Praat van diep in die sloot.

The 7 Deadly Sins

2007-09-25T02:41:00.000-07:00

These are: Gluttony (greed), envy, jealousy, pride, anger, sloth (laziness), and… how is it that the last thing is always so damn hard to remember? 80-20 rule again, I suppose. Anyway, if you’re African like me, you obviously don’t think too much about these rules, or place too much importance in them. More colonialist waffle. In fact, if you think about it, we embrace them as being good. Why else do we choose leaders that have these qualities? We see these qualities in our leaders and we see ourselves in our leaders. They are just like us. We see no harm in these qualities. We think that capitalism and the western world also embrace these qualities. These qualities define selfish, narcissistic and ultimately destructive behaviour, as opposed to humility, tolerance, patience and creative behaviour which are always for the greater good of the community and the earth itself. So what? The issue is that, for decades, civilized man had developed an “internal compass” based on certain rules to inhibit these qualities in us. Take religions, which have always been fairly dominant in civilizations, especially uneducated ones. All the religions promote the same behaviours destined to support social cohesion and community peace. This allows people to work together on a large scale, even a national scale. People subvert their selfish interests for the community interests, which ultimately is in their interests too. Over time they begin realizing this and naturally start working in the interests of the community. “Positive” humanistic behaviour is encouraged and looked up to. However, us Africans never really went through this, so we haven’t developed the internal compass. What this means is no empathy with animals or people, and no internal reasoning to not behave totally selfishly and without regard for others or the community. Of course, education helps. But most of us don’t get it. Throughout history our behaviour has only been controlled through fear, by witch doctors and ruthless chiefs. There has been no real understanding of why we should behave in community ways. We see no reason why we shouldn’t have a ruthless, greedy leader for our country, and if all our parliamentarians are fat, corrupt gluttons that’s good, because we see nothing wrong and would do exactly the same in their shoes. Our solution it seems, is legislation. But it can’t work. Ask any businessman – if you can’t trust your employees, and they don’t have the right attitude and aren’t aligned to organisational goals, you are dead in the water. You can make rules and impose security till you’re blue in the face, but things will not work out. People must guide themselves, but this requires an internal compass which encourages positive community behaviour. South Africa is a lost cause. Dead in the water. Destined to a Zuma future. An uneducated leader who has just helped me remember what the last deadly sin is. Lust. The ultimate embodiment of everything unsocial and uncivilized in a human being. So I guess our destiny is now staring us in the face, more or less assured. Another country of warring baboon troops, each led by a big, strong and ruthless dictator. Was there ever any other answer? Could an African country ever subvert the 7 deadly sins sufficiently to emerge as a united, successful and prosperous community? Let’s hope one of our neighbours can get it together and show us the way. Lets hope one day we’ll have the humility to follow their lead.

SARS Expcts Way Too Much of Us

2007-09-20T14:11:00.000-07:00

I saw an advert where SARS doesn’t want Any supporting documentation from the Taxpayer, but expect the taxpayer to keep it for five years. Then when SARS come knocking you have to produce it. This is ridiculous. Imagine a person like me, who as a matter of necessity is mobile. I stay 3 months here, 6 months there, never sure what the future holds. People get cross with me and burn all my stuff. I lose the stuff n a rain fall and floods. The chances of my records lasting 5 years is very small. I suppose its lucky I don’t pay tax, because clearly I couldn’t, and I suppose I really shouldn’t. But sometimes I really feel I should contribute in some way, especially since theoretically it’s illegal not to….

Farming vs Golf Estates

2007-09-20T14:04:00.000-07:00

The minister of agriculture recently expressed his/her concern about the number of golfing estates affecting the amount of agricultural land. He has every reason to be concerned. Traveling around the country you might discover places like Pringle Bay, a pristine piece of coastal land which has been scarred by a rash of indivualisticly and tastelessly styled houses. A sort of Rustenburg by die See. And how many people actually there when you visit? If there’s one in the hundreds of houses there, it’s a lot. Maybe there’ll be more in december. So effectively we have a ghost town, owned by very rich city dwellers. Why on earth can’t these city dwellers stay in a guest house? It much nicer, everyone does everything for you, and much, much cheaper. I wouldn’t understand, being African and not a Rustenburger. You might also discover the Thabazimbi area, where all the cattle farmers have discovered they can make their fortunes by selling the land for eco-estates. So it seems rich people are buying up the land for their empty holiday homes, and poor farmers are selling up. The result just has to be, however you look at it, much more expensive food in the future, much more risky food supply dominated by a few large producers, and plenty of starving people who can now still afford food, but are less likely to in the future. So the rich will starve the poor to death. They’ll use all the drinking water to water their golf courses. This in my book spells national disaster, and the sooner the government moves to put a stop to it the better.

Port Nelson Mandela

2007-09-20T13:53:00.001-07:00

I was in Port Nelson Mandela recently. I understand it’s still officially called Port Elizabeth, but I’m sure not for long. It turns out that Elizabeth was the wife of some British colonialist. Why on earth he didn’t call it Port Pete or whatever his name was beats me. Maybe that’s a reason why he had such a nice wife. I wouldn’t understand, not being a British colonialist. I’m sure no African in history ever called anything after his wife, that’s for certain. Anyway, Port Nelson Mandela is much better. In fact Port Elizabeth is offensive to me personally. All whites offend me. It so happens that just about everything in Port Elizabeth is called Nelson Mandela. If you ever want to go somewhere interesting , just say Nelson Mandela something, eg “Nelson Mandela museum”, or “Madiba Bay”. I think Nelson Mandela now has at least 2 of everything named after him, and probably about 1000 roads nationally. Anyway, I visited St Georges Park (I assume they haven’t delivered the signs yet). There was this memorial to dead colonialists, complete with statue of terrorist (colonialist soldier) in battle with gun. (how come its so hard to call a colonialist soldier a terrorist? I suppose because they’re always dressed smartly, like soldiers. There’s surely no other difference. Then the official definitions should be: Terrorist – undisciplined, badly dressed fighter. Soldier – disciplined, smartly dressed fighter) For some reason, someone had painted the memorial and it was looking good. Obviously the colonialist remnants were hanging in there at the municipality. I pictured a statue of Nelson Mandela in his suit in its place. Then I pictured a ragged comrade war vet with an AK in its place. Somehow, though, the place won’t be the same. I also discovered, again surprisingly, that the gardens had been beautifully maintained, even the old, tasteful colonialist features had been preserved. How offensive. I sat in the beautiful gardens, listening to happy birds, and was offended. Why? Was it Envy? That it was colonialists who had made this? We have to unmake it, make it African. I pictured mielies instead of flowers, a sand patch surrounding a well, or a wood pole cattle kraal. Would we be losing something by Africanising this place? We’ll surely find out soon enough.

Being a Better European

2007-09-20T13:50:00.000-07:00

I sometimes get piece work with a catering company owned by a colonialist invader.
Recently he had got a very big job, and took me down to Port Elizabeth to help out. As it turned out, the client was a government department. So we set up a large hall, which took 2 days, and it was magnificently decorated. Then we arranged the food for the 500+ guests, and again, everything went according to clockwork. The colonialist was very particular about how things should be, as he always is. Us workers can often not see his reasoning , or understand why he’ so particular about certain things, but he’s the boss. The evening of the function, there were other service providers, including a brother MC, a band of brothers and sisters (actually sister, but she was so magnificently large you may as well say sisters),and of course, the guys from the govt department who also had various things to organize,such as speeches and prize giving. Now the reason we don’t understand why the colonialist does what he does, is because he’s a white of European descent, an we’re black of African descent. In fact, everything my boss organized went smoothly and professionally, and almost everything else was a disaster – the MC was confused and messed up the awards, as were the govt officials, and most of their organized awards ceremony was in total disarray. The music was way too loud and inappropriate and everyone ate dinner while getting an ear blasting. The speeches were interminably long and boring. And why was this? Because this was a pseudo-European function. We Africans are unlikely to organize or even understand, a European function as well as the Europeans. And when things go wrong, we get jealous of the Europeans, and even blame them. This explains so much of Africa. It explains why affirmative action and racial quotas are such a remarkably short sighted and arrogant thing for us to do. Now let me paint a picture of how we Africans could actually succeed, and beat the world at their own game. First, we embrace the rejection of the 7 deadly sins, teach them to our children, concentrate on the teachings of great people like Biko and Mandela and Tutu. This is important since civilization is based on these norms. You can’t work together without it. There are, of course, many great whites we could use, and hopefully we can find sufficient humility to admit to ourselves how great these people are and embrace their teachings too, but maybe that’s too much too soon for us. Then we become proud of being Africans. We concentrate on our strengths. Then we acknowledge our fellow beings on earth, acknowledge their right to be their, forgive them all their sins, hold no more grudges about past grievances. Most importantly, we respect them! We respect the whites and acknowledge their strengths, same with the coloureds, Indians and Chinese. No more do we think we are better than them. Nor do we think we are worse. However, we can assume we’re better Africans than them. But this does not make us superior, it makes as merely a fellow being.

