Mike Feerick

Entrepreneur, Educationalist, Diasporian, Global Citizen.

[News to Remember @allchronology]

Listen to this. And then listen again. And again. Until you get it.

[空空道人 @Kongkongda5882]

为什么非洲一直没发展起来？我来讲一个实例：非洲第一大国，尼日利亚，人口2.5亿。面积92万平方公里，面积约等于三个华北平原，水土丰茂，一年三熟，降雨量丰沛，全境几乎都是平原和低矮丘陵。介于丛林和荒漠之间，最北的荒漠带边缘，降雨量也和山东相当。

很多人都觉得非洲穷，是因为土地贫瘠、资源匮乏、老天不赏饭吃。但事实恰恰相反，非洲遍地是宝藏，只是很多国家硬生生把一手绝世好牌，打得稀烂。

今天咱们就拿非洲人口第一大国尼日利亚举例，看完它的真实境遇，你就能彻底读懂非洲百年发展困局的核心症结。

毫不夸张地说，尼日利亚的先天条件，放在全球发展中国家里都是天花板级别的存在，完全是老天爷追着喂饭。

这个国家坐拥92万平方公里国土，全境以平缓平原和低矮丘陵为主，没有高山阻隔、没有恶劣戈壁，地形条件远超很多多山国家。

气候更是得天独厚，全境雨水充沛，即便是国土最北端的边缘区域，年降雨量也能持平我国山东。

最让人羡慕的是，这里全年高温无霜，土地肥力出众，一年可以稳定种植三季庄稼，发展农业的自然优势得天独厚。

除了土地和气候，尼日利亚还有最核心的人口红利。全国总人口超2.5亿，劳动力数量庞大、人口结构年轻，完全不缺干活的人力。

靠着这份顶级天赋，早年间的尼日利亚妥妥的农业强国，花生、可可、棕榈油等农产品远销全球，是当时全球知名的农产品出口国，农业基础打得格外扎实。

有地、有人、有气候、有产业底子，按理说这样的国家，就算发展不到发达国家水平，也绝对能让百姓安居乐业、衣食无忧。

可现实狠狠打脸：如今的尼日利亚，早已褪去往日荣光，彻底沦为贫穷、动荡、落后的代名词。

数据不会骗人，目前尼日利亚有超过1.39亿人口深陷贫困线以下。

离谱的是，守着一年三熟的肥沃良田，这个国家居然无法实现粮食自给，每年都要花巨额外汇进口粮食、衣物、日用品等基础物资，无数普通民众连温饱问题都难以解决。

好好的王牌国家，为何会沦落到这般境地？所有悲剧的开端，都源于半个多世纪前的一场“暴富骗局”。

上世纪50年代，尼日利亚境内勘探出大量优质原油，丰富的石油资源让这个国家瞬间看到了“躺赚”的捷径。

在此之前，国家财政、百姓收入全都靠农业支撑；石油被发掘后，海量原油源源不断卖出，巨额外汇轻松入账。

赚钱变得太过简单，让从上到下彻底丢掉了踏实发展的心思。政府直接放弃深耕农业、布局制造业，把国家所有经济命脉，全部押注在石油单一产业上。

全国的资源、政策、人力全部向石油产业倾斜，大片肥沃良田无人耕种、逐渐荒废。普通农民也看清了现实：种地辛苦一年赚的钱，远不如去城市从事石油相关零工赚得多。

于是千万农民放下锄头、涌入城市，传统农业体系彻底崩塌。短短数十年，尼日利亚从享誉全球的粮食出口大国，彻底变成了依赖进口的缺粮国。

产业单一畸形，只是尼日利亚衰败的第一步，治理混乱和分配不公，才是压垮国家的核心利刃。石油产业创造的财富是天文数字，但这些巨额收益，从来没有惠及普通民众。

绝大部分石油财富被少数权贵阶层垄断瓜分，普通人别说分红，连基本的就业、福利保障都得不到。

更讽刺的是，作为石油核心产区的尼日尔三角洲，不仅没靠石油致富，反而常年遭受原油开采带来的污染，土地盐碱化、水源被污染、庄稼无法生长，当地百姓世代承受着环境破坏的恶果，苦不堪言。

