Uncolonised Africa wouldn’t know what it was missing

Today I found an interesting article about early-day South Africa called "Uncolonised Africa wouldn’t know what it was missing"
This article is trying to say that before the white men came ad "destroyed" their way of life, it was better. Without temptations of the outside world, life was simple. Everybody lived in small huts and only grew the amount of crops they needed to feed their family, and they had no more animals than what they needed. They had no TV's, or phones, or whiskey, or cigars, but they were still happy and thriving without it.
I agree with what the author of this article is trying to say: that life probbaly was better for the Africans before factories and coal and machines and gold and cheap labour ever came to them. It was nice and simple with simple pleasures and simple hardships. It isn't factories and manufactoring and TV's and phones and Ipods and computers that makes us happy, because if you take all of it away, and you are left with just the bare essentials, cultures can be just as happy. Africa probably was better off before the white men invaded.
Here it the actual article:
http://www.thetimes.co.za/Columnists/Article.aspx?id=741855