When I went to Kampala, my colleague in Addis Ababa reminded me to take a light bulb along with me. This was helpful advice since there were no light bulbs in the whole of Kampala and the entire city was engulfed in darkness.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Basic infrastructure like electricity was absent in Kampala, requiring travelers to bring their own light.
- In plain terms
- Kampala had no power, so bringing a bulb was necessary advice.
- What can you take from it?
- Infrastructure failure defines daily life in collapsed states.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- How does infrastructure affect stability?
- What does a blackout reveal?
Another view
It focuses on one symptom without explaining the broader causes.
More from Ryszard Kapuscinski
Amin hid nothing. Everybody knew everything. Yet the American Senate only introduced a resolution breaking off trade with Amin three months before his overthro…
Permalink to quote #6 Without Amin nothing functioned, nothing existed.
Permalink to quote #8 We have such a mixture now, such a fusion of different genres.
Permalink to quote #5
Related quotes
A cold coming they had of it, at this time of the year; just the worst time of the year to take a journey, and specially a long journey, in.
Lancelot AndrewesLancelot Andrewes quote #1 Unchecked, the tourist will climb over the fence and come right into your house to take pictures of you in your habitat. Cities mindful of tourists have built …
Andrei CodrescuAndrei Codrescu quote #2 The heavy casualties, the constant retreat, the shortage of food and munitions, the difficulty of receiving reinforcements... all this had a very bad effect on…
Vasily ChuikovVasily Chuikov quote #7