A Stitch in Haste

The New York Times:

When a once-in-a-century natural disaster swept away the lives of more than 100,000 poor Asians last December, the developed world opened its hearts and its checkbooks. Yet when it comes to Africa, where hundreds of thousands of poor men, women and children die needlessly each year from preventable diseases, or unnatural disasters like civil wars, much of the developed world seems to have a heart of stone.
...
[T]he continent's most troubled regions -- including Somalia and Sudan in the east, Congo in the center, Zimbabwe in the south and Ivory Coast, Liberia and Sierra Leone in the west -- challenge not only our common humanity, but global security as well.

Let's review:

Somalia: Combination of former British and Italian colonies; independent since 1960.

Sudan: Former British colony; independent since 1956.

Congo (D.R.): Former Belgian colony; independent since 1960.

Zimbabwe: Former British colony; independent since 1980.

Ivory Coast: Former French colony; independent since 1960.

Sierra Leone: Former British colony; independent since 1961.

Liberia: Sui generis -- founded by the American Colonization Society in 1820; independent since 1847; continuous civil war since 1989; under United Nations auspices since 2003.

It's very convenient for the Times to invoke the responsibility of "the developed world" to resolve the Africa crisis. And of course people of good will throughout "the developed world" should and consistently do try to help the African people; the original "Band Aid" concert was held over twenty years ago.

But why is it that the so-called "Pottery Barn rule" only seems to apply to the United States? We're still paying for the sins of slavery and the Indian slaughter, and may very well continue to do so forever. But (Old) Europe gets a bye when it comes to Africa? They get to shuck off the sorrows of Africa to "the developed world" (meaning of course the U.S.)?

(Old) Europe got Africa into its current mess -- shouldn't it be (Old) Europe that bears the greatest responsibility for getting Africa out of it?

It seems that (Old) Europe -- and its apologists -- are trying to have it both ways.

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