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文丨S1mple
Editor丨S1mple
Africa is arguably the continent with the most poor regions in the world.
As the poorest and most backward place in the world, the average salary of Africans is only $220 a month, or even lower, and some even live in a near-primitive way.
But there is a group of people in Africa who have different jobs, some are car repairers, some are masons.
But they can wear high-priced luxury brands, and a set of brand goods will cost tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands!
Who are they, and why are they the way they are formed?
African "high-quality" men
Since the advent of luxury, it has become a representative of class, after all, everything that can be called a luxury is basically a high price.
Its high price makes it impossible for many people to look for, and any one may be the salary of ordinary people for months or even years, and some can't even be bought with money.
So when people see a person walking on the road wearing a luxury brand, they can't help but turn their eyes to this person.
And there is such a group of people in the Congo in Africa, who work ordinarily, basically in the labor and service industries with low wages, and their monthly wages may not be enough to feed their families.
But they wore expensive luxuries, and walked the streets of the Congo in groups to "blow up the streets" when they had nothing to do, enjoying the surprised or envious eyes of the people around them.
They also have a special organization to explain this culture, the Sap Association, which literally translates to the Association of Style Makers and Elegant People.
Dressed in expensive clothes, Sapp was finely dressed and walked the streets with catwalks or other model steps that could only be seen on the model catwalks.
However, there are no photographers with "long guns and short cannons" around them, no gorgeous lights, and no richly dressed audiences.
There are just slums that are almost a wasteland and the surrounding poorly clothed and shabby-dressed residents.
This contradictory and magical scene is intertwined to present a fantasy scene of wasteland punk that belongs exclusively to Africa.
Actually, if you say that the people of the Sapp Association are rich, it is not that, as I said earlier, they have different identities, some are taxi drivers, some are miners, and some are masons.
But without exception, they are basically occupations with low salaries, and with their salaries, if they follow the schedule, they can save money to buy them under the condition of satisfying their families' food and clothing.
Not to mention a few months, you may not be able to save money for a tie in a few years.
So this group of Sapp went to take out a loan, this loan is millions, of course, the millions here refer to the CFA, under normal circumstances, the loan of 6 million CFA francs is equivalent to about 70,000 yuan.
But for them, these loans need to be repaid for a few years at a time, and if the money is used to improve their lives, the money can make a good life for the family for a year or two.
But they really take out loans to buy all kinds of luxury goods.
From our point of view, this is undoubtedly very ridiculous, because this practice of overdrawing the future is undoubtedly falling into the trap of consumerism.
But in their eyes, as well as many locals, Sapp is actually very respected by the locals, and many are even proud to have Sapp in their neighborhood.
Some people will say, is there anyone who buys some fake luxury goods to wear in order to slap a swollen face and become fat?
You think too much about this, Sapp buys clothes at luxury counters, or orders them in online stores in Europe, and there is no such thing as buying fakes.
And every Sapp can be said to be an encyclopedia of luxury, whether you are wearing a genuine product or not, Sapp people can see at a glance, after all, Sapp's love for luxury goods is incomprehensible to others.
For a sapp, the act of wearing a fake is the most unacceptable, and the most vicious insult for a sapp is "You're wearing a fake, right?"
This is an insult that Sapp cannot accept.
They are willing to exchange their wages for the next few years for a luxury product, and they don't want to be told that they are wearing fakes, if a Sapp is found to be wearing a fake, being kicked out of the Sapp Association is a small matter, and social death is a big thing.
And Sapp is not just a pile of luxury goods on his body, Sapp pays special attention to dressing, there is one thing to say, any Sapp looks very comfortable in his outfits, and some can even participate directly in the catwalk.
If you just pile up luxury goods on your body and don't pay attention to your outfits, I'm sorry, you can't be called Sapp.
So why did the Congo and the DRC form such a unique and incomprehensible culture, and what does this subculture symbolize?
Unique subcultures
In fact, the killing of Matt and the connection of left-behind children in the mainland are also subcultures, and all subcultures are inseparable from a specific background of the times, a specific social environment and a special group of people.
The same is true of Sapp culture.
Everyone knows that Africa is rich in mineral and forestry resources, and the Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo are certainly not short of these things.
But the husband is not guilty, and he is guilty.
The Congo (Brazzaville) did not usher in a new life because of its rich mineral resources and forestry resources, but was sucked out by France during the colonial era.
Both mineral exploitation and forestry exploitation were taken away by France.
Even in the new era of globalization, the Congo (Brazzaville) is still in a mess, not only did not take advantage of the wave of globalization to develop, but because of the excessive exploitation of France, it became dependent on France.
The current Congo (Brazzaville) is not a colony, but it is like a colony, and a large number of people and mineral resources are flowing out to France every year.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) next door is not much better, and during the colonial era, the DRC, which was ruled by Belgian colonists, was completely turned into the private property of the Belgian king.
Under the rule of the Belgian king, the people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo lived a life inferior to animals, but those who disobeyed or dared to resist were subjected to torture.
The King of Belgium even introduced a policy of racial division, that is, the people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) were divided into three, six, nine and so on according to their skin color.
This policy also indirectly caused the Rwandan massacre in 1994, which killed 80~1 million people, and it can be said that the people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) under Belgian rule lived a miserable life.
During World War II, de Gaulle proposed "Free France", and a large number of Africans joined the French army to fight for France.
After the victory in World War II, these Africans came to France and received the payment for their hard work in the war, some chose to stay in France, but many chose to buy in France and return to their homeland.
These African soldiers who bought luxury goods in France were the prototype of Sapp, in fact, this trend appeared as early as the 20s of the last century, but under the repressive rule of the colonies at that time, this situation was crushed and extinguished not long after it appeared.
Later, after the liberation of Africa, the meaning of luxury also changed, because in the colonial period, luxury was something that only white lords could wear.
But after the liberation, many Congolese people think that if you are a white man, I can't wear it?
As a result, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Brazzaville) and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) at that time, wearing luxury goods became a symbol of anti-colonial consciousness, although in our opinion, it was something that could not be beaten by eight poles.
But in the eyes of the locals, this is a symbol of anti-colonial consciousness.
And during the reign of Mobutu in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, there was also a real movement, that is, Mobutu banned its own citizens from wearing European clothes.
Later, after the fall of Mobutu, this decree was repealed, and the wearing of luxury goods became a symbol of resistance to power.
It may seem to us that this is a very strange way of thinking, because when you buy luxury goods, isn't that a disguised "ammunition" for the capitalists who exploited the colonies?
But no matter what you think, in the eyes of the locals, the sap is a symbol that represents these meanings.
Now Sapp has a certain cultural symbol, from the president to the people, they are very fond of Sapp, just like the inheritor of intangible culture in China.
If you have a high status in Sapp, you will be given a discount when you go out to buy groceries.
In the Congo, the sap has become a special cultural symbol, and there are foreign television stations that have come to shoot documentaries for these saps.
Although the Sapp Association also has certain rules, that is, you can't steal things or do things that harm society, but the rules are rules, and it is another thing to comply with them.
There are many people who steal or rob property in order to have enough money to buy luxury goods.
Now Sapp has also developed his own way of charging by letting others shoot them and then charging them.
You can say that the current Sapp has deviated from the original intention of Sapp when it appeared, but it cannot be denied that Sapp has become a kind of spiritual sustenance in the local area.