Opinion / Columnist
African Political Parties: Political economy of Africa and effects Of imperialism
26 Mar 2014 at 07:59hrs | Views
In studying neo-colonist tendencies by Britain and the West and its subsequent impact on African states, one must understand imperialism and its ripple effects on present day African states.
Activities and structures of the British, French, Belgian, Portuguese and American finance capital in Africa must be carefully studied too: the specific forms of the organisation of African labour power to serve imperialistic enterprises; and the development of secondary forms of capitalist enterprises, controlled in some parts of Africa by Asian and Eurasian minorities and in other cases by the indigenous petty bourgeois serving, after independence, in competition with (as well as agents of ) imperialist capital.
That is the study of classes should involve the study of how the bourgeois makes the country dependent on the town, and the countries lagging in economic development 'dependent on the civilised ones, nations of peasants on the nations of bourgeois, the East on the West.
Present day African governments have adopted, manipulated and remodel the laws of colonialism in their bid to suppress western imperialism.
In so doing the generality of the masses have not been spared as African governments now struggle to create a condition where they are able to suppress the masses and thus create an enabling environment for a continued and unabated one party state rulership.
If revolutionary governments in Africa are now relying on borrowed and twisted imperialistic modes of governance then the targeted economic sanctions by the West have been rightly placed; that is if they are said to have been placed on the petty bourgeois of Zimbabwe. All African politics revolves around the bourgeois class who are also the landlords, the bankers, the media, the judiciary, the police and the army. The mode of capitalism in Zimbabwe combines both' development and underdevelopment' as its core principles are imperialistic in nature. It is as though the Zimbabwean bourgeois class are in a bid to colonise their landless, poor peasantry of their own people in order for them to retain and enjoy uninterrupted political power in their own right.
Corruption by members of the ruling class has resulted in the deprivation of the Zimbabwean subsistence producer. Most people have lost their livelihood. This will eventually result in the further exploitation and oppression of the already impoverished strata of Zimbabwean society without creating social divisions typical of the mature capitalist countries.
The style of most African ideologies are borrowed, twisted and misfit.
The whole duty of revolutionary leadership is to indoctrinate the poor electorate with their ideologies. They rule with the mind and not action. It is a game of words without the acts. It is easier said than done that is words are cheap and readily available while acts are beyond their reach. Where acts do occur it is mainly where it concerns their own self- individual enrichment.
This situation of Adopted Imperialistic Modes of Governance has manifested itself in different dimensions-political, economic, sociological, and psychological. Politically this is 'a system of rule which assumes the right of one people to impose their will on another.
This will inevitably lead to a situation of dominancy and dependency which...systematically subordinates those governed by it to the imported culture in social, economic and political life. Only a handful of the masses may benefit from this system especially where nepotism finds room to breed.
Continued subjection of the poor masses breeds in them a loathing for their own history, politically, socially and economically. Lack of justice where blood won freedom exists will concurrently create a spasm of economic underdevelopment. Thus the hope of the masses will lie heavily on their confidence in foreign state economies. Brain drain and illegal migrations to foreign states become prevalent. This has resulted in people opting for other sources to feed their insatiable political, economic, sociological, and psychological appetites. The situation breeds a dangerous people to the peace and development of Zimbabwe. Unemployed graduates are a very dangerous tool in a society like Zimbabwe if they are bottled up in an impassive economic environment.
Politicians have heavily amassed wealth at the detriment of the poor masses. Zimbabwe has reached a stage of imperial capitalistic development at which the dominance of monopolies and finance capital has established itself; in which the acquiring of wealth through corruption by the minority aristocratic society has gained pronounced importance. In here divisions of the class structures has begun.
Power structures and territories have been divided of Zimbabwe among the richest in the aristocracy. The typical ruler of Zimbabwe has become the finance capital of the nation, a power that mobile and flexible; peculiarly intertwined within the entire nation, a state of individualism and strongly attached the country's processes of production. This scenario has peculiarly made large strides so that literally several billionaires and hundreds of millionaires hold in their hand the fate of the whole nation of Zimbabwe.
In Zimbabwe it is the poor who have made the rich rich, the richest people ever to have been recorded in the annuls of Zimbabwe's class structures. We may expertly call the poor masses of Zimbabwe 'the fundamental prop and support' of Zimbabwe's minority aristocracy.
Present day African governments have domination and negation of the historical processes of the dominated masses of their nations as a common denominator by means of violently usurping the free operation of the processes of development of the nation's productive forces.
Now, in any given society, the level of development of the productive forces and the system for social utilisation of these forces (the ownership system) determine the mode of production.
The land reform programme in my opinion is Zimbabwe's mode of production whose contradictions have been manifested with intensity through the prevailing social and economic impasse. This is the principle factor in the socio-economic history of Zimbabwe and its levels of agricultural production shall be the tone and permanent driving power in its socio-economic transformation.
