Here we go again. Another week of newspaper placards plastered all over the town, announcing the woeful deeds of the famous – of which there seem to be few enough – and the infamous – of which there seem to be an endless over-supply. It appears that the seven deadly sins have almost become synonymous with the local understanding of the word, “democracy”. It’s not really any wonder that everyone trudges burdened or scurries anxiously around the malls and streets, wearing their atrocious masks of gloom and doom.
Of course, it doesn’t matter where you look, you’re going to be bombarded with the universe’s troubles: freak accidents, the riots here, the internecine conflict there, the prospect of getting thirty lashes for kissing someone, the war in wherever, “the full catastrophe”, to steal Zorba’s words. But in our endless talking, worrying, and fretting about these issues, we’re missing the richness of what we have. I find it rather depressing to chat to young parents about their wonderful kids, only to hear a torrent of complaints about the costs of having a baby, raising a child, educating a family, etc., etc. Do any of those individuals ever remember learning the word, “choice”, and what it implies? Or, perhaps the word wasn’t in the syllabus at that time? Too elitist?
I was interested to read what Richard Strauss, the German composer, had to say when he was accused of supporting the ominous onslaught of National Socialism during the rise of Hitler. He said that, as far as he was concerned, he wasn’t concerned with all that discriminatory philosophy; there were only two kinds of people in the world: those that had talent and those who didn’t. Of course, he was living in a time when that word, “talent”, had predominantly a positive spin.
Some folks might not immediately see the link with South Africa. Well, just recently, Mr Magashule suggested castrating rapists to solve that pernicious social problem. Adolf Hitler also advocated castration to solve social problems. And remember: some poor undeserving female has to be raped in the first place. That’s a solution?
Date:
