Michelle Malkin » What happened when they “spread the wealth” in Zimbabwe

What happened when they “spread the wealth” in Zimbabwe

By Michelle Malkin • October 20, 2008 08:43 AM

The Raleigh News and Observer profiles a couple from Zimbabwe that was forced to escape their native country when the thug-o-crats decided to “spread the wealth around.”

Sitting at the kitchen table in the couple’s apartment in Ayden, Helen remembers vividly what happened next. Two Mazda pickups, bristling with armed police, were waiting for her. Their leader snatched the gate’s keys from the employee and turned to Helen.

“This is no longer your property. You have 24 hours to get out,” he told her. If you don’t, “we’ll kill you or put you in jail, whichever you prefer.”

It was not an idle threat. In 2000, war veterans killed a neighbor after he refused to leave his farm.

The Herbsts prided themselves on the relationships they formed with their black employees, many of whom worked with the family for years. The couple had provided a pre-school on the property for workers’ children, and a free health clinic where mothers could take their babies. Wally had hoped that his family’s longstanding ties to the area would spare his farm from seizure.

Frantic packing

In the end, it did not matter. With the help of neighbors and friends and their vehicles, the Herbsts were forced to pack up as much as they could. Police pilfered from the trucks as the woman who would be moving into their home gave demands.

The Herbsts were barred from removing anything needed to run the farm, including tractors. The farm would be turned over to a local politician, and his wife wanted some things inside the home as well.

This irritated Helen, who picked up a pottery vase her daughter Pam had made in school.

“I said, ‘Do you want this?’ and she said ‘yes.’ I drew my hand back, and I turned around and smashed it on the floor.”

She laughs about it now, but Wally and Helen haven’t been back home since. Pam, who lives less than 70 miles from the farm, hasn’t returned, either. “To be honest, I don’t know if I’d want to go back,” she says on the phone from her home in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. “I’d rather have these pictures in my mind of how it looked when I left.”

The Herbsts’ son, John, returned soon after to tend to the cattle, only to be kidnapped and held for ransom at the farm.

The kidnappers had gained access to the Herbsts’ bank records. They demanded exactly what the family had on deposit. Helen doesn’t remember the precise figure, but it was millions of Zimbabwe dollars. It took Helen five trips with a suitcase to fill the back seat of her car with enough money to free their son.

Although she can retell almost the entire story without becoming emotional, Helen tears up when speaking of her three children, two of whom live in Zimbabwe. She is not sure when she will see them, or her grandchild, again, but Helen and Wally needed to leave.

Read the whole piece here.

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#201

On October 20th, 2008 at 9:42 pm, torabora said:

Some people see this as change. It is not.

Individual Humans have been held in thrall for most of their existence. America represents a push back against tyranny. After 230 years we are succumbing to the tide of history. BO and the Democratic Party are a wave in that ocean of despair.

In 1860 we had to have a war to ensure the success of liberty. It may be necessary again.
#202

On October 20th, 2008 at 10:44 pm, St. Louis Blue said:

I was in a Publix over the weekend and there was a black woman in front of me in the check out line. She had one of the ‘Change is coming!” with a picture of Facade on it. She turned and saw me looking at it and hones to God she said: “Get used to it white boy, the days of people like you are over. We are in charge now!” I fear she may be right.

You’ve got to be kidding. You fear a group of people who are descendants of others so incompetent that they were sold into slavery by their racial brethren?!?

You fear people whose idea of good oral hygiene includes shopping here?!?

Here’s your “L”
#203

On October 20th, 2008 at 11:03 pm, ITookTheRedPill said:

Summary of Barack’s agenda?

The problems of exploitation, oppression, and survival facing humankind can only be solved, ultimately, by the elimination of the exploitative system of capitalism. Our survival depends on a transformation to socialism. The U.S. working class, with a long revolutionary history and many powerful mass movements and organizations, has the potential to make this transition happen. That means building unity for peace, for protecting and expanding democracy, for living-wage jobs, for universal health care, for real equality for all those who are nationally or racially oppressed and women, for an end to the political control of the ultra-right over our political institutions, and for an end to the economic rule of the transnational corporations. Building and strengthening organizations of and alliances between the working class and its allies, winning real unity in the course of struggle, is the path from our current struggles towards socialism.