If we ever get this far, the rest is easy. We have weaknessesand strengths, which differ from those of other nations – obviously generalizing here, but you get the idea. We team up with them to form diverse, but united teams. Now you may say that Afrikaners, for example, are way too arrogant to team up with Africans. That may be so, because they are an arrogant bunch, but then leave them out of the mix. There are plenty of other, more humble nations willing to team up. As an aside, Afrikaners do tend to band together at the expense of their fellow other nationalities, especially in companies such as Eskom. Ever walked up to a group of Afrikaners, and as soon as you arrive a tense silence overcomes them? Then they talk in a stilted way when you’re around. As soon as they think you’re out of earshot, they revert to being pally with each other. Talk about being unable to mix with other nationalities! Understand that this is their problem, not yours.

Take rugby for instance. We have a world class team, and I don’t care how many blacks you put in the team, they will almost surely not match up to a team of mostly Afrikaners. Similarly, blacks are much better at athletics and soccer. Whites at swimming. And so on. And the same can be said for academic subjects and work careers. Blacks make excellent journalists, historians, politicians, negotiators, entrepreneurs. Whites make good engineers and accountants. I have seen how blacks struggle with engineering, when it comes so easily and naturally to whites. Whites are excellent managers and administrators, with less tendencies to be individualistic.

The whites are now in our power. Why not use them to our and (gasp) their advantage? To all our advantage? Make them and us rich and happy. Have vibrant and safe cosmo cities – everyone loves the feel and vibrancy of a mixed area. They’re here – take advantage! In fact, I’ve just thought of how to solve the crime problem – hire the whites as security guards and police. They appreciate security so would probably make a much bigger effort than us. But of course, this is all pie in the sky. I mustn’t forget how nasty the whites are, and how much they owe us, and me personally, etc, etc…

Career Choices

2006-09-06T18:10:00.000-07:00

I’ve been wondering how come I make such a good criminal, and such a hopeless employee. The obvious reason is if you’re self employed in something that excites you, it’s natural to be good at it, enjoy it and keep doing it. You take pride in it. I often think I should be living 1000 years ago, when I could be a great warrior for my tribe. I would also love hunting, pillaging and plundering the evil enemy. Things would be dangerous and tough, and we’d develop into quality people, look after our friends. Alternatively, I’d love to be in an army trying to free my countrymen from invaders, trying to do good, with the moral high ground, like Zanu or Umkhonto. And I know I’d be good at it. Maybe that’s it – I’m like an alien living on the wrong planet. Can’t fit in, can’t get by in this environment. Have to lose myself dreaming on the internet on how things should be…

Shebeen Talk – Oprah

2006-09-06T18:09:00.000-07:00

We were getting trashed in the shebeen last night, and it wasn’t even 8pm when I noticed that an unusual quiet had fallen on us all. The kind of quiet that normally happens at around midnight when we’re all drunk, out of funds and depressed because we’ve got nothing more to say and have to think about going home to sleep and a massive hangover. Actually, I only noticed the quiet during an ad break, because we were all watching the TV that normally just chats away in the background. And what was so fascinating to us? Unbelievably, I know, Oprah Winfrey. Now I always thought, as does everyone else, that Oprah is just another fat rich American Talk Show Host. You know, like Jerry Springer and Ricky Lake. The lowest form of life on earth, just below the Malaysian Blood Sucking Leech. In fact, those Talk Show Hosts can be considered completely useless except if maybe they’re hosting such a leech, and thereby, at least contributing something environmentally to the food chain. But here was Oprah saying things that made sense. Things you wanted to listen to. She showed the first signs of intelligence when she remarked on a meeting she had had with Mandela, and the effect it had on her. Now, somehow, greatness recognises greatness, so this was an indication that she wasn’t quite what she seemed. As it turns out, she’s busy building a school for disadvantaged girls in Meyerton. And even the fact that it was exclusively for girls, and not boys like me, did not detract from what a wonderful thing it was to do. Instead of giving her money to the government or some charity to squander, she was personally building a school. Somehow you know its going to make a real difference. And no one in te shebeen did not love her for it. I reckon we would even have loved her if we were white.

Its embarrassing to compare her to our array of fat politicians.Ok, you can relie on Thabo and trvor, and even Tito, to talk wisely. They’re cut from the same cloth. But the rest of them are a disgrace. How come haven’t we got an Oprah for health minister? Instead of manto having pathetic, tit for tat squabbles with Tony Leon about the whiteness of his party, while the country dies of Aids. Or instead of Ngakula, telling everybody that they should accept crime because its not so bad, while we in Diepsloot have to hide any valuable we possess very well, or we won’t have it more than a week. And if its really valuable, like a TV or a new car, we’ll probably end up dead over it, and nobody will even know, never mind care.

Talking of greatness, I have to wonder t the fact that possibly the greatrest of this century so far happens to be black like me – madiba. Very encouraging. Its true we make the greatest, most ruthless dictators, and the greediest capitalists. But we can be the best human beings too! Hope I won’t hav toendure 27 yearts in jail before I make it to that stage though…

Talking of fatness, its obviously no secret why both Americans and our politicians are so fat – they take a large proportion of the world’s resources and stuff it down their gullets. That’s fine, but I really don’t understand why they don’t exercise and diet to get thin. Surely the quality of life from being thin exceeds the quality achieved by eating large quantities of expensive food? Surely spending less time eating and more time doing mor exciting things would improve the quality of life? I suppose I’ll only understand when I achieve the same status, but the thought of it makes me think I’d rather be thin in Diepsloot than fat in parliament or USA. Maybe there’s some advantage to being fat that I’m not aware of. Maybe its like walking around surreounded by cushions or airbags…

2010

2006-09-06T18:08:00.000-07:00

I get so excited when I see the SABC add to come together and make 2010 a success. Similarly, after Mbeki’s Origins Centre speech, I was temporarily on a high, just imagining us all coming together to make this country great. Putting aside our selfish, petty little problems with each other, putting aside our little envy problems and material desires. Imagine the incredibly diverse people in the country uniting. The potential is limitless. And sometimes Mbeki seems to be the guy to do it. But then reality collapses on your head. Just at the point when you realise, “ITS NOT FOR YOU!”. It wasn’t said to you, for you, and you aren’t welcome to be part of it. You are one of the unwelcome fringes. You’re not the black SA businessman, director, middle class suburb dweller, ANC member or black SA woman. You’re Indian, or coloured, or Zimbabwean, or (gasp) white male the lowest of the low. Or you’re me. A black unemployed shack dweller who has never paid tax, never had a bank account, never been part of the New SA. And it looks like he never will be. The guy watching things happen from the sidewalk. Or the shebeen. Uninvolved and non-contributing. You can never apply for all these jobs which are all Affirmative Action Only. You can never take up these student bursaries for black South Africans Only. It’s a disappointment to see you coming to apply for a job. In fact, people would really prefer it if you weren’t there at all, if you just didn’t exist to complicate their lives. (thank God for this shebeen – I think I need another quart right now). You just spend your days hoping to receive your free house built by some AA contractors (Really you wish you could build it yourself, at least you’d feel you’re doing something creative). Mbeki isn’t referring to me. Nor is the SABC. They couldn’t give a damn what I do or don’t do, so long as I don’t interfere in the great 2010 organisation and preparation. I suppose that’s why the only part I’ll play is mugging the surprised Koreans of their digital cameras. At least I know most of the police force are as depressed and demotivated as me about it all. And they surely feel as alien as me too, despite their barcoded IDs. And the worst of it is, we all have no idea where we should go to be wanted. Barman, another and make it cold. However, I do hope whoever is shupposed to get it together for 2010 does sho, and ish a huge shucshess...

