Monday, March 28, 2011

Tuesday Travel With Vice Magazine: Liberia

In 1902 when Joseph Conrad published his book Heart of Darkness, the literary world was introduced to a new concept of real world savagery. It was about the degeneration of the civilized to brutal primitivism of man's psyche and soul. Unfortunately, even today over 100 years later when we think of the continent of Africa we think of a brutal and unforgiving place. Even though it's full of resources, the exploitation of colonialism and thousands of years old blood feuds between ethnic interests have kept almost the entire continent in a perpetual state of conflict and almost unimaginable poverty.

This week I like to share with you a documentary on just one of the smaller countries on this continent called Liberia. The Vice crew travel there with cameras and document everything they experience as it happens. this is one of the most brilliant pieces of journalism I have ever seen, and how everybody walked away without at least a Pulitzer and with their lives really confuses me. There will be parts of this documentary that may be very disturbing to some readers/viewers of this blog, but I feel that it is absolutely necessary for every human being to watch the entire hour of this documentary to be grateful for what they have in life...





I hope you at least learned that maybe your day isn't so bad.... 



25 comments:

Astronomy Pirate said...

I'd seen parts of the before, never really the whole thing, mostly the Butt Naked half. The first half was pretty intense though. I know today, Liberia isn't the focus of West African tragedy, it's neighbor Cote d'Ivoire is the one in civil war. I'm wondering how many of those rebels are related. It has been a few years since this was made. I wonder how Butt Naked and the others are doing.

The Angry Lurker said...

Will try and watch it when I have time but the screenshot looks grim enough.

Patti D. said...

The main problem is that we have turned our backs on Africa. People die in Japan; it's a tragedy, people die in Africa, it's their destiny, so sad.

Unknown said...

insane

Spike said...

these guys have balls to go in such places

Raw News said...

A friend of mine is a cinematographer and he just came back from Africa the stuff he captured while in the region was amazingly brutal.

Alphabeta said...

I haven't seen this one. Vice really push the envelope so I'm looking forward to it.
Will return when I have a spare hour!

Kicking Rocks said...

wow...savages... my day is pretty good so far...but it wont be as this bad ever....

Stef Pelgrims said...

cool vid!

Meghan Moran said...

I'll have to watch this when I have more free time. Your description definitely has me interested.

Bassislv said...

I don't think my day was that bad now

Robert Fünf said...

These are great videos you have. I can't wait to see next weeks.

Zakk said...

I love Vice Magazine, they're always doing great reporting. You have my support!

ed said...

i cant imagine living in africa

Something Concupiscible said...

That's really sad. That crew is awesome.

Unknown said...

I remember last year in my AP US history class, my teacher casually alluded to Liberia being a result of the "pro-abolition party" and quickly brushed it off. I immediately interjected, "yeah, but do you know what's going on there now? What happened there over the years?" Of course, my classmates hated me for being an "ass" and my teacher detested how I made a "mockery" of him. Psychologically, there's an atrocity going on in America as well...

I like that you featured this video on your blog. Recently, I've been finding people who are trying to raise awareness regarding the plight of Uganda, Cote D'Ivoire, Zimbabwe, and the Silent Genocide in South Africa (and regions surrounding the country)... the whole continent is virtually in disarray. Ironically, the religion which converted Joshua Bulyahi is the same religion that gave the Belgians the incentive to basically "rape" the Congo, its people, and its wealth (as alluded to in Heart of Darkness). However, I'm glad to see that it's being used for the better and uniting people to a common cause. It also sheds light on the fact that "civilization", "advancement" and anything basically a product of the Western cultural imperialism is what ruined the beautiful continent that is Africa. (Let's just hope it can save it in the future as well)

To be honest, I do feel guilty about playing the Fallout series. The environment and setting are basically identical to the plight of Liberia (without the radiation).

Justin said...

I just started watching, I'll give you better input once I finish it. Looks really interesting.

Tasos said...

I'm currently watching the documentary, I'm in the middle. I cannot believe my eyes: civil wars, cannibalism, rape, corruption....thank you for this documentary. If I have anything to add when this is done, I'll comment again. At the moment I am shocked with all those cruel scenes in this documentary. Thanks again, Aaron!

Justin said...

Yup...I thought I'd give you better input, and you're right, I had a great day!
It's just crazy knowing that people live like that..especially from the first half to 3/4 of the video. The last bit was refreshing, though... To see that it isn't ALL like that.
Also, these guys, going into Liberia, have some balls, haha. I couldn't imagine actually doing that.
Thanks for another really good post, sir.

Tasos said...

The second part was all Joshua Blahyl (Gen. Butt Naked) and I've got to admit, he's a really good interviewee and hopefully he'll stay "converted" and turn other people to the right direction with him. I really enjoyed the documentary. I'll reference your blog to my newest post. It's things that people should be aware that are happening around us.

Sam said...

Cool! will bookmark it and watch it tomorrow :)

Anonymous said...

Kim, it's so obvious you didn't watch the video with your "cool vid" comment. Nice try.

I was incredibly humbled after watching this. I'm so grateful for everything that I have- family, food, shelter, and love. It breaks my heart to know that there are children in this world who do not have (and never will have) those blessings.

You hear about violence, war and destruction on TV and sometimes you read about it in the newspaper or on the internet but until you actually witness those things for yourself, you will never know how bad it really is and appreciate the life you have.

Thanks for the informative video.

Jay said...

wow, thanks for this, i'll watch when i get the chance.

you have a great blog, btw.

Sphyrix said...

omg. i was like in shock..

duffboi said...

Wow, these are some very poor conditions. And atrocities still going on, no less. Man. A very sad situation, indeed. dang.