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A Good Word For Granta


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GRANTA is a magazine of  short stories worth recommending. New and interesting writers discuss (sometimes disturbing) topics from every part of the world.


I just finished a story about Liberia that is terribly brutal. It's tells of human beings that have reverted to uncivilized behavior. They rape and murder their own people. They cut off heads and body parts, and stab women and children for fun and other stupidly invented reasons. This story is non-fiction, set in the time just before the Liberian President Samuel Noe was murdered and continueing through the rise of  Charles Taylor who became the nation's new leader.

The corruption of Liberia is complete. The degradation of the people and the anti-human atrocities are unforgivable. The situation there is very difficult for a westerner to comprehend. The fact that violent behavior can surface within a desperate society is not easily digested.  Liberia is only one of many African countries with no future.

Their  grinding poverty and lack of hope is a sad commentary on modern society.

Think about that when reading about Somalia, Uganda, Ethiopia, Kenya, etc. having no viable government, or law or police, or fresh water. These nations have not enough food, little or no  infrastructure, criminals and terrorists roaming the countryside, and small children bearing AK47 weapons. They are all in trouble.

      **Why is so little done to relieve the distress?

      **Why are Presidents like Idi Amin and Charles Taylor
             allowed to perform atrocities year after year?

      **What can be done to better the conditions for
          self help in African nations unable to help themselves?

Ahh! The questions are endless. As long as the United Nations insist on [one vote for one nation] the questions will remain unanswered. A restructured U.N. with proportionate voting per national population - might have a chance.

Or not.

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