For those out there thinking they are on the right path simply because they have the balls to criticize the government of the day... the political landscape in South Africa is a bitter taste they love to savour... for their own sanity that is.
When you look at the American view of democracy, especially during election time like now, it becomes quite evident that people have started moving away from the concept of party politics, and towards the man of the hour... the candidate for president.
True, you’ll always have the hillbillies on the one hand, who will never vote anything but Republican, and the hippies on the other hand, just as dedicated to the Democrats.
As a point of interest, one in every six Americans firmly believes Barack Obama is a Muslim...
Tisk tisk...sheeple.
Yes... sheeple, my new favourite word, and the best description mankind have ever graced itself with (nowadays I make up sentences so I can fit the word in somewhere).
South Africa has a long and rich history of sheepleness, meaning the inability of the masses (who matter) to make up their mind so as to reach a logical conclusion, and an internationally viewed favourable outcome – if there is such a thing.
Let’s start this off with the ANC, seeing as they do go out of their way to make themselves soft targets in this regard...
The average ANC supporter is the definition of the person who deserves-the-government-it-gets, and the frustration the rest of the country has with the wheeling’s and dealings of the ANC is as futile as attempting a swing vote on them.
They will not vote against the ANC. Never.
They’ll rather stay away from a ballot box than do so, even if Malema becomes President of the ANC and changes his