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| Image copyright D.C. THOMSON & Co., Ltd |
Phew! Only four more of these LITTLE STAR features to go before they wrap-up. Hey, let's have a bit of fun with them. Write your own humorous text to accompany the above one. The winner gets the satisfaction of knowing that he's given his fellow Crivvies a good laugh.
(Nothing racist or rude, it goes without saying.)
13 comments:
The chimp is saying "F*ck the peanuts - we want bananas !" or the little girl is saying "Smile everybody - we have to pretend to be happy so all the little British children won't know we actually live in grinding poverty, ignorance and superstition".
Oo-er, CJ - that last one is verging a bit. Wasn't so much a caption I was looking for - more a text piece in the style of the original - but funny.
Verging on what, Kid ? I could have added that the government of Nigeria is extremely corrupt and diverts the nation's oil wealth into the pockets of a rich elite. Anyway, what about "Nina lives in Nigeria which is a big country in West Africa. Here she is feeding her two pet chimps. The chimps look really friendly and cute don't they, children ? I'm sure you'd like to have a chimp for a pet too - well, DON'T because they are vicious little sods that will tear your face off. Can you find the six bowls in the picture ?" :)
It's so boring when the reality is - I live in Lagos which is a big city and take the bus to school. Also I know a prince who needs your email ....
Well, CJ, some people (and I'm not saying I'm one) might think that dismissing an entire country as 'ignorant and superstitious' is a bit of a 'racial stereotype'. You know how eager some anonymous people are to take exception to anything that appears on my blog, regardless of whether I wrote it or not.
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I think everyone knows a prince that needs our email addresses, Phil. I get several messages from several princes a day.
Actually, Kid - I was referring to the situation in the picture rather than the whole country. If Nina lives in a rural village then she would be living in poverty and in a third-world country in 1972 that means she would be uneducated and deeply superstitious - what's controversial about that ? But countries like that are ruled by corrupt elites who funnel the nation's wealth into their Swiss bank accounts and keep their people in poverty and ignorance - and then they blame all of their problems on colonialism decades after independence. However, I apologize if anybody blamed you for something I wrote :)
CJ, there are always people looking to take offence at just about anything, and even the mere appearance that you MIGHT be suggesting that Nigerians are ignorant and superstitious (even if that's not your intention) could be regarded as some by controversial and insulting. Remember, we live in a world where the words 'mother' and 'father' were removed from an NHS book on childbirth because a group of lesbians said they were offended because it made them feel excluded. No need to apologize - those who are looking to take offence at anything on this blog (whether said by me or not) will always find something. I just thought you should be aware of how it could be misinterpreted.
And you thought I was being too political, Kid!
Actually, Chris, I think that YOU thought you were being too political. I merely agreed with you. (Chortle.)
If anyone is ignorant over Nigeria, it's me, I've never been there, not likely to ever go there but I have met a few people from there and their neighbours. They didn't seem particularly ignorant or superstitious, they didn't do a voodoo dance when they boarded the aeroplane or sacrifice a goat for good luck in the departure lounge, I think possibly, they're just like everyone else over the world. Corruption and graft amid local politics is hardly a unique apparition, specific to nations struggling to overcome a colonial legacy and the interference from more powerful nations coverting resources. We have plenty of that kind thing here, two MP's have just been cleared of corruption allegations because what they did wasn't against the rules, in other words: bribery is intrinsic to out political system!
Yeah, given the choice I wouldn't want to live there, I've heard enough to make me wary about the place, the Biafran conflict for instance, but extrapolating hearsay to make broad assumptions about a nation is something I decline to exercise. Ignorance and superstition are problems but they're insidious and persistent, superstition is often repackaged in our cultural context, couched in faux terminology intended to ape science or infer an intellectual foundation. Ignorance is a universal attribute, we're all ignorant until we open our eyes, the distinction being, would you rather see or do you prefer keeping them closed.
Interesting points, DSE. What can I say? Ding ding! Round one...
I should point out, I wasn't really have a dig at anyone, it's just that you know, I see a lot of assumptions in various contexts put forward as truth and almost all of the time those assumptions are the product of some narrative rather than reality. It doesn't just happen with the way folk view nations, you see it with history too and probably the context where it's most consistently egregious politics.
Thing is, DSE, those other countries no doubt have their own misconceptions about Britain, so everybody's guilty of it. It's not just a British thing.
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