Althouse: "I want to buy them a boat."

March 27, 2008

"I want to buy them a boat."

We all want to help buy that boat.

20 comments:

former law student said...: Since the previous boat was stolen, I have a suggestion. Driving in 'Sconsin once, the road ended and I had to take a ferry. It was a small flatbed boat that followed a cable strung across the water, so that three or so vehicles could cross at a time. These people need a boat that's similarly chained down.; 3/27/08, 2:47 PM
Hoosier Daddy said...: I a better idea, how about a freaking bridge?; 3/27/08, 2:59 PM
Elliott A said...: Same problem as the bridge to nowhere. Move the families across the river. The folks in the Alaska village live 2.5 miles from Anchorage as the crow flies and 2.5 hours drive around the Turnagain Arm. They could move back to civilization, then a bridge or ferry wouldn't be needed!; 3/27/08, 3:18 PM
rhhardin said...: I'd suggest small aircraft.; 3/27/08, 3:29 PM
George M. Spencer said...: I don't think we should be interfering. We mustn't put our needs above those of crocodiles.; 3/27/08, 3:34 PM
Jake said...: "He says many parents have no choice but to let their children make the dangerous crossing."

Not unlike British parents who send their children across school grounds in Brixton. Maybe the BBC should write a story about that.; 3/27/08, 4:09 PM
ajf said...: "It's very frustrating. You can see the school from the opposite bank but you just can't reach it."
Priceless.

People have been crossing rivers for eons. It's not rocket science...; 3/27/08, 4:17 PM
The Drill SGT said...: couple of thoughts:

1. I understand some of the parents can't swim, but obviously some of the kids can't either. any reason a couple of the parents that can swim, help that raft trip?

2. a cable ferry makes the most sense. stable, hard to steal, and flexible (e.g. removable in flood season)

3. a bridge, depending on the river width, depth, and flood plain could be a huge expense. cable ferry makes better sense at 1/10,000th of the price; 3/27/08, 4:20 PM
ricpic said...: They want a boat? A boat back to civilization? But they've rejected civilization. White devil go home! Okay, the white devil went home. Now they're demanding? Vaffanculo!; 3/27/08, 5:05 PM
Christy said...: What George said.; 3/27/08, 5:26 PM
KCFleming said...: FLS, Drill Sgt, and ajf demonstrate the best of the West.

It explains fully why things are the way they are, why there are kids on an inner tube crossing a crocdile-infested river in the year 2008. Western man simply does. It's a cultural skill that we take for granted but does not exist everywhere.

And why not there, in Sahlumbe village in Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa?

Sahlumbe has been described as a "ramshackle crime-ridden settlement", one of many rudimentary camps set up when, between 1969 and 1972, about 20,000 black tenant laborers were removed from white-owned land when such squatting was outlawed.

In 1995 President Mandela ordered land reform to begin, ostensibly to return land to the original owners. But ever since then, it appears there has been constant dispute over developing the land because the land is not owned by individuals. Areas are owned by the local government, but run by Tribal councils.

Thus, the tragedy of the commons takes hold. No one builds bridges, and no one buys a boat. Lack of property laws and a government to enforce them dooms these kids. Lack of a boat is not the problem, but why they lack a boat is.

Agrarian Change, Gender and Land Rights
By Shahrashoub Razavi
pp. 131-134; 3/27/08, 5:39 PM
titusdance10looks3 said...: Kiss today goodbye
The sweetness and the sorrow.

Who am I any way am I my resume?

That aint it kid, that aint it kid. Dance 10 looks 3 and I am still on unemployment.

One thrilling combination every little step he makes.

Everyday I went to school and I was very nervous very nervous. I felt nothing.

again, 5678 dance step dance step again,

Thank you.; 3/27/08, 5:43 PM
KCFleming said...: More evidence that these kids are harmed by the lack of Western-type governance and culture, where lack of real property rights dooms whokle nations to unrelenting poverty.