Housing Problem

2006-09-06T17:58:00.000-07:00

So now, me and 1000 of my fellow beings, are wondering around in a quandary, with no shack to live in. The problem is that our "leaders" have made some kind of deal or something with the police and government. However, we are now completely homeless, and no doubt will have to try to move to another squatter camp. We will all also have to collect together R2000 of shack materials to build new shacks. This is a very depressing thought, since it took me about 6 months to build the last shack. This whole episode has been fairly disruptive, and one wonders if it couldn't have been done more creatively. For example, our leaders and the police could have come to us and said, please remove your shacks to this place and live there, and there would have been no objection from me. Others who do object can then be forcibly removed, but at least they are moved with their shack materials, and probably only lose about one day in the process. Best of all, of course, is to give everyone a piece of land somewhere where they can put up a shack, a house, or whatever and live in peace for ever more. But that would be far too caring a thing to do for our government to even comtemplate...

Red Ant Day

2006-09-06T17:39:00.000-07:00

I have had a bit of a rough time recently. So have about 1000 people like me. The problem was that to days ago, in the morning, I get a call to say they're busy destroying our shacks. I get there too late. The Red Ants are busy with mine. The methodology is simple. Chase owner of shack away, threatening violence. Break the lock of the door, go inside and have a quick look for small valuables: Cash, cellphones, ID books, probably in that order of importance. Then pull the shack apart, with personal items and furniture still inside. Put all wall and door materials on truck and send away. Move on to next shack. Result: Tonight there is just a scene of devastation, personal items and furniture lying everywhere, people sifting through the stuff for their things and for cardboard or anything to make a shelter. The past two nights we've slept together in this huge shed, which the new property owner apparently didn't want to be torn down. Meanwhile people have lost everything, including R2000 of shack materials each. Many lost their ID books, so the police will insist on taking them off to Lindel detention camp as refugees. God alone knows which African neighbour they'll choose to send them to. I wonder how many SA citizens are wondering around in Zinbabwe after losing their ID books? Or worse, their ID book sits in their shack back in SA. This is one of the reasons the ID book is so valuable, and must be kept on your person at all times. The othre reason is that it enables you to get on to the mystery housing list - the list for people to get free houses. However, your name just never seems to get to the top, so you never actually get one. I always saw thw read ants on tv, ripping people's homes apart, but somehow the incredible sadness of it only hits home when you're actually part of it. I only had a mattress and blanket and a few pots and things in my shack. Others had everything they had collected over the last year. The women, especially, had all the things to help them be comfortable in a difficult environment. All destroyed in one morning. I have been incredibly depressed to see it - I certainly am not proud to be a SA citizen now. We are definitely well on our way to being a typical, uncaring, tyrannical society, and I want no part of it...

Taxi Recapitalisation

2006-09-04T08:46:00.000-07:00

Why the government has decided to "recapitalise" the taxi industry is one of those great mysteries which no one can understand, so they just accept it, accept that somewhere is a rational explanation for it. I travel in a lot of taxis, and many of them are in excellent condition, some still new. I assume this recap program is to replace the proper thing to do, ie throw unroadworthy taxis off the road, and force them to becaome roadworthy, because thats too difficult. Getting bigger taxis has got to be the dumbest excuse, because you can overload that too. No, the current taxis have proven their excellence for the job, the industry has proven itself up to the task of providing transport which no one else can. Now if you could just get someone to do the Metro Cops job, there would be no excuse to waste time and money on recap programs.

Manto Again

2006-09-04T08:36:00.000-07:00

I wasn't being sarcastic about Manto - I believe she really is doing the right thing. Also, some people can't understand why she has chosen those particular vegetables, but I'm fairly sure than anyone who does eat them will get more healthy. She's not as dumb as she behaves, and I for one am going to take her advice. Imagine if everyone substituted some of their usual diet of greasy chicken and pap (and beer, of course) for those vegetables, there's little doubt the nation will be more healthy. And a more healthy nation will mean less relience on multinational drug companies.

Rich Jerk vs Poor Jerk

2006-08-31T00:21:00.000-07:00

I stumbled across the Rich Jerks website - http://www.therichjerk.com/. Its funny how this guy thinks, but maybe its normal. He definitely has an inferiority complex, because he goes on about being "better than you", I presume because he's rich. He clearly isn't educated, judging by his lifestyle. Educated people seem to prefer different things from uneducated ones. But the main point is whether its better to be like him or like me (poor), or something in between. Consider his "girlfriends". They are clearly the eye candy he describes them as, but I definitely would prefer my girlfriend to any or all of them. I can tell that by the way they behave - like Playgirls. Consider his car, a Ferrari. Its really nice, but I reckon the thrill wore off after about a week. I also reckon the thrill was equivalent to what I had when I got my second hand mountain bike. I still probably use it to get at least as much fun from as his ferrari. Consider his "Party House". I'm certain that many Saturday nights in the shebeen equal anything that goes on in the Party House, and probably often too. Consider his freedom that all that money gives him. Then consider the freedom I have being unemployed and out of the system": no tax, no people after my money, no lawyers, no advisors, no investments, no medical aid to worry about. The area he definitely is better off than me is in basics such as, for example, food. I spend a fair amount of time worrying about where to get a few rands for food, whereas he can stop at any take away anytime. There are times when I have no where to sleep, whereas he won't ever have that problem. We both have a lot of time on our hands. We both have to worry about crime - I have to literally sleep on top of my bike if I expect it to be there tomorrow, and I have to be fairly tough to stop it being simply taken from my possession. So I'm not certain the Rich Jerk is that much better off than me. But maybe if I was rich, but not a jerk...

A Heroine is Born

2006-08-21T03:03:00.000-07:00

I see Manto is now under fire from the white colonialists:
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=13&art_id=vn20060821101244617C573099
Manto must stand strong - she is demonstrating excellent African leadership qualities. Us in Diepsloot are very impressed with her totally belligerent African stance against logic and reason. This is the sign of a great African leader. They cen hold their head high, and even continue on a totally illogical course, in the face of cold reason. Manto doesn't believe in colonialist suppression tools such as science. She believed in speaking to the people, in African solutions, and in her heritage, as we all should. We don't need science, logic, etc, we managed for millions of years without it - we managed with the African potato and garlic. Firing Manto will be a huge mistake for Mbeki, the whole nation will then rise up against him. we like her, and maybe should should take her place in line for the next presidency.

Dysfunctional SA

2006-08-21T02:33:00.000-07:00

There was a good article on Moneyweb spelling out the odds:
http://www.moneyweb.co.za/economy/economic_trends/936551.htm. What a hoo hah it created. On the one hand, the whites complaining and threatening to leave, on the other the blacks telling them to go, and saying emotionally charged and opinionated things. This is just so typical - us blacks use emotion to argue. Just the the Great JZ always seems to be doing Karaoke when we see him on TV, instead of saying something rational. What we say to the whites who don't like crime and AIDS is to simply get out of the country. We don't want to face the reality of the situation - they are completely right, we are turning this place into another dysfunctional African state. But so what? We should not try to change how we are or how we do things, because then we'll really screw up. Our African neighbours north of us have their problems, some quite serious, but we somehow get by. And yes, these countries are different with a definite African culture, which is exactly how it should be. Tourists love it that way. Crime is serious here now, but it will get better when we become more African - ie less to steal, everybody in same position (poor), etc. So its good for journalists to say it like it is, and let the whites know that yes, we are going the way of our African neighbour states. They won't like it, naturally, but its not the end of the world.