The Source:

The Road to Socialism USA:
Unity for Peace, Democracy, Jobs and Equality
Program of the Communist Party USA
28th National Convention
First published 05/19/2006 04:45 by the Communist Party, USA
#209

On October 21st, 2008 at 3:36 am, Tommygun said:

The Herbsts decided to move abroad.

Says Wally: “Eventually, all our assets were gone, and we thought” — clapping his hands for emphasis — “let’s try America.”

They went to America. Where will we go?

The 1987 ABC mini-series Amerika was the story of the aftermath of a Soviet takeover of the United States. The plot involves a military attack and coup that crippled the country and opened the way for capulation and foreign occuation. The miniseries is set in 1997, ten years after the takeover, with the effects of full-blown Leftist-Communist indoctrination appearing. Consider the following from the Wikipedia article on the story ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amerika_(TV_miniseries) ):

Both the novel and miniseries leave the impression that, with the death of freedom in America, there is nowhere else in the world where it may be found. In the novel, one character muses: “The truth is, we’ve reached the first time in history where there’s no place left to escape to. America, England, Israel, Canada, there was always a beacon of hope somewhere. Now there’s just one world and it’s all bad.” This dialogue suggests that the Soviet Union or other totalitarian forces conquered other free countries after the U.S. coup… There is also a scene with two emigres from the German Democratic Republic who came to the United States before the Soviet takeover and are now exiles in their new country: “It’s one of life’s little jokes. We escaped from East Germany to come to the promised land; now the promised land has become worse than what we left.“

Compare those characters’ perceptions with this from Ronald Reagan’s famous 1964 speech ( http://www.reaganlibrary.com/reagan/speeches/rendezvous.asp ) in support of an earlier Senator from Arizona running for President. Reagan offered the following:

Not too long ago two friends of mine were talking to a Cuban refugee, a businessman who had escaped from Castro, and in the midst of his story one of my friends turned to the other and said, “We don’t know how lucky we are.” And the Cuban stopped and said, “How lucky you are! I had someplace to escape to.” In that sentence he told us the entire story. If we lose freedom here, there is no place to escape to. This is the last stand on Earth.

Reagan knew this could happen here, and that was with Lyndon Johnson, a liberal who tried to fight Communism on the battlefield. What does that say about a situation when the opposing candidate is actually ENDORSED by the Communist Party? ( http://cpusa.org/article/articleview/975/1/147/ )
#210

On October 21st, 2008 at 9:20 am, wayiwalk said:

There is going to be a fairly slow unraveling, but you won’t see it and it will be slow enough and take long enough that fingers will be pointed to the current administration….even if the current economic meltdown was the most successful bi-partisian effort since our victory in WWII.

Today in the Wall Street Journal:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122455099434052597.html

…”But if the coming wave of new regulation from an Obama administration is harmful to the economy, Mr. Obama will take a page from FDR’s playbook. He’ll blame Republicans for having caused the market crash in the first place, and so escape blame for the consequences of his policies. It worked for FDR and, so far in this campaign, blaming Republicans and George W. Bush has worked for Mr. Obama.”
#211

On October 21st, 2008 at 12:57 pm, ITookTheRedPill said:

“This is no longer your property. You have 24 hours to get out,” he told her. If you don’t, “we’ll kill you or put you in jail, whichever you prefer.”

The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.
I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

John 10:10
#213

On October 21st, 2008 at 2:00 pm, emjem24 said:

The Herbsts’ story is both frightening and relevant to what fate lies in store for America. Many liberals and ignorant Americans dismiss such an occurence, claiming it could never happen to us. Obummer means well, he would never do such a thing to America.

Just like FDR who used the Great Depression to make people slaves to the State.

Just like LBJ, who used poverty and “benevolent paternalism” to put people on welfare and further tie them to the State.

Many people refuse to see the truth. There is already socialism in our country. There are so many people who think the world owes them something because of a grievance that goes back generations. It is slavery. It is women’s rights. It is gay rights. It’s laziness and irresponsibility.

