Thank you for the great quality of your blog, each time i come here, i’m amazed.

black hattitude.

These are all great points you raise. The $300 billion Moyo focuses on is the direct government to government transfer, which does usually consist of military aid.

As for the theoretical benevolent dictator Moyo suggests, well it is just that, theoretical. The ideal is that rather than push for immediate elections, which is often a strategy tied to foreign aid, the focus should be on economic development.

Again, I stress, the problem is that many take the aforementioned statement as an excuse to abuse the populace for the excuse of “economic development.” This should not be the case. Democracy begins with taking care of the people. Sure, elections can add to that in ways you mentioned, but how do you get to that point?

It’s a slippery slope because then one could theoretically hold off on elections until “suitable economic development has been achieved.” Well, I’ll pre-emptively answer that with another Moyo quote:

“Africans need the gritty defiance of the unknown man who stood against the Chinese tanks in Tiananmen Square in June 1989.”

i believe it was nearly all military aid.

FACT: it was all these dictators that set up Africa’s dependence on AID, all that money has gone through them and never reached the people. yes, everyone’s first concern is care for themselves and family, but what is gracioucly overlooked here is the fact that dictators keep people on the verge of poverty to keep them under control. that and overt oppression.

FACT: Democracies entail the elected officials responsibility to his/her constituency. Keep them happy and you stay in office. If you have a poor farming community in a democracy, his elected representative does his best to make sure his situation is dealt with. A dictator has no responsibility to any save to keep those happy who put him in power be it overlooked corruption along party lines or becoming a satellite state to a world power. A dictator just arrests the farmers and eliminates dissent through force. this in the long run usually entails a short term insurgency or a long term civil war.