There is a wrinkle in the silver lining. We are learning with the Silicon Bank bailout that capitalism is messy. It is also an unstable force. Businesses are in it to make a profit while I work to improve myself. Now that’s a tale for the ancients. Weather this storm, I tell myself. Humanity, we have to intervene right now on the issues of money and materialism, family values and the free market, the inefficient and burdensome South African government.
Take South Africa, how do we take the system down, the pandemic of 2020/2021, inflation and the daily negative outlook we have. It’s too much. The political system is in terrible shape and this limits the international outlook and perspective of not only South Africa but of Africa. Look at our political language, the historical language and overview of the landscape we find ourselves in today.
What about the economic backlash that we are going through? The moral hazard and pretence of materialism and the profit exchange. There is untold damage being done to our psyche and intellect of the indigenous people of South Africa. Politicians tell us that violence and racism can be contained. They tell us we have overcome, yes, we can do it and then how will these serious consequences play itself out in the end.
Take the scenario of unemployed university graduates. Educated but unemployed. Take the scenario of people receiving a disability grant from the government. Society on every level is being conditioned, programmed in every which way to think that they are not of value to the community, to their family and that they themselves have nothing to offer the environment or circumstance they find themselves in.
Every day we have the same conversation within our inner circle. How bad the situation is in this country but how many of us can make make a contribution that is both positive and of value and that will lead to the betterment of society. Rather, stop using the cabinet and the president and his cohorts as an emotional punching bag and ask how can I be of value?
We tell ourselves our excuses are valid. There’s this self-narrative running on a loop inside of our heads of where we tell ourselves that we are not of value, our minds, our intellect, the soil. People must go to the ground and reap the harvest. We must stop complaining about expensive food items and go to the land. I say we should follow the examples of the ancestors.
All the problems I mention are the consequence of the dominance of Neo-liberal capitalism. The only alternative is a transition to socialism.