Car industry

2006-08-16T05:43:00.000-07:00

We all know how many jobs are supported by the car industry, especially in aftermarket services and products such as tyres and petrol. Which seems to be the only reason people still drive expensive petrol taxis and cars. The problem with electric cars is thats its a very disruptive technology - it will cut the car sales figures by orders of magnitude, and destroy the multimillion rand fuel industry. Imagine - being able to convert your old scrap petrol car into electric. It will last forever, no longer need servicing nearly as often, and save you at least R10000 per year in fuel. Obviously something to be avoided at all costs by traditional economics people. But you can't hide from it forever, and the faster we all convert, the faster we'll save the environment, which really doesn't have time on its hands. Its really great being dirt poor, because I can make all these observations, and none of it affects me at all. I can't afford petrol, normally can't afford the taxi fare, and at this rate never will. But to those of you who have money and need more, take my advice: Buy up as many old, scrap petrol cars as you can. The electric conversion industry is about to rake off! Then send me a big cheque (at least R1 000, but use your discretion - I won't be unhappy if you send more) for that incredibly valuable pearl of info.

Internet Dating

2006-08-08T06:16:00.000-07:00

Don't waste your time. Internet dating can't work because it prevents men from acting like men. The problem is that arriving on an Internet date is like saying that "I'm pathetic. I can't find what I'm looking for. So are you." And saying it aloud. For a man, this is psychological suicide. Men must act like men, and not show weakness. Showing you're needy is the most disasterous thing you can do. Rather, take the bull by the horns and speak to women in casual places, in casual ways, and take it from there. Don't say you're shy because so is everybody - no pain no gain, practise makes perfect, etc. And the bullet proof method of meeting women? Join a dance club. Now send me a cheque for at least R500 because that's the best, and only piece of advice you'll ever need! Dating problems solved. Send me your other psychological problem questions, such as how to have a relationship, together with your cheque, and I'll tell you how.

Who's the stupid one: me or the Government?

2006-08-08T04:47:00.000-07:00

I see the Government is happily building new homes to give to the soon to be ex-squatters. Each squatter gets a piece of land and a nice house. Only problem is, this is wherever the land is available, normally miles from anywhere like Cosmo City. I know that originally you got your free house, sold it in December and used the R5000 or so for a nice holiday. Then returned to live in your shack again, never to qualify for another free house. The government has that one covered apparently, and has devised a way ro stop you selling. That's great. However, you now sit in your free house using free electricity and free water, but you can't afford food or transport to town, which is miles away, to find a job, training, or trade. Surely it would have been better to give a free piece of land, no house, and then free transport too, instead of a house. There's no doubt everyone will build a house themselves, since the major cost is labour. Spare time is not what we're short of. Transport is the problem - free transport would put everyone in business. We would all be able to get around and do things. We would be able to get to where the food is free, get to where the jobs are, go to the places which are good for trading. Surely, surely giving free houses is simply stupid. Since we can't sell the house, we'll have to sell the window frames for food and transport instead.

Mbeki lets them have it!

2006-07-31T07:00:00.000-07:00

Mbeki showed his brilliance with a fantastic speech at the Wits Origin Centre. He essentially said that the ANC members should stop their pathetic rivalries and control their emotions, and address the nations problems. Its about time somebody tried to refocus the parliamentarians and ANC about the major issues at hand, and not on their personal issues or Zumas problems. If Zuma had any finer feelings, he would have felt a bit small - especially since he's the main culprit, wasting everybody's time sueing cartoonists for defaming him. It all probably went right over his uneducated head, which is why we all love him so much. I wish he would say something original and intelligent sometime...but then, I suppose, we wouldn't want him for president anymore, because he'd no longer be just like the rest of us.

Unemployment Blues

2006-07-04T02:16:00.000-07:00

We were in the shebeen on Sat night, for a change, and there was a new guy there, that is, who isn't normally there, Lekua. He works part time as a carpenter, and was just fired from a job for messing it up. Now Lekua is a master carpenter, everybody in the Sloot has witnessed his excellent work. So what happened? It turns out he screwed up because he was making do with incorrect tools and equipment. The reason is the property owner asked him what to buy for his new kitchen, and Lekua explained as best he could. However, Lekua is not up to date with the latest in kitchen cupboard technology, and this was made worst by the fact that the kitchen owner left Lekua to work while he went to buy the various items. The result was Lekua was landed with a lot of stuff he had no idea what to do with, but attended to the job as any carpenter would under the circumstances. Now Lekua is depressed because, despite being a master carpenter, he can no longer offer kitchen installations. Probably not bathrooms either, and who knows what else? Why? Because he can't update his knowledge. He doesn't have money or time to buy the items, practice, chat with the people in the supply store. How many people are trained or partially trained, or need skill updating, and thats the only reason they're unemployed? How come is there no government sponsored training centre where Lekua, and the thousands like him, can go and find out what he needs to know? No. Instead, we have SETAs and government offices full of employees making strategic plans about skills and training. Why must we always overlook the simple solutions in favour of complicated ones which don't work? Why does no one, especially in the Government, care?

I Hope No One Ever Finds Me

2006-06-22T06:00:00.000-07:00

I see the African teams are, as usual, bombing out in the world cup. The SABC presenter identified teamwork as the problem - our unusually talented players don't seem to work as well together as, say Brazil, who can carry out 10 passes in the penalty box before someone feels he has a chance to shoot, and does so. The problem probably extends to the coach and football association as well. I think that each player feels that, unless he gets the glory, there may as well not be a goal. I know I feel envious and jealous of goal scorers, especially if I'm lacking in that respect. There must be a way we can play better and win, but not subvert our individualism to do so - ie win with less teamwork. I hope no one important ever reads this blog, because I know I'll be hunted down and killed - Africans don't take kindly to hearing things they'd rather not hear, especially if there is even a hint of truth in it.

African Education

2006-06-13T01:58:00.000-07:00

We were sitting in the shebeen on Saturday night, as usual, and the talk got around to education. Why, despite 11 years of black rule, do the blacks still consistently do badly, and the whites still do well? Yes, I know, the legacy of Apartheid. But really, the answer is simple (If we are prepared to stop fooling ourselves – and we don’t fool ourselves in the shebeen. It’s a great place to hear what people are rally thinking). First, you have to accept that blacks are different from whites. They have different knee joints, different hip joints, different immunity systems, different noses. The differences are so great that the medical research fraternity are now having to differentiate between white and black samples, despite their disgust at the moral reprehensibility of it. Ask yourself, then, is it likely, despite the proven physiological differences, and thousands of years of evolutionary separation, that we think the same as whites, and that our brains function the same? Probably not. In fact, definitely not! The chances are so small that we can ignore them as negligible. So how on earth do we think we can compete and beat, or even match whites in an education system designed by them for them? The chances of that happening were always minute. I understand that we have a lower IQ also (read “Bell Curve” for proof), but again, a test designed for whites. As an analogy you might say lions are clever, because they hunt in packs and can eat giraffe, which are bigger. In an IQ test designed for lions, the lions would beat the giraffes. But the giraffes are much better at being giraffes than lions are, and similarly, the lions would score lower on a giraffe IQ test than giraffes. So what I’m saying is that we make second rate whites, but we make first rate blacks. So why keep trying to be whites? The solution then is to design an education system from scratch more suited to us. Maybe an improved version of our traditional methods, and I mean pre-colonialism. A starting point could also be to identify exactly how we differ from whites on our thinking and intelligence, and maybe I can throw some light on it, by relating to experiences I had. I spoke to this old white guy who spends a lot of time and effort training Technikon students at his factory. One day he took a dismantled Landrover gearbox, and said to the students that they must each assemble it. He had an assembly drawing for them to work from. He was disgusted that none could do it. So he showed them. After the demonstration, somewhat surprisingly to him, all of them could do it perfectly. It turned out that they had memorised what he did, and merely repeated his actions, ignoring the assembly drawing. Now apparently to a white, this is unbelievable from a few points of view. First, they can’t believe what good memories the students must have. Second, they can’t understand how the students don’t prefer to use the assembly drawing to refer to, instead of the seemingly difficult task of memorising everything. Another time I spoke to a white university engineering lecturer. He set a test, where the question was similar to that the students had done during class, except he changed the numbers. A number of students wrote down exactly the same solution from the class, complete with same figures as in class. Being white, He was astounded at their memory, even though they had to get no marks. He found it unbelievable that they chose to learn that way, and even more unbelievable that they had done so successfully. So my hypothesis is simply this; one difference (there are surely many more) in the way we think is that we have good memories and powers of recall, and we like to use it. Whites seem to have better pattern recognition abilities, therefore excel at maths. So you should always do what you’re relatively good at, for example, if you’re artistic, be an artist, not an engineer. Same with us blacks.

