Mar 012018
 

The government of South Africa seems to be looking towards the Zimbabwean economic miracle for their own model on how to deal with the presence of white farmers, with one of the major opposition party leaders saying they’re “not calling for the slaughter of white people–at least for now.” White farmers are being kicked off their land without compensation and being driven into poverty.

When trouble came to Syrians from other Syrians, Europe threw open the doors to millions of migrants. People are now wondering if the same should be done for the South African Boers.

THOUSANDS SIGN PETITION ASKING TRUMP TO LET WHITE FARMERS IN SOUTH AFRICA MIGRATE TO U.S. AFTER COUNTRY VOTES TO FORCE THEM OFF LAND

There are two petitions referenced in that Newsweek story. One, as the title suggests, asks Trump to let the farmers migrate to the US; that petition as of this writing has a bit over 11,000 signers after having been up for more than a year (the writeup references “President-elect Trump”). The other asks the EU to let them move to Europe, and as of this writing currently has a bit more than 17,000 signers.

To me, the obvious solution would be to allow the South Africans to immigrate to Europe. Culturally they are pretty much the same and should be fairly straightforward to assimilate. At the same time, the African and Middle Eastern migrants who have flooded into Europe in recent years can be shipped to South Africa. Surely that’s an equitable arrangement.

Of course there is always the alternative take on the topic:

Cry Me a River of White Tears, White South African Colonizers

Which revels in the ongoing rapes and murders of the farmers and the taking of their property.

This of course all begs the question about whether that land *should* be taken by the government for the benefit of the black majority of South Africa. It was, after all, their land before the Dutch and the English showed up and took it for themselves. But beyond the concept of “statute of limitations,” there is, again, the lesson of Zimbabwe; you drive off the people who have been effective, modern, productive farmers for generations and replace them with *anybody*, your chances of productivity crashing goes through the roof. Who benefits when you do that?

 Posted by at 9:15 pm