巨大的贫富差距、资源分配不公，持续激化社会矛盾，各类武装冲突、地方暴乱此起彼伏。

局势一旦动荡，工厂停工、农田荒废、外资撤离，没人敢来投资兴业，经济发展彻底陷入“越乱越穷、越穷越乱”的死循环。

而制度的严重短板，直接彻底封死了尼日利亚的翻身之路。

当地土地产权极其混乱，全国仅有极少数农民拥有合法土地证，想要发展规模化农业、引进企业落地投产，都会被产权问题卡住，农业现代化根本无从谈起。

同时当地行政体系臃肿低效、办事流程繁琐，腐败问题根深蒂固，营商环境极差。

最基础的民生保障更是缺失，全国电力供应极不稳定，日均供电仅有三四个小时，绝大多数工厂无法正常生产。没有工业支撑，日用品、工业品全部依赖进口，国家彻底丧失自主生产能力。

尼日利亚的教训给所有国家敲响了警钟：自然资源从来不是发展的终极底牌，稳定的制度、长远的眼光、踏实奋斗的心态，才是一个国家行稳致远的根本。

空有绝世好牌，却没有驾驭的能力，最终只会白白浪费天赋，困在贫困落后的泥潭里无法自拔。

[Pope Respecter @poperespecter1]

Pope explicitly calls on Catholics to oppose the war in Iran saying it is not accomplishing anything.

[Matt Jones @mttjon]

Excellent comment on this FT article about the Binance hack

https://t.co/2lkDUTErDh

[Patricia Marins @pati_marins64]

There is always the question of why people are losing patience with the old politics around the world.

In the United States, in Europe, in Latin America, no one can stand the maintainers of the status quo anymore.
And in Europe, the problem is hidden in cowardice.

German Chancellor Merz recently said:

“My biggest concern right now is not our economy, not the European Union, not America, not China.
My biggest concern is the impact of Russia on our society and how they are managing to destabilize our societies.”

This is the greatest synthesis of what I have been saying for a long time. Europe has clung to the excuse of a Russian threat so it does not have to discuss what really matters.

Every month some European intelligence service claims that the Russians are planning an invasion.

Instead of carrying out the reforms society actually wants, they perpetuate insecurity and fear. Fortunately, few people in Europe believe this narrative.

Where is the German leader’s speech about a major plan to make energy cheaper and bring companies back? There is none.

Where is the speech on replacing Russian gas cheaply? There is none.

Where is the speech about building new relationships with the supply chains that Europe has lacked, and lacked badly? There is none.

Where and when will this European cowardice give way to serious and independent policies?

And this does not apply only to German leadership. I could give several other examples.

When there is no Russian invasion planned for next week, they talk about Chinese sabotage. It is never them, always the others.
Let us hope the new European generations are able to take back the reins and build a future with seriousness.

[Mike Feerick @MikeFeerick]

Whether in agreement or not, the political journey MTG has been on has been an extraordinary one!

[Aes🇺🇸 @AesPolitics1]

Marjorie Taylor Greene just wrote her best tweet ever.

[Glenn Greenwald @ggreenwald]

Had it not been for Boris Johnson and Victoria Nuland -- who personally forced Zelensky to reject the deal Ukraine and Russia were about to sign in Istanbul in 2022 -- this horrific war that has killed more than a million and consumed much of Ukraine would have been long over.

[Thomas Massie @RepThomasMassie]

They shut down the Legislative Branch of the United States of America because I was outmaneuvering the Speaker to expose a global sex trafficking ring and impeach a rogue cabinet secretary.

It was the only way they could stop me.

[Barbara Othmer @OthmerBarbara]

What a great woman

[Jacob Coxon @hilbertspaess]

I resigned from Anthropic today. I spent the last three years doing pretraining research at both OpenAI and Anthropic. Neither company is acting responsibly. They are racing straight to self-improving superintelligence and gambling with our lives. More thoughts below.

