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We don't want to over glorify socialism here. [Arm removes a winnders medal from Socialism]

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There have been many spectacular failures of socialist systems in the past.

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But in some specific cases in Africa, heavy government involvement has been the manure [Man with name badge 'Government of Africa' waters crops made of dollar bills]

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that budding economies needed to grow.

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Yeah, some people think socialism is like manure for different reasons, but check this out...

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From 1960-1990, socialism looked sweet to most Africans because it helped people out immediately.

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For example, paying down national debt might get investors excited and lead to development [Africa handing over a check to a businessman]

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50 years down the road.

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But if you’re going to die from sickness and starvation today, it’s kinda hard to

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care about what’s going to happen 50 years from now. [Sick man in a hospital bed]

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Also, many Africans trusted Western companies about as much as they trusted a snake as a babysitter.

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In the past, their experience with Western businessmen wasn't so much…productive industrial

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development…as it was…untold human suffering. [Untold human suffering outweighs productive industrial development on a scale]

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Untold Human Suffering, Inc. is not a brand that gets much support anywhere in the world.

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Because of this, almost every newly independent African country was a little bit socialist,

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especially at first.

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Nationalization, taking private property and making it public, wasn’t seen as the government overstepping. [Man replaces private property sign with a public propert one]

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Most Africans were down with the idea of taking back natural resources that Europeans had

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stolen and using those resources for the good of the people.

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It’s not hard to see why socialism was as easy certainly as easy as the selfie stick. [People taking selfies with Ronald Raegan]

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A major challenge for socialist governments, like in Algeria, Ethiopia, Egypt, and Ghana,

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was the shortage of experienced technicians.

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Since colonial states didn't give a flip for higher education…of natives…it took a [Snowboarder doing a back flip]

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while for African universities to develop after independence.

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In the meantime, most engineers and machinists had to come from foreign countries.

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This was no big deal for new African states that’d chosen capitalism because they could

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just order up technicians on Amazon. [Man orders an engineer on Amazon]

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Er well, maybe that’s not how it worked…

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Instead, big corporations just brought in their own staff.

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But socialist countries did not have this option.

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So they had to rely on state-employed technicians lent by the Soviet Union or communist Eastern Europe. [Workers in a factory]

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A lot of times, Africans weren’t all that excited about this.

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Many socialist countries in Africa wanted to be neutral in the Cold War, because not

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doing so meant the West might do fun stuff like rip your entire country apart with decades

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of vicious civil war.

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But what’s a developing nation to do? ['Algeria' crying]

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Industry and infrastructure can’t be built without technicians.

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So the need for this resource often put these countries in the USSR’s pocket.

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And the truth is that in a lot of ways it was a really cruddy pocket. [Countries jumping out of jacket pocket labelled USSR]

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Socialism in Africa had all the problems of socialism everywhere…

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Inefficient industry…

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Government corruption…

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Artificially high employment…like, people doing jobs that didn't even need doing.

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Too much of that kind of stuff can cause an economy to collapse in on itself like an old, [Pumpkin collapses]

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rotten pumpkin.

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When the Soviet Union did just that in 1991, many African countries decided to ease up

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a bit on the whole socialism thing.

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This created many mixed economy states that took the best of both worlds.

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A generation of socialism had beefed up public health and education. [Man with a 'public health' shirt uses dumbbells in a gym]

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And this socialist-built health and education actually encouraged corporate investment. [Man walks in with a check]

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These days, many mixed economies, like Ghana and South Africa, are showing the world what

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African development is all about.

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The truth is that different developing countries need different strategies, depending on their

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particular situation.

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In economics, one size does not fit all. [Large man wearing a tight gym vest]

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Just like yoga pants…

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They might look great on a yoga instructor, but for a hippo, well they’re kind of a stretch. [Hippo wearing yoga pants]

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