Opinion / Columnist
Desire for pre 1980 prosperity is 'undisguised admiration of Rhodesian settlerism'
20 Apr 2015 at 07:49hrs | Views
One can gain an insightful look into the very soul of someone or a select group from what he or she chooses to be the big issue of their time and how the deal with it.
The big issue in United State America during President Abraham Lincoln's which led to the civil war and nearly tore country into two was that "Slavery was wrong and evil, no human being should hold another human being in bondage, and therefore slavery must be abolished!"
Those who did not want slavery abolished resorted to all manner of tactics including side stepping the issue, distortions of the facts, name calling, etc. giving a full exposure of the sick mind behind the thinking. Here are some Abraham Lincoln's response to barrage the put-downs and abuses he received.
• I reject the notion that any white man who desires the freedom and liberty of all members of the coloured race must, necessary, desire a black woman for wife.
• It may seem strange that any man should dare to ask a just God's assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men's faces.
• It is strange that those who speak so passionately in favour of slavery want it not for themselves. Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves, and, under a just God cannot retain it.
We are all students of history; that is what civilization is all about it. Isn't it? Well the one thing we in Africa never seem to do is learn from the past because we seem to repeat the same mistakes others before us have made and many of our own over and over again.
After 35 years of our independence the big issue of our time has to be how to end the corrupt, vote rigging and murderous Zanu-PF dictatorship that has destroyed the country's one promising economy force unemployment to soar to 90% and forcing 16% or 2 million of our people into a life of abject poverty. And during its 35 years of tyrannical rule the regime has murdered over 30 000 innocent Zimbabweans to establish and retain the de facto one-party dictatorship.
With the sickening mentality of the Anti-Abolitionists Mugabe and his cronies showed that their take of the big issue of our time is totally differ as the tyrant's spokesman and propagandist Nathaniel Manheru showed in his recent article.
"My beef is with one question which keeps coming back, which keeps being asked by the same people thinking they are getting more and more profound in their line of questioning in the national debate," wrote Manheru. "The question is, has been, and predictably will always be: is independence worth it; is it worth celebrating? You find it raised in all manner and by all manner of people across the ideological and political divide."
"Addressing a handful of his supporters in Gweru this week, Morgan Tsvangirai said: "When we were growing up during my time, Zimbabwe used to have at least 2 million people employed in the formal sector. Ziscosteel employed 10 000 people during that time, but now we have less than half a million people who are employed in this country.
"Mugabe has turned this country's commercial farming areas into communal lands which are not bankable and that cannot be allowed to continue".
As far as Manheru was concerned Tsvangirai's "posing of this national question clearly reveals an undisguised admiration of Rhodesian settlerism, a wish for colonial continuity and thus a repudiation of April 18, 1980."
"We know when Tsvangirai grew up, what political milieu he adulates for creating 2 million jobs for natives," argued Manheru. "Of course, when he berates Mugabe for destroying commercial farming, he is attacking Mugabe for repossessing our occupied heritage as native Zimbabweans.
"His wish to reverse Zanu-PF policies is thus not a wish to take April 18, 1980 forward. It is a wish for classical settler colonialism, something far more retrogressive than neo-colonialism."
Of course what Manheru is saying is the same regurgitated rhetorical nonsense the anti-abolitionists had given, same s***t different times and subject! The reply one gives Manheru is therefore exactly the same because the truth is the same, it is like a compass it will always point North regardless where you are!
• I reject the notion that any black person who desires the economic prosperity the country enjoyed before independence must be desirous of white colonial oppression and therefore against black majority rule and want the return of white rule.
• It may seem strange that any man should dare to ask a just God's assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men's faces. Zanu-PF's black empowerment has created a few people who are now filthy rich but at the expense of millions who have been left destitute and their situation is getting worse and worse. The system is not just and cannot be justified economically or morally.
• It is strange that those who speak so passionately in favour of status quo complete with its failed health and education delivery system are the one who are sending their children overseas for their education and fly out of the country for their health checks. We fought the war for freedom, justice, one-man-one-vote and a fair share of the country's wealth and riches. Those who deny freedom, justice, etc. to others deserve them not for themselves, and, under a just God cannot retain them.
"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power," said Abraham Lincoln.
Well we did not just give Mugabe and his Zanu-PF thugs power, we gave them absolute power and Mai-Oh-Mai they really have turned into monsters.
The three and half decades of gross mismanagement and rampant corruption has taken their toll on the nation's economy, the national economic cake has shrunk considerable over the years in inverse proportion to the chefs' insatiable appetite which have ballooned. Yes the economic collapse has adversely affected millions of ordinary Zimbabweans but it has adversely affected the ruling elite too. They have started fighting amongst themselves over the shrinking cake.
Many people were beginning to despair that the nation was stuck with the Zanu-PF dictatorship after MDC failed to implement the democratic reforms everyone agreed were necessary for free, fair and credible elections. But now it seems the pressure of the economic meltdown on the one hand and the party's on implosion caused by the on-going factional fighting will force Zanu-PF to accept change. There is a God and He cares about the setting the down trodden free!
