so as i leave jo-burg (for a couple weeks anyway), the country is going through a pretty crazy time. apparently people don't like us foreigners. for over a week now (or 2), "xenophobic" attacks has gripped the country, particularly in the townships (though its now moving to the city center). these are not just some minor protests, but actually locals wounding and killing (shooting, setting on fire, hacking...) foreigners, mostly from zim (but from other countries as well). many more foreigners have had to flee from their homes and stay in shelters and police stations just to avoid being attacked and killed.
and people said the craziness in zimbabwe was not the concern of south africa.
what is also surprising is the response from the government. after waiting an entire FIVE days to comment, the president finally acknowledged that there was a problem and it should be addressed. after waiting a couple more days he took "decisive" action this weekend by announcing that a panel had been set up to look into the attacks. i repeat, as the violence and killing escalate daily (even hourly), the president decides that what's most needed is a panel. A FREAKING PANEL. why the hell do we africans like to talk about stuff and not provide any actions?? it beats me. at least some of the local leadership and the police have stepped in to try to help, but every once in a while it'd be nice to have some backing from the top.
i think i shouldn't be surprised at the inaction of this administration anymore. this is the same president that went to zim after the electoral commission refused to release the election results and violence against the opposition supporters was increasing and declared: "there's no crisis in zimbabwe". right. this is the same president who sacks his health ministers cuz shes actually trying to do something to curb the spread of AIDS. right. this is the same administration that is part of a coalition in the UN security council blocking more decisive humanitarian action by the UN to provide aid and relief to residents of Myanmar. right.
alright, i've calmed down a bit...back to the attacks. apparently some locals believe that foreigners are taking jobs that "belong" to them and are doing so for less money (kinda remind you of the mexican situation in the states?). i think this issue needs to be addressed very forcefully, because it will not go away easily. some people need to realize that we live in a global society (SA especially is a melting pot filled with a ridiculous melange of people from different parts of the world). the government also needs to address this in 2 ways: 1. the legitimate claim of many s africans not having jobs. this includes education and up-skilling to fill more specialized jobs; and 2) the illegitimate use of violence as a recourse (not that violence is ever legitimate). I've always believed that violent people will act upon their violence regardless of what the situation around them is. only at times, do they find an outlet/excuse that actually makes them seem legitimate (like foreigners taking jobs, or many other times, religion). so these perpetrators of violence are nothing more than cruel and crazy people that desire to do harm to people. now they have an excuse to use.
there's no happy ending to this post. but i hope something is done quickly about this situation. otherwise, south africa, once a hopeful place, may resemble kenya. and then we'll have the west saying again: here we go again with africans.
Monday, May 19, 2008
Saturday, May 10, 2008
coming home
edit: hey mom, happy mothers day; love ya!
for the hundreds, if not thousands, of you that were already preparing that food basket to send me some chipotle, thanks, but it won't be necessary; i'm coming home! yep, thats right. i've had it with south africa, can't take it anymore, packing my stuff, and heading back home where the grass is green and the billows roll. something like that. well, its not that drastic. but i am going/coming to chicago/st. louis in less than 2 wks (may 20) for about 2wks for work training. i'll be in chi-town for the week, probably spend parts of the weekend in stl and then head back to chi. so, if you're around those parts, def let me know and we can hook up. should be good times.
the serious section:
people are always asking about whats going on in my head, what im thinking. u know, cuz i'm an ultra complicated, complex, hard-to-figure out kinda guy (not really). but i thought i'd give my millions of readers a bit of a glimpse into the more serious thoughts i've been having lately. this should be nothing surprising for those who know me. if anyone has ever heard barack obama speak, u've probably heard him say something along the lines of trusting the americans to be smart enough to know that [fill in blank] or better, having faith in the general human decency. all this of course makes for a great speech and speaks to the humanitarian/world peace/noble side of us (at least those that went to ultra liberal schools and still have dreams of bringing about world peace, ending hunger, ridding the world of all evils, and, u know, solving all the world's problems in one go, while we sit at starbucks and sip our lattes). not to say that i still don't hold those naive dreams and aspirations, but isn't it sad that the more you know about the world, the more less you believe in this thing called "human decency"? at least i think thats what's happening with me, as much as you can try and block it out and focus on world peace and other froo-froo stuff.
lately i've been reading an interesting biography and a couple of the sections were on the rwandan, burundi, somalia crises, as well as others. to read the history of these conflicts does not lead to a better understanding of who was right or who was wrong, which side was evil and which was good, or even who was responsible and how to resolve it. what it did to me was to have me question just how good us humans are. are we really innately decent? many political theorists/philosophers subscribe to the belief that humans are, in fact, pre-disposed to being bad or evil and that we have to work within the context of the society we live to actually be good. that the driving factor for humans is self-reliance or survival of the fittest, or whatever you want to call it. so who are we, mr obama and others, to attempt to reach out to the basic good that relies in people. i also watched a documentary about a catholic school during the rwandan crisis that housed primarily children from the minority and was being guarded by UN peacekeepers. as the conflict began spiraling out of control, the troops were given direct orders from the US/UN to immediately evacuate all the foreigners in the complex. as the bus-load pulled away, one of the rwandan teachers in the complex read a letter to the commander, written and endorsed by those that were going to be left behind and immediately killed by the hundreds/thousands of rwandans waiting outside the gates with weapons, ready to pounce on the school as soon as the foreigners left. the jist of the letter asked the commander to shoot each and every one of them with their guns, because they'd rather die with one shot to the head, than be hacked to death by machetes and kitchen knives.