Who says that Obummer’s approach doesn’t mimic Mugabe’s? The general sentiment of Americans is that they trust Obummer with so much, yet take their freedom and rights of others for granted. A rebate check or tax credit for a vote.

The Herbsts’ story is not just a fable with a moral. It is real and can happen, especially to an America too reliant on a charismatic personality and not willing to look deep enough into a candidate’s platform to see what they’re not saying, what their record says, and what they’ll actually do.

Obummer, like Mugabe, thinks he’s accountable to no one but his groupies. If he so much as tries to ruin the military or take away my 2nd Ammendment rights, there will be consequences. We are not all dupes like Obummer supporters. We are all not willing to sell our souls for a bag of coin or things we’re not entitled to like other people’s wealth.

America will not go down in a whimper but a roar. The military won’t stand for it and neither will its veterans who fought for our freedom. You can bet the farm on that.
#214

On October 21st, 2008 at 3:13 pm, Charly Martel said:

WarEagle82 said:

Do the math.
Kelo + Socialism – 2nd Amendment = serfdom.
We have become a nation ruled by our federal government and the federal government has usurped the power reserved to the people and the states. The federal government has essentially overthrown the US Constitution already. And we continue to let them get by with it.
Both major parties are the problem. The only way out of this mess is for conservatives to abandon the socialists in both parties and vote Constitution Party. They are the only party dedicated to restoring the constitutional limits to the central government.

Agreed, with one exception. This election is too close and the potential for disaster is too great if THE ONE wins. In the presidential elections, the odds are too much too high against third parties. But by all means support the Constitution Party in every local and downticket contest. In my state, many of the state and local offices have only one candidate on the ballot. These elections are good chances, and good steppingstones.

The Constitution Party needs money, volunteers and exposure to get its word out. Maybe some of the people reading here could think about putting some of their energy into this long, uphill fight instead of making useless gestures that will insure the victory of the forces of darkness. Make no mistake. The reward will not come about soon, or without hard work.
#216

On October 22nd, 2008 at 11:35 am, ITookTheRedPill said:

Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes,it would go something like this:

The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh would pay $7.
The eighth would pay $12.
The ninth would pay $18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.

So, that’s what they decided to do.

The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. ‘Since you are all such good customers,’ he said, ‘I’m going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20.’ Drinks for the ten now cost just $80.

The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free.

But what about the other six men – the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his ‘fair share?’

They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody’s share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man’s bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.

And so:
The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100%savings).
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings).
The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28%savings).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).

Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.

‘I only got a dollar out of the $20,’declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man,’ but he got $10!’

‘Yeah, that’s right,’ exclaimed the fifth man. ‘I only saved a dollar, too. It’s unfair that he got ten times more than I got’

‘That’s true!!’ shouted the seventh man. ‘Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!’

‘Wait a minute,’ yelled the first four men in unison. ‘We didn’t get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!’

The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.

The next night the tenth man didn’t show up for drinks so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn’t have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!

And that, ladies and gentlemen, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works!!

The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.

David R. Kamerschen, Ph.D.
Professor of Economics
University of Georgia
#217

On October 22nd, 2008 at 11:52 am, ITookTheRedPill said:

On October 21st, 2008 at 2:00 pm, emjem24 said:

Your entire post is excellent.

Many people refuse to see the truth.

“As I mentioned before, exposure to true information does not matter anymore. A person who is demoralized is unable to assess true information. The facts tell nothing to him. Even if I showered him with information, with authentic proof, with documents, with pictures — even if I take him by force to the Soviet Union and show him a concentration camp — he will refuse to believe it until he is going to receive a kick in his fat bottom. When a military boot crashes his butt, then he will understand, but not before that. That’s the tragedy of the situation of demoralization.”
#219

On October 29th, 2008 at 12:09 pm, Entropy40 said:

You forgot something else: Hyperinflation.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperinflation_in_Zimbabwe

It is usually caused by political or social upheaval, and we’ll have both if we elect “the one.”

“The Cato Institute’s Senior Fellow Steve Hanke released a document estimating Zimbabwe’s annualized inflation rate to be 10.2 Quadrillion percent as of October 24, 2008.[1]”

In other words 10,200,000,000,000,000 per cent per year.