About our continent, it's true that we have a very sad history of being taken advantage of, through slavery, colonisation, and now by our own created institutions. But if you ask me, looking for sympathy is not the way forward, because even though it takes courage to complain, it cannot without action undo past transgressions.
If I heard right, even mighty America suffered injustices of colonisation, and I was told Europe was almost ruined by the World War, but look who's laughing now? Do you think ours is a consequence of our past conditions, or rather the decisions we make? Is it a thing of resources or rather a matter of will?
History tells us that before oppressed people we were blessed people, that ours was the birthplace of art and civilisation, then you wonder how such a wonderful people became the standard by which primitive behaviour, weird diseases, genocide, tribal conflicts and lack of cooperation are measured; is it real or imaginary?
Do you know what I think? I think every continent on planet earth is as messed up as ours. The only difference is that of attitude and mentality. Instead of going about expressing feelings of pain, dissatisfaction and resentment, other places take initiatives that'll change things, then they create means and institutions to market such initiatives, and to arouse desire to be associated with them.
The other day I was watching a documentary about "Brand America," and I was wowed by the forward looking involvement of almost everyone in the creation of an "American image" to be proud of. The display felt somewhat decorative, or maybe I was just being jealous, because there's never a rose without the prick.
Okay, I was using sms composer to do this piece and I am told I have reached the message size limit. So I will conclude by quoting Randy Pausch: "If you took one-tenth the energy you put into complaining and applied it to solving the problem, you'd be surprised by how well things can work out. Complaining does not work as a strategy. We all have finite time and energy. Any time we spend whining is unlikely to help us achieve our goals. And it won't make us happier."
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