The universities are under great pressure to improve the pass rate, most particularly in engineering, according to the same engineering lecturer. But no matter what they try, the students are still failing in droves. Finally, under pressure from above, they are allowing students more years to complete the course, and allowing them credits for courses with only a 50% mark. This improved the situation, but not enough. This also amounts to standard lowering, and is not the right thing to do. The standards must be kept high, no matter what. A new engineering course can be designed for blacks, which is designed from the outset to work on their strengths. Then you don’t have to call the degree the same thing, to ensure you differentiate it from the traditional degree. And who knows, maybe it will become more highly valued than the traditional degree for certain job types. In any case, you’ll know what you’re getting, and you won’t end up with a second rate traditional engineering degree. Traditional engineering degrees can be maintained for mainly whites.

From what I know, all black learning and history came down from generation to generation by word of mouth, from elders to youngers, carried in excellent memories. Now we’re all thrown into white schools to learn white subjects in a completely different way. Surely, especially here in SA, we have enough whites to be whites, and we can concentrate on doing things we’re likely to be good at, maybe such as history, and biology? Maybe taught at the knee of teachers, as elders may have done? In any case, we should identify our differences, and work on our strengths. We’re certainly good at whingeing and making the whites feel guilty, so let’s get them to fill in the gaps for us to have the type of society and nation we want. Might as well make use of them, since they still seem to be hanging around. Its time to stop trying to be whites, and time to start being the best blacks we can be. And I mean the best Xhosa, Zulu, or whatever we are too.

The Importance of Pattern Recognition

2006-06-13T01:57:00.000-07:00

I previously identified pattern recognition as the cognitive limitation of us blacks, but I may well be wrong. However, it is something of that nature related to maths and science ability. I also assumed that this was what prevents us understanding how structures in organisations within which we work these days operate, and therefore prevents us being motivated to subjugate our individual short-term goals (amassing individual wealth) against the goals of the organisation, which may ultimately reward us better. Maybe its also the reason we can’t work a democracy. A good example is Zimbabwe. Even though our vote causes Bob to stay in power, and to go on to destroy the economy and make us starve, we don’t actually make the cognitive link between the act of voting for him and our starving. Also, if we don’t go and vote for Bob, we decide to not vote at all, feeling that it doesn’t make a difference anyway. It is no wonder that we all prefer to work individually, for example, subsistence farming, or a dictator in Government, or, in my case, stealing from others. It’s also no wonder that in Africa the most ruthless person always assumes political power, since we are unable to choose our leaders according to any rational criteria, and a potential leader will be working against other individuals only, no organisations, ie strongest individual wins. Naturally our first response will be more to befriend such a person, for individual reasons, than to stand up against him, which may be personally dangerous, but the right thing to do for the country and our fellow countrymen. Until we can suppress the urge to profit personally for the sake of our country/organisation/community, how on earth do we expect to instil western-style democracies in Africa? The simple solution: don’t! Be African, be what we’re meant to be. Accept our country will be like Zimbabwe, accept it, accept that we will always have wars, starvation, poverty and disease. Make Africa into a place for Africans. Get rid of the western and white influences. Forget they ever colonised us. Form tribes, have cattle, fight over them, decimate the game, die in great battles or from sweeping diseases. Have great and ruthless chiefs who struggle to power and decimate the opposition. That’s Africa. Accept it. The only problem is that Africa will become a big reservation, and we’ll have Americans, Europeans and Asians treating it like a Safari park, feeding us, educating us and taking our babies home as pets. But do we have a choice? Not unless we can become better team players. African soccer shows just how bad we are. Despite having the most talented individuals in the world, our teams are consistently, soundly thrashed by even the B-league players in Europe. No, Africans are going to have to simply find another way.

Shebeen Talk - unemployment

2006-06-13T01:56:00.001-07:00

We were getting wasted in the shebeen on Friday night again (funny how the unemployed always manage to get wasted), and the talk centred on unemployment, a subject close to my heart. Why? Because I have been mostly unemployed for 11 years now. And most of those I was drinking with are also effectively unemployed. First, I must dispel that myth that unemployment is a choice. In my case, I had a job for 7 years before I was compelled to resign. During those 7 years I somehow knew my days were numbered, I feared losing the job, so I worked extra long hours, dedicated myself totally to the company, did everything and anything my various bosses said. And things went from bad to worse. I remember discussing with my supervisor what was wrong. The obvious thing, the first thing you consider is that you’re technically incompetent (lack of effort was out of the question). But he disagreed, but couldn’t come up with any explanation instead. So I left wondering what was wrong with me. I spent much time analysing the situation, and talking to people, trying to come up with a reasonable explanation. Then I started a small business with my friend. I was forced to sell out two years later, despite my serious efforts to succeed. Since then I have been to see a psychologist to try to ID the problem. That didn’t work. I heard that people on Prozac often succeeded, so I had myself diagnosed with “social phobia” and signed up for a free clinical trial for some new equivalent. That caused havoc with me, because the main effect seemed to be to put you on edge so you can’t think or study, and I’m always studying something on the hope that I’ll become more employable. So I abandoned the trial. I tried to get jobs, and initially I nearly succeeded, but I had put my previous bosses name down as a reference, feeling that I should put both good and bad down. Years later I discovered that that was a mistake – he made damn sure I didn’t get any job I applied for. He died some years later, finally freeing me from that burden of the past, but by then I had lost track of what I was supposed to be, and I was too old to be a new market entrant. In other words, I had no idea what type of job to apply for. Apart from that, I had no idea how to apply. I had a CV, but I didn’t know which jobs to apply for, and the few agents I approached weren’t interested. I never heard anything the few times I did send off my CV, leading me to believe it was so bad I was not considered even remotely. So the years rolled by, each one past relegating me further into the depths of unemploydom, making my past experience and qualifications less and less relevant. Today I’ve lost it completely. I have no idea what I can or can’t do, have no confidence that I can get or hold a job, and don’t know how to apply for one. I still don’t know what caused my initial work problems, but I do realise that something was, and most likely still is, wrong. If someone were to offer me a job now, I would feel compelled to warn them that there is a reason I’m unemployed, so I couldn’t in good conscience, take them up on it. I spend plenty of time doing things for people for free, or for food, since it makes me feel useful. I often refuse making any payment arrangement in advance, since I have so little confidence, instead I will take anything, or nothing, afterwards if things work out. I end up doing a huge variety of things, some which I’m good at, some not so good at. Ie anything goes. And I think the above explains why people are unemployed. They simply just never managed to get into the swing of it. Most people with colourful childhoods, like me, have things wrong with them, and often those things will preclude them from succeeding at a job. If they can find out what the problem is, they’re lucky, because then they can address it. They often drink to mask it, either if they don’t know what it is, or if they’ve given up trying to fix it. Often they think its unfixable – they don’t even know that they can change and grow. Most, like me, with no resources, won’t ever discover the problem. So next time you see guys like me waiting at the corner in the hope of a day’s work, try and understand why this should be. Then don’t ever give them work. They’re unemployable.

Black and white more than skin deep

2006-06-13T01:56:00.000-07:00

I read with interest the medical professions moral dilemma; they now have to differentiate population types in their research, since the differences are so significant. For example, the femur connection to the pelvis in the African black has different dimensions to whites, which means they have far less pelvic fractures in old age. Also, differences in blood make-up make them more prone to certain diseases, and immune to others. So the differences aren’t only skin deep, as everyone keeps drumming into our heads. This was obvious actually. Which brings us to another obvious difference, the ways of thinking. It’s a fact that Africans never had maths or science prior to colonisation, and therefore not surprising they in general aren’t very good at it. However, they are very good at other subjects such as history, where they excel due to remarkably good memories. If we think about it, subjects like maths and sience rely on pattern recognition. Other things that rely on pattern recognition are things like conceptualising your position in a organisation, and how the organisation fits together and operates. A white person had an interesting story he related to me. He was training a group of blacks, and had a gearbox stripped in pieces on the floor, and a diagram on how to put it together. None of them could assemble it. He therefore demonstrated in front of them, and assembled it, referring frequently to the diagram, since without it he couldn’t do the job. Then he stripped it again, and lo and behold, every trainee could now assemble the gearbox correctly. On further investigation, he discovered that none of them were using the diagram as he needed to. All had memorised the process he had demonstrated. As a white, this was amazing and totally un-understandable. No wonder blacks and whites have such a problem understanding each other.

