December 29, 2002

Kwanzaa was inspired by Julius

Kwanzaa was inspired by Julius Nyerere who from 1961 to 1984 led Tanzania along the path to a Workers Paradise (A.K.A. The Road to Serfdom). The results:

Predictably, Nyerere's version of socialism drove the already low-flying Tanzanian economy into the ground. The forced relocation of 10 million to 12 million peasants into 8,000 "cooperative" government villages (and the razing of their ancestral homes) resulted in badly inefficient land use. The country went from being the largest exporter of food in Africa in 1961 to the greatest importer of food in 1980. Production of sisal, the primary raw-material export in 1960, shriveled to 20% of its peak by the early 1980s. With most of Tanzania's foreign exchange devoted by then to food imports, nothing was left for spare parts for the aging industrial sector or for fuel to get farmers' meager produce to market. It was altogether a disaster.

So, for the next few days, many people will be celebrating a holiday based on principles that led to economic ruin and mass suffering.

"Kwanzaa, in Principle" [via Power Line]