Struwwelpeter: some insight into the recent election

SPENT the last ten days flat on my back, tethered to hospital beds and machines – hence no Struwwelpeter last week.

But I’m back now, so here it is:

Some insights about the recent election (thanks Balt):

1. Within 20 years our political system has become sclerotic, with a gerontocracy in charge and the population so bored that 25% did not bother to vote. It’s taken the arrival of the EFF to inject some life.

2. There is much clapping for the fact that the ANC does not have the two-thirds majority which would allow it to change the Constitution on a simple vote. However, a combination of the ANC and the EFF would make this possible.

At present they are bitter enemies but if the ANC now veers to the left, as it should in response to the success of the EFF, there might be a welling up of kindred feeling in a few years as their policies converge.

JZ may have gone by then, so personal antagonisms are unlikely to be important.

3. The DA has not yet made a big breakthrough anywhere and Helen Zille’s alliance with Mampela Rampele has backfired. So have, I suspect, her jiving and baby-kissing.

Voters see all this as desperate and unbecoming. The DA needs new leadership too and more clarity about policies which would lift poor people out of their misery.

4. On the face of it the EFF has done exceedingly well but within a few months Julius M may have a serious criminal conviction and over a few years the naivety of the EFF’s policies and the low calibre of its leadership are likely to have been exposed.

So, just possibly, just a flash in the pan before they re-join the ANC.

5. The ANC has led the country back into an era where race and ethnicity have totally displaced inclusiveness and trust. The line-up of black vs white (now including near-white) is back with a vengeance.

Perhaps a new generation of born-frees with no particular chip on their shoulder will soften this confrontational turn but meanwhile it’s likely to lead to increasing frustration on the part of the whites and the withdrawal of capital and a heightened sense that children must emigrate to have a future.

6. The incentive for the ANC to build a solid set of policies based on sensible economics and a regard for the long term will be reduced and it will continue to be torn between a hand-out approach to poverty with quick results and the NDP path of education, training and investment, with a late pay-off.

The confusion and the jostling will continue or get worse.

* * *

The morality of dishonesty (thanks Balt):

A few years ago robbers entered a bank in a small town.

One of them shouted: “Don’t move! The money belongs to the bank. Your lives belong to you.”

Immediately all the people in the bank lay on the floor quietly and without panic.

This is an example of how the correct wording of a sentence can make everyone change their view of the world.

One woman laid on the floor in a provocative manner.

The robber approached her saying: ” Ma’am, this is a robbery not a rape. Please behave accordingly.”

This is an example of how to behave professionally and focus on the goal.

While running from the bank the youngest robber (who had a college degree) said to the oldest robber (who had barely finished elementary school): “Hey, maybe we should count how much we stole?”

The older man replied: “Don’t be stupid. It’s a lot of money so let’s wait for the news on TV to find out how much money was taken from the bank.”

This is an example of how life experience is more important than a degree.

After the robbery, the manager of the bank said to his accountant: “Let’s call the cops and tell them how much has been stolen.”

“Wait”, said the accountant, “before we do that, let’s add the $800 000 we took for ourselves a few months ago and just say that it was stolen as part of today’s robbery.”

This is an example of taking advantage of an opportunity.

The following day it was reported in the news that the bank was robbed of $3 million. The robbers counted the money but they found only $1 million, so they started to grumble.

“We risked our lives for $1 million while the bank’s management robbed two million dollars without blinking? Maybe it’s better to learn how to work the system instead of being a simple robber.”

This is an example of how knowledge can be more useful than power.

Moral: give a person a gun and he can rob a bank. Give a person a bank and he can rob everyone.