Someone on the thread mentioned tribal and kinship bonds in terms of distributing money. This is interesting. I have an African friend who made several million dollars (yes, U.S. dollars) as a young man and now in middle age has nothing. Over a short period of time he gave his money away to his family in Africa, which is something that you really do there, whether it is pennies or a large fortune. All your relatives, including your distant cousins, expect as a matter of course to be let in on any windfalls. It's often a question of survival for them. They will literally die if those better off in the family do not share. So they show up with their hands out if they even suspect a relative has gotten hold of some money. On the other hand, Africans hate thieves with a violent passion.

The African dictators like Mobutu have entire small villages living on the grounds of their big palaces. These are all relatives or kinsmen of some sort. Idi Amin greatly enriched his small tribe when he was in power.

This mentality is partly why it is difficult to find millionaires among Africans. What money they may get is spread around very thinly. Some African young men who want to escape the bondage of this huge obligation learn to evade their families so they can keep their earnings, esp. if they manage to emigrate. If a man slips away, the family members, individually or en masse, are considered within their rights to search for him until they find him, and then he will give them all his money, as he must.

My African friend does not seem too bitter about his losses. He emigrated and got his PhD and feels that money given to his sisters, mother, etc. was well spent. He will be fine, and will probably always send money back home. He would be ashamed not to. But he will never be rich because of this.

However, LW, you are probably not African and in this American culture the family is dead, so you cannot be considered to have any claim on your relative's money. I agree with Brightstar on this one, actually--almost every American is wealthy enough to have a clean bed, good food, and enough free time to pursue some dreams and hobbies. What more does anybody want or need? If you are a white Westerner, you almost surely have enough of your material needs met to be happy. If you're not, it's not your cousin's fault.

First of all, there is no poverty in the United States that really looks like the "will I live one more day?" poverty that is prevalent in many parts of Africa (and yes, I'm speaking of Africa in sweeping terms, since this poverty can be found almost everywhere on the continent--Somalia in the east, Nigeria in the west, or Congo in the middle--take your pick). Our county in the States is in rural Michigan and considered very poor in terms of all national averages. But the people lining up at our church pantry have access to indigent health care for their children--granted it's not that great--and none of them are starving, many are even quite overweight. Their crappy little house trailers are very shitty and they don't even own them, but they are given money to keep them heated during the winter. You don't die of being poor in the States unless you are off in the woods refusing all help. There are some like that, but it's not MDHR's fault if those people won't even come to the office for their credits.

So there is no comparison to Africa, and it's funny that people should be sounding so angry at the tame assertion that white westeners are better off than the African poor. Until there are dead people who have simply starved to death scattered around the back streets, America cannot be poor like parts of Africa are poor.

And you, Hedgie, yes, I am aquainted with some of the Nigerians who are part of a kind of growing upper middle class, but most of them are not as mean spirited as you sound. My friend was Sudanese by the way and if you met him you would be ashamed of yourself for accusing him of lying. Of course there are greedy, grasping, selfish Africans of a myriad of nationalities--you sound like one of them.

All I am saying is that to sit around thinking about whether or not you should give your poorer siblings money--most Africans do not think that way, it is in their culture to help support their families. This is true whether or not you personally like it or whether it fits in with the politics of greed you have chosen to practice in your "educated" and Westernized mind. And I was not arguing that Mobutu or Amin were good--merely commenting. You can read some Ryzard Kapuskinski if you doubt the story of different dictators having their family members coming to camp on the palace grounds. Of course if you read what I said I didn't say that Mobotu gave all his money away, and of course I know that he's dead. Good grief. Get that chip off your shoulder. And if you're an "unabashed capitalist", you're a prick whatever country you're from. Disgusting.

if you met the man you would be ashamed of your nasty little sexual inneundo also. "Giving me a ride in more ways than one", har har har. Why don't you head back to Nigeria and make friends with some of the legion of email scammers? They are pure capitalists, and they would share your mindset and, it would appear, have the same moral fibre.