Swaziland: Tragedy and Comedy in the same small place

Rain Among the Ruins from A Secondhand Conjecture is lengthy but absolutely essential reading.

Swaziland is just emerging (hopefully) from a lengthy drought, which King Mswati III sees as an opportunity to end the dependence of his small nation in southern Africa on international food hand-outs.

Given that 80% of Swaziland's population depends on subsistence agriculture, and that good ole Mswati keeps tens of thousands of hectares aside for cultivating not food but cassava for ethanol exports (got to pay for those Mercedes SUVs each of his 13 wives drives), this is just another one of his inspired policies.

For another example (and here all humor departs): Swaziland has the highest AIDs/HIV infection rate in the world (26% of all adults, 49% of all young women) and the lowest life expectancy (31.3 years).

King Mswati's answer? Sterilize and brand the infected, while announcing a five-year moratorium on all sexual intercourse.

We often hear about failed nation-states. This is a nation-state of 919,000 people (think Delaware, people!) that could starve or die out completely from disease within the next few years.

Conundrum for the day: is it genocide when a country commits suicide?

Read the article.

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