No Man's Land
George Monbiot
The book of Monbiot's journey through East Africa, visiting the
disappearing people - the nomadic tribes. It's a sad book - everywhere
the nomads and/or their way of life is under attack, they are seen as
undesirables, with no proper loyalty to a state and making no economic
contribution. The nomads are being rendered "homeless" by game parks,
governments and capitalism, they are being forced to "settle" and
participate (in poverty, of course) in the cash economy. There was an
interesting section where Monbiot interviews Richard Leakey, who puts a
strong case against monbiot's thesis, almost convincing the author until
he realises that Leakey's view is really a rather old-fashioned (but
well-meaning) one.
A book that everybody should read.
Coincidentally, Seán had recently read about the destruction of the
cattle of Africa by the rinderpest virus, brought in the nineteenth
century. This had the effect of killing virtually all of the nomad's
cattle and reducing them to starvation an destitution, in which condition
they were easily subdued by the colonizers. These same colonizers found a
largely uninhabited wilderness, a situation which they tried to recreate
in the great game parks, without realising that this was an irregular
condition brought about by a cattle plague: as a result, the African
people who lived in harmony with nature have been excluded.
Caroline 27/8/00
The frames have gone all funny - click to make it good.