Dear Bronwyn
thanx for the encouragement to reflect on my attitude. I have done. Just a little anecdote, I was listening to a Pastor on a tape one time, and he related how he never remembered those who complemented him but he ALways remembered those who criticized him :) I guess because criticism attacks our sense of who we are, and we feel threatened. But, in the electronics arena, lack of negative feedback will often open the way to very unpredictable and unstable outputs.
So.. its all good.

Let me make a point from a Biblical quote if I may.

“John the Baptist came neither eating nor drinking, and you said, "He has a demon!" The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you said, "Look a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!" (Matthew 11:18-19)

Probably one of the all time best examples of ‘ya cayn’t win’ :)

One persons ‘confidence’ is another persons ‘arrogance’.

I should not have used the word “Inability” (suggesting a lack of relationship skill) in forming relationships, but ‘unsuccessful’ (suggesting other reasons may have occurred) would have been more appropriate. Good relationships in a new situation generally heal culture shock.

When I mentioned culture shock. I do so from a trained perspective. We looked closely at case studies and theory, and our own experience. Bashir showed classic symptoms, based on his post and I believe that stating as much might be helpful to him personally.

The ‘small group of people ’ was indeed a bit of a jump, though it does fit the pattern. I assumed as much because of the other things he mentioned. So, granted, I was making unsubstantiated assumptions. Bashir is welcome to correct me :) But that would not change the impression I gained of him experiencing culture shock. Have you read ‘Future Shock’ by Alvin Toffler ?
It shows how all of us, even in our own culture can experience the condition, simply due to ‘rapid change’. I also recommend this one when thinking about the impact of feminism on male identity. http://www.anthroprof.org/documents/Docs102/102articles/steelAxes.pdf

Mahatma Gandhi, when asked what he thought of Western civilization said - “I think it would be a good idea

My brother in-law is a First Officer in the Merchant Navy; I did not believe him when he mentioned that the most common sight on ether cost: East or West of Africa was Human remains floating in the Ocean, don’t be shocked, it has been like that for many many years. When sighted, obvious assistance is summoned but not forth coming if you get the meaning and there is too many bodies. Has any one seen that video yet?
Such is the romance of Primitive Tribalism, they kill them selves off and no body cares, not even the media, Perhaps the Elites of world power just assume it has already been looted, so there is nothing left for them to loot, Sounds like some Governments around the region so we send in more Loot for them and Africans still die. That sounds closer to the truth than this Lefts pathetic garble. Bloody culture shock, what excuse is there for the other dribbler’s- Pathological denial?

What an extraordinary article. As combative in its way as anything we have seen here, and expressed in a way that makes it very difficult to argue with. There are no facts to dispute, just an outpouring of dismay. No logic to bandy with either, there simply isn't any. One man's opinion, pure and simple.

We can't argue whether Bashir Goth's mythical African would be "better off" if he hadn't been discovered back in the days when the Europeans were building trade empires across the globe, because there is clearly a fundamental difference in what he and we consider "better off". But nor should we feel guilt for the actions of previous generations of Europeans: they had different values and objectives.

As Bashir Goth himself admits, the people of Africa were changed by their experiences. and it is an immutable fact of life that the clock cannot be turned back. Change is permanent. But compared to previous centuries, the world today generally frowns upon outright theft of a country's resources. So the more-developed economies tend to encourage economic growth in the countries that have those resources, through a more equitable form of trade – simple economic self-interest will do that.

If a country chooses some other way to proceed, so be it; eventually they will return to some more primitive form of existence outside the world economy. But it won't be the same as it once was.

It is understandable for Bashir Goth to lament, but he will eventually come to understand that looking back isn't the answer. Things happen, and they cannot be made to un-happen. Not the Holocaust. Not the rape of the Sabine women. Not the twin towers. Not the Great War. Not the Rwandan genocide. Nothing that has been done can be undone, even by the most ardent do-gooder.

In the meantime, it would be more polite if we were to empathize with the emotion expressed in the article, instead of lecturing the guy on how he should should feel the same way that we do about the colonization of the African continent.

I think, Pericles, that you have have reminded us all that the purpose , surely, of having a forum is to allow for empathy or argument on the subject of the actual articles that are written. This constant degeneration into name-calling and subjective arguments based upon each other's personalities somewhat defeats the purpose to my mind.
I realise that not everyone is - nor is expected to be - familiar with the paradigms of debate. But surely we are all familiar with the effects of constant pejorative aimed at ones beliefs or attitudes? And surely we are capable of understanding through the very emotive narrative we are discussing that this was written by someone who, for whatever reason (yep. culture shock is as good a lable as any)is feeling confused, disempowered and very, very angry.

If any of you have ever had to house families of African women and children in your garage for months on end; if you have had to make your way through scores of homeless, slowly dying children in order to get to the shops; if you have had friends and relations killed by armed, lawless bands of twelve and fourteen year olds then you might not be quite so damning towards the author of this article.

No, of course we can never go back to either Neverland or the Garden of Eden, but anger and misery make us long for such things. The current ills of Africa are myriad and diverse but part of the misery is caused by the unsuccessful hybridisation of different cultures. The bastardisation of social policy which results may be what the author is referring to in part. Currently neither rural nor urban Africans are accorded the rights of free Europeans but neither do the majority have knowledge or access to traditional customs. They are torn between two cultures and have no positive identification with either.And for most, just like us, their biggest worries are their children's future,
And Leo? I reckon your succint Ghandi quote was a miracle of irony and passive resistance. It was also damned funny.

The Married and elderly Mahatma also slept with young unmarried girls ....

hmmm maybe we should adopt that idea also.

He said and did a lot of things.

The result of his peaceful non violent resistance was Indian Independance, which led to one of the most brutal and bloody ethnic wars of all time as the Muslims and Hindus no longer having the over arching military umbrella of the British, unleashed their true 'violent' feelings against each other.

His 'non violence' was good for some, extremely 'terminal' for hundreds of thousands of others. What a pity that the British were so greedy, that they bled the wealth of India like a slaughtered pig, that the ingratiated themselves at the expense of Indians, that they use all their resources to plunder Indias resources both human and material.

If they had done for 'others' as they would have done to themselves, perhaps there would never have been or needed to be a Ghandi who also said

"I like your Christ, but I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ."

and

"I do not want my house to be walled in on all sides, and my windows to be closed. Instead, I want the cultures of all lands to be blown about my house as freely as possible. But I refuse to be blown off my feet by any".

...to which I add 'a hearty 7 fold amen ! but human nature being what it is, I'd restrict the numbers and origins. :)