“… If the media covered America the way we cover Africa, here’s what we would know of the United States over the last decade. That in 2000 there were fiercely disputed elections in which the presidency was seized by the candidate who won fewer votes than his rival. That a year later, one of the country’s major cities was rocked by a devastating terror attack, costing thousands of lives. And that in 2005 another key city was submerged in record floods, destroying homes and leaving a thousand dead after the dominant tribe left the minority tribe to their fate. Surely we would speak of America as the dark continent, cursed to face constant suffering.”
Reminds me of that great piece in Granta by Binyavanga Wainaina a few years back entitled, “How to Write about Africa.” You can read it at: http://www.granta.com/Magazine/92/How-to-Write-about-Africa/Page-1
Don’t forget to include a massive embezzlement of an energy company in 2003 and a government bailout of the financial sector for mismanaging capitalism in 2009!