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Guatemala Columbus Theatre still impressive on the stamp but really in ruins

Welcome readers to todays offering from The Philatelist. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. We have an interesting story today of a stamp that lasted twenty years in various editions, by which time the building being celebrated lay in ruins.

The issue today has the look of many early 20th century Latin American stamps. An impressive façade of a building in the classic style with much filigree. It must be remembered that these countries were new and unstable, and so it is understandable to try to allay peoples fears by trying to put forth an aura of stability and permanence.

The stamp today is issue A34, an August 1924 reprint of the 1902 issue. It is possible to tell the issues apart by some color issues and the small writing Perkins Bacon and co, ld londres on the bottom of the stamp. 7 of the original 10 stamp issue were reprinted in 1924.The issue displays Guatemalan architecture. This particular stamp displays what was then known as the Colon, (Columbus), Theatre. The reprint is worth 25 cents cancelled. The original version of the stamp from 1902 is worth 40 cents. The version of this stamp to look out for is an imperferate vertical pair version that is worth $100.

The façade on the stamp is of the Carrera Theatre, located on the central square of Guatemala City, the capital of Guatemala. When built in 1852, it was named Carrera. Later it was renamed the National Theatre. In 1892, it was refurbished and expanded in celebration of the 400 anniversary of Christopher Columbus’s voyage to the New World and renamed in his honor.

The Theatre was built at the direction of then Guatemalan President Rapheal Carrera. He was a big opera fan and the theatre was the suggestion of his mistress Josefa Silva, who was a singer and actress. A German team was brought in to complete the project. Carrera’s rule in retrospect was a time of relative prosperity and stability  but former politicians are often not looked kindly by current ones seeing that his name was removed from the theatre.

There was a large earthquake in 1918 that left the theatre in ruins although the front façade remained. It was thought that the Government did not respond well to the earthquake and that was used as a pretext for a military coup that had the support of the big fruit company. Yes we are talking about banana republic days. The ruins of the theatre stood for over 5 years in the central square of the capital before they were finally demolished  to make way for a street market. Yet through all this they were still printing new versions of a 20 year old stamp that displayed the theatre at it’s best.

Well my drink is empty and so it is time to open up the conversation in the below comment section. In retrospect, Guatemala was probably not in much need of an opera house in 1852. The proof was that there was no coming together to get it rebuilt after the earthquake. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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Paying extra to celebrate the art of stamp designing.

Welcome readers to todays offering from The Philatelist. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take the first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. We have an interesting story to tell where we wrestle where the line is about when a country has gone too far in the quest to sell stamps to overseas stamp collectors.

The stamp is really quite large for when it was issued in 1950. This is a definite sign that the purpose is not to mail a letter. The colors are much bolder than a regular stamp issue from 1950 Argentina. When you see that the stamp is issued in connection with an international “filatelica” exposition. Then you notice that the stamp is both cancelled with a picture perfect cancellation and yet is still fully gummed on the back. And finally the audacity of it being a semi postal issue with a doubling of the face value of the stamp. With all this it is not hard to come to the conclusion that this is just not a real postage stamp.

The stamp today is issue B12, a 10 centavo + 10 centavo semi postal stamp issued on August 26th, 1950 to honor the 1950 Argentine International Philatelic Exposition. It was part of a 6 stamp issue, the others of which are also airmail stamps. This to make them easier to mail home for those that had traveled to Buenos Aires for the show. The stamp depicts the art of stamp designing. The stamp artist on the stamp is laboring over an older Argentine stamp featuring General San Martin. According to the Scott catalog, it is worth 25 cents whether it is mint or cancelled. If there was a hot market for this stamp, a real cancelation from actually being mailed should extract a large premium on to the value.

I want to like this stamp. It really is very attractive. Mrs. The Philatelist, who does my website’s photography, found it to be a very attractive and easy to photograph stamp. I also enjoy stamp shows and have no problem with the local postal authority being a sponsor and important participant. I also see every day what artistry is involved in putting together a new stamp issue. So of course I am also for celebrating that artist for whom we will usually not know.

