The Top 40

Africa is nothing more than a giant warehouse. Kind of like a global Sam's Club. Natural resources are the only things attracting other countries. The wildlife gets in the way. Come to think of it, so do the natives.

It is a continent where people can live out their humanitarian fantasies: save the planet, save the animals, save the natives. Throw money at it and consider themselves absolved of the sins of their everyday lives. What they oughta do is put a big fence around the continent, make it like a theme park. Entry level membership allows saving trees and plants; pay a little more for a silver membership and save animals. The platinum level allows members to actually save people: wretched disease-ridden cannibals or slave traders or generations of inbred natives living in mud huts in some obscure valley.

The oil, minerals, lumber, anything else that has dollar value will be shipped out the back door, the missionaries and tourists and do-gooders gather at the front doors. Photo ops and all.

There is a reason why it was Europeans arriving in Africa with ships, firearms, uniforms, and civilization and not the other way around. Africa's most advanced export is a t-shirt.