Facts about Africa's Geography never taught in schools |Thomas Sowell 

There probably are some areas where that might be possible. Around the big fresh water lakes I could imagine. But in general, most of the African main land just doesn't have the amounts of water nessecary to maintain canals on a bigger scale.

Americans would do it. It's a matter of will.

Good idea. My mind went to railroads.

@@sheldonwheaton881 Railroads offer great advantages in transport and the movement of people and goods, but canals offer the added benefit of bringing irrigation to previously dry and underdeveloped regions.

@@MyLateralThawts Africa is such a crap hole socially that even if a canal was built leaders would keep those people impoverished by just taking everything anyway.

Totally agree!

More like history dictates geography also!

Indeed. The Annalists were a group of French historians who looked at history from this perspective.

Indeed. The Annalists were a group of French historians who looked at history from this perspective.

Similar to all doctors, regardless of their eventual speciality, learning anatomy. They need a basic understanding of the human body to understand medical ailments and treatments. I was always interested in history and geography, but when I started taking advanced geography classes in college it really opened my eyes to how geography has direct underlying causes on the flow of history and the behavior of nations.

no you didn't anything most of what he said are as obvious as day

@taoriq I for one celebrate learning instead of putting people down for it, maybe try it sometime, spread some cheer instead of staining dialogue. Best to you.

Ain’t it the truth. No hyperbole. I learned so much about the shipping lanes around the world, but nothing on Africa.

Funny I dated a girl with a degree in African studies and she didn't know this! She loves when I showed her the video (we still talk sometimes even after we called it off.)

@@NoirMorter then you girl must not have read enough, or she skipped class

Thomas Sowell is simply a gem isn't he?

@@SylvesterMolokoane💎🧠🗣

Sure you are...quit playing. You grew up in the US

Man, Africa is such a cool country.

Dr. Sowell is an intellectual national treasure. I don't follow him 100% (abortion rights..) but on economics, culture & history he's usually spot-on - and totally unafraid of telling "unpopular" truths.

Geography is Destiny.

It's not just the Mississippi either. The entire eastern half of the country has easily navigable rivers. Just a handful of man-made canals were needed to connect the Mississippi to the Atlantic to the Great Lakes and everything in between. The Atlantic and Gulf coasts are also completely navigable and often protected by barrier islands that make natural harbors. Add that to the fact that the USA only borders two countries and is basically completely isolated militarily, and it's not hard to see why the USA was able to become such superpower.

Plus Canada is too cold to have a big population and the mexican border is relatively small so America is basically an island and therefore almost immune to attack. Add to that the rivers going that far inland and it's not hard to imagine why it's so powerful. Geography is why Britain has always been so powerful. All they needed was a powerful navy. They don't have five countries bordering them.

Versus the Congo, which has about 100 navigable miles between ocean and the first big rapids.

Not surprising that you didn’t know this. You’re an American.🙄

imagine a 5 minute coffee chat. God bless this man.

You don’t need a class because he wrote plenty of books that anyone could read and learn from.

@@slickrick8046 Ive read five of his books since April alone. Ofcourse reading a book does not compare to having the master in front of you

@@Jack3dBrett Okay. But I wouldn’t call what Sowell is talking about “history.” He’s using geography and some history to explain economic situations in certain countries in my opinion.

@@slickrick8046 pick up a book or two of his and youll see he is nothing short of a historian.

Guns,Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond was a good read.

@@dolphincliffs8864 hope you right, just bought it on kindle on your recomendation.

@@daistoke1314 Get back to me and tell me what your thoughts are. I read it back in 09. Geography had a lot to do with civilization advancing or not.

Geography is very important. Where would we be without it?

Guns germs and steel is nonsense and is regularly ripped apart by historians. Jared diamond is not a historian and he pushes many pieces of evidence for his argument that are blatantly false. He just wants to advance his political agenda.

Old folks like me will remember 'The General' episode of The Prisoner. Everyone took a history course and memorized automatically, the total time: 90 seconds. In the future, history will not be taught at all, well not actual history...

His talent is not even utilized in America for a master class... exceptionally standard guy with indepth principles.

Absolutely. Why can't there be a Masters Degree granted after seeing and taking a test based on series narrated by professionals like Professor Sowell?

What's the brilliance?

@@Pdmc-vu5gj He has a good presentation that makes it easy to understand and remember

New Guinea is surrounded by sea. Yet they never became seafarers.

@@mesolithicman164 Nor did the Aztecs and Incan cultures.

@Frigidlava It's the will to overcome those obstacles that mark out societies with a desire to develop. Britain was very backward when the Romans arrived with all their technological innovations. Which they also took with them when they withdrew, but Britain eventually clawed its way up and Rome went in to decline.

@@cmccoy3972 Incans are mountain people. The coast of Peru did had several great seafering civilizations.

