Latest cyclone underscores inequalities
Latest cyclone underscores inequalities
The United States has 5% of the world’s population but is responsible for 28% of annual carbon emissions in the world — about 15 tons per capita per year. For the wealthiest 10%, it is closer to 55 tons per capita! In contrast, the second-largest and second-most populous continent — Africa — prod
The challenges of recovering from the storm are compounded by the global divide between fabulous wealth and extreme deprivation. Although Africa is rich in mineral wealth, it has the highest poverty rate of any continent. Of its 54 countries, 34 are among the poorest 50 in the world, with 40% of Africa’s people surviving on less than $1 per day. Yet the United Nations has offered the three countries impacted by Cyclone Freddy just $10 million in aid for recovery.
Africa’s poverty stems from the brutal history of enslavement and colonization. The massive theft — not only of mineral wealth but of somewhere between 12 million and 20 million human beings — funded the expansion of capitalism, making it the dominant mode of production globally. Imperialism, the highest stage of capitalism, characterized by the growth of monopoly and the domination of finance capital, came into being on the backs of African people.
Trillions of dollars are owed to Africa and Africans in the diaspora for stolen resources, labor and people.