Where this stamp lost me is in the fact that it is a semi postal stamp issue. For those who do not know what that means, a semi postal stamp has an extra fee built in over and above the usual cost of postage. Argentina had many semi postal issues at the time. Most were in support of Eva Peron’s foundation for the support of the poor. This was not that, it was just to extract extra money out of the stamp collectors at the exposition. In my mind, that crossed the line.

Well my drink is empty and so it is time to open the conversation in the below comment section. It would be nice if the stamp collecting hobby were to regrow enough to make stamp issues like todays be lucrative. The Philatelist is doing his part to make that happen. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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America cellebrates an old Spanish fort, a decade before the Japanese war crime there

Welcome readers to todays offering from The Philatelist. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, have your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. We have an interesting story to tell of trying to get away from a mistake without causing a new one.

The stamp today includes an overprint. Such things happen when government changes but there has not been time to properly reflect that on the stamps. It this case the status of the then American colony of the Philippine States had become a self governing commonwealth on a 10 year track to independence.

The stamp today is issue A57b a 10 centavo stamp issued in 1939. The b refers to the version with the commonwealth overprint. A version of the same stamp was issued in 1935 without the overprint. It was part of a 14 stamp issue that was the last issue before commonwealth status was granted. The stamp depicts Fort Santiago in Manila. It is worth 25 cents in it’s cancelled state according to the Scott catalog.

Fort Santiago has had an interesting history that was far from over in 1939. Fort Santiago was a stone structure built by Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, the Spanish conquistador who conquered the Philippines. It was built in 1571 on the site of a log fort that belonged to the Muslim Rajah who was the previous ruler. The Rajah was a vassal of the Sultan of Brunei so the Philippines was not independent even before the arrival of the Europeans. Santiago is the Spanish form of the Catholic Saint James, the patron Saint of Spain.

The fort was out of date militarily by the beginning of American rule in 1898. The American military did use it’s ornate facilities as a headquarters. They even drained the moat and installed a golf course on the grounds. The darkest era of the fort was ahead of it. Left over from the Spanish period was underground prison facilities. In early 1945 the American and Philippine Army were closing in on Japanese occupied Manila. The Japanese Army commander ordered Manila abandoned in order to preserve the fighting force for future fights. A Japanese Marine force refused the order and set out to defend Manila and take out revenge on the people of the Philippines for the defeat. Thousands of men were sent to detention in Fort Santiago and later executed in the underground dungeon. 400 women and girls were rounded up from the exclusive area of Manila and the 25 judged best looking were sent to a hotel where they were raped by Japanese officers and then enlisted men. Many areas of Manila were burned. This post war was deemed a war crime and the Japanese commander and his deputy were hung.

The end of colonial status did not totally arise from the people of the Philippines, although that was the official position of the local political party. Conquering the islands had proved quite bloody and expensive. The colony that then required governing still featured slavery, headhunting, and piracy that had to be ended. An increase in trade of low cost agricultural products that happened was troubling to American agricultural interest. A bill, backed by American agricultural interests, was passed over the veto of President Hoover setting Philippines on a 10 year path to independence. The Philippines was opposed to the bill but it was slightly modified and then rubber stamped. Manuel Quezon became the President of the Philippines during the commonwealth status until he went into exile when Japanese invasion was imminent during World War II. Full independence came immediately after World War II. Fort Santiago still stands.

Well, my drink is empty and so it is time to open up the conversation in the below comment section. There is an argument that the cost of the USA’s Philippine involvement sapped American lust for empire building and thus saved the country much. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

 

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Don’t trump Tromp even if you are the Bestevaer

Welcome readers to todays offering from The Philatelist. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. We have an interesting story of rival Dutch Admirals who have now mellowed into history until they can be sister(ships).

The stamp today is from an interesting time. The stamp is from the Netherlands, from the time during World War II when it was under German occupation. The stamp shows no markings to indicate German control, and the figure on the stamp was a long ago figure from Dutch history. From the situation on the ground in 1943, it might have seemed the war was over for the Dutch.

The stamp is issue A54, a 7 and a half cent stamp issued in German occupied Holland in 1943. It is part of a seventeen stamp issue. The stamp depicts Admiral M. A. de Ruyter, a Dutch Admiral from the 17th century. The Scott catalog lists it’s value as 25 cents cancelled.