@Frigidlava The cattle had to be tamed and forests cleared. It wasn't laid on a plate for Europeans. Can you imagine the attitude of the vikings to sail thousands of miles in longboats and then fight or trade? 'Man', of all colours, had to prevail over their environments, show courage and adventurousness to push the envelope. I don't like this argument that certain tribes or racial groups were uniquely disadvantaged. Well, maybe Arabs in the Sahara Desert or Eskimos, but otherwise it's a story of struggle. Some did, others didn't, for whatever cultural reasons.

This may be why China is building railroads in Africa to bring the trade connections it needs.

Yes and also China needs the raw materials and future markets with friendly nations

Kenya did have great cities on the swahili coast but this civilisation was never brought in land because of the lack of roads and rivers. The railways were able to really open up the continent.

I don’t understand, Africa is so rich with resources why don’t they build their own roads and design their own vehicles to conquer them?

Like every other society on earth?

I don't think much history or geography in general is taught in UK schools. I've met Brits who couldn't name the four countries that make up the UK. True story I'm not making this up.

Realistically, each country focuses on its own history and its own geography as those are most immediately relevant to its own population.

@@stainlesssteellemming3885 True but the world is shrinking and becoming a global village. So it helps to understand history/geography of the wider world.

@@varaa1 Agreed

@@BigUriel bs

Cultural geography, how geography shapes cultures and civilizations, one of my favorite classes in college. Guns, Germs and Steel touches a bit on this. Books by Peter Zeihan also includes good cultural geography.

@@pugilist102you forgot politics as a devastating modern tool to decimate societies.

I love him too, but I don't belive in this being any major reason for Africa's problems.

@@herrbonk3635 Why not? Seems like a serious impairment to me.

@@letsgoBrandon204 Seems like it to me as well.

Go live there like I did for 20+ years and find out...

@@letsgoBrandon204 Simply because several other cultures have developed largely in the inland of large continents, such as parts of China and Russia, before they were united like they are today. Sure, good sea ports to the rest of the world are beneficial, but hardly crucial.

You won’t be disappointed. His work is exceptionally well researched and is meticulous ; and thankfully he is a prolific writer. His words have profoundly influenced my thinking and led me to many changes of opinion. In my humble opinion Thomas Sowell is one of the greatest thinkers of the last century. Fortunately a good chunk of his work is also available as audiobooks and lectures on RU-vid so you can at least sample what you might like to buy.

I love Dr. Sowell’s lessons.

Did not know that about Lithuania. Some critics in the comments point to other societies with more natural advantages that weren't exploited for social development. I was surprised to learn that indigenous Americans hunted mammoth and horses to extinction, which flies in the face of leftist idealistic tales of native uncorrupted purity and communal relationship with Mother Earth. I think Sowell's explanations are a welcome ingredient. I heard a speaker at Am Ren, a BANNED channel, about African languages. One example was the lack of a term for obligation or promise, and a translation that meant something like binding .. I think binding hands or feet, but not the abstract understanding of obligation or promises. Of course western societies and language includes awareness of broken obligations and promises, of betrayal, but he contrasted that with the explanation he was given that a promise is more like a general intent lacking obligation in one particular African language, and the impact that would have on more complex organizing for tasks or projects. My friend and I have talked about people who will promise to show up for an event or even agree to a task upon which other plans rely, rather than stating "no", and then simply be a no show. Same for the concept of "ghosting" a romantic date. If you don't plan to show, say so, and give as much advance notice as possible, to minimize the inconvenience to the other person. At least we have the language to describe that. There may be flaws with this explanation that I'm not aware of, but the explanation was is that many of those concepts were simply missing in certain African languages. (Not to say all.)

@@gg_rider 'indigenous Americans hunted mammoth and horses to extinction' - but this didn't happen. watch joe rogan podcast with randall carlson ;-)

I thought Lithuania was one of the first to use PIE languages.

@@richardjamesclemo6235 ; to my knowledge, only spoken. Very ancient language, but supposedly no written form until middle ages

@@richardjamesclemo6235 its considered one of the oldest bcz modern linguistics science shows that Lithuanian language isnt that much different from original PIE language like the others so you get the point but if you want to know which one literally is the oldest that would be either Hittite, Avestan or Sanksrit

Solid

Thank you.

We all learned that "geography is the matrix of history". As John Smith put it: _"As Geography without History seemeth a carkasse without motion; so History without Geography wandreth as a Vagrant without a certaine habitation."_

@@mikemondano3624 That's a great quote, thank you. Explains so much of what's missing in education today.

Read Guns, Germs, and Steel to get a clear understanding of how geography defined human history.

