Opinion / Columnist
Fighting the ignorance of the masses
08 Aug 2013 at 12:46hrs | Views
ZANU-PF may think they have solved their political problem, but an economic disaster looms.
"In dark days, men need a clear faith and well grounded hope; and as the outcome of these, the calm courage which takes no account of the hardships on the way. The times through which we are passing have afforded to many of us a confirmation of our faith. We see that the things we had thought evil are really evil, and we know definitely than we ever did before the directions in which men must move if a better world is to arise on the ruins of the one which is now hurling itself into destruction. We see that man's political dealings with one another are based on wholly wrong ideas, and can only be saved by quite different ideals from continuing to be a source of suffering devastation, and sin."
And so wrote Bertrund Arthur William Russell, a British philosopher who unfortunately died in 1970.
The aim of politics should be; to make the life of individuals as good as possible and all citizens must live to their full potential. Our politics have really never been about improving the quality of life of the individual, but have been more about how those in power maximize their personal wealth and do all they can to stay in power. Unfortunately this is not about to change.
What we need to do now I think, is to work hard towards a new narrative. We must engender a new narrative that accepts that freedom and liberty are priceless and their pursuit will hardly be profitable in the short term. The challenge we shall face, is the ignorance of the masses, who continually deliver power to the ruling class for chickens and goats given at political rallies. They truly believe that it is not their own responsibility to change their circumstances but expect the government to prop them up. After all this is what Zanu-PF has been preaching to them and they believe it.
In my opinion Zimbabwe can only develop into a modern state when its political leadership is guided by the absolute and non negotiable respect of our freedom and liberty. They must be guided by ideals that seek to ensure that every Zimbabwean can live up to their full potential. More important, we must have citizens who know their worth and their potential so that they do not sell their dreams short. That in my view is what we must now fight for. We need an outside to the Zanu-PF narrative.
There is no doubt in my mind that, despite the promises being now made, Zanu-PF is not going to fundamentally change what they stand for. Instead, in this period, we are likely to see more rhetoric and the implementation of politically expedient economic policies that are more geared towards concentrated economic and political power. We have already had a taste of that with regard to the establishment of a black stock exchange. (I shall deal with this matter in the future).
Zanu-PF has indeed allegedly solved its political problem of operating within a GNU, but looming is a monumental task of managing an economy that has limited cash inflows and needs outside investment and / or aid. If the West refuses to accept the rigged results, we can expect nothing from there. We are likely to see a further deterioration in the conditions of the masses. The "chefs" shall, of course, insulate themselves as they did in 2008. I hope that I am wrong.
Tendia Biti is no longer there to tell us what he expects to get from diamond revenues or how we need to restrain luxury expenditures in order to pay salaries. The lock to the feeding trough has been broken and we are poised to see unprecedented greed.
My challenge here is that, I can hardly have this conversation with a peasant from Muzarabani whose only concern is to get seed from the government. For him, his gods have answered his prayers. I cannot have the same conversation with a chief who wants a new car because he has delivered the votes to Zanu-PF. He will think I am mental. I cannot even have this conversation with a youth who has now been given a cheap Chinese suit to wear with his new job as a driver for a new Zanu-PF MP. His dreams have come true. This ignorance of the masses and how they continually sell themselves short, election after election, shall continue to be an albatross on our true liberty and freedom.
It will be most difficult to change this system in the short term; we must however do all we can.
Hope without action is a prison.
------------------
Vince Musewe is an economist based in Harare and you may contact him on vtmusewe@gmail.com
Source - Vince Musewe
All articles and letters published on Bulawayo24 have been independently written by members of Bulawayo24's community. The views of users published on Bulawayo24 are therefore their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Bulawayo24. Bulawayo24 editors also reserve the right to edit or delete any and all comments received.
