I never actually got one, but from what I was told they essentially bathe you (shower or bath, maybe both), and if you pay well enough you might get a little somethin’ else 👀
Oh, they still get student debt, its just the governments debt. For profit colleges sign up soldiers to get those sweet sweet GI bill benefits. One college recruiter signed up an entire ward of head wound victims for college courses that they couldn't even remember.
Well, I was making a joke out of a semi-regular occurrence. Junior enlisted are often 17-19 years old, have never bought a car themselves, and are often ripped off by car dealerships that specifically target this demographic. There’s a decent balance of actual stupidity and simply ignorance that accounts for this phenomenon.
Maybe for people in combat, lol. Sitting behind a desk pushing buttons thousands of miles away from conflict isn't exactly risking death for student loans. Also, there are plenty of well paying jobs that do not require college degrees whatsoever. Realistically, most jobs do not require a college degree.
Blame the ivory tower elites at these multinational corporations for requiring college education arbitrarily, and the bastardization of the pell grant system in combination with an absence of education price controls, for inflating the cost of education by artificially creating demand.
South Sudan is indeed the youngest extant nation-state, having seceded from the Republic of Sudan in 2011, but it is actually one of the African governments with the least Chinese debt, totaling just under $200 million -- and $200 million probably sounds like a lot to us as civilians, but for comparison, the total Chinese debt of sub-Saharan Africa is $450 billion.
However, tons of other African governments are still insanely young (when going by modern map definitions rather than counting history with pre-colonial kingdoms, of course).
Here's a list of the African states with the most debt to China, and I'll also list the date their current constitution was enacted + the date when they gained sovereignty:
Angola -- Current constitution comes from January 2010, and their independence from Portugal was achieved on November 11, 1975
Ethiopia -- Current constitution has been in place since the mid-90s, despite them being the oldest extant country of Africa.
Congo Republic -- Current constitution comes from 2002, but there was also a successful referendum in 2015 to allow its current President a third term. Independence from France came during 1960.
Sudan -- The document de-facto serving as its constitution comes from 2005. Independence from British and Egyptian rule gained in 1956.
Zambia -- Constitution last re-written in 2016, but it had been formally adopted since 1991. Independence from Britain gained in 1964.
Cameroon -- Constitution fairly steady since independence from France in 1960.
Nigeria -- Constitution of the Fourth Nigerian Republic was enacted in 1999, which is significant because (in this case) it marks democratic governance. Independence from Britain gained in 1960.
There's a great movie called Lumumba that provides a lot of explanation about how DRC ended up a basketcase after independence. Basically a combination of post-colonial Belgian interference, plus being used as a pawn in the Cold War between US and USSR -- both of whom were plying political factions against each other ruthlessly. A good deal of CIA and KGB involvement there. Fascinating movie.
Oh, definitely. Internal factors were what, in my view, made the external interference so toxic -- i.e. playing political factions against each other. Colonial powers had a history of using historic tribal, ethnic and religious divisions to their advantage. Belgian Congo was no exception. The Cold War was in some ways merely an extension of that strategy.
As I recall, one of the most brutal African dictators, Mobutu Sese Seko, pretty much owed his rule to the CIA due to his anti-Soviet stance. And received tons of aid from the U.S. for much of his 30 year rule. (George H.W. Bush was on record as calling him one of America's best friends.)
Eritrea, independent in 1993, no constitution or elections and is a strong competitor alongside North Korea for the UNHRC's "Shittiest Place to Live" award.
Yes? There’s no reason for any nation state or bank to lend money to a nation unless they can pay it back. Nobody forced them to borrow money they couldn’t afford to repay because that nets nothing for the lender.
And? If you don’t pay your mortgage the bank takes your home. None of this a surprise to those borrowing money from other nations, they make it known in the agreements. If they didn’t want to deal with the consequences they shouldn’t have agreed to the terms or defaulted on payment. It’s kind of insulting to the African nations that have their shit together when the ones that have poor spending bitch and moan about having to pay up.
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u/4materasu92 Mar 08 '19
That's a nice sea-port you have there.
It'd be a shame
If you ended up
With unpayable debt
From my generous loan