These kinds of stories are not unique to rwanda. they're not unique to africa or black people or the developing world. they're not unique to muslim countries or christian countries. throughout history we see events like this in every single continent in every single corner of the world. humans are humans. we still witness these events today; in case you've missed the news lately, i hear there's some stuff going on in iraq, afghanistan, lebanon, israel, zimbabwe, and on and on. just like in the rwandan genocide, many times these are not strangers attacking and brutally murdering one another, but often neighbors, family members, people you grew up with, went to school, church with. so where is this inbred human decency. seems we have to work pretty damn hard to find it, have it, and keep it.
i think this is why i admire the older people that i meet who still hold out hope and belief that we have good blood in us and that together, we can resolve/mitigate many of the problems we face today. hopefully people like that continue to spew their hope-mongering, because it won't take long, without that, for people like me to lose all hope.
edu-macate yoselves: “Of course, hope alone is not enough, but it’s not trivial. It’s not trivial to inspire people to want to get up and do something with someone else.”
for the hundreds, if not thousands, of you that were already preparing that food basket to send me some chipotle, thanks, but it won't be necessary; i'm coming home! yep, thats right. i've had it with south africa, can't take it anymore, packing my stuff, and heading back home where the grass is green and the billows roll. something like that. well, its not that drastic. but i am going/coming to chicago/st. louis in less than 2 wks (may 20) for about 2wks for work training. i'll be in chi-town for the week, probably spend parts of the weekend in stl and then head back to chi. so, if you're around those parts, def let me know and we can hook up. should be good times.
the serious section:
people are always asking about whats going on in my head, what im thinking. u know, cuz i'm an ultra complicated, complex, hard-to-figure out kinda guy (not really). but i thought i'd give my millions of readers a bit of a glimpse into the more serious thoughts i've been having lately. this should be nothing surprising for those who know me. if anyone has ever heard barack obama speak, u've probably heard him say something along the lines of trusting the americans to be smart enough to know that [fill in blank] or better, having faith in the general human decency. all this of course makes for a great speech and speaks to the humanitarian/world peace/noble side of us (at least those that went to ultra liberal schools and still have dreams of bringing about world peace, ending hunger, ridding the world of all evils, and, u know, solving all the world's problems in one go, while we sit at starbucks and sip our lattes). not to say that i still don't hold those naive dreams and aspirations, but isn't it sad that the more you know about the world, the more less you believe in this thing called "human decency"? at least i think thats what's happening with me, as much as you can try and block it out and focus on world peace and other froo-froo stuff.
lately i've been reading an interesting biography and a couple of the sections were on the rwandan, burundi, somalia crises, as well as others. to read the history of these conflicts does not lead to a better understanding of who was right or who was wrong, which side was evil and which was good, or even who was responsible and how to resolve it. what it did to me was to have me question just how good us humans are. are we really innately decent? many political theorists/philosophers subscribe to the belief that humans are, in fact, pre-disposed to being bad or evil and that we have to work within the context of the society we live to actually be good. that the driving factor for humans is self-reliance or survival of the fittest, or whatever you want to call it. so who are we, mr obama and others, to attempt to reach out to the basic good that relies in people. i also watched a documentary about a catholic school during the rwandan crisis that housed primarily children from the minority and was being guarded by UN peacekeepers. as the conflict began spiraling out of control, the troops were given direct orders from the US/UN to immediately evacuate all the foreigners in the complex. as the bus-load pulled away, one of the rwandan teachers in the complex read a letter to the commander, written and endorsed by those that were going to be left behind and immediately killed by the hundreds/thousands of rwandans waiting outside the gates with weapons, ready to pounce on the school as soon as the foreigners left. the jist of the letter asked the commander to shoot each and every one of them with their guns, because they'd rather die with one shot to the head, than be hacked to death by machetes and kitchen knives.
These kinds of stories are not unique to rwanda. they're not unique to africa or black people or the developing world. they're not unique to muslim countries or christian countries. throughout history we see events like this in every single continent in every single corner of the world. humans are humans. we still witness these events today; in case you've missed the news lately, i hear there's some stuff going on in iraq, afghanistan, lebanon, israel, zimbabwe, and on and on. just like in the rwandan genocide, many times these are not strangers attacking and brutally murdering one another, but often neighbors, family members, people you grew up with, went to school, church with. so where is this inbred human decency. seems we have to work pretty damn hard to find it, have it, and keep it.
i think this is why i admire the older people that i meet who still hold out hope and belief that we have good blood in us and that together, we can resolve/mitigate many of the problems we face today. hopefully people like that continue to spew their hope-mongering, because it won't take long, without that, for people like me to lose all hope.
edu-macate yoselves: “Of course, hope alone is not enough, but it’s not trivial. It’s not trivial to inspire people to want to get up and do something with someone else.”
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