Activities and structures of the British, French, Belgian, Portuguese and American finance capital in Africa must be carefully studied too: the specific forms of the organisation of African labour power to serve imperialistic enterprises; and the development of secondary forms of capitalist enterprises, controlled in some parts of Africa by Asian and Eurasian minorities and in other cases by the indigenous petty bourgeois serving, after independence, in competition with (as well as agents of ) imperialist capital.
That is the study of classes should involve the study of how the bourgeois makes the country dependent on the town, and the countries lagging in economic development 'dependent on the civilised ones, nations of peasants on the nations of bourgeois, the East on the West.
Present day African governments have adopted, manipulated and remodel the laws of colonialism in their bid to suppress western imperialism.
In so doing the generality of the masses have not been spared as African governments now struggle to create a condition where they are able to suppress the masses and thus create an enabling environment for a continued and unabated one party state rulership.
If revolutionary governments in Africa are now relying on borrowed and twisted imperialistic modes of governance then the targeted economic sanctions by the West have been rightly placed; that is if they are said to have been placed on the petty bourgeois of Zimbabwe. All African politics revolves around the bourgeois class who are also the landlords, the bankers, the media, the judiciary, the police and the army. The mode of capitalism in Zimbabwe combines both' development and underdevelopment' as its core principles are imperialistic in nature. It is as though the Zimbabwean bourgeois class are in a bid to colonise their landless, poor peasantry of their own people in order for them to retain and enjoy uninterrupted political power in their own right.
Corruption by members of the ruling class has resulted in the deprivation of the Zimbabwean subsistence producer. Most people have lost their livelihood. This will eventually result in the further exploitation and oppression of the already impoverished strata of Zimbabwean society without creating social divisions typical of the mature capitalist countries.
The style of most African ideologies are borrowed, twisted and misfit.
The whole duty of revolutionary leadership is to indoctrinate the poor electorate with their ideologies. They rule with the mind and not action. It is a game of words without the acts. It is easier said than done that is words are cheap and readily available while acts are beyond their reach. Where acts do occur it is mainly where it concerns their own self- individual enrichment.
This situation of Adopted Imperialistic Modes of Governance has manifested itself in different dimensions-political, economic, sociological, and psychological. Politically this is 'a system of rule which assumes the right of one people to impose their will on another.
This will inevitably lead to a situation of dominancy and dependency which...systematically subordinates those governed by it to the imported culture in social, economic and political life. Only a handful of the masses may benefit from this system especially where nepotism finds room to breed.
Continued subjection of the poor masses breeds in them a loathing for their own history, politically, socially and economically. Lack of justice where blood won freedom exists will concurrently create a spasm of economic underdevelopment. Thus the hope of the masses will lie heavily on their confidence in foreign state economies. Brain drain and illegal migrations to foreign states become prevalent. This has resulted in people opting for other sources to feed their insatiable political, economic, sociological, and psychological appetites. The situation breeds a dangerous people to the peace and development of Zimbabwe. Unemployed graduates are a very dangerous tool in a society like Zimbabwe if they are bottled up in an impassive economic environment.
Politicians have heavily amassed wealth at the detriment of the poor masses. Zimbabwe has reached a stage of imperial capitalistic development at which the dominance of monopolies and finance capital has established itself; in which the acquiring of wealth through corruption by the minority aristocratic society has gained pronounced importance. In here divisions of the class structures has begun.
Power structures and territories have been divided of Zimbabwe among the richest in the aristocracy. The typical ruler of Zimbabwe has become the finance capital of the nation, a power that mobile and flexible; peculiarly intertwined within the entire nation, a state of individualism and strongly attached the country's processes of production. This scenario has peculiarly made large strides so that literally several billionaires and hundreds of millionaires hold in their hand the fate of the whole nation of Zimbabwe.
In Zimbabwe it is the poor who have made the rich rich, the richest people ever to have been recorded in the annuls of Zimbabwe's class structures. We may expertly call the poor masses of Zimbabwe 'the fundamental prop and support' of Zimbabwe's minority aristocracy.
Present day African governments have domination and negation of the historical processes of the dominated masses of their nations as a common denominator by means of violently usurping the free operation of the processes of development of the nation's productive forces.
Now, in any given society, the level of development of the productive forces and the system for social utilisation of these forces (the ownership system) determine the mode of production.
The land reform programme in my opinion is Zimbabwe's mode of production whose contradictions have been manifested with intensity through the prevailing social and economic impasse. This is the principle factor in the socio-economic history of Zimbabwe and its levels of agricultural production shall be the tone and permanent driving power in its socio-economic transformation.
Source - Maxwell Teedzai
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