Google Problem

2006-06-13T01:55:00.000-07:00

While trying to work out how to get my blog listed on Google, I discovered that its impossible, since Google now requires you to have at least one other website which links to it first, and that website must obviously already be in the big linked network in Google’s database. Getting someone to link to your website can be very, very difficult (without cheating), especially for an African interest blog, since there are only about three Africans on the Internet. This made me realise why other search engines are needed. Also, why you often can’t find what you’re looking for on Google. There must be thousands of websites for niche topics, communities and businesses which will now never get onto the Google database. This suggests that I must start using another search engine, since the very best stuff is probably the least linked to. Also, I must set up a Google-linked website to allow everyone to put links to their unfound sites, and thereby get them into the Google database. Its funny that now that Google is so big, they are so arrogant, that they start losing the plot, and allowing gaps for competitors to take up.

Swaziland

2006-05-02T05:40:00.000-07:00

Having just come back from Swaziland (yes, us squatters go on holiday too), I was again struck by the contrasts with this country. Swaziland is a genuine African country; friendly people dotted around on the hillsides, dangerous mud tracks, very few 25yr old landrovers, mud huts and self-sufficient people with a few goats, chickens and mielies. A king ruling over the dominion. Peace, tranquility, and Africanness. I cross the border to this modern nightmare of endless tarred roads, road rage, poverty, extreme wealth, people working night and day, and global multi-national companies. Nowhere to escape to. No wonder we're losing our grip. We need to return to our roots, one way or another. There's nothing wrong with modern things and technology, but we can't let it change who we are, and how we think and deal with each other. Or with our culture and way of life. If we can integrate it with modern society, fine, but we must retain our Africanness, our identity, our culture; in this modern world its all that is lasting, and all that counts.

I thought I was alone

2006-05-02T02:21:00.001-07:00

No. Check out http://www.friendsofJZ.co.za. It really warms my heart to see I'm not the only true African out there. Cde JZ is the best person to be president - he's one of us, understands Africa, and will hopefully crush the opposition like the flies they are. They all deserve to die in the flames of our wrath, together with the whites. May as well throw in the Indians and Coloureds too! An iron fist (burning of course) is required. And as for the white-controlled media spreading their lies, lets put the whites in their proper place, no more pandering around to their whims, no more trying to be like them. Their place is the fires of hell, since England now belongs to the Pakis and Indians. Serves them right, and who cares anyway? Viva JZ. Viva Winnie. Viva Africa!

Time for Evictions

2006-05-02T00:27:00.000-07:00

I read with interest an article by a brother, Vuyo Mvoko, in Business Day: http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/opinion.aspx?ID=BD4A191698. Vuyo is typical of the kind of people we have to deal with these days, the so-called Black Elite (including middle class). He aspires to a white's life: "Twelve years into democracy, Mrs N, like her probable leader Gibson, is still not accustomed to black people like Milos, who have pulled themselves up by their bootstraps against all odds and now want to live the life that used to be reserved for whites." Vuyo has described Milos who apparently wants to live the life designed by whites, for whites. I kind of assume Vuyo also wants to. Its unnatural - Africans never lived that way. Just look north of us to see that. But I agree it must be fun, for a while, as a novelty. Personally I would have said "... accustomed to black people like Milos, who have downgraded themselves and sold their African souls, and now want to live the life that used to be reserved for whites.". Then he says "The cynic, or racist, in me has never thought that my white compatriots would ever appreciate what democracy saved them from." What did democracy save them from? If Vuyo is insinuating that blacks did whites a favour, thats a bit short sighted. We work for ourselves - at least I hope we do. We didn't drive the whites into the sea because we want to use them, no other reason, and we are using them. Whites never did us any favours, and I hope we never do them any. If we don't like them anymore, as Vuyo doesn't, its time to get rid of them. Its our option. Personally, I'd just as well get rid of them. Maybe loot all their houses and things, burn them down, have a massive party (a party which could maybe last 3 months), then get a mud hut somewhere, a few cows, a few wives, recover from the hangover, and live the life I should be living. And be proud of it. I'll be proud of my king, proud of being a fighting man in an army, proud of our lands, and proud of our achievements, which will then include shaking off the shackles of colonialism once and for all! Stop all this racist talk. Stop being racist fullstop. Its what we're supposed to hate about whites, remember? There's no need to be jealous and envious of whites - they can have their stress diseases, modern inconveniences, traffic jams and high pressure lives. Good luck to them. Stop confusing ourselves, we are not white, we are not Americans, we are Africans through and through, and nothing else.

Great People

2006-05-01T22:56:00.000-07:00

It worries me that JZ has so many wives, and I only have one girlfriend, and have no money to make her my wife. It also worries me that I don't really feel envious of JZ - I actually would prefer only one wife. But I hope that when I finally strike it lucky in politics, and wrestle my way to the top, I'll also want thirty wives, and I'll want to have instant sex with women who come and visit me in my mansion. Hopefully I'll get Aids too, since it seems that anyone without is just not having much fun. I'm just worried that I don't have what it takes, since I don't think enough like my Great Mentor, JZ. But I've learnt a lot from the trial about the way he works, and I'm certainly going to try to be as much like him as possible. Then one day I can be all powerful, and state president too.

Shebeen Talk

2006-05-01T22:44:00.000-07:00

We were putting quarts away in the shebeen on Saturday like there was no tomorrow. Unfortunately for me, tomorrow did come, and I wished it hadn't. Anyway, the talk always goes to JZ and the furore around this so-called rape. Most of us can not see the problem. The woman, after all, was under his roof, just as she might have been in his Kraal in KZN. Normally she would have been poor, and after having being affectionately blessed by JZ, she would have accepted a position as another wife. After all, JZ can afford as many wives as he wants. Sure, the actual act sounds like it was a bit cold, a bit fast, a bit shallow, but what do you expect from such a great man? He doesn't have time to mess around with her, especially when you have as many wives as he does. But just because she is of independent means, she feels she can take on the powerful JZ. I really think she made a big mistake, and will regret it, but the young are often stupid. JZ will make a great chief, but maybe he needs to be a bit more ruthless with his enemies, like Shaka, for real greatness. Mugabe is a very good example - he will go down as one of the truly great African leaders. We Africans definitely view these things from a different cultural perspective, and the world, and especially us, needs to accept that - only then can we accept, appreciate and be proud of ourselves for what we are.

Zuma Deals Fashion a Serious Blow

2006-04-28T02:03:00.000-07:00

Is it my imagination, or have miniskirts gone out of fashion?

Transport in SA

2006-04-28T01:52:00.000-07:00

One things that really surprises me is that the government doesn't make transport free. Surely this is the thing that can really make a difference in the lives of us poverty stricken people, especially since all the squatter camps are miles away from anywhere, on the cheapest land. Don't they realise that often more than half of what you earn just goes to getting to work? For rich people, transport is a fraction of their costs, so it would make no difference. It surely is the most efficient, effective way of helping the rich subsidise the poor. Imagine the freedom us squatters, trapped in the muddy, messy quagmires which are the squatter camps, would get, and imagine what we could do with it - look for jobs easily, go to where the factories are, see where the action is, go out to other townships, visit friends and family, and even (gasp) go on holiday - currently an activity reserved for the rich. Every other reasonable country (and I don't mean our neighbours north of us - they're worse than us) offers cheap and sometimes free transport, mostly where you pay just one nominal amount to go as far as you want. We have to pay again each time we climb on the taxi, train or bus. How come can I see this great idea, but the government can't? Maybe the same reason they shelved the BIG idea - another superbly uplifting idea for us downtrodden ones.

I'd rather be African than...