@@MrSAEUSA The ancient Greeks and Romans have already been quite eloquent on the subject.

it also, to me, suggests a reason for Africa's genetic diversity. There was avoidance of mingling with other people not of your own clan, or village, because you didn't know what they were there for. They could be there to kidnap and enslave you. Humans, after all, were the main export. So highly lucrative that millions of people were even bought and sold to outsiders from other continents, let alone what was happening between tribal groups inland that never moved further than the next chieftain along, with thousands of miles to the nearest major waterway. So perhaps villages and clans isolated themselves from each other as much as possible, and the genetic diversity comes from millions of pockets of isolated breeding. Whereas other cultures exchanged partners liberally and so became more genetically homogenous? That could explain why some villages in Africa are so different from their neighboring villages that there seems to be no evidence of a shared ancestry. I come from a village in northern Europe which is isolated on a peninsula and has limited contact with the outside due to mountainous terrain. My family have lived there at least 800 years, it's so isolated that we still carry surnames that mean "vikings moved in here" to reference people who arrived from outside and married into the local population 1200 years ago. I wonder what etymological studies of African languages would reveal?

@@bethyngalw That might be a small contributor to Africa's human genetic diversity, but the main reason for it, I'm pretty sure, is that humans hail, as a species, from Africa. This is the continent we have the longest history being inhabitants of. Whereas humans everywhere else in the world are all necessarily descended from smaller groups of people who migrated out of the continent, therefor creating smaller genetic "pockets", Africa would have had those "original" human populations to be descended from, which would result in greater genetic diversity compared to people form other continents.

@@venus_envy perhaps, but this is a disputed point, partially because it's built on circular reasoning. Central East Africa is considered the origin of the species because that's where the highest genetic diversity is, and the theory currently believes that that genetic diversity is down to age. You can't, therefore, as I'm sure you'll be able to see, claim that the genetic diversity is down to it being the oldest place humans existed, because then you're using the conclusion of the first clause to justify the existence of the evidence for the first clause. Does that make sense? You might not be aware, if you haven't been closely following the discoveries in the field of evolutionary anthropology, but there is recently a lot of evidence to suggest that humans developed in coastal North Africa. The most recent new traces we've found are all along the Mediterranean coastline, from morocco to Israel, dated at 300k-350k ya. Unless we find fossil remains further south into Africa which predate those, then the 'Out of Africa' theory is on shaky ground, and it looks like the Mediterranean should be the focus of the emergence of sapiens. If that is the case, then the spread down into Africa happened in reverse to the traditional model, and we have to come up with another reason for the genetic diversity in the sub-saharan east coast.

@@bethyngalw Out of Africa also lacked Australian data. Out of Australia is a newer competing hypothesis.

@@bethyngalw Few points, .. Other than the majority of fossil bones of human development are found in Ethiopia high lands which go from tropical high tempatures heat deserts all the way up to ice cover peaks. a.) As the sJW/ religious groups point out humans are not animal and you can't breed humans with the track records of dogs or horses. Every seven to eight generations create a new breed of wolves/ dogs. " Human blood disorders are tracked through first to third cousin marriages." b.) During 1800's & early 1900's German fourth & fifth cousin marriages were still common. The traditional military families are plague by bipolar narcissism vainglory thrill seekers with anger issues and adrenaline surges with hyper fight or flight responses. Makes great athletes and soldiers but all my extended German born relatives suffer from mild/ minor heart attacks which begin in their forties. I already had two heart attacks in two years by the time of 44 yo. c.) On my mom's side of her mother I inherit Rh negative blood, with a low red blood cell disorder which carries low oxygen. Eating fatty iron base foods helps deal with the problem. Odd enough people living in high altitude such as Tibet, the Alps, and the Sown plain in Scotland carries this disorder to cope with altitutde sickness. d.) USA Rocky Mountain goats and big horn sheep came from Spanish livestock and ran wild for only a few centuries from moving up & down the slopes of heat stroke exhaustion deserts to ice cover highlands. Now imagine 500,000 years to a few million years of migrating in those changing environments. Also East African shell fish is rich in fatty acids for brain maintenance. Along with scrapping and drying of skin hides is required before you can move into cold environments along with fire use. Just look for surface flint mineral sites. Fire lead to imagination and those two things lead to intelligence. e.) Due to the divergence of river fish in African from jungle location to desert sites. From between 17,000 to 15,000 years ago there was a massive drought which killed off around 80% of All life in Africa. The Mexican civilizations of the Maya/ Aztec were wreaked cause of drought. f.) Environmental location along with a sizable gene pool interbreeding for more than a few centuries created .. diversity. " cough, cough," half of Ireland's population is made of Germans and Swedens.

Some people were born to be teachers.

I know that I was, but both of my parents were teachers. That's why I had a nice 32-year career as a mailman. I made the right choice.

Hehe, and this is a good (in-fact great imo) example of the artistry of communication. Storytelling, rhetoric, allegory and all the other devices have their places and strengths but this is the best example I have seen in quite some time of calmly staying on point and driving it home to excellent effect.

It's refreshing to learn and not have it tangled with strong opinion or perverted commentary to obtain a strong emotional reaction. Also the reader's voice is monotone and therefore calming.

