Opinion / Columnist
We are caught between rock and the abyss and lack Odysseus insight to escape
07 Nov 2018 at 19:23hrs | Views
Zimbabweans are well and truly caught between a rock and the deep blue sea, they either have to confront the corrupt and tyrannical Zanu PF regime and demand meaningful political change or continue to suffer the worsen economic hardships brought upon the nation by the regime. This is a lesson for Zimbabweans to learn from Greek mythology.
One of the many trials and tribulations Odysseus, Homer's hero in Ulysses, faced to get back home was having to navigate the Strait of Messina between Sicily and Italian mainland. Odysseus was caught between a rock Scylla, a rock shoal, a six headed sea monster on the Italian side of the strait and Charybdis, a whirlpool off the coast of Sicily, the deep blue sea.
Odysseus chose to face Scylla and lost a few sailors to the monster rather than risk the the whole ship and crew being sucked into the abyss!
The moral of the story is Zimbabweans would be better off facing the monster Zanu PF demanding their freedoms and basic human rights and dignity including the right to free and fair elections which is at the very heart of the nation's failure to put an end to Zanu PF's corrupt and tyrannical rule.
The nation has been stuck with the corrupt and incompetent Zanu PF regime for 38 years because the party rigged the elections and falsified its mandate to rule. After 38 years of corrupt and tyrannical Zanu PF rule it is now clear the regime is the root cause of the economic meltdown and, worse still, that there is no hope of any meaningful economic recovery as long as Zanu PF remains in power. None!
Zanu PF has just rigged the recent elections to tighten its iron grip on power and the regime shot dead seven protestors soon thereafter, a warning the regime will not brook any challenge to its tyrannical rule. The Zanu PF Scylla monster is real and dangerous, there is no doubt about that.
The country's economic meltdown that has seen unemployment soar to dizzying heights of 90%, basic services like supply of clean running water and health care collapse, etc. is Charybdis, a whirlpool, sucking the whole nation into the abyss. 75% of the population is already living on US$1.00 or less a day and the situation is getting worse not better.
"(Economic) recovery can only come with foreign investment in Zimbabwean commerce and industry. But what investor would want to bring hard currency onshore, to see its value immediately reduced as it is turned into RTGS money, where profits are generated in RTGS money and offshore shareholders cannot be paid?" explained Derek Matyszak in an article in Zimeye.
"So the logjam continues. The currency problem cannot be solved without investment, and investment won't come until the currency problem is solved and certainly not while Zimbabwe has shown itself prone to bouts of extreme economic chaos and potential social unrest. And while government scratches its collective head, Zimbabwe's economy inches ever closer to the brink."
Whilst the Zanu PF's trigger happy thugs will kill hundreds even thousands of people if Zimbabweans if the nation dared to confront the regime to demand meaningful change. Doing nothing has cause millions to suffer in damn anguish and hundreds if not thousands of lives have been lost unnecessarily every month for lack of clean running water, etc.
The trials and tribulations Odysseus faced were not of his own making, he was at the mercy of the capricious Gods. The trials and tribulations Zimbabweans are facing are all 100% our own fault. For all our problems stem from the 38 years of corrupt, incompetent and tyrannical rule of Mugabe, Mnangagwa and the rest of the Zanu PF thugs. These are mere mortals and not Gods; of course, it is our own fault that we have allowed these thugs to ride roughshod over our freedoms, hopes and our very humanity all these years to such depths of depravity!
Nations get the government they deserve, we in Zimbabwe, certainly deserve this corrupt Zanu PF dictatorship complete with its entourage of equally corrupt and incompetent opposition parties. If we want a competent and accountable government, one to led us out of the hell-on-earth Zanu PF landed us in, we must earn it by learning from history and our own past mistakes.
Zanu PF thuggery presents immediate and dramatic danger but it is nothing compared to the suffering and deaths of the economic meltdown the regime has fostered on the nation, the silent grime ripper. Those who refuse to confront Zanu PF and demand meaningful democratic change are making a false choice because they are not confronting the grime ripper either. It is Zanu PF thuggery that is causing the economic meltdown and those who refuse to confront Zanu PF refuse to confront the economic meltdown.
The choice before this nation is simple; either we confront these Zanu PF thugs and demand the restoration of our freedoms and human rights or we suffer and die like sheep to the slaughter.
It is shameful that anyone should ever seek to subjugate and enslave a fellow human being as this is bound to cause endless strive and anguish. Shame on you all who allow yourselves to be cowed down by mere mortals so much so you become as helpless as sheep!
One of the many trials and tribulations Odysseus, Homer's hero in Ulysses, faced to get back home was having to navigate the Strait of Messina between Sicily and Italian mainland. Odysseus was caught between a rock Scylla, a rock shoal, a six headed sea monster on the Italian side of the strait and Charybdis, a whirlpool off the coast of Sicily, the deep blue sea.
Odysseus chose to face Scylla and lost a few sailors to the monster rather than risk the the whole ship and crew being sucked into the abyss!
The moral of the story is Zimbabweans would be better off facing the monster Zanu PF demanding their freedoms and basic human rights and dignity including the right to free and fair elections which is at the very heart of the nation's failure to put an end to Zanu PF's corrupt and tyrannical rule.
The nation has been stuck with the corrupt and incompetent Zanu PF regime for 38 years because the party rigged the elections and falsified its mandate to rule. After 38 years of corrupt and tyrannical Zanu PF rule it is now clear the regime is the root cause of the economic meltdown and, worse still, that there is no hope of any meaningful economic recovery as long as Zanu PF remains in power. None!
Zanu PF has just rigged the recent elections to tighten its iron grip on power and the regime shot dead seven protestors soon thereafter, a warning the regime will not brook any challenge to its tyrannical rule. The Zanu PF Scylla monster is real and dangerous, there is no doubt about that.
The country's economic meltdown that has seen unemployment soar to dizzying heights of 90%, basic services like supply of clean running water and health care collapse, etc. is Charybdis, a whirlpool, sucking the whole nation into the abyss. 75% of the population is already living on US$1.00 or less a day and the situation is getting worse not better.
"(Economic) recovery can only come with foreign investment in Zimbabwean commerce and industry. But what investor would want to bring hard currency onshore, to see its value immediately reduced as it is turned into RTGS money, where profits are generated in RTGS money and offshore shareholders cannot be paid?" explained Derek Matyszak in an article in Zimeye.
"So the logjam continues. The currency problem cannot be solved without investment, and investment won't come until the currency problem is solved and certainly not while Zimbabwe has shown itself prone to bouts of extreme economic chaos and potential social unrest. And while government scratches its collective head, Zimbabwe's economy inches ever closer to the brink."
Whilst the Zanu PF's trigger happy thugs will kill hundreds even thousands of people if Zimbabweans if the nation dared to confront the regime to demand meaningful change. Doing nothing has cause millions to suffer in damn anguish and hundreds if not thousands of lives have been lost unnecessarily every month for lack of clean running water, etc.
The trials and tribulations Odysseus faced were not of his own making, he was at the mercy of the capricious Gods. The trials and tribulations Zimbabweans are facing are all 100% our own fault. For all our problems stem from the 38 years of corrupt, incompetent and tyrannical rule of Mugabe, Mnangagwa and the rest of the Zanu PF thugs. These are mere mortals and not Gods; of course, it is our own fault that we have allowed these thugs to ride roughshod over our freedoms, hopes and our very humanity all these years to such depths of depravity!
Nations get the government they deserve, we in Zimbabwe, certainly deserve this corrupt Zanu PF dictatorship complete with its entourage of equally corrupt and incompetent opposition parties. If we want a competent and accountable government, one to led us out of the hell-on-earth Zanu PF landed us in, we must earn it by learning from history and our own past mistakes.
Zanu PF thuggery presents immediate and dramatic danger but it is nothing compared to the suffering and deaths of the economic meltdown the regime has fostered on the nation, the silent grime ripper. Those who refuse to confront Zanu PF and demand meaningful democratic change are making a false choice because they are not confronting the grime ripper either. It is Zanu PF thuggery that is causing the economic meltdown and those who refuse to confront Zanu PF refuse to confront the economic meltdown.
The choice before this nation is simple; either we confront these Zanu PF thugs and demand the restoration of our freedoms and human rights or we suffer and die like sheep to the slaughter.
It is shameful that anyone should ever seek to subjugate and enslave a fellow human being as this is bound to cause endless strive and anguish. Shame on you all who allow yourselves to be cowed down by mere mortals so much so you become as helpless as sheep!
Source - zsdemocrats.blogspot.co.uk
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