In the movie Blood Diamond, Leonardo DeCaprio plays a diamond smuggler in the bloody, war-torn terrain of Sierra Leone. When his American journalist/romantic interest counterpart asks how and why so much unconscionable violence – rape of women, mutilation of children, abduction of children as child soldiers – can arise in this part of the world, Leo coolly responds, “T.I.A. This Is Africa.”

That’s the attitude: Don’t try and figure it out, just accept it and move on. Continue reading →