Admiral de Ruyter was born into a modest background and began serving as a sailor at age 11. His maritime service was not stricktly naval. The Dutch were on the high seas mainly for trading and this was true of de Ruyter as well. He was involved with trade with the Irish and in the Mediterranean. The issue for the Dutch was that since there trade was so lucrative it often drew the hostile attention of the British, the French, the Swedes, the Barbary pirates and privateers from Dunkirk.

De Ruyter had proven very adept when called in to the situations described above. Even in his civilian work, he had done much to free Christians held as slaves by the Barbary pirates, often by paying the ransom out of his own pocket. A statue of de Ruyter stands in Hungary today honoring him for saving some Hungarians that had fallen to the Muslim pirates. His help in freeing the German/Polish city of Danzig from the Swedes may be directly linked to why the German occupiers of 1943 Holland thought him worth, and safe to remember.

As I stated though, he was not a man of noble background. Many of his rivals in the Dutch Navy were. There was much pushback when it was attempted to promote de Ruyter above more prominent people with more seniority. de Ruyter did not seem much interested in these political squabbles and often turned down assignments.

Things came to somewhat of a head when a Dutch Admiral named Tromp was killed in battle. His son, Cornelis felt he was deserving of inheriting his father’s position. The Dutch Navy thought otherwise and de Ruyter was appointed to a special rank that only he ever held and moved to Amsterdam. This was okay because at sea de Ruyter was referred to as the Commodore, a rank that does not even exist in the Dutch Navy. Regular sailors referred to him has the bestevear, which does not mean the best ever but is an old Dutch way of saying grandfather.

The trumping of Tromp junior proved only temporary. First came a non-fatal stabbing at the front door of his house. This crime was committed by a disaffected Tromp supporter. Later when de Ruyter was killed in battle leading a Dutch/Spanish fleet against a French/Italian fleet, he was succeeded by Cornelis Tromp. The Dutch navy today still ties together de Ruyter and Tromp by having sister ships named after them. As is usual, the Tromp is the flagship.

Well, my drink is empty and so it is time to open up the conversation in the below comment section. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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The party is over and no one cleaned up the mess

Welcome readers to todays offering from The Philatelist. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. We have an interesting story about how desiccated finery can lead to nostalgia.

Today’s stamp is from the early years of the Shah of Iran’s reign. You can see on the stamp a lot of Turkish and British influence. The Turk in the style of paper and the British in how the Royal is portrayed. Notice his dress is western and the portrait attempts to show him as a wise father figure. Some stamps from later in his rule show the Shah as an ageless profile. Much in the same way as Queen Elizabeth, and  Queen Victoria before her were displayed.

The stamp today is issue A71, a 5 dinar stamp issued by Imperial Iran in 1949. This was before the time of the Mossedeck coup but during when he served as one of the Shah’s appointed Prime Ministers. The stamp displays the Ramsar Hotel. It was part a 16 stamp issue that displayed various architectural landmarks that could be credited to the Shah. According to the Scott catalog, it is worth 25 cents cancelled.

The Ramsar Hotel, now known as the old hotel, was built in the 1930s in the resort town of Ramsar on the Caspian Sea. A newer larger wing was built next to it in the 1960s. When built the hotel was quite grand, however time has not been kind to it. It still photographs well and was built in a very good location that captures the natural beauty. The hotel today however is in disrepair, expensive and has a poor staff. The original 5 star rating is more like a 2 star if you believe the online reviews.

This situation helps one to see how a leader like the Shah can see his reputation rise in terms of nostalgia. With no restraints and ample oil revenue, great edifices of prosperity are built. The connected class enjoys this high life with nightclubs, imported food and wine, and fine cars. Their women wore miniskirts and had uncovered hair. A movement rises up calling this decadent and forces him from power. With him goes all the high living and western decadence. No new edifices of prosperity are built and the ones from the former time fall into disrepair like the Ramsar Old Hotel.

Here is where the rub happens. If the average person does not feel his or her own life better under the new system resentment can form. The Shah built things, what have you done? Likely there is a class of people that benefits from the current system but they must keep their own high living hidden in a way the Shah’s people never did. The style of the old times takes on a new respect. This is how it should be. The former regime was not all bad and the current regime is not all good. Despite what the partisan of each will tell you.

Well my drink is empty and it is time to open up the conversation in the below comment section. Have any of our readers stayed at the Ramsar Hotel, perhaps during the glory years? Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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Celebrating the fascist newspaper, er no, make that stamp day

Welcome readers to todays offering from The Philatelist. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. We have a stamp today that demonstrates something that has happened quite a bit in stamp history. The politics of a place can change much faster that the stamps issued.

This is a strange stamp. The stamp originally celebrates newspapers, in particular the party newspaper of the San Marino Fascist party. Given the subject matter, I am amazed they were not just thrown away when the politics changed. Instead an overprint is added making the stamp a celebration of an officially declared stamp day. Has anyone seen two more divergent captions on the same stamp. It was a common issue in San Marino in 1943. There was another stamp to celebrate 20 years of fascist rule that when that rule came to an end right before the stamp came out  a lower case d was added to the stamp making it celebrate the end of 20 years of fascist rule.

The stamp today is issue A38, a 50 centessimi stamp issued by the city state of San Marino on July 1st. 1943. It is part of a two stamp issue honoring the newspapers of San Marino. The stamp is worth 25 cents in it’s mint condition according to the Scott catalog. It must be a common stamp to have such a low value and San Marino stamps have always been mainly produced for philatelists. With what was going on at the time of issue and the crazy overprint, The Philatelist finds this stamp seriously undervalued.

San Marino is a small, mountainous, landlocked city state that chose not to join Italy when a central government formed the Italian empire around 1870. Instead it continued to govern itself on principles derived from the Roman Republic. One aspect of this is that it has two heads of state at a time. It is one of the wealthiest places in the world per capita with finance and tourism being at the center of the economy. It is one of the only places where postage stamps are an important product.

During the two world wars in the 20th century, San Marino’s independence from Italy was most threatened. In World War I, San Marino announced herself neutral. Italy was angered and assumed San Marino would become a hotbed of Austrian spies. In frustration San Marino’s phone service was cut off. In World War II, despite San Marino’s fascist government, the country again declared it’s neutrality. Over and over. First the New York Times declared San Marino declared war on Britain. Not true. In July 1944, the British bombed San Marino assuming the Germans occupying surrounding Italy had entered San Marino. Not true. Then the battle for Italy came close to San Marino and the Germans entered San Marino to control a road and so to have artillery observers on the mountain. Units of the Indian army fighting with the British army pushed the Germans out after a battle and quickly left.

The politics changed in San Marino in an instant. Two days after Mussolini left power, the San Marino fascist party was deposed. In 1945, San Marino became the first country to freely elect a communist government. The Roman system stayed in effect through both extremes.

Well my drink is empty, and so it is time to open up the conversation in the below comment section. Was San Marino right to go ahead with this stamp after the government changed? Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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The streaked shearwater gets it’s stamp

Welcome readers to todays offering from The Philatelist. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. We have a lovely stamp to look at and talk about.

The look of todays stamp is exceptional. This is the case with so many stamps from Japan. Japanese stamps can be spotted by the word Nippon spelled out in western script on most of them. It is still possible to pick out Japanese stamps from other Asian countries by looking at the Asian characters. No I don’t expect you to learn how to read them. If you look at the characters, a stamp from Japan will always start with a simple rectangle with a straight lime through the center. You can see it in bold script in the bottom right corner of todays stamp.

When I first started collecting stamps 39 years ago, Japan stamp issues were about 80% of the Far Eastern Asian stamps in my collection. Today mainland China and South Korean stamps are much more common in the collections of newer collectors. Thankfully both Korea and China are nice enough to include their country name in western script. It is fun to think of the collectors from long ago who had to develop specialized knowledge to decipher their stamps. That was okay though, as stamp collecting was the hobby of kings.

Todays stamp is issue A1614, a 62 yen stamp issued by Japan in 1991. It is part of a 12 stamp issue that came out over a two year period displaying water-birds. This particular stamp displays the Streaked Shearwater. It is worth 35 cents cancelled.

