Day 3-054
Day Totals: 16 hrs, 27 .5 kms

I've got a full day today to experience Namibia's capital. It's a Sunday, so it's going to be a quiet day. I start out walking through the residential neighborhoods, on down along the eastern perimeter.

I take a small detour to explore a cemetery. Most of the deceased appear to be of German origins, but I do note some African names as well...

I reach the south end of town, work my way up through the center until I reach the national museum. Actually, there are two museum, one is set up in an old fort, and celebrates the German colonial history, and the other is a steel and glass midrise set on four pillars that celebrates the struggle for independence. This massive structure seems like a bit of overkill for a museum in a country with such a small national budget... But they got some help from, none other than... North Korea.

Yep, and you can feel it too when you enter the museum . Them colors, the personality worship... the over the top murals and statues depicting the glorious fight against imperialism... it all has the feel of old school communist propaganda.

North Korea building a museum about the struggle for freedom seems about as genuine as the KKK building a museum about Martin Luther King... but I will try to tone down the cynicism and enjoy the experience.

I am impressed at how large scale the war between Namibia (then Southwest Africa) and South Africa was. Thanks to the assistance of left leaning powers like Angola, Cuba etc, the Namibians built up a full scale arsenal with tanks and all. It was the front line in the struggle between communism and... freedom and democracy? No, wait... this was apartheid South Africa... to think they were struggling to defend "freedom and democracy" is a total joke...

So who were the "good guys" in this struggle?

Looking at images that go further back in Namibias struggles, I see pictures of the struggle of the Herero and Nama against the Germans, with images of the atrocities that were committed against them, including full scale genocide . Then there are images of the struggle against the British colonial power... and finally the struggle against South Africa.

... And that brings us to today, when many Namibians live in grinding poverty, while the elite (many of German descent) live in luxury.

So... what did all these struggles actually accomplish? Kind of looks like things are back where they started...

There's a picture showing the "deplorable" conditions of people living in shacks during aparheid. I look at it, and suddenly realize... "that's exactly the same way people are living today, in 'free' Namibia".

It seems to me that all these "struggles for freedom" were just cynical ploys by the "Powers that be" to flex their muscle and expand their empires.

So would poor Namibians be better off nowadays if this were part of South Africa? In some ways yes . In South Africa wages are much better. People live in shanties--but at least they have a shot at rising out of poverty. And there is a welfare system that provides for the basic needs of the poor... including free housing for those who qualify. On the other hand, you're always in danger of getting robbed or raped (if you're a woman) in South Africa.

Although as tourist I'm much better off in Namibia than in South Africa, if I were a laborer struggling to feed my family, I would probably feel much different.

The museum goes on to display how Namibia finally got their independence, and shows the new presidential cabinet--which which included a couple of white folks... then there are pictures of handshakes with the likes of Fidel Castro and Kim-il Sung the dictator of North Korea...

I walk out, still not sure what to feel about it all... I gaze out from the glass elevator at the upscale neighborhoods around the downtown. The sufferings and injustices in this country are real... but it is easy to forget them when you're surrounded by comfort and security...

I continue on to the northern end of town, where you can catch a glimpse of the shantytowns off in the distance--but invisible from inside the city... Then back to town where I chill out in a shady park, strumming some songs dedicated to this country...