Back to the Basics - Forget the Government

Maybe This Might Work - Family and Mastery

So far, I don't see us doing anything that works, maybe I'm wrong, but hear me out. A nation is an abstract view of a people living within certain borders. What are a nation and a nation-state? The Cambridge Dictionary states, "A country, especially when thought of as a large group of people living in one area with their own government, language, traditions, etc." And a nation-state is a state constituted of people who share almost everything from race, language, culture, etc. Given these definitions, South Africa is a nation, not a nation-state. And a set of black individuals does not necessarily make a black nation. Forget the government is not to say you don't have some responsibilities to fellow citizens or don't take the government's policy positions serious. It's to say, problem-solving begins at home. Like others say that "Charity begins at home". Otherwise, if it starts elsewhere, it's just madness.

We live in a quasi-socialist state that, of course, has mainly capitalist elements. One of those elements is the pursuit of individual liberties and a view of individuals as rational atomic units whose power lies in the vote. Unfortunately, we believe that adopting western ideas of mistaken causality, that is, democracy and capitalism bring about economic growth and prosperity, has failed us. One of the things we need is home stability through a serious return of atomic families that go through thin and thick as a single indivisible unit. On a side note, the state used to determine your morals through state religion. It's no surprise that South Africa, having been colonized by Christian Britain and brutalized by orthodox Dutch Christians, is majority Christian today (>80% of the population). It's the religious choice of the queen. If SA was in the Sahara, it'd be an Islamic state. That aside, wherever you get your morals, we must ensure that we respect our neighbours and keep nuclear family values for societal stability, law and order.

South Africa is currently at high risk of politicism given the challenges we are collectively experiencing, such as unemployment, poverty, crime, GBV, load-shedding, etc. We should not seek ye first political freedom. I would like to argue that while we keep the nation/government in mind, more focus should be on the default setting of our existence, family. It all starts within our households. This unit is supposed to be our backbone; as we strive in this world, we all need family. The recent unfortunate loss of minors at a drinking spot is yet another wake-up call, mainly to black South African families. It reminds us of our current uncultured behaviour and lack of a solid footing. Here, I'm not talking about the culture we celebrate on Heritage day. I defined culture as an environment in which we make decisions. In Ghosting Your Help! I referred to the black culture as being corrosive. Let's face it, the black African population is in a state of cultural and moral confusion due to our susceptibility to foreign influence/chaos.

We all make decisions, both young and old. Unfortunately, the elders appear to have outsourced much of this authority (on their offspring) in their households to the government. The government is in the yard, kitchen, lounge, and bedrooms. What we need is the restoration of discipline and the original patriarchy (Not the feminist revolution definition). This is why the Arabs and Asians are winning. The original meaning of patriarchy is "the ruling father" or under the authority of the father. Quick question, where were the fathers and/or big bros when the Tinder Swindler was dealing with the ladies? Patriarchy has the quality of calling out cow dung when it sees it. There's a vacuum in the households and in the definition of an African man. This vacuum is now sucking cow dung into the offspring's minds. Again, unfortunately, big daddy (government) incentivizes bad behaviour with its criminal act of taxation and a bulk load of good intentions. The basic income grant will likely be a disaster, the second last nail to the coffin of the state. More incentives for sitting and doing nothing. Politicians have no interest in learning about the high cost of their good intentions; after all, voters don't vote based on facts but on belief. Poverty and inequality should really not surprise us. These two things are natural default settings. We are all born poor. We should be surprised by wealth (A result of winning wrestling matches against poverty), most importantly, how it is created rather than distributed.

On a lite note on national leadership, When your leaders party and enjoy alcohol publicly with you, alcohol (drunkenness) becomes more fashionable than something like education or generally being a smart, hardworking, and humble young individual. I guess behaviours like this are one of the reasons why the Japanese don't take Africans seriously. Where's the honour in our honourable members? No wonder we have younglings losing their lives in the A.M's. To add more fuel to the flame, social media is not helping with its uncontrolled destruction of the offspring's mental health. They have found fathers in scammer idols and demagogues. And mothers and big sisters in slay queens. Those who in the past used to work the streets in the dark have rebranded and are now more mainstream than female leaders (real-life CEOs). The morals of the nation have turned upside down. What really do we call noble these days?

We can solve certain things without involving big daddy (government) and its many departments. Discipline, morality, respect, hard work, and developing skills that the economy is willing to pay for has nothing or negligibly little to do with politicians and government, most especially in this era. Like Rick Rubin said that, "Do the work, and the work will do the rest." Also The Joker said, "If you are good at something, never do it for free." Whilst I'm on the roll with quotes, in "Mastery", Robert Greene speaks about developing a level of mastery that makes one irreplaceable or hard to replace. Unfortunately, we need to develop a thick skin for pain (endurance) because pain (suffering) and tenacity are the main points behind growth (and nature). The "original patriarchy" in the household must instil these things in his/her offspring. These qualities will work no matter where the offsprings choose to go or live. Furthermore, it's very easy to point out national problems since most are abstract and have many grey areas. The thing a household leader can do is solve his/her household's issues. It's a very small to-do list that needs to be repeated daily. Yeah, neh, listening to this self-talk between two agents with no children or household to manage is really rich.

As SA citizens, we can't continue blaming Apartheid, colonialism, the west, and soon the east. We were not the first nor the last to be colonized. Others have moved on; why can't we? I understand the wounds of Apartheid are still fresh, but we can reduce politicism and seek to create a better country for all; The good old Rainbow Nation. I would like to predict that blaming Apartheid has an expiry year similar to using struggle credential to avoid debates and accountability. I think blaming Apartheid will expire in 18 years, that is, in around 2040. The time where BBEEE and all other forms of affirmative action will need to come to an end because it will finally be recognized  as an injustice. 

In summary, as much as we have individual freedoms, we equally have responsibilities. Let's forget the government and put family and mastery first. Africans must rediscover and instil the good old values and end the western ideas viral infections.

Further reading: Things Fall Apart; The Capitalist Nigger.