The streaked shearwater bird measures 19 inches long and has a wingspan of 48 inches. It is known to fly behind fishing boats and feast on what the nets bring up. It is only native to the Pacific Ocean and is most common nesting on Japanese offshore islands.

It is estimated that there are 3 million streaked shearwaters in the world. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the bird is not endangered now or in the past. There is some fear of encroachment in their nesting areas, but so far so good.

Japanese stamps have always shown such artistry that they are a pleasure to take in. Politics are usually ignored on the stamps. Japan is a very homogenous country so the stamps can go all out on the shared history and culture. This is harder and harder to do in the west as the people do not have a common background. George Washington will mean a lot to an American who can trace his American ancestors back to independence. Only a tiny percentage of Americans can do that. Japan to date does not have such issues and is free to fully celebrate the history on it’s postal issues. I wonder if that means Japanese history buffs are more likely to collect stamps?

Well my drink is empty and so it is time to open up the conversation in the below comment section. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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The war is lost, maybe we could airmail ourselves out on the Condor

Welcome readers to todays offering from The Philatelist. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. We have an interesting story to tell of a great airplane whose stamp is tainted by defeat.

The stamp today has a fairly normal picture for an early years airmail stamp from anywhere. It shows a big 4 propeller airliner flying over an airport. When put into context, it is possible to see what a desperate and defeated image it really is. The plane is a German Condor airliner that captured the worlds imagination with the first direct flight from Berlin to New York and regular service to Argentina and Japan, both of which required several stops. It was the most advanced airliner in the world when it was introduced in 1938. By late 1944 when this stamp was issued, the war for Germany was soon lost.

One can see the desperation on the stamp. Germany instead of being referred to Deutches Reich, German Empire, as was common into the war years, it was now GrossDeutches Reich, greater German Empire. By then the area controlled by Germany was shrinking fast. The denomination on the stamp is increased by 66% as a mandatory contribution to the war effort. It is easy to spot the symbolism  of a famous, long range airliner taking off toward a break in the storm clouds to lift you away to some far off place, untouched by war.

The stamp today was issued in 1944 by the German Nazi government. It is an airmail stamp that commemorates the 25th anniversary of the German postal Air mail service, which started in 1919. The Scott catalog lacks listings for many of Germany’s later war years stamps. Most of the copies that are still around are mint. A good number were liberated at wars end and found there way into stamp collections having never been mailed.

The plane on the stamp is a Focke-Wulf FW200A Condor airliner. It flew at a speed of 220 mph and had a range of 2200 miles. It was designed by famed aircraft designer Kurt Tank. It was built from 1938-1944 and prewar a few entered service with Lufthansa in Germany and with Denmark and Brazil. The Japanese suggested a maritime patrol bomber version and also ordered airliners but these were kept in Germany at the outbreak of WWII. The armed version was used to good effect early in the Battle of the Atlantic until it was realized they were too valuable to risk having them shot down. After that they were regulated to transport duty including as Hitler’s personal transport and the airlift to Stalingrad. The last Condor flight to Portugal from Berlin happened in April 1945 just days before Berlin fell to the Russians.

Post war. no new Condors were produced although a few stayed in service in Spain, Brazil, and the Soviet Union. There is only one example of the Condor still in existence. The Lufthansa museum in Germany has an example pieced together from two examples that had crashed in Norway during the war. Norway had been reluctant to allow pieces of one of the planes to go back to Germany as they were using the wreckage as a war memorial. It was finally agreed to allow a minimum of parts to be taken to get one complete example of this historic airplane.

Well, my drink is empty so it is time to open up the conversation in the below comment section. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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Celebrate the treaty but reserve your right to violate it.

Welcome readers to todays offering from The Philatelist. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. We have an interesting story to tell of ground breaking treaty that seeks to prevent groundbreaking and how the USA celebrates the treaty while reserving the right to violate it.

The drawing of Antarctica on the stamp is not very well done and this is a missed opportunity. The USA will do very few stamps ever featuring Antarctica. To mess one up therefore is a serious offence. The territory that Britain claims, in violation of the spirit of the treaty, produces stamps that better show off the landscape most of us will never see.

