Wednesday, August 5, 2015

"What Lion?"

            Oddly enough, Zimbabwe’s officials, at least in the immediate aftermath of Cecil the lion’s demise, were perplexed at the reaction in the U.S. and elsewhere. Zimbabwe’s acting information minister, Prisca Mupfumira, asked “What lion?” when initially pressed for a comment about Cecil. Since then, the government has realized they have been handed a golden opportunity to claim victim status and have donned that mantle, even calling for Walter Palmer to be extradited to Zimbabwe. The country’s residents have far more pressing concerns, however, such as attempting to stay alive, and remain astonished at  American furor over the issue.
Zimbabwe’s unemployment rate currently stands at about 80%. The country has little or no electricity. Water is in short supply. They are still recovering from an inflation rate of roughly one billion percent a decade or so ago. It takes 175 quadrillion Zimbabwean dollars to buy an American five-dollar bill. Honest Abe.
                “Why are the Americans more concerned than us,” stated one villager. “We never hear them speak out when villagers are killed by lions and elephants in Hwange.”


                Box.

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