[Arnaud Bertrand @RnaudBertrand]

This hasn't been talked about much but it may be one of the most consequential revelations of the US's war on Iran: the fact that China has effectively replaced OPEC as the global price setter for oil.

It isn't me saying it but Igor Sechin, CEO of Rosnef, the largest oil producer in Russia - itself a member of OPEC+ (https://t.co/ckinOaHzJ7)

And Sechin isn't alone in saying so: many Western analysts - such as Javier Blas, Bloomberg's top energy analyst - are essentially saying the same thing (see https://t.co/cpcCKLdMCv)

How so? Well, China has demonstrated during the Iran war an extraordinary ability to simply walk away from the market and slash its oil imports by millions of barrels per day - during a months on end.

At peak, they slashed imports by 5.5 million barrels per day, the equivalent of India's total consumption. They can, quite literally, switch an entire India's worth of demand on and off, at will.

This is mainly because they have immense strategic oil reserves, estimated to stand at 1.4 billion barrels (https://t.co/jyTb2Srcnz) - 4 times bigger than the US's (the world's second largest inventory).

In a nutshell, prices being, as everyone knows, set by supply and demand, China now controls the demand side in a bigger way than OPEC controls the supply side. So, as Sechin puts it, they now call the shots.

All the more given that OPEC is weaker than it's ever been with the recent loss of the UAE, the largest producer ever to walk out.

This is what effectively saved the world's economy during the Iran war: analyst after analyst predicted that the closure of Hormuz would make oil prices skyrocket to stratospheric levels, like $200-$300 a barrel (https://t.co/PTU64I3zGl).

However, Hormuz is still closed and prices sit at... $91 a barrel, after briefly peaking at around $110 in April (https://t.co/eufRaK4EnB). China almost single-handedly made this happen with their flexibility on the demand side: what Hormuz made the world lose in supply, China basically cut in demand, which stabilized prices.

Long story short, as the saying goes: "never let a good crisis go to waste." China used this one to effect a friendly takeover of the most powerful cartel on earth - without even joining it.

[Mike Feerick @MikeFeerick]

@mayogaabanter @MayoGAA @Croagh_Patrick @tuamarchdiocese Where’s Shane?

[Mike Feerick @MikeFeerick]

So the armed forces of a foreign country are ready and active on American soil / NYC? And they are prepared to attack the #NYPD? 🤔 This is beyond belief.

[Haaretz.com @haaretzcom]

Netanyahu says Israel has 'special forces' ready if he's arrested on NY visit https://t.co/N5XlCv0FVy

[Mike Feerick @MikeFeerick]

Who reads “Time” magazine these days?

[BrooklynDad_Defiant!☮️ @mmpadellan]

Zohran Mamdani is the front runner to beat out trump as the TIME person of the year.

LOVE to see this. 🙏❤️

If this happens, I might never stop laughing. 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[Adam Mockler @adammocklerr]

This is the kind of moral clarity we need from every elected Democrat.

[M.S @MuradSh14951013]

This is how they celebrate 🍾 championships in Spain. It's crazy what's happening at Plaza Cibeles in Madrid, Spain, where people are celebrating with a drone show that's simply spectacular…

[José Ramón Fernández @joserra_espn]

El mejor gol de la historia de Egipto fue borrado por el VAR. https://t.co/7DvUGPt82L

[Omar @omar_dddg]

This was one of the most skilled and beautiful goals this tournament and it got cancelled. Corruption really ruins everything.

[César Biondini @BiondiniCesar]

EEUU sigue humillando a las selecciones de fútbol que juegan en el Mundial. Ahora le tocó a Uruguay. Los jugadores fueron tratados como narcos, con inspección de perros antidrogas y uniformados con detectores de metales.
La FIFA perpetró una vergüenza histórica este año.

📹 @FutboliPolitica

[Gennaro Carotenuto @GenCar5]

All’aereo della Celeste, che a mezzanotte (tra 16 ore) deve affrontare l’Arabia Saudita, non è stato permesso di entrare negli USA. Al di là dei rimpalli di responsabilità, il mondiale di Trump e Infantino è un’intollerabile pagliacciata.
#Uruguay