The Striking Poor & The Straying Wealthy

Today I read quite a disturbing article on how the few richest Africans that can be found on Forbes magazine’s top 50 earn more than the poorest half of the continent. Upon further investigation I discovered that twelve of these people are South African, just a random detail I checked up on for my own curiosity. The rest of these elite came from Nigeria, Tanzania or Egypt amongst other places and no they weren’t all white people as the average man on the street would like to believe. It was a relatively normal (if there can ever be) mix of colour, though I did note a lack of race in other departments but I suppose that’s a problem for another generation to fix.

Reading the numbers next to these names was something of an interesting surprise as I think on how strained our economy has been in recent times due to all the political troubles and labour upheavals. Of course I suppose it should be a no brainer that such men, and the odd women, of power should barely be affected by these issues. Yet I can’t help but think that maybe it’s because these power houses haven’t really kept much investment ‘in-house’.

How sad, if that’s the case, that our own countrymen (and women) don’t feel that our country is a good investment. Imagine what that says about foreign investors? How would they then see us, without any lingering attachment other than looking for a place to put their money in?

Of course, if one had to look at the most recent cases of xenophobic violence alone, never mind the constant labour strikes that affect production and lead to layoffs and unemployment, it’s no wonder that potential investors steer clear of throwing us with any of their green.

Still, I also can’t just assume that if our few elites pump some of their wealth into our troubled economy all will be fine and dandy. After all, when has throwing money at a problem ever solved it?

There still exists the corruption and the unfortunate misconception that our countries people has that all will be fixed once either the government changes or the foreigners are thrown out. No one seems to think that they have to work harder in all this. Whatever happened to Ubuntu?

It seems to me that people are so fixated on there being one solution when in fact there needs to be a series of solutions that we all need to work (together) towards. How else are we supposed to appreciate the fruits of our labour, when there are none? Isn’t that essentially the freedom Nelson Mandela fought for us?

I don’t know, maybe it’s just me thinking this either way I hope the people don’t take too long to realize this, or something else more beneficial for the country as a whole. Preferably before we lose any more people to violence and any more potential investors turn their eyes to other countries.

Binging in the Moment

Everybody has their youthful moments where they go out and get lost in the moment. For some this means curling up in front of the TV with a good book and some tea, while for a large majority of our current generation’s young peoples, it can mean the exact opposite in that many of them go out and party like the worlds coming to an end within the next 24 hours.

Of course with the dark things on the news these days it’s really hard to argue with them not to think like that, it still remains a risky way of living for the ones who are supposed to be taking the reins at some point in the future, don’t you agree?

In a recent article I came across, I learnt of an interesting research study that was conducted with some rats and heavy drinking. What was discovered was quite a disturbing state of affairs when translated to the possibility of it happening in the adolescent brain as it matures into adulthood.

The study showed vast differences in brain activity between rats that had been put through a ‘binge drinking’ phase and other rats that had just gone on to live normal lives and the results were quite scary as things like memory problems cropped up along with other impairments such as attention and judgement problems, not to mention struggling with the ability to learn new skills.

So it’s safe to say the study showed that ‘living in the moment’ for these poor test subjects wasn’t exactly the greatest idea for them as they proved to have long term effects.

Now imagine if one has to substitute this with the average teenager instead of some innocent lab rat? What kind of future would this teenager have as an adult with such damage done to themselves, all for the sake of going out because that’s what they do?

I’m curious, would they be so eager to live in the moment if they could see down the line a few years and how much neurological damage they’d done to themselves, would they still go all out then?

I imagine many adults today regret much of what they have done in their youthful days, while some only see it as a mere passing phase of ‘growing up’, so there are many who wouldn’t change a thing. It’s realities like this that have me questioning how society has created such a curious niche for such acceptable behaviour that, despite it’s relatively destructive possibilities, spans across cultures and religions and has infiltrated every social standing, regardless of generation.

Interesting, very interesting indeed…. Something tells me though, that despite this new revelation that our young people’s health is impaired by this activity, that is so ingrained in society, it is clearly in no danger of going anywhere so long as a brewery exists.

Entitled to Exist

Sometimes it's not just all about yourself, but about those that scurry about inhabiting this place with you as well.

It's hard to look beyond one's self when we have been conditioned from our youth to only look inward and express how we feel to the world and not ask how the world is doing at the moment. It occurs to me this form of thinking creates a multitude of bad habits other than just a somewhat selfish type of self-esteem, but a singular idea that what is happening to us as individuals is all that matters as opposed to what is happening to more than just us.

This kind of thinking seems to lead to a world where things like the recent incidents of xenophobia in South Africa could become possible as too many people think solely of themselves and how they are being jilted in terms of employment and other opportunities while other humans from various different places seemingly benefit from what could be theirs. 

Instead of seeing it as others doing what they can to further the productivity of the whole, they see it as them not receiving anything at all. A singular selfish thought born from low self-esteem as they struggle with what they lack as individuals.

It's a sad occurrence if you think about it. So many people gripped by the idea that they, as individuals, are entitled to something more than the next person instead of considering that maybe they could overcome their short comings and struggles if they could only embrace the others and work together.

It's funny that a possible solution to such troubles could be as simple as letting go of the idea that you are more important than the next person and instead think of the other billions that exist beside you struggling the same struggle to survive as you are and, though not important as you, are the same as you in that they exist.

And there is beauty is such a reality, to exist. After all, if we didn't exist, we couldn't enjoy the brilliance of living with ourselves and those around us.