Africa and China - 'When China Met Africa'

My sincere thanks to those who attended the September 24, 2019 Owl & Ibis – A Confluence of Minds meeting where we viewed and discussed the 2010 documentary, When China Met Africa. For those who have not viewed this film, it may be downloaded free on Tubi TV here.

This 75-minute film followed the activities of three people residing and working in Zambia between 2007 and 2009: a Chinese private farm owner; a Chinese private company road construction engineer; and Zambia’s Minister for Commerce, Trade, and Industry.

The documentary covered multi-faceted Chinese-Zambian social interactions in the areas of commercial farming, road building, and bilateral international development relations.

Among the concerns expressed during the O&I discussion of the film was whether China’s so-called ‘debt trap diplomacy’ was intentional or not.

The O&I gathering also voiced concern over the climate change, inequality, and potential global economic collapse consequences of the further spread of capitalist modernization within the lesser developed regions of the world. That is, the consequences of modernity being rapidly spread through public and private sector ‘international development’ via investment, trade and aid from China and the West.

The O&I group wondered:

Africa and China

A sincere thanks to those who attended Owl & Ibis - A Confluence of Minds on Tuesday evening, September 10, 2019. At the meeting yours truly presented a slideshow on the relationship between Africa and China from ancient times to the present. The discussion, questions, and comments were excellent!

A PDF of the presentation slideshow may be found here: Africa and China.

This short, 25-slide presentation has eight slides containing links to the latest videos or websites on China's plans and actions in Africa, and significant mention of China's intentions and efforts in other regions. The pluses and minuses of China's activities, as well as push back from the U.S. and others, are also covered.

These links are identified on the slides with these characters ***. If the links are not active on the PDF, one can easily access the videos and websites by typing in the title of the link given on the slide and searching for it on any Internet browser.

On Tuesday, September 24, O&I will air the award-winning documentary When China Met Africa as Part 2 of 2 of this presentation.

All are welcome!

}:> ~:)

Why I Write

Any writer worth his salt writes to please himself.... It's a self-exploratory operation that is endless. An exorcism of not necessarily his demon, but of his divine discontent. – Harper Lee

I believe that there is one story in the world, and only one, that has frightened and inspired us…. Humans are caught — in their lives, in their thoughts, in their hungers and ambitions, in their avarice and cruelty, and in their kindness and generosity too — in a net of good and evil. I think this is the only story we have and that it occurs on all levels of feeling and intelligence. Virtue and vice were warp and woof of our first consciousness, and they will be the fabric of our last, and this despite any changes we may impose on field and river and mountain, on economy and manners. There is no other story. – John Steinbeck

Some of you complain that my blog essays are too long, too esoteric, use too many big words unnecessarily, and/or are too flowery.

The same readers claim that I could reach more people, be more effective in getting my ideas across, and be more persuasive with my points of view if I wrote shorter essays, used simpler less intellectual language, and got to my point more quickly and directly.

I welcome this criticism and agree that my writing could use some improvement. Concerning the readability of my essays, you may not agree but I honestly think that with a little time and effort anyone can read and understand them. Anyone. I am happy when people take the time to go through and study my essays. I’m even happier when they point out the flaws in them and shortcomings in my thinking. To those readers who have no complaints and who write to me supportively, thank you. 

Here’s why I write as I do.