Movie: Elysium Genre: Science Fiction & FantasyDirected by: Neill BlomkampCast: Matt Damon, Jodie FosterIn the year 2159 two classes of people exist: the very wealthy who live on a pristine man-made space station called Elysium, and the rest, who live on an overpopulated, ruined Earth. Secretary Rhodes (Jodie Foster), a hard line government official will stop at nothing to enforce anti-immigration laws and preserve the luxurious lifestyle of the citizens of Elysium. That doesn’t stop the people of Earth from trying to get in. A track worth listening toSong: Hobe IbyansizeArtiste: KoudouProbably one of the best local songs I’ve heard in a long time. Gatsinzi Victor Fidele, a member of one of the most successful R&B groups, The Brothers, is behind ‘Hobe Ibyansinze’, translated as farewell things I’ve never had .This song gives your ears that much needed break from crude hip hop and half-boiled dancehall tunes that have taken over. Koudou, who is in his early thirties, touched countless hearts with the creativity and originality he put in this song.If you had a tough childhood, the adulthood would be twice as hard ,you probably need to work harder than most to make it in this life, remember when children your age were riding bicycles and you were busy riding old bicycle rims. While others were Watching TV you were in the bush collecting firewood? It’s the same life is going to treat you now. These are some of the lyrics.Currently the song tops most local charts and is still on its way up. The Brothers trio hasn’t released any songs lately.BOOKSHELFBook: The White Man’s BurdenAuthor: William EasterlyAvailable at: Rwanda National LibraryWilliam Easterly’s The White Man’s Burden is about what its author calls the twin tragedies of global poverty. The first, of course, is that so many are seemingly fated to live horribly stunted, miserable lives and die such early deaths. The second is that after fifty years and more than $2.3 trillion in aid from the West to address the first tragedy, it has shockingly little to show for it. We’ll never solve the first tragedy, Easterly argues, unless we figure out the second. The ironies are many: We preach a gospel of freedom and individual accountability, yet we intrude in the inner workings of other countries through bloated aid bureaucracies like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank that are accountable to no one for the effects of their prescriptions. We take credit for the economic success stories of the last fifty years, like South Korea and Taiwan, when in fact we deserve very little. However, we reject all accountability for pouring more than half a trillion dollars into Africa and other regions and trying one “big new idea” after another, to no avail. Most of the places in which we’ve meddled are in fact no better off or are even worse off than they were before. Could it be that we don’t know as much as we think we do about the magic spells that will open the door to the road to wealth?
