Politics, Randoms

Ruminations: A United Kingdom

“We do foreign assistance for altruistic reasons, certainly for humanitarian reasons, of course. But the main reason we do foreign assistance is we do it in the American national interest”.

—Roger Wicker, American Politician

The quote above, whilst very American, could be attributed to a long array of countries across the globe. Replacing “American” with “British”, “Russian”, “Chinese”, “Iranian”, or “South African” would still maintain the spirit of the quote. I chose this quote to highlight that a country’s actions or inactions with respect to events in another country are usually powered by national interests and not some idealistic morals.  Continue reading “Ruminations: A United Kingdom”

Change, Politics

The South African Dance of Shame

A quote attributed to South African-born Mokokoma Mokhonoana says that “You cannot really shame a man who sincerely does not care what others think of him. To feel shame, a person must have the capacity to not just understand what shame is, but also recognize that an action or a spoken word is beneath dignity standards. This is where the South Africans and their Nigerian comrades have shown unrepentant deficiency. Continue reading “The South African Dance of Shame”

Change

South Africa’s Sad Export

The past week has added more entries to the infamous gallery of human injustices resulting from perceived grievances. In what appears to be a spontaneous reaction, irate mobs in South Africa turned their ill-advised fury to foreigners in that country. This is similar to the time when Jews were blamed for the bubonic plague, illustrating a common human trait of blaming others for problems. Continue reading “South Africa’s Sad Export”