He doesn't need to use the "Sesame Street" mode of teaching where it is all entertainment to get across a very small amount of information. I was for some years, in charge of sales for a corporation. In that capacity I hired, fired and managed sales people across the United States. I was surprised to be told one time that sales people thought I was angry a lot. In fact, in all the time that I was in that position I was only angry once. But I didn't spend time doing the smile, good fellow approach to interactions with the sales staff. I'm not saying that I was always right. My point is that my sales staff (who were all pretty young) WERE used to the 'Sesame Street' way of being treated. This presentation on the part of Mr. Sowell is cogent, tight, clear and very educational. I found it to be very enlightening. Thank you, Mr. Sowell.

His wisdom is definitely the application of his vast knowledge. He is an American treasure.

So, for example, why did Samoans, who have/had access to the sea and are fantastic canoeists, not become great seafarers?

@@mesolithicman164 oh lord. Well maybe because it's a tiny island without many natural resources? Trying to compare Samoa and other small Pacific Island nations to the European Continent is absurd at best. But to your point there is strong evidence that Samoans and other Micronesia/Macronesia Islanders did in fact travel across the Pacific to South America. So there's that? Maybe they are the seafaring masters of civilization after all?

@@kevinblackburn3198 Wasn't the point that a nation that engages in sea travel has the potential to develop into an advanced society due to the acquisition of external influences?

@@mesolithicman164 Potential but no guarantee. Clearly cultural, political and economic aspects of national life play their roles. Why DID little Portugal sponsor so much exploration and while the former Vikings in Scandinavia sat on their hands? The history of China is famous for the destruction of their sea-going fleets in the 1400s, a few decades before the Portuguese showed up in Macau. Access to the ocean is a start, but only that.

@@mikesmovingimages I think that's true. I'm joking here, but only slightly, when I say that the Somalian pirates are the only significant seafarers I can recall from that continent.

Seriously. This was awesome.

@@Chris-ji4iu Yeah…the comprehension, in such detail, that this is done with, is on a level all its own.

You'll be the best history teacher if you do that

Great Idear.

How about Richard Hofsteder?

You 'want to' - or you did?

Thomas Sowell work is a gift to the world. The world would be a better place if more people read Sowell’s work.

Yep. When I studied more about geography, I realized we all are extremely similar and produce similar results when exposed to the same ideas and environment

In the early 90s, in my early tween to teen years, I learned Nelson Mandela was just sitting on steps...peacefully protesting. And the evil white cops took him away and threw him in solitary for 20 years. Or the sentencing was like 25 years. How awful. Then, 30 years later I hear about buses blowing up with kids on them. Dayyum. Explains the 20 years. Getting off easy. Now there was the apartheid and probably mistreatment. But the opposing crime was done. Never taught. That was probably my first Dindu History Lesson.

As a young adult I did start to notice people's stories of history were often not the same. Especially when different history teachers talked about Rasputin.

What myths? Be specific

Wot miffs R U referring to??

Still the same when I was in school and I graduated in 2014.

god I hated social studies and history classes. such garbage! like being taught by a frigging robot! "memorize these 12 million dates and you get an 'A'!" go f yourself! the brain doesn't work that way! what rubbish! they wasted my time! should have let Thomas sowell and people like him write those history books. another good one is Carrol Quigley. he doesn't come out and say it, but he basically shows how England and America coloured with Germany to start ww2. he just points out a mountain of facts and let's you draw your own conclusions. the other thing is how suspicious the way Russia came up with the atomic bomb right after us. again, he doesn't say it, just points out how insanely difficult it was a o make the first bomb and then says, "oh and by the way, right after that Russia had it too! it's not like you just plant a magic bean in the ground to make an atomic bomb, especially your first one! so hard to believe there could be such a coincidence!

Dumbing down of the populace

What the hell, no geography?

My children learn geography along with social studies

INdeed. Delayed reimbursement ...being prepared to invest in next year, from this year...is lacking there. I set up a concert in East Africa and sent money . The artists drank it and didnt turn up. Working together for export is beneficial but not if the material is stolen down at the port.

How dare you? Not to suggest Marxist "solutions" - facts are so racist 😂😂😂

@@studiobencivengamarcusbenc5272 GOOD TO FIND A READER OF BOTH SMITH AND MARX THAT HAS ALSO DECIDED TO IGNORE THE LACK OF DIALECTICAL REASONING IN SMITH'S CLASSIC MARKET ECONOMICISM SUCH AS SURPLUS, COLONY TAXING AND FORCED TRADE DUE TO THE MEANINGLESSNESS OF EUROPEAN IMPORTS OUTSIDE ITSELF. BOTH SMITH AND RICARDO HAVE FUNDAMENTAL FLAWS IN THEIR MARKET ECONOMICIST ANALYSIS. ANYONE WHO HAS READ MARXIST ECONOMICS REALIZES THAT, YET A VIDEO ON AFRICA'S GEOGRAPHY (EPISTEMOLOGICALLY CLOSE TO SMITH'S INTRUMENTAL REASONING) HAS PROVOKED A REACTIONARY RESPONSE TO POLITICAL ECONOMY.