2006-02-21T08:23:00.000-08:00

I have to admit that there are a lot worse things than being an African. Although we try to follow world trends, normally we provide loop holes for ourselves, typically due to the fact that we screw things up so badly. For example, we have the very latest motoring law enforcement equipment, yet any cop that stops you can be simply bribed with a twenty. If you get a debt judgement against yourself, about R2000 buys you a new ID. If you're unlucky and get into court for something bad, its just so easy for the docket to go missing, and therefore the case dismissed. Our ex-deputy president is showing the way for us during his first criminal trial - his lawyer demands the judge recuse himself due to a previous judgement involving him. Then the 2nd in command judge also can't do the case because his sister has had one of the deputy pres's babies (a "love child", but one wonders how much love was actually involved - http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=13&art_id=vn20060215023155538C491046). The next judge is an old friend, therefore also can't do the job. Finally, the unthinkable, a white judge. How on earth will he understand the concept of rape?

Is Boredom the Major World Problem?

2006-02-21T07:56:00.000-08:00

The rubbish I read on other people's blogs makes me wonder if they are simply bored, and have nothing to say, or if there's some other reason, like I'm simply stupid. Check out some of this drivel: http://inanethoughtsandinsaneramblings.blogspot.com/ http://orangemittens.blogspot.com/ http://tenacious-s.blogspot.com/ http://angrychicken.typepad.com/. Is the problem that only bored people have blogs? Or is the problem that people are, in general, bored. Surely there's no other reason to assign such drivel to the computer screen? The extremely pathetic events that occur in their everyday lives, and they feel driven to record, makes one wonder if nothing exciting ever happens for them. Then I began thinking that maybe, just maybe, life is more exciting in Africa than in the sterilised, regulated societies in Europe and N America. Maybe living in constant fear of being mugged, robbed, driven over, or starving somehow is character building. Maybe the almost daily extreme events which occur make life far more worth living than worrying about what to get some fat, soppy, bored wife for Valentine's Day, or cooking for the spoilt brats you bred. Maybe the world's big problems, like global warming and Aids, are just so much more real for me than for you fat bums in overpadded chairs, comfy and safe, but bored stiff...

Dating and Relationships

2006-02-21T06:44:00.000-08:00

I just checked out another blog: http://relationshipgirl.blogspot.com/. Very, very typical of the modern girl attitude. But truly unbelievable to me. I had various relationships which lasted between 1 night and two weeks max, but I never had a proper relationship or lived with anyone. However, I can say for sure that I'm not actually interested in going from one woman to another. In fact, I met a woman two years ago and somehow am still only interested in her. Our physical relationship has never waned, only improved. The passion is as hot as ever. She's still the only one I want to touch. I know for a fact that my feelings will not die away until the day I die. I have never been able to fall out of love like they do on TV. Like Relationship Girl does. How can this be? I realise there must something wrong with me. I need to get with it, be modern, play the field. I just wish I could make myself want to.

Maropeng Museum

2006-02-21T06:20:00.000-08:00

I see that the new maropeng museum (http://www.maropeng.co.za) has been finished. We're all really proud that the origins of mankind were found in our country (also see http://www.cradleofhumankind.co.za). I don't know why. I assume because our scientists and palaentologists are the best, finding and interpreting these things. There's very little we African's have to be proud of on the scientific front, since we haven't produced many scientific discoveries at all. Our only record of past civilisation is the Zimbabwe Ruins. Basically we ran around in loin clothes with spears before being colonised. No wonder we are a bit lacking on the literaure side too. However, there's no reason to feel inferior because of it - you are what you are, and although Einstein was Jewish, neither he nor the Jews are superior to us. We are the perfect specimens of what we are, and should be proud of it.

Lack of Awareness

2006-02-10T02:16:00.000-08:00

Someone told me the other day that we behave like we do because of lack of awareness, not because we're individualists. ie not noticing the effects of your behaviour. Initially I thought he was saying we're stupid, but no. You can not be aware because you're insensitive, or because you're not using your faculties. Take littering - I'm perfectly aware of the arguments against littering, and I'm perfectly aware when I do it. Yes, I don't like stepping in other people's litter, but then that's not my problem - I didn't do that bit of litter. I'm also not totally insensitive, because I don't like to see and walk in litter, but I don't mind that much, so that may at least be partly the reason. As far as I know, sensitivity is related to artistic talent - normally sensitive types are quite artistic. Judging by the ugly circumstances we Africans in general live in, I would say we may have a general lack of sensitivity - at least I definitely do. I don't mind a mess, an ugly shack, a sand garden, or countryside denuded of all plant and animal life. A beer, a good woman and good friends are what I need far more.

Rampant Crime

2006-02-10T01:56:00.000-08:00

I see one of our brothers has shot another person residing in Lammermoor. So many crime incidents happen there that they featured it on Carte Blanche. Hardly anybody ever gets caught. However, some Zimbabwean brothers were caught the other day in broad daylight - they never get you at night. No doubt they are out of holding cells by now, ready to roll again. The reason Lammermoor is such a wonderful crime spot is that all the prople there are rich and live on plots, so there's lots of places to run and hide. You can go there every night to rob them, and half of them don't even have guns, thanks to the new firearm regulations. Also, the police these days are very disinterested in crime, maybe because they are our brothers and understand the motivation for crime, ie, the desire to get rich. Jobs are so scarce, and they take so long to accumulate wealth. If the government won't do its job to provide welfare to stave of poverty, that just provides more moral justification for crime. I cannot understand how some places, like India, the people starve to death before engaging in crime. we're not that stupid. In fact, you have to find a fairly good job to make crime undesirable, because its so easy and relatively risk free. So come on brothers, obey your instincts, get out there and enrich yourself, before they're all shot dead.

I am an individualist

2006-02-09T07:45:00.000-08:00

People were made to look after themselves first. For example, I will through my litter out the window of the taxi because I don't want to sit holding it, and it suits me. That way I'll never see it again, its a clean disposal method. For me. If I'm driving and I see a friend next to the road I'll stop there and chat through the window. I will only consider the queue building up behind me a problem if they get dangerous, ie they get out their cars to attack me physically. Why? Because that's what suits me. If I'm in a hurry I'll treat a red light as a fourway stop, because I want to, and there are no adverse repercussions for me personally. Why Europeans think differently shows their basic lack of understanding, or lack of evolutionary advancement. This is the age of being yourself, finding yourself, and discovering you're number 1. So live like you're the only one that counts, and be everything you were meant to be. And if things go badly around you, don't worry, its not your fault. Just be the one that's in the best overall situation.

The Continent of Me First

2006-02-09T07:32:00.000-08:00

"Clearly the masses of our people are convinced that our country has entered into its Age of Hope. They believe that the country they love, their only homeland, will not disappoint their expectation of an accelerated advance towards the day when they will be liberated from the suffocating tentacles of the legacy of colonialism and apartheid." That's from the ANC website today (www.anc.org.za, 9 Jan 2006). I think this sums up Africa nicely; a continuous struggle against oppressors. Up to 1994 we had apartheid, now we have "tentacles". And this is one we never have to vanquish, we can blame our problems forever on it. Wonderful. On TV our Bafana soccer captain said that they lost all their games at the African Cup of Nations because of Safa, the SA football association. What does it say about people when everything gone wrong is someone else'e fault, nothing is even partly theirs? Its called being an individualist. Look after yourself completely whatever the situation. Do ANYTHING to ensure nothing is your fault, you get more than everyone else, and you're 1st in line. As I said, we Africans are definitely made to be the best, purest capitalists.

