This Is Africa - Nothing to lose? Ready to kill

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Nothing to lose? Ready to kill

Tuesday, 09 March 2010

The christians blah blah, the muslims blah blah. The more clashes like these are talked about in terms of religion the more emnity it fosters between religions.

Sure, this involved christians and muslims, just as the post-election violence in Kenya involved tribes fighting one another, and the xenophobic attacks and murders in South Africa involved South Africans and “foreigners”, but these clashes are rarely about religious or tribal differences or who belongs and who doesn’t. They are about frustration and the desperate fight for resources among those who have next to nothing, and thus nothing to lose. (Click on "Read more")

In the 70s and 80s, before the Nigerian economy began to tank, christians and muslims somehow managed to co-exist without much tension. They didn’t suddenly just lose their mind.

Poverty, extreme inequality, an unfair economic, any one of these is a recipe for disaster. They seem benign, and generate easy platitudes, until those bearing the burden begin to lash out at whoever they feel is weaker and within reach. And then the world goes, Oh, my God, muslims, blah blah, or tribalism, blah blah.

Anyone in America or Europe whose lost their job or home while investment bankers raked in millions in bonuses will understand just how angry and impotent an unfair system alone can make you.

Let’s hope those in the position to correct these imbalances are clear-sighted enough to see where the problems really lie.

Vid posted by Al Jazeera