The article “Prosperity Requires Freedom” (blogged here) is typical of the WSJ’s naiveté about cultural context. It’s this very “innocence,” pinpointed so well by Peter Brimelow, which prompted WSJ editorialist Paul Gigot to venture that a million Zulus would be better immigrants to the US than the same number of Englishmen.
Having been born and bred in S. Africa, I find that combining the often politically-incorrect insights of P.T. Bauer (”Dissent on Development”) and Joseph Conrad (”The Heart of Darkness”) is far more useful and infinitely more predictive (isn’t that ultimately the aim?) when it comes to making sense of Africa. Keith B. Richburg’s “American in Africa“ is also instructive, since Richburg went to Africa equipped with the same precepts the WSJ clings to.
