http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/01/21/i...continent/
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London.
At first sight, the title provokes and challenges our sense of distaste for the usual narrative of barbarism, savagery and inhumanity of bygone black Africa. A book like Mark Mazower’s Dark Continent may also provoke the defense of Africa’s past from revisionist writers who crafted from preconceived, prejudicial angle and not from balanced judgement of history of a different race of humanity. But Mazower is a master of deception. This liberal, engaging and moderate Jewish historian had other continent in view. His tome is not for the fainthearts.
In this book, Mazower disintered the darkest chapters in the history of Europe. His conclusion was the strident affirmation of a European continent that must be remembered as the real heart of darkness and not Africa. The bestiality of 19th century Europe is still cascading down into the 21st century as seen from the many aberrations around us. We are still festooned to a daily diet of perversion, injustice, barbarism, sadism and monstrous inhumanity that once blighted the continent into being tagged dark continent.
Europeans are still captive to their old demons. Consider this as a starter: In 2010, a child was sexually attacked every 20 minutes in the UK. The shockwave is this: In 2011, about 23,000 child sex offenders were reported to the police. Overall, there were 54,982 sex offences in 2011, including 23,097 against children. Most of the innocent children 14,819 were aged between 11 and 17, with a third aged between 10 and under, including 1,472 younger than six. Six times as many sexual offences were committed against girls 19,790 and boys 3,218.
Jon Brown, ex-head of NSPCC, the body that compiled the figures of the sexual abuse programme, said: “When you have a situation where more than 60 children are being sexually molested everyday, something is very wrong. Not only is something wrong with this scepter isle, but a perceptive observer can see a general falling apart and the slow motion collapse of traditional family values, old fashion morality and the imposition of dysfunctional celebrity culture.