The stamp today is issue C130, a 50 cent airmail stamp issued on June 1st 1991. It was a single stamp issue honoring the 30th anniversary of the Antarctic Treaty. According to the Scott catalog, it is worth 45 cents cancelled.

The Antarctic Treaty was well worth celebrating in 1991 and every year. There were scientific stations popping up around Antarctica. These were set up by various countries and a few had started to make formal claims on land area in Antarctica. Antarctica has no native inhabitants and was an unspoiled and cold land. The nature of the expeditions of most of the countries involved service members and equipment from that nation’s military. The presence of armed men and conflicting claims potentially could have lead to an arms race and land grab.

This was a difficult issue to resolve. The 1950s were a time of cold war hostility. This was before there had been any treaty between East and West on arms limitations. There was one advantage however. The East was way behind the West in Antarctica and most of the claims were between a Great Britain that was sheading colonies rapidly and South American countries that could be expected to take the views of the Americans seriously.

The diplomats really did a masterful job with this treaty. All previous claims on Antarctica are frozen without any agreement to recognize them. Scientific outposts are allowed by all signatories of the treaty. Military members and equipment are allowed to be used but all signatories agree to leave them unarmed. All relevant nations signed the treaty and has such it was the first cold war arms control treaty.

The claims were frozen not ended. This was probably why the USA reserved the right to make a claim on Antarctica at a later date. The USA then and now possesses great expeditionary power projection military capability. This is beyond any other nation. So a threat to make a claim on Antarctica from the USA is potentially destabilizing. That has proved to be an effective tool to keep new claims from ruining the treaty. There is a annual meeting of signatories to address issues that come up. Lately they have mainly been about lessening the environmental impact of the outposts on Antarctica.

Well, my drink is empty and so I will pour another so I can raise it up in honor of the Antarctic Treaty and those hardy souls from the many nations that go there to learn more about the world around us. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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The trains or the people

Welcome readers to todays offering from The Philatelist. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. We have an interesting story to tell about economic choices.

The stamp today is from post independence French West Africa. The French influence was quite great in the countries themselves. In terms of the stamps however, compared to the British Commonwealth there was less influence from the former home country. The stamps usually do have some of the vibe of the cold war period nonaligned movement. This stamp is a little bit of an exception to that by showing an old railway car from the French period.

The stamp today is issue A198, a 100 franc stamp issued in the Ivory Coast on May 17th, 1980. It is part of a four stamp issue that displays the train line in the Ivory Coast over time. This stamp shows a passenger car from 1908. According to the Scott Catalog, the stamp is worth 60 cents cancelled.

Ivory Coast is a former French colony on the coast of the Atlantic ocean near the Equator in the tropics. Despite the name, the main industries are cocoa beans, rubber, and oil production. There is also a fair amount of trade that passes through the Ivory Coast on the way to land locked countries to the north such as Burkini Faso. These areas were all formally part of French West Africa and during the colonial period a train line was built from  the port of Abidjan up through Ivory Coast into Burkini Faso.

All of this has left the country in a better state economically that many other African nations. The Government has used the growing GDP to fund large development projects such as a train extension to a new mining area and a new subway system in Abidjan. The problems come in with the rapid population growth and the additional migration of people of foreign countries has left a situation with many seemingly left behind economically from the growth. The instability from this causes periodic uprisings that then choke off economic activity.

Trouble like this flared up again in 2017. The military took to the streets demanding back pay that was owed. Shots were fired near commercial port facilities. this lead to outside companies quickly leaving. The government quickly paid the back pay due the military and they returned to barracks. However the civil service than went on strike demanding the back pay it felt it was owed. It remains to be seen what effect this will have on development goals. Not meeting those goals will leave more people behind and around we go. What is the answer to this? A liberal might suggest more public sector employment and a big push in family planning. Perhaps the more conservative might suggest a wall and better project management. In my opinion they both are correct.

Well, my drink is empty and so it is time to open up the conversation in the below comment section. What is the correct tradeoff between todays needs and a better future? Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.