Weeeeeeeeee! Let's plaaaay!
Actually ol' MJ is the closest thing I could think of when the phrase "cutting off your nose to spite your face" cropped up. This is in effect exactly what the rioting rotters in the Western Cape are doing right now. They are literally burning the very source of their livelihoods. Is there not ONE person close to them "on the ground" as it were, that can explain this simple concept to these poor people?
Debates have been raging on social media, most from outraged and privileged observers that only read a lopsided and very badly written set of media reports. Sensationalising the shooting - no matter which side of the fence the bullet lands - is , although tragic, not the crux of the matter.
Why is it only in the Western Cape that farm workers are protesting minimum wage?
Why are busloads of protesters being brought in from outside the affected areas?
Why has there been no official response from government?
Why are protesters engaging in criminal activity in the towns or these areas?
Now I am no bleeding heart. I am not a liberal, neither am I a Communist. I truly empathise with the plight of the disenfranchised. But let's look at some uncomfortable facts:
These people are unskilled labourers.
They are employed to pick, sort and process fruit.
It is an unfortunate reality that not everyone can sit in a cushy office and get paid a fantastic salary for doing fuck all. Doctors and lawyers do not get paid for what they do. They do not engage in back breaking labour. They get paid for what they know. Their expertise is a hard earned qualification. It's not the fault of the labourer that he or she is a bit short on education. Even in the most perfect first world system, you get haves and have nots. Otherwise it would be known as Communistic Utopia and not a single person would have the motivation to excel. Hey, even in the giddy heights of the Kremlin's iron-fisted hold on Communist Mother Russia, there was a section of the population much better off than most. And ghettos. Not the cool ghettos you see in hip hop videos either, real shit holes. Clearly Communism work, eh Blade? Ask the recently liberated Eastern Bloc countries.
The problem here, and in a lot of other parts of the world, is that world economies are no longer able to sustain themselves on the back of borrowed pretend money, people fuck too much (I mean have too many fucking children), people expect too much for too little and everyone mistakenly buys into the misconception that they're unique little snowflakes capable of anything they set their minds to.
Seems most people aspire to be violent looting thugs when they don't get their way. The part about applying yourself in a positive manner to the goals you set yourself seems to have escaped the collective conscience.
I'm not saying don't vocalise your discontent, but I am saying don't be a fucking idiot. Keep voting in the ruling party that is directly responsible for setting the wage bracket you now so vehemently protest. Fuck sakes, you don't need a University education to figure it out. Not that University educations are worth the paper the Degrees are printed on anymore. Imagine the whole world decided that common sense was suddenly a grand commodity...
Sometimes I think it a curse to be able to see the wood for the trees.
But then most mornings I'm not wearing my Forest undies...
NGDG: I thought the weekend was enjoying my company. Then it has a friend send it a pre-arranged 'emergency' SMS and it scuttles early.
Spread The Love. And Peace. And Understanding.
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