Musings of a Timid observer

At the time of writing this piece, 13th July, 2017, the Great Lakes Summit will be taking place in Munyonyo for two days. According to the website, Kampala will play host to a gathering of politicians, businesses and pro-market advocates from Europe, East Africa and beyond. The summit will explore the vast opportunities for greater trade and investment in the region: and make the ethical case for free trade as a means for poverty alleviation, conflict resolution and social justice" Many things have been thrown at the issue of poverty since the 70's. From billions of dollars in Aid, to education and health. The problem persists still, not because the efforts that are being made are not identifying problems(emerging economies like Uganda do need a healthy populace with sound education who can better reach their potential, economically and otherwise) , but rather because these problems are part of market systems that are failing and thus they need a market system approach. ...

John Locke loved his socks. So much so that there's a paradox called "Locke's socks" -very similar to the Ship of Theseus. In Locke’s paradox, we're asked to assume that John has a pair of socks. These socks happen to be his favorite socks and he wears them a lot. Unfortunately, these socks become worn and one of them gets a hole in it. If this sock is then patched can it still be called the same sock? If the answer is yes, then what what would happen if the sock required a second patch or a third? If over time none of the original sock exists can it be considered the same sock even though it has none of its original material?   This idea is one of great interest for a species of creature that changes cells every day and reasonably, one can imagine that the cells present in the baby Charles and Serinah named Joel are no longer the same ones present in the bearded rogue(my self image is beyond criticism. Shut up!) typing this. I look completely differ...

Uganda hosts over 1 million refugees with a vast majority coming in from South Sudan(About 900k) and a big reason for the whole week of recognition the country received are the progressive laws that provide asylum seekers entitlements to live with dignity. Concerns over resource usage and culture clashes do abide ,but by and large, these have been peaceful settlements with Uganda being a great host especially in comparison to other host communities around the world Now a few people have pointed out that they're skeptical of the 'hospitality and friendliness of Ugandans towards refugees and site feelings of hostility, and "What about us" sentiments that are expressed by citizens. It should be noted that these anecdotes are mainly sourced from the Central part of the country which oddly enough have seen refugees come through and work , almost on equal footing with other citizens. Refugees in the central also tend to be wealthier and better educated and so gravitate...