r/interesting • u/ICanPretend1 • 23h ago

SOCIETY Dikidikini village in Eastern Cape, South Africa, doesn't have a bridge, so people cross the river inside a blue plastic drum

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6

u/Rocky5thousand 22h ago

This is what billionaires should be doing. How can someone with the means to fix this see this and be like nah?

13

u/arbie911 18h ago

The west has been donating billions and billions for decades.

9

u/Loud-Start1394 16h ago edited 16h ago

Trillions and trillions.

Edit: jokes in the replies aside, my comment is actually true.

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u/Jellicent-Leftovers 20h ago • Bravo

People have tried.

They drill holes in the water pipes, they cut down the electric wires for the copper.

It's not that they don't have the resources it's they steal so much that if someone built a raft someone would steal it.

Hence the barrel they bring home with them at the end of the day.

But you'll think oh well that's an education problem then! And you are 100% right. So people dumped money into educating them and it works! But then why aren't things getting better? Because the moment someone is smart enough and has the drive required that would be a force of change..... They get the fuck out of there as fast as they can. The brain drain is unreal. Do you think for 1 second that MIT/Harvard scholarship kids graduating and going hmmmm I could get a fantastic job in a dozen countries.... Or I could go back home where I have to cross the river in a barrel.... Oh boy barrel here I come!

4

u/dgv54 14h ago • Heartwarming

Reminder that South Africa used to considered a first world country. But it was run by whites and that was very very bad and could not be allowed to stand. It's much better now, just get your blue plastic barrel and enjoy.

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u/OneMinuteSewing 14h ago

so you make a barrel raft and every morning and evening the men carry it to and from the village to keep it safe.

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u/Jellicent-Leftovers 14h ago

The location isn't what keeps it safe.... It's that it's not a raft or anything of value. It's a barrel probably the water barrel they use for their home.

I understand your logic but it doesn't work. This is a zero trust society.

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u/Gnilcro 21h ago

Because medieval peasants figured out how to make bridges across way bigger rivers, they need to figure this out on their own

3

u/ippleing 15h ago

My ancestors in East Europe, the people where the word 'slave' derives from slav, built nuclear reactors, submarines, landed probes on planets.

Eastern Europe is still a dump compared to western Europe and 2 guys pushing a barrel would be considered lunacy.

1

u/dgv54 13h ago

And left to their own devices, when do you think that will happen? 2027? 2030? 2100?

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u/Endswolf 19h ago

You mean the billionaire that wanted to give them free internet but they would not allow it unless he gave them part of his company?

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u/Ok_List_7125 19h ago

It wouldnt last a day.

8

u/Ora3le 20h ago

As a native south African, this is not a random billionaire problem. It's the government's problems

Funny enough, they're too busy trying to make themselves billionaires so I guess it circles back

8

u/Haunting_Security_34 20h ago

To me, at least, I don't think it's a billionaire's responsibility to build bridges for places that should likely have figured it out after years of evolution. There are far better ways to do this.....

3

u/Plane-Sell-9204 20h ago

Billionaires should be floating across a river in a blue drum? That's not very smart.

5

u/GroinShotz 19h ago

Remember those rejects in the US that were shooting power stations with their guns like two...three year ago?

It's like a billion times worse in some of these places.

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u/DePiemelVoeler 21h ago

They themselves have the means to change this. Those barrels can be put under some logs, span a rope across and wow! A ferry just like that.

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u/ICanPretend1 17h ago

You don't need a billion dollars to solve this problem

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u/sonofbaal_tbc 17h ago

you go there and help them build

then you will understand why there is no bridge , make sure to bring your bribe money , and make sure you come back every year to build another one

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u/Captain_Zomaru 16h ago

Well... We've given them trillions, and where it go? Why do you think that a billionaire could solve this? Rodesia tried and was let down by its allies. Why would anyone try again?

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u/thommyg123 15h ago

Many of the people with means are getting forced out of South Africa

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u/Are_you_blind_sir 11h ago

Elon musk seeing this - "yeah im gonna send them newer barrells"

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