The South African government’s implementation of its land reform program in KwaZulu-Natal was complicated by the fact that the 1995 plan "placed the ownership of all land in the former KwaZulu homeland under the Ingonyama Trust whose only trustee was Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini. The King held the land in trust for and on behalf of the tribes and communities and could not alienate any land or interest in or real right to the land without the written permission of the traditional authority of the tribe or community concerned. This meant that the existing system of tenure on this land continued - Permission to Occupy (PTO)."

Despite the attempts at so-called "land reform", "the overwhelming sense emerging...is one of failure. Not only has relatively little land been redistributed and very few restitution cases resolved, but there is no evidence to indicate whether or not those beneficiaries who have taken transfer are in fact experiencing improved livelihoods or greater food security."

AFRA: 20 years in the land rights struggle, 1979-1999
by Anne Harley and Romy Fotheringham; 3/27/08, 5:53 PM
Peter V. Bella said...: Build a bridge, buy a boat? Then the whacko environmentalists will complain that those selfish school kids are trying to harm the crocodile habitat. They will demand the village be moved or the children stay ignorant.

Save the Crocs. Mine are black and yellow. Comfortable too.; 3/27/08, 6:16 PM
Chip Ahoy said...: A wooden bridge would be broken up and used for fuel. A metal bridge would be disassembled and sold for scrap. A stone bridge would taken apart and the pieces used to build stone thatched huts. A concrete bridge would be poorly constructed by corrupt subcontractors and the benefactors sued by angered tribesmen. A barge would be appropriated by criminals and the populace extorted, another boat will simply be stolen. The school itself eventually will be transformed into a madras anyway concentrating on memorizing one single book and one backward set of laws. The entire continent, presumably birthplace of humankind is resolutely determinedly retrograde, it's populations positively atavistic --this I've concluded from a lifetime of observation, and that's putting things optimistically. Now what's with all this crocodile bashing? There's a clever species that's managed to work its way up and hang on.; 3/27/08, 7:26 PM
Freeman Hunt said...: I like the contraption at ajf's link. It would work, and it's not worth stealing.; 3/27/08, 7:37 PM
Peter said...: Hmmph. In South America and in Asia they weave ropes from grasses and vines and make bridges over rivers and canyons.
In Africa they want someone to buy them a boat.
Pardon me for not weeping.; 3/27/08, 7:43 PM
Cedarford said...: Hmmph. In South America and in Asia they weave ropes from grasses and vines and make bridges over rivers and canyons.
In Africa they want someone to buy them a boat.
Pardon me for not weeping.

Not to mention the ME, N Africa, and Europe where stone, rope bridges go back to the dawn of time.

The problem appears that outside Africa, the rest of humanity is descended from a few hundred "Out of Africa" migrants 30,000 years ago that evolved independently -that are hardwired for group cooperation. Bridges and other collective endeavors that are investments in the future appear natural to us.

As a default position, on the other hand - Subsaharan blacks live in the present, and have difficulty with collective projects that have resources uused that could instead satisfy individual need at the expense of others.

A reason why black NOLA scum did not maintain their part of upkeep of Levees, or why things not guarded in New Orleans get stolen. Why parasitism exists in the demand that others pay for and provide those needed things. Why NOLA or S African children have such difficulty imagining building a communal boat instead of expanding their own huts or apartments or number of wives, GFs with the resources instead, is in everyones mutual interest, or the long-term benefits of working hard to get an education if present grades are not rewarded with new sneakers or better food.

It's in people's natures.; 3/27/08, 8:12 PM
Synova said...: Better would be a boat factory. Employ a few people. Build boats.; 3/28/08, 12:27 AM
Unknown said...: Just a quick note from South Africa: This is NOT an Islamic area, the kids are Zulu; most people, including adults, dont know how to swim and fear the water; people are desperate for their kids to be educated - they see education as the way out of poverty and ignorance. Though if they saw some of these blog entries, they might change their minds about the last bit.; 4/10/08, 1:07 PM