Movie: White King, Red Rubber, Black Death

Netflix recommended Congo: White King, Red Rubber, Black Death after watching Blood Diamond . It's a 90 minute documentary about how the Belgians, led by King Leopold II absolutely raped, pillaged, and plundered their way to fortune by total exploitation.

Pretty damning and conducted in the form of a trial of the King, it really dives down into some of the late 19th/early 20th century abuses (and this was, according to the film, well past the time that the other European powers had realized it was not worth it to exploit without reinvesting). The Belgian King felt pressure to catch up.

Interestingly enough, the practice of chopping off hands which gained notoriety in Sierra Leone's conflict actually was, according to the film, 'invented' en masse by the Belgians.

A sad, sad tale that will make you look at the "wealth" of Brussels and Belgium in a whole new light.