Racism Again

2005-12-15T02:03:00.000-08:00

If my previous hypothesis about racism being a form of arrogance is correct, then we need to look at the roots of arrogance as well, to understand racism. Arrogance is normally displayed by those with an ingrained feeling that they are better than other beings around them. Lack of empathy, tolerance and patience are indications thereof. Also, lack of adherence to common social rules such as littering, mistreating animals and plants, etc, since these show disrespect for your fellow beings, and indicate you think you have rights above those of your fellow beings. Anti-social behaviour such as driving 4x4’s could also be construed as arrogant. In this light, we need to consider the government’s affirmative action campaign, and minister Pahad’s vehement remarks on keeping affirmative action entrenched forever. Its true that people do seem to be polarising more, but this is only partly due to the entrenched racism, and arrogance, displayed by the Afrikaans community, particularly the lesser educated and civil servant types. It is being driven by the feeling that the Government is particularly against whites, wants to take what they have away, and confine them to poverty or send them overseas. So why not? This isn’t racist – its not being particularly nice, but it is responding to the majority’s will, and it’s up to the whites to defend themselves. If they begin restricting the whites’ freedom, and telling them what they can and can’t do, then its becoming racist. Also, you need to differentiate very strongly between racism and other kinds of behaviour. Many people say they are racist, simply because they see and take note of the obvious natural appearance and cultural differences between blacks and whites. Their behaviour suggests otherwise; they are courteous, and respectful, towards other race groups, acknowledging differences with humility, mixing naturally with others. There is no doubt that these different race groups think differently and act differently on a very basic level, commensurate with their cultural backgrounds, environment of upbringing, and yes, (gasp), their evolutionary background. Acknowledging this is NOT racist, just as acknowledging that the elephants, for example, are different from the rhinos is not racist. What is racist is the feeling that the elephants are superior to the rhinos, and are therefore qualified to decide their future, and what they should be doing. In SA, one race group must be in charge of everyone one way or another, and that group should be the majority, as it is. As long as the minorities are treated with respect and humility, no one has a right to complain. Instituting affirmative action, and even banning all whites from any kind of employment whatsoever, is definitely not disrespectful to whites. Its very respectful, an acknowledgment of their abilities. And it is incumbent on the minorities’ leaders to try to end affirmative action, to help their kind.

Why doesn't Africa work?

2005-09-06T04:39:00.000-07:00

After much thought and discussion, the answer has become clear. This is the first time in history anyone has managed to finger the problem, so you're a lucky person to read it. The problem is simply that African people can not function in a structure. The structure may be government, a company, even a family. The reason may be they're simply too individualistic, which theoretically should make them excellent capitalists. Unfortunately, even capitalist societies need a certain level of behaviour towards society support. Being an African myself, I can understand this from a deep level. I have just been asked by someone trying to help a poverty-stricken person, what that person should do with a small financial windfall they received. Enough to buy a junk 2nd hand car. After much deliberation, I have realised the only 3 choices he has is drink it, or give it away, or allow it to be stolen. Anything he buys with it will be stolen, including cheap property, if not by his fellow cirizens, then by the police or bank. And if not directly, then indirectly, for example, by illegal invasion. Until we Africans can learn to look after each other, there is really no hope, and we may as well give up trying. I suppose its a world trend at the moment - nationalism, greed - just look at USA.

Secret Sex

2005-08-11T01:21:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I had a tryst with my secret girlfriend. This affair is so secret, nobody, even her husband, knows about it. Most people think I'm gay, and its a rumour I've recently been fertilising myself, simply because this is just too good a thing to lose. She is so taken with me, and, fascinatingly enough, me with her, that we seem to bring out the best in each other. And it just gets better and better. A month ago I was sure we had climaxed, and things could not improve. However, they have. I wish she weren't married, but I'm not sure this would be the same if she weren't. So we're trapped in a growing sexual and emotional whirlwind, and we are both kind of out of control. Who could have guessed such a thing could happen to an ordinary guy?

Motoring Solution

2005-08-11T01:04:00.000-07:00

Having considered the problem further, I now have the solution. Simply have seperate roads for trucks, BMWs and Mercedes, and, on another road, motorbikes and "soft" cars, ie cars made of plastics and weighing less than 800kgs. Slowly we would eliminate the truck and BMW roads, as they remove themselves from the gene pool, and we'll be left with a much better society in general. Goods would be transported by train, as in the old days.

African Disaster

2005-08-11T00:54:00.000-07:00

Check out some common sense written by a fellow African: http://allafrica.com/stories/200508100564.html .

At last Africans are getting a grip on their economic situation, and starting to realise nobody gets anything for nothing, especially from western powers. Of course, getting to grips with greed and corruption are the key, which has eluded every African country since the beginning. Unfortunately you can't have multi-people structures, such as companies and governments, when you can't trust any people in them. We see Mbeki taking a stand against corruption by firing Jacob Zuma, deputy president. Then he chooses another, and within months it emerges that she may also have been involved in shady dealings (Petrogate saga, see Mail & Guardian SA online). The question is, do South Africa have a "clean" plitician (apart from Mbeki)? The next question is: Is there a clean politician in Africa at all?

The Other Side of Motoring

2005-01-13T07:45:00.000-08:00

There appear to be two groups of motorists on the road:
1) those who believe that expensive, safe and roadworthy cars are all that’s necessary to ensure road safety, and
2)those that believe common courtesy based on a lack of arrogance and lack of impatience is the answer.

Group 1 probably are more motivated by looking good and improving life quality, and inflating ego, compared to group 2 who are more into functional transport, ie actually using the vehicle as a transportation tool.

Many of us, including, I suspect, the enemy Taxi Drivers, believe that speed and impatience is more the major problem, and it would be really nice to hear some wisdom from this group once in a while, since the motoring editors and writers are always group 1. For example, our group, the courtesy group 2, do not think that the right hand lane is reserved for speedsters going 120+, and others should move out the way. If speedsters want to endanger their lives, they should weave in and out of the lanes and leave us in relative peace. Fancy, expensive cars should, in fact, be banned, simply because the speed limit is 120, so anything with the ability to go significantly faster (say 140+) should be banned or modified accordingly. SUVs and 4x4s should be limited to 100kms/hr, since they can cause a lot more damage than ordinary cars. They also use more petrol, and poison the environment more. All cars should be fitted with soft impact front ends to preserve pedestrians and animals when involved in collisions with them. Airbags should be banned – they simply encourage drivers to drive more recklessly, since their chances of emerging unscathed from accidents is now better than other driver’s, not to mention pedestrians. ABS should be compulsory on all cars. Making things more fair on the road, for example not having 250km/hr supercars and super 4x4s sharing the road with 100km/hr taxis and 30km/hr trucks would greatly improve road safety, especially as the expensive cars may feel less arrogant if their cars were slower. Taking things to their logical conclusion, what is the point of having more than one type of car? People should get out of this culture of thinking that a car is an extension of themselves, or a reflection of who they are. They can do that in the privacy of their house, and it won’t have any effect on anyone else. They can customize their driving look by wearing sunglasses. This may also encourage people to use their car less, which would help save the environment.

Pride, Arrogance, Racism - Where are we going?

2005-01-07T01:31:00.000-08:00

Why do we have these problems? Probably, well definitely, a throwback from evolution. These have always been required human traits for survival. Certainly a troop of early men needed them to create group unity, to ensure group success, and to fend of others and enemies. Then prophets realised that these traits are also whats causing wars and friction among humans, so they write books like the Bible, which say we must be humble, and love our brother man. So we have a natural clash within us. Certainly education helps, but it must be the right kind of education, and this is happening less and less in the world, not more. Maybe its because teaching is a low-grade profession, whereas accountancy and law are high grade and highly paid. It may have been possible for man to choose the survival route. The most likely countries to lead such an effort may be UK or Nordic countries, where socialism is strong, and pure capitalism is weaker. However, this is not going to happen, and many people will say, "who cares?", since we should not try to alter our destiny, the natural way we are going. So I suppose George Orwell's 1984 scenario is what we will end up with. As a common member of the public, I would certainly not choose such a route, but I see that its becoming accepted and even looked forward to by the majority of people on earth. The new Mercedes Benz advert even has people with barcodes on their neck, suggesting thats what the future holds. I know many people like to be controlled and like to do huge amounts of administration required for vast and complicated legislation, and be penalised for any mistakes, but for many of us, its going to be tough. In fact, you can expect a high rate of people taking up risky ventures such as crime, since no one will care whether they live or die anymore. Except, of course, the politburo...

Racism - What is It?

2004-12-14T03:31:00.000-08:00

The dictionaries define racism as a feeling that your race is superior to another. This leads to the discriminatory behaviour so often termed as racist. Racism is normally found predominantly amongst less well educated people - thats my theory anyway. Consider recent demonstrations of arrogance: Hitler, and Nazi Germany. the arrogance was obvious, and advertised nationally. Israel, today. The Jews were told in the Bible that they are the chosen race. America, today. The most powerful nation in the world, and a nationally accepted fact that they are the best. In all these cases, ignorance is spread through controlled media and national unity. The national unity is developed by having an enemy to fight. Unfortunately it seems the world will never be free of this kind of thing, since humans are just too stupid.