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Feel Good Story of the Day

I agree indeed!
 
yep, awesome.
I do feel good now. :)
 
Brilliant :)
 
Now I just feel like my own life is even more of a waste, THANKS.

(No, really, good story!)
 
^there's no place like here, is there.
 
Dear Great Britain, we're very sorry but full episodes are not available. dkagjasg
 
Not available either...but thanks for looking.
 
eat shit
 
What a great story, I'd watch out though. Today, wind farms. Tomorrow, Junkions.
 
He has now built an empire of tabloid newspapers and porn.
 
I agree that this is a heartwarming story, but it begs the question: why did it take until 2009 for something like this to happen in Malawi? Holland has had windmills for centuries. Several other countries already have windfarms based on this same principle.

Will the rest of his village beat him for being a "sellout to Whitey", then steal his technology?

As much as we'd like to think otherwise, this development probably will not materially affect anything for the "Malawans" (is that the right name for people from Malawi?). Most Africans, with few exceptions, just aren't that motivated to change anything, as long as more affluent nations continue to pour in the handouts.
 
Even in the Middle Ages after the devastation of the Black Plague, Holland was far wealthier than Malawi is now. It's not exactly like the Dutch had to build theirs out of salvaged parts and random bits of trash.

The problems facing sub-Saharan Africa are far more complex than "durr hurr niggers are stupid and lazy."
 
FBI parte due said:
Even in the Middle Ages after the devastation of the Black Plague, Holland was far wealthier than Malawi is now. It's not exactly like the Dutch had to build theirs out of salvaged parts and random bits of trash.

The problems facing sub-Saharan Africa are far more complex than "durr hurr niggers are stupid and lazy."
Click to expand...

I never said that they were "stupid". Indeed, what this young guy did was quite ingenius.

My question is, why has no one there been motivated to make more advances like this?

And why were the Middle-Ages Dutch "far wealthier than Malawi is now"? Malawi has TONS of natural resources... limestone, arable land, hydropower, unexploited deposits of uranium, coal, and bauxite.

Limestone is an excellent (and classical) building material, for instance. So why is Malawi rife with mud huts residences?

Malawi has hydropower and uranium-- so why are too many Malawians (I think that IS the right term) without electricity, which is what makes this story such big news to begin with? These are resources that could be used to power themselves (oh, and before the windmill came, what were these folks using to power their cellphones-- and how can they even afford cellphones and phone service to begin with?)

If Malawi is so rich with bauxite and coal, then why do so many of these folks still use firewood for cooking and heating? Most other countries have learned how to mine coal and use it, and refine it. Africans still use firewood.

If Malawi has such beautiful, large lakes and rivers, then why are the Malawians not using their "smarts" and the water from these sources to irrigate their crops and provide running (and potable) water to their villages? The Romans had their elaborate aqueducts nearly 2 millennia ago to bring potable water to their cities and even small villages. Why hasn't Africa done at least that much? Say that much of Africa is a desert, but can the same not be said of much of the Southwestern US? Yet people live there-- they have running water, crops, nice homes and are very successful.

If these people aren't lazy and unmotivated, then why have they not risen up as a nation to revolt against the corruption that "holds them down"?

There are just a few examples that should raise many questions.

I am in no way denying that this ONE YOUNG MAN was very creative and motivated-- but sadly, the same cannot be said of the population at large. If the rest of the people showed the same initiative as this young man, Africa as a whole would be far different than it is now.
 
Malawi may have plenty of mineral wealth, nominally, but that's not going to help your average Malawian. Even if they weren't owned by huge corporations that had an interest in keeping the workforce semi-agrarian, impoverished, and stuck in a cycle of migrancy, it's not exactly like you could just walk up to an area with deposits, dig some nuggets of earth up, and sell them on eBay.

Africans have risen up against the corruption and exploitation that is one of the major reasons they're so impoverished, but, like the French Revolution, the Russian Revolution, the Peasants' War, and the Dacke War (to name the few ones I actually know that much about), that doesn't really work. Sustained change is what's needed.

I'm not denigrating what this guy has done, but the only reason why he's not going to live his life out as an impoverished, undereducated subsistence farmer is because people took notice of him and gave him a scholarship to a good school and plenty of media attention. That's not a sustainable model for the rehabilitation of an entire country.
 
FBI parte due said:
Malawi may have plenty of mineral wealth, nominally, but that's not going to help your average Malawian. Even if they weren't owned by huge corporations that had an interest in keeping the workforce semi-agrarian, impoverished, and stuck in a cycle of migrancy, it's not exactly like you could just walk up to an area with deposits, dig some nuggets of earth up, and sell them on eBay.

Africans have risen up against the corruption and exploitation that is one of the major reasons they're so impoverished, but, like the French Revolution, the Russian Revolution, the Peasants' War, and the Dacke War (to name the few ones I actually know that much about), that doesn't really work. Sustained change is what's needed.

I'm not denigrating what this guy has done, but the only reason why he's not going to live his life out as an impoverished, undereducated subsistence farmer is because people took notice of him and gave him a scholarship to a good school and plenty of media attention. That's not a sustainable model for the rehabilitation of an entire country.
Click to expand...

You still haven't answered the question of why this young man's achievement is so notable. As I said, windmills have been around for centuries. There's hydropower capability in Malawi. They have coal. They have uranium. These are all viable means of producing electricity. Hydropower is sustainable. What seems to be lacking in the equation is a sustained initiative among the people to develop the technology.

If these folks have cellphones and were lining up to charge them at the new windmill, then they're not totally in the dark (no pun intended) when it comes to embracing technology.

Why is it such big news for ONE MALAWIAN to have the gumption to better himself, while the rest seem content to roll over and "play the victim"? We see the same thing in a different way when we see the lines of third- and fourth-generation welfare recipients lining up for their crumbs from the government here in the US. Here they are, in a cutting-edge country, and they still have their hands out like beggars and whining about how "Whitey" has held them back. Meanwhile, there are a few upstarts in that group who decide to break the cycle and they apply themselves, and great things happen.

Something needs to be done, somewhere, to inspire the Malawians and other perpetually-poor nationals to take it upon themselves to make changes. It has to come from within. We can "give and give and give"-- but until these folks learn to use the resources that they have, they will always be poor.

Look, the same "water force" that generates electricity can power grain mills. The coal that's in the ground can generate electricity heat homes and be converted into coal products such as tar to pave roads. The bauxite can also be mined and purified into aluminum, which can then be made into "products" which can in turn be sold on the world market. The limestone can be turned into building material.

As for water-- I will say it again: if the Romans could build aqueducts to provide water to such an immense area, centuries ago, surely the Malawians could build some sort of water-supply system today. I mean, even campers learn how to collect dew using reflectors and other simple collection devices!

Malawi is highly dependent on corn as a staple food crop and tobacco as a cash crop. However, conditions there are very good for growing wheat, cotton (I know, hard on soil-- but excellent for making export products); and many other crops. The people, though, have to take it upon THEMSELVES to act, and not rely on their government to meet every need.
 
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