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Nothing special about resourceless America

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Recently in New York, USA

A NATION that has exhausted its resources and is raiding the world is how President Mugabe, who attended the 68th session of the General Assembly, describes the United States.
The skeptic back home is tempted to think President Mugabe is a bitter man for being ‘forbidden’ to visit the US as a result of the illegal sanctions imposed against Zimbabwe by the US.
As we got off the plane our toes itched for the gold-paved streets.
But I got the shock of my life, after we left the airport for the Zimbabwean Embassy.
Litter was scattered on the roadsides, ordinarily this is nothing shocking, but coming from a land where many have been made, by the US, to believe that the systems in the States are so good that one can have their meals on American tarmacs, we were shocked.
Their road network is impressive; it has to be they are a large nation, but it’s definitely nothing to make us feel inferior.
After all, the streets are just as dirty as any.
While they regard themselves animal lovers, the American’s affinity for dogs I did not find endearing.
People are closer to dogs than they are to fellow human beings; people communicated more with their dogs than they did with each other.
And a very sad sight that will for a long time remain etched in my mind was the sight of our fellow black brothers and sisters.
Sad to say, it seems they have become a lost people.
They walk and move around in some kind of stupor, old man with sagging pants, donning earrings and doeks, aimlessly roaming the streets.
Obviously, President Mugabe who has told them to ‘keep their Englands’ and the so-called Big Apples has not missed anything.
In Zimbabwe, one US dollar can get one a decent meal; a plate of Sadza and beef, we expected to use nothing, but coins for food in the land of ‘plenty’.
However, we got a rude awakening.
An ordinary lunch ranged from US$8 to U$S11, but in Zimbabwe, the same, a burger and chips can be bought for US$3.
Our exploration of outlets and supermarkets, where coins could buy us all we wanted did not yield joy.
Prices were shockingly high everywhere we went.
A loaf of bread costs US$3 while a can of Coke costs US$1,60.
The dollar-for-two concept we soon realized, was a Zimbabwean luxury.
A dollar in the United States is a poor performer.
A pack of cigarettes regardless of the brand costs not less than US$12 and one cannot help, but wonder how smokers that left Zimbabwe and love the tobacco sticks adjust.
Our Guide enlightens us about the rentals in America.
People fork out between US$1 200 and US$ 1 600 for a one-bed roomed flat.
And as people earn an average of US$8 per hour, one has to perpetually work to raise money for rentals.
There is literally no time for fun or to just hang out as people work to the bone for money that does not do much in terms of improving life.
Owning a home is out of the question as prices for apartments in New York range from US$3 million and there is nothing special about the apartments.
There is no space for a garden or children to play.
Doors are a metre or two from the street.
The gap between the rich and the poor is impossible to ignore.
Vagrants have become a common sight in New York.
There are whole families, mother, father and children, in the streets,where they do not just beg, but permanently reside.
After this experience one sees, clearly, President Mugabe is right and Barack Obama is posturing and desperate.
It ceases to be strange why the US spends billions waging wars all over the world; they badly need resources to sustain themselves.
Our guide informs us that he has stayed in the USA for the past 28 years and that the past five years have been the worst.
We hear rumours of America ‘getting broke soon’, these might be very true.
Interestingly, just before we got back home, a white American remarked that my English was good and asked where I came from?”
I proudly said, “Zimbabwe.”
And he replied, “Oh Mugabe, he has killed a lot of people.”
I asked him to validate his claims.
“We read it in the papers,” he said.
I explain that I am a Zimbabwean, staying in Zimbabwe, where apparently life is much easier and better than the States.
He thought I was spewing propaganda.
“I asked him then why many whites are eager to be in Zimbabwe and those that visit the country do not want to return to the United States”.
However, he is adamant that CNN and BBC is right.
I realised that I was flogging a dead horse and left.
So as we left JFK International Airport coming back home and preparing for another gruelling 17 hours, we kept pondering.
“The USA is so far from Zimbabwe, why don’t they just leave us alone with our resources?”
Could it be that the USA is indeed broke?

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