Comments by "David Himmelsbach" (@davidhimmelsbach557) on "Why is Africa Still So Poor?" video.
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Africa never was what you and I would call rich. It's primary problem is TERMITES. Note how every other society uses wood for construction -- and the stuff lasts for years and years. Wood is a HUGE labor saver. Termites wipe out wood, paper -- in Africa -- at a tempo that non-Africans can't comprehend. Mud is a poor substitute for wood in a zone of HEAVY rainfall. All of the above is why Africans -- no matter how smart and clever -- had to live in huts -- habitation so cheap to build that one built a new hut like clock-work. No libraries could survive the termite.
And most of Africa has overcast nights that blot out the stars. So Africans never developed any naval tradition. In contrast, the Norse, the Polynesians, the Orientals were ALL very star-aware. For Black Africa such a hobby would be a total waste of time, of effort. Night clouds made for darkest Africa. That's where the expression arose. European and Chinese explorers just could not believe how dark the nights are in Africa. Even a full Moon can't illuminate the ground. (!) You'll note that in South America, star obsession only occurred for those cultures living at high altitudes. Even the Maya were obsessed with building UP so as to view the sky -- and they had nearby stone to do it. In Darkest Africa, the ground is, essentially, mud. All of which is why internal transportation -- of any weight and distance -- had to occur via rivers. And Africa's rivers are a risky transit. It took modern methods, steamships, before going up and down the big rivers was at all practical. And then there's the hippo -- the biggest man-killer of the continent -- by FAR. They get out of rivers at night and raise holly horror all over the place. There's a real reason Africans and African-Americans abhor swimming. It's genetic. For anyone crazy enough to swim or wade gets the Darwin Award! The first Africans to witness Europeans attempting to bathe were certain that they were flat crazy. So, you add it up: transportation is risky, costly -- nights are very, very dark -- termites are eating you out of house and home -- baby, you're behind the eight-ball. It's notable that where Africans did prosper, they weren't in the jungle. Famously, they struck gold just south of the Sahara. At one point, they were placer-mining more gold than any other place on Earth. BTW, their culture has left MUD architecture that has lasted centuries. (Timbuktu) Yeah, despite their gold mines, they were restricted to building in mud. All gold and no quarries -- isn't that a kick in the head?
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