BOTH SMITH AND RICARDO TALKED ABOUT SURPLUS, COLONY TAXING FOR THE RESOURCES EXTRACTED AND GOODS PRODUCED WITHIN, FORCED TRADE DUE TO THE INCONSEQUENTIAL NATURE OF ITS OWN "EXPORTS" INTO IT'S COLONIES.... OH WAIT, NO, THEY DIDN'T TALK ABOUT THAT.

@@aaroncartoon no need to yell, raise your argument not your voice my friend. Not to mention you are simple expression an ideal not necessarily an undisputable fact. The problem with the study of historical development is there are always variables and inputs that are difficult to fully unpack.

I think I'm a pretty smart guy myself.

As well as historical! The man is a genius without a single focus! He is a great man with a variety of interest in avenues of studies. I admire him greatly.

you do realize some of the greatest civilizations on earth as well as current countries were funded in incredibly mountainous places right? including the Aztec empire itself which capital was in the heart of the mountain range of mexico, the moors which come from Morocco located in the atlus mountains, Persia which is the mountainous region on earth, and also the richest country in the world, Switzerland is literally located in the heart of the Alpine mountains, stop believing this bullshit

@@hr-g4640 WTF?? You're arguing against a presumption that was NEVER MADE!!! Get over yourself!!!

@@faith.s_mom boohoo truth should always be brought to light when someone writes something dumb

@@hr-g4640 Well then, here's some truth~ what YOU wrote is dumb!! It didn't make ANY sense.

@@hr-g4640anything just to contradict and argue.

It takes someone who really cares and are passionate about the subject to really engage people into absorbing information. Thomas Sowel has that talent, he is a great speaker and really knows his stuff.

I think a great part of the learning he advocates, is that it's virtually impossible to get people to learn and or, change their minds.

@Brian Badonde As stated by Sowell, the areas with navigable rivers and ports (Cairo & Alexandria in Egypt, Nigeria and Ghana in West Africa) do better. The Egyptians built their empire on the Nile. But yes, Africa IS largely a hellhole because the “colonialists” LEFT, not because they stayed. Sowell goes into that elsewhere, as did Paul Johnson in “Modern Times.”

@Brian Badonde Egypt had influence from its close proximity to the Middle East which was very advanced back then. Then Islam, like the Early Church came and prohibited them from advancing past the dark ages. Europe had its reformation and enlightenment, the Middle East and Africa are still stuck in the 11th century.

@Brian Badonde Yes it was. The Middle East was the cradle of civilization, it's where humans first developed. Sumeria, Babylonia, Assyria, Egypt etc all in that general region were the most advanced societies of their time. Up until the early dark ages the Arabs still lead the world in maths and Astronomy, and then the religious fundamentalism kicked in and they haven't developed further since then.

@Brian Badonde It's almost like you didn't watch the video.

@Brian Badonde Cuz the Nile gets incredibly rough and steep once you go south. In Egypt the banks of the Nile are flat for miles and miles and flood regularly. It's great for farming. In Nubia down south the cliffs get steep so you can't farm and the waterfalls make it impossible to use ships.

There are a lot of books detailing the geography of Africa. try the library

not trying to be negative, but this scratches the surface. you still know nothing, like most even Africans.

His books are widely available you know..As yet. Who else would you entrust with 'disseminating information'..? I guess you know by now that instutional media are never ever neutral or fair?? Those days have long gone.

Thank you sir.

from many years of military service this is unusual for a civilian film.

I agree! Music is for entertainment, and is completely overused by producers who mistakenly think it holds our attention and interest in their videos. It is a common malady that so many also have short attention spans. They also have trouble following much of what is being transmitted here because it requires concentration and the ability to assimilate what is being said. It’s terribly sad.

Jared Diamond's "Guns, Germs and Steel" is a good source of more "ah-hah moments." I'm surprised that I haven't seen it referenced here yet.

@@adminwrh "Guns, Germs, and Steel" is a book full of holes. There was a pretty good video made about it a while ago, but unfortunately it is no longer available on RU-vid.

Another big contributor to why Africa had a delayed development is because they don't have harsh winters. People living in the Northern parts of Europe had to deal with cold winters, where resources were scarce and foraging for food was not an option. That meant we needed to develop better clothes, which requires ingenuity and tools. We had to develop better homes, so we started building and learning how to use different materials. We had to learn how to stock food over the winter so we wouldn't starve, which meant that we could amass more provisions which would last longer, which would give us time to do other things besides getting a hold of food. And I do think that delayed gratification had a big impact on a cultural level.

Not just cultural but genetic. People went through those long winters for tens of thousands of years, that brings and evolutionary change.

@@adminwrh yes! This expalins a lot. Indeed a ah ha moment!

The video didn't say there was not trade - it is just very difficult and limited relative to other regions. Trade could also have happened over land

International yes, but not transoceanic - Egypt to Angola is possible simply by following the West African coast, and I would bet that the Minoan Aegaean traders were definitely willing to make that distance.

