The Electricians

[ Techiman, Ghana ]

Stop me if you’ve heard this story before:

For some inexplicable reason–as I worked frantically through a backlog of editing and writing tasks–the proprietary, irreplaceable-from-here power supply of a certain, vital-to-me, tablet computing device decided to commit seppuku. No, worse than seppuku–which provides forewarning and ceremony–this was an unceremonious act of instantaneous self-termination. No warning + dead power supply = useless computer.

We’ve seen this flick already: “Power Supply–The Conjuring” is this trip’s third most popular film, after “The Broken Spokes Massacre” and “Attack of the Malarial Parasite Zombies.”

Fortunately there are many competent and ingenious electricians to be found here. The sprawling sidewalk shop featured here repairs pretty much any electronic device you can imagine. TVs, monitors, car radios, home stereos, printers, copiers, and loudspeakers, for starters.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: I love street-level #commerce–the real way trade evolves without the criminal abuses of modern-day capitalism–i.e. the type of trade thriving nearly everywhere in the world where Western financial institutions haven’t yet taken advantage.⠀
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It’s important to realize–and impossible to deny–that the West doesn’t have the right, or best, answers for…well…much of anything. You think we’re more advanced than the so-called developing world? More civilized? More informed? More democratic? Healthier? More peaceful (snort)? More free? Safer? That IS what we’re taught to believe, after all.

But, if you believe any of these things, you’d be wrong. Utterly. It’s a fictional, self-serving narrative built upon media and governmental propaganda, nothing more. Come visit me instead and see for yourself!

Peace,
—jim