken them significantly further. If we are willing to confront harsh reality there is virtually NO evidence that black African people from sub-Saharan Africa have in any meaningful way seized the opportunity and uplifted themselves. Yes, they have provided cheap labour but it is apparent in the countries of Europe in particular that those economies have prospered technologically and commercially without cheap black labour thereby evidencing that the white man does NOT need the black man in order to succeed. Black people have failed to learn critical skills from white people It is time for black South Africans to stop demanding that the white man give away what he has built up through hard work and seek to understand how the white man did it and seek to emulate the white man. YES, we DO have a legacy of the white man withholding this information to some extent BUT there is massive evidence that the majority of black people have failed to learn even the most basic knowledge of the white people. It is several hundred years since white people in simple wagons they made themselves trekked into the hinterland of South Africa as settlers – people with ability who were able to take possession of land that was largely uninhabited, where those that were inhabitants were unable to defeat them and where many welcomed the newcomers because of all the nice stuff the newcomers brought with them. There is no global precedent, let alone in Africa, of a militarily victorious civilization being OBLIGATED to make right those they overcame, in many cases in history the defeated foes have been utterly destroyed – South African white people are, in fact, characterized by a more generous spirit in this regard than virtually all other peoples. Throughout the history of South Africa black people have VOLUNTARILY come to settle close to the settlements of white people and to sell their services in exchange for the stuff the white man had, be it different kinds of foods, household effects, appliances, etc. BUT there is a huge reality that it is time we all recognize – in that roughly three hundred years white men have developed technology that includes aeroplanes, motor cars and trucks, computers, flushing toilets, electricity, etc, etc – the list is endless. These technologies have replaced the sailing ships, covered wagons, hand pumps, handwritten documents, etc, etc that existed 300 years ago. Yet still today we see no evidence that the majority of black people have learned to create even the basic necessities and technologies that the white man has passed beyond in his development. Black people build primitive houses that are not to the standards the white man built 200 years ago although all the materials are available UNLESS they use the white mans materials. Millions of black people wait for government housing to be built using technologies, infrastructure, governance, communication, etc created by white people instead of learning how to build houses themselves. The recent uproar about government failing to enclose toilets would be comic if it were not so tragic – the white man has NEVER had anyone to build him toilets, let along enclose them, he designs and builds them himself using technologies he developed. The white man has never had anyone hand over an economy or business to him, he has built it all from scratch – as Julius Malema correctly observes, the white man did NOT bring anything physical with him – so, by extension it is incumbent on black people to acknowledge that white people have BUILT all that exists in South Africa themselves – yes, assisted by black people but NOT at the strategic, conceptual, creative, executive level. The reality is that the vast majority of black people have failed to learn from white people. Birth control is another issue – most white people voluntarily limit the size of their families, many black people do not – a major reason for the current imbalances is the rate of growth of the black population – large families hinder the ability of people to receive quality education, adequate nourishment, improve living conditions, etc. Visits to the rest of Africa confirm that in the absence of white people black people polarize to the haves who have taken over what remains of what the white man left behind and are misappropriating it at the expense of the have-nots who constitute the vast majority of the population. I recently visited a Central African country which had imported white South African men to run a mine that belonged to an extremely wealthy leader who had appropriated it during the revolution – black people govern but they cannot exploit their mines without white men. In the same country, derelict farms, once operated by white people who were killed or kicked out thirty years ago are now occupied by black people in crude dwellings who produce just enough basic foodstuff to subsist on even though they have at their disposal the pattern of building of the white man and the land that the white man gainfully cultivated. It is time that we look deeper than colonial oppression and recognize that black society does not provide the knowledge and experience necessary to develop and operate an advanced high technology society such as that in South Africa. There are some fundamental things that white people know that the evidence clearly proves that most black people do not know – these are NOT in the sphere of the obvious areas – there are many highly intelligent and well educated black people BUT most of them are failing to govern and manage this country effectively. For those with eyes to see the infrastructure and economy that was given to black people on a plate twenty years ago is slowly decaying and collapsing and going the way of the rest of Africa. The cracks, like the cracks in the roads, are not highly visible but they are there for those with eyes to see. I do NOT believe that black people are stupid, I do NOT believe they are genetically deficient BUT they are doing MANY reckless and foolhardy things, including allowing Julius Malema to spread his poison unchecked, that are in the process of destroying the economy of South Africa. There is critical knowledge and experience that is lacking. There is a critical need for black people to cease driving white people out of business and out of the country and to start seeking to learn from white people at a much more fundamental level. There ARE some black people who ARE seeking such knowledge but, in my experience, they are NOT in the majority, there are far too many in positions of power and influence, with big mouths who are woefully ignorant and woefully arrogant. White people have been generous One of the things about this negative rhetoric that really gets to me is the level at which it fails to recognize that the white people HAVE done much for black people. My family has always assisted black people but frequently that help has failed to produce anything sustainable and been followed by MORE pleas for help. As a child my father regularly trained his gardeners to drive a car, in his own time and at his own expense and then helped them to find work as drivers at a better salary than he could afford to pay. On one occasion he gave one of these men a brand new Toyota Hilux bakkie (pickup), a gift of well over R180,000 value in todays terms. His goal was to enable this friend of the family to start his own transport business and prosper. Ten years later the bakkie was a wreck and the former employee was still working as a driver for a white man. The gift was in vain – he lacked the knowledge and experience to operate a commercially profitable transport business and seemingly lacked the motivation and initiative to find out how to do this. This story sums up other incidents where my family has tried to help and seen the funds invested at significant personal sacrifice squandered unwisely. This story sums up Africa with billions of US$ and Euros and Pounds of aid poured in over decades to produce nothing sustainable other than wealthy black despots who exploit their people and trash their assets and despise white people. Is it any wonder that reports indicate that well over 1 million white people have left South Africa in the last twenty years and that the exodus continues – those with eyes to see and ears to hear the likes of Julius Malema are able to look at the rest of Africa and see the writing on the wall and those with the means to leave are leaving. The problem is, that as they leave the South African economy is being undermined in subtle ways that may take another decade to become visible but where the rhetoric of Malema and his henchmen are steadily accelerating this decline. It is so that in any Eurocentric economy only about 2% of the population know how to create wealth and about 12% know how to assist them – these are the people who are increasingly leaving South Africa. Conclusion I have been highly committed to this country and ALL her people all my life but I now find myself seriously doubting whether there is a future for people of European descent in South Africa other than as the victims of genocide. I believe that right now South Africa is at a fork in the road – either ALL those of goodwill stop driving white people out of the country and stop ALL anti-white rhetoric or the alternative WILL indeed be too ghastly to contemplate. If, having read this, you find yourself able to agree with the essential message, I ask you to forward this to all you think will respond constructively to it. Right now we need those who can see this picture to actively and energetically take CONSTRUCTIVE action to halt the slide into anarchy. From where I sit that means actively educating people, it means acknowledging and being grateful to the white people for the positive things they have brought to this country, it involves actively encouraging white people to remain, it involves ACTIVELY terminating rabble rousing destructive rhetoric, it involves ACTIVE POSITIVE action by the current government to give the remaining white people reason to stay and invest, it involves being honest about the true history of this country and what the white man really DID bring to this country. Finally it involves engaging in active research to understand the intrinsic knowledge and experience that vests primarily in white people, documenting that knowledge and providing accelerated learning opportunities to enable the ENTIRE population of South Africa to profit and benefit from what we have and to GROW the size of the pie and CEASE trying to redistribute that which is not capable of being redistributed – the knowledge and experience that makes the wealth possible. If you are NOT prepared to actively campaign for such action then, if you are black then at least work to make it easy for us to leave, and if you are white prepare for war whether you want one or not. If you do not believe me study the rise of Adolf Hitler (there is currently a program on the rise of the Third Reich on the History Channel) and the start of the Russian Revolution (Dr Zhivago is a good place to start), listen to the rhetoric and compare the situation with Julius Malema and others of his ilk – history is about the psychology of human beings and this is why it is said that history repeats itself – it is my sober contention that UNLESS we change something CONSTRUCTIVELY in South Africa VERY SOON, the uprising that Malema is increasingly openly speaking about WILL happen – there are too many desperate people out there with nothing to lose and therefore susceptible to the erroneous message that Malema is broadcasting and which triggered my decision to write this message. I pray that you will give this message sober consideration and then act where action might include distributing this message to all who will listen, it might include publishing it in every newspaper and magazine that cares, it might involve taking to the public stage and entering politics. The stakes are HIGH!!! What will YOU do?” Regrettably, since writing the above piece the situation has deteriorated. Yes, Malema has been muzzled but, in his place, the President leads tens of thousands in singing “The Cabinet will shoot the Boer with machine guns”. The Truth about Exploitation, Oppression, etc. Click here to download free pdf eBook -- South Africa -- The Real Issues (24 MB) Full Table of Contents in the side bar and at the bottom of the Home Page The ENTIRE book is ALSO presented on this site so that you can read on-line -- there are links in the Table of Contents to all pages Please click here to send an email to subscribe to our mailing list [email protected] Click here to email me on [email protected] Follow @SARealIssues
Posted on: Thu, 21 Nov 2013 22:08:03 +0000
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