Probably trading slaves

@@adebolaadeola right the point is they haven't developed as much as other continents because of significant geographic constraints, namely the most significant being usable/navigable rivers and ports

egypt to angola? i doubt it. the known world for anciet egypt was up to the land of punt in the southeast and upto libya to the west. angola is perfectly on the opposite side of africa from egypt and the ancient egyptians did not sail or know of any oceans beyond the indian ocean to the south and mediterranean sea to the north.

I have to admit there were multiple aspects of this lesson I had not considered. I'm not sure the fix for 2500 feet of elevation gain along a river and how to make that suitable for trade.

Truly one of the great minds of our times..

South Africa Already has several Ports... Durban is a Massive Port that can take the biggest ships with a Direct Rail link inland thanks to the Europeans Technology and African Muscle.

I support Cape independence.

SA has Cape town, Durban and Port Elizabeth and Richards Bay. Other African countries don't have any decent deep water ports. Kenya has Mombasa.

It almost makes you wonder "Why in the world then instead of sending literal money by way of U.S. Aid (where temptation of pocketing the money to a small few ruling group happens) won't we hire and send companies & equipment over there to build aquaducts/waterways/roadways where they are needed, as well as training & educating the countries people on how to maintain those trade routes/waterways and the equipment. Go in help those that want/need it and get out which will help the People. If they can't build waterways for lack of a constant source of water then use other methods. Sending money to be embezzled by people in power & leaving the people to suffer is just rediculous and insane to me. The leaders of these African nations need to work on inner nation trade agreements so an infrastructure can be created for smooth trade routes. I have learned in much study that many NGOs, wealthy "philanthropic groups" will not help unless they can "own" some part of it & make more money which, in my opinion, negates the whole idea of Philanthropy.

For me its also how geography and trade/isolation can impact a culture. Then add in weather such as how is the winter? It can be amazing learning it especially from a hobby author such as myself.

Geography and climate drive culture and migration. A lot of the things we see as culture are adaptations to one region that make perfect sense in their historical and geographical context, that then become distorted by inertia or transposition. This next century is going to be a very interesting time to be alive!

@@alecesne this whole video was just about "its the geography" that is keeping the black man down. It's rubbish. Just like black people havent flourished in the USA because of racism? Its always excuses, always someone elses fault.

@@stephenlyon1358 If you think Dr. Sowell is making excuses, you clearly don't know much of his work. It's true that many people especially on the left try to write off differences due to circumstance in order to give a person or class of people an easy out. I would suggest here you're doing the opposite. Just because it's not only "the geography", that doesn't mean the geography hasn't also played its role. Instead of denying personal responsibility, you're going to the other extreme of denying that circumstance has any bearing at all. Perhaps a more nuanced approach is called for?

@@stephenlyon1358 With this comment you showed how little you know about Sowell and his work.

A lot of what he says is bull like water patterns effects river trade. That goes for every waterway in the world.! It's not unique to Africa. Also, saying Songhai was smaller than Texas is probably the stupid thing I got from this video. Typical US-centric bullshit.

@@Bigwillystyle707 in other words- you didn't listen to or comprehend anything that was said here.

@@Azeldas_Legacy hmmm no I watched the video twice. Did my research and realised what he said while true in some aspects, is otherwise bias without nuance but what do I expect. Also see my original comment and I mentioned a his own statement which saying Songhai is smaller than Texas. He obviously did look at a real map.

@@Bigwillystyle707 Or maybe he realizes his largest audience are American. Settle down.

There needs to be a more balance in his approach.

It's basic history. Not a big deal.

@@Pdmc-vu5gj What do you mean about history? Since when Geography is History? And what about that analyse? Yes, not basic.

@@TubeMeisterJC tw;dr (too wokeist; didn't read)

@@Pdmc-vu5gj He's speaking of how geography, waterways, topography affect cultures. 🙄😊

When Belgium colonised the country they purposely prevented the indigenous from higher education skills and jobs. When they were removed the country crumbled.

If rivers and geography were the main factors towards social development than the Americas would’ve been the most advanced civilizations almost instantly. Like the Mississippi River is the longest navigable River and the the Mississippi basin has the largest arable land in the world. This is revisionist thinking thought up to excuse colonialism and genocide.

One of the biggest offenses of schooling is not teaching geography before history. You can’t learn and understand history without knowing geography first. History comes alive once you understand the setting of the story. I learned geography via travel and military studies. We have a joke in the US military as told by foreign soldiers who encounter us: “Why does the US go to war? So you can learn geography."

You, sir ARE

Be careful with this bullshit.

Its mostly ok but I agree there are some problems in presentation, some facts are presented with little context and often in a way that seems to speak for all of Africa when they sometimes only apply to some areas. In geography especially if you dont show on a map what you're talking about precisely, I cant say I've learned enough😅

@@blanco7726Did you actually watch the video? He speaks about different regions.

Tamil navies too .

The continent also does not have the natural lumber resources to built boats, permanent dwellers. Explains the lack of permanent large structures outside of Egypt and northern areas. So geography is the original oppressor.

@@divergentsenior How does Africa not have lumber? There are vast forests thru the middle of the continent. There are also other massive resources that could be traded. Sowell is wrong. Geography is a factor, but the main reason Africa is undeveloped is the character and lifestyle of the people that live there. Compare their situation to the American Indians.

@@jamese9283 Most of the trees that grow in the jungles of Africa do not produce long straight trunks, which are useful for creating the lumber used in building larger sea going ships.

You are missing out the histories of port cities such as Zanzibar, Mombasa and Comoros all of which were highly established African port towns and centres of the Indian Ocean trade for centuries. They plied the Indian Ocean quite extensively right through history.

Yeah, Adam Smith went to Africa to fishing?

I agree

Mandatory?

Yes, I live in a cul-de-sac and I can only get out and come in one way, not two ways like eyeryone else in normal streets.

Listen to his book Wealth, Poverty, and Politics on audible!

Technology, investments and population growth in underpopulated areas can overcome these barries...

I'm from east Africa...and I think all theories that claim colonialism made Africans poor are just unfounded...

its not that its "unfit". it is more based on the reality it faces Geographical barriers. That does not mean it cannot be conquered economically. it is just harder.

grade school deflection with a lot of university language. eye opening for some.

This is a Blessing in disguise.

Third World originally meant not part of either side in the Cold War. First World was USA and allies, Second World was USSR and allies.

there is no "Third world" anymore, just ignorant people who don´t bother to upgrade their knowledge; it is MEDCs, LEDCs etc nowadays

@@rncmv they said “used to” so past tense. Makes you ignorant for not reading the comment

There is more to it than that, like belief in God of the Bible, and the culture that came with that as one can see in in Europe especially after Guttenberg. It was only after the Gospel penetrated Europe did they get out of the dark ages. In addition to the disadvantages of geography Africa has been exploited by kings, bankers, and meddling nations.

@@MrLibertyHugger Christianity made Europe worse and extremely violent.

I also want to see Mississippi!!!

Well now it’s shallow because of Nasser’s dam destroying the ecology.

Slaves were initially taken from there to Arabia, many centuries before Atlantic travel and European involvement.

@@shaunpatrick8345 it was just business. Not for the slaves, but for the traders. Was going on looooooong before America "invented" (according to some neurosurgeons out there) slavery, and sadly, it's still going on. That we don't hear of it is because our media really couldn't care less.

So you're gonna be believing this and accept it as gospel wow...development in Africa is simply down to influencers don't want it to happen u can't plunder a developed continent imagine Akon brought light to many villages through a solar initiative was this rocket science is it also rocket science the building of well for irrigation after all its water that make things grow but what do I know the narrator should do a piece on Haiti and reveal to us the challenges which continues to make them poor despite a precious mineral there in abundance..such things aren't accidents they are intentionally done wonder how none of this wasn't related in this article though

@@876jamaicanyouth nobody is "plundering" Africa, that's just a word racists use to describe development by people they hate. You can _only_ plunder a developed country, because without wealth creation there is nothing to plunder. But the impetus for developing Africa is not plunder, it is wealth creation.

@@shaunpatrick8345 I'm gonna pretend like I didn't see this if that's your opinion keep it but maybe you're right wealth creation for who though

Permaculture is not widespread, because it can not be industrialized and requires a lot of manual labor

@@gilgameschvonuruk4982 I disagree. There are many permaculture principles and ideas that can be applied to commercial food growth. On public land, but also on private land. And luckily more and more farmers are discovering the principles of permaculture and they see an increase in their crop yields and their profits. Just search for no tillng farming. And that is just one example.

@@gilgameschvonuruk4982 Search here at YT for Tucson Swales. That is a permaculture project in the Tucson desert that was left unattended for almost 100 years, and it is still flourishing.

Thank you for offering the first non bullshit answer I’ve seen in the comments without being abrasive. Someone had to do it.

Still need food aid

Thomas "giving people resources doesn't help them" Sowell yeah a real intellectual 😂

@@venicebeachsportsnetwork6677 a real pet.

@@AC-kl2gf isn't that his general thesis?

@@venicebeachsportsnetwork6677 the depth of knowledge on this one topic is astounding.

All of the African history we learned was a brief thing about the Mali, Ghana, and Songhai and then how colonialism fucked Africa up with stupid borders.

*INTERNATIONAL* education knows no borders 👍

Yes,for white people.

​@@orbreyhinkson7484You would think that you would treasure such a brilliant scholar since he is an African American.

Amen!

Sowell sole purpose is to make white people feel good. In that respect, he has been very successful.

@@jcarc5701If you had actually read any of Sowell's books, you'd know the silliness of your statement. He is one of the greatest minds to come out of the USA in the 20th century and definitely in the top three minority thinkers in the 20th century.

@@shanehallaran1326 Exactly…like I said.

@@jcarc5701 you are spot on!

And all in the name of "equality" of course. The Left is all for ANY & ALL inequalities that work in their favor.

The late Walter Williams was another brilliant black man

Not really Somalis are seafaring and the Jubba river runs from the Somali sea all the way to Ethiopia and can be traversed.

Facts... or excuses. The Mesoamerican empires, the Aztecs, Mayan and the Incas all had similar climates, lack of rivers, and were beasts of burden. yet they had empires larger and cleaner than those of Europe at time of Columbus's arrival.

@@roosevelttheodore1799 If I read you correctly, this is a false and ahistorical comparison. TS is talking about the modern African continent (the past century and current times). The Maya, Toltec, Aztec, Inca, etc, were small-scale civilizations by modern standards that did not require large-scale transportation and commerce. The specific areas of Central America and Peru were nowhere near the size of the African continent, with its many inland cultures. Not sure what you mean by "cleaner", as African terrains differed much more. Furthermore, Africa also lacks sufficient stone for major architectural projects.

Who is going to build it?

@@justwondering1967 At this rate, probably the Chinese.

Main land China spent generations slowly building up connecting river canals, dynasties fell partly because it's heavy cost

@@Glurgi and unfortunately it will prolly be debt defaulted and returned to the Chinese will take control, just like they’ve been doing to other African nations, offering loans n then the country will default on the loan n then will turn over to Chinese control! They are now the new colonizers!

Engineering challenge is much greater. Most of Africa is 1000 ft above sea level. East Africa is best prospect. There is a major investment problem in that most African countries are not politicallu stable enough

Ahahahahahaha

necessity is the mother of all invention

That, and the need to store resources (food, fuel) for a long winter will entice the development of private property rights. And, as mentioned in another comment about Adam Smith, with private property rights comes the ability to make long term investments which over time will produce the wealth necessary to create a specialised workforce (craftsmen, scholars, laboreres, farmers). And that will set the wheel rolling in the right direction.

Cotton cloth brought by the Europeans was one of the most sought after commodities by Africans. They traded ivory and rubber for it and used it to make clothing.

There's not much to say... Egypt and that's it.

Would you rather hear their true history? sub-Saharan Africans are 50,000 years behind us, so are the South Americans but maybe not by so much. The more complex a cultures language, the smarter the population is... Just by being able to communicate nuance and precision. sub-Saharan African languages are inferior... Plain and simple and you're saying that people that never got beyond the hunter-gatherer stage 10 operate within our culture? white yellow brown? Yes I'm saying Europeans Russians all Asians and Indians. Why do you think those four cultures have always ruled the world? And we're going to continue to.

@@mcapps1 *Lots of talk without backing and citation, I see -- presumptuous, to say the least. In point of fact he does state that pre-European Africa was rather similar in the state of development to that of Europe in that very term (and that's an actual citation), but declined at the peak of capitalism and to European expansionism ... Edit: but he also notes both Liberia and Ethiopia that weren't colonised and how such interaction did help the continent ~* 😂

@ordoliberal , thanks you saved me some typing!🗿🌴

@Ordoliberal *

Simple lies are easier to believe then hard facts to learn as truths. Common saying about something being not very difficult, " It's not rocket science." People are encourage to believe rocket science chemistry to be something very difficult. When in truth it is so very simple to make a card board/ steel pipe rocket to be fire from the inside of a steel pipe. Or to create a water pump from sliding one pipe in an out of another pipe to create a bicycle air pump. We are raised/ train with the saying, " You are taught what to think and not how to think. "

@@krispalermo8133simple lies are easier to believe than hard facts to learn as truths… what is a woman?

@@SammyEddie uhhhh, it's when you like, uhhh

😂

Impossible to get a decent job without a high school education

@@dave1927p I've worked as a police dispatcher, apt manager,restaurant manager,store manager, owned a business retired now. From what I'm seeing the college's are turning out ignorant robots with no ideals of thier own.

@@Freya-bs5tx How old are you?

Are you a thicko

Yes it really does remind me of Jared Diamond's book

True, but I feel this video did a better job at plainly laying out the issues with Africa's geography. It has been a couple of decades since I read that book though.

@@markuhler2664' Issues'??!!

@@ondolite3789 The problems with the geography as far as developing a technological civilization. It is far more north-south oriented than Eurasia so as the same crops raised in one region can't be in another so each area must develop its own techniques as opposed to borrowing one from another region that figured out any difficulties. The rivers weren't conducive to the river-valley civilizations that arise in Eurasia. Travel, and therefore trade, was easier in Eurasia.

@@markuhler2664 This is absolute 💯 horseshit. Africa is compelled to raise crops and dig minerals for export to the west. Almost all countries were created as areas of exploitation and remain so to this day. People are waking up to the religious crap also. Sowell is COMPLETELY inconsequential to any debate on Africa.

If rivers and geography were the main factors towards social development than the Americas would’ve been the most advanced civilizations almost instantly. Like the Mississippi River is the longest navigable River and the the Mississippi basin has the largest arable land in the world. This is revisionist thinking thought up to excuse colonialism and genocide.

Yep, North Africans were exposed to the Mediterranean and East Africans had the Red Sea. Simple reasons they were more advanced and mighty in Ancient times and even medieval times