-----------
Nomusa Garikai can be contacted at zimbabwesocialdemocrats@gmail.com
The big issue in United State America during President Abraham Lincoln's which led to the civil war and nearly tore country into two was that "Slavery was wrong and evil, no human being should hold another human being in bondage, and therefore slavery must be abolished!"
Those who did not want slavery abolished resorted to all manner of tactics including side stepping the issue, distortions of the facts, name calling, etc. giving a full exposure of the sick mind behind the thinking. Here are some Abraham Lincoln's response to barrage the put-downs and abuses he received.
• I reject the notion that any white man who desires the freedom and liberty of all members of the coloured race must, necessary, desire a black woman for wife.
• It may seem strange that any man should dare to ask a just God's assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men's faces.
• It is strange that those who speak so passionately in favour of slavery want it not for themselves. Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves, and, under a just God cannot retain it.
We are all students of history; that is what civilization is all about it. Isn't it? Well the one thing we in Africa never seem to do is learn from the past because we seem to repeat the same mistakes others before us have made and many of our own over and over again.
After 35 years of our independence the big issue of our time has to be how to end the corrupt, vote rigging and murderous Zanu-PF dictatorship that has destroyed the country's one promising economy force unemployment to soar to 90% and forcing 16% or 2 million of our people into a life of abject poverty. And during its 35 years of tyrannical rule the regime has murdered over 30 000 innocent Zimbabweans to establish and retain the de facto one-party dictatorship.
With the sickening mentality of the Anti-Abolitionists Mugabe and his cronies showed that their take of the big issue of our time is totally differ as the tyrant's spokesman and propagandist Nathaniel Manheru showed in his recent article.
"My beef is with one question which keeps coming back, which keeps being asked by the same people thinking they are getting more and more profound in their line of questioning in the national debate," wrote Manheru. "The question is, has been, and predictably will always be: is independence worth it; is it worth celebrating? You find it raised in all manner and by all manner of people across the ideological and political divide."
"Addressing a handful of his supporters in Gweru this week, Morgan Tsvangirai said: "When we were growing up during my time, Zimbabwe used to have at least 2 million people employed in the formal sector. Ziscosteel employed 10 000 people during that time, but now we have less than half a million people who are employed in this country.
"Mugabe has turned this country's commercial farming areas into communal lands which are not bankable and that cannot be allowed to continue".
As far as Manheru was concerned Tsvangirai's "posing of this national question clearly reveals an undisguised admiration of Rhodesian settlerism, a wish for colonial continuity and thus a repudiation of April 18, 1980."
"We know when Tsvangirai grew up, what political milieu he adulates for creating 2 million jobs for natives," argued Manheru. "Of course, when he berates Mugabe for destroying commercial farming, he is attacking Mugabe for repossessing our occupied heritage as native Zimbabweans.
"His wish to reverse Zanu-PF policies is thus not a wish to take April 18, 1980 forward. It is a wish for classical settler colonialism, something far more retrogressive than neo-colonialism."
Of course what Manheru is saying is the same regurgitated rhetorical nonsense the anti-abolitionists had given, same s***t different times and subject! The reply one gives Manheru is therefore exactly the same because the truth is the same, it is like a compass it will always point North regardless where you are!
• I reject the notion that any black person who desires the economic prosperity the country enjoyed before independence must be desirous of white colonial oppression and therefore against black majority rule and want the return of white rule.
• It may seem strange that any man should dare to ask a just God's assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men's faces. Zanu-PF's black empowerment has created a few people who are now filthy rich but at the expense of millions who have been left destitute and their situation is getting worse and worse. The system is not just and cannot be justified economically or morally.
• It is strange that those who speak so passionately in favour of status quo complete with its failed health and education delivery system are the one who are sending their children overseas for their education and fly out of the country for their health checks. We fought the war for freedom, justice, one-man-one-vote and a fair share of the country's wealth and riches. Those who deny freedom, justice, etc. to others deserve them not for themselves, and, under a just God cannot retain them.
"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power," said Abraham Lincoln.
Well we did not just give Mugabe and his Zanu-PF thugs power, we gave them absolute power and Mai-Oh-Mai they really have turned into monsters.
The three and half decades of gross mismanagement and rampant corruption has taken their toll on the nation's economy, the national economic cake has shrunk considerable over the years in inverse proportion to the chefs' insatiable appetite which have ballooned. Yes the economic collapse has adversely affected millions of ordinary Zimbabweans but it has adversely affected the ruling elite too. They have started fighting amongst themselves over the shrinking cake.
Many people were beginning to despair that the nation was stuck with the Zanu-PF dictatorship after MDC failed to implement the democratic reforms everyone agreed were necessary for free, fair and credible elections. But now it seems the pressure of the economic meltdown on the one hand and the party's on implosion caused by the on-going factional fighting will force Zanu-PF to accept change. There is a God and He cares about the setting the down trodden free!
-----------
Nomusa Garikai can be contacted at zimbabwesocialdemocrats@gmail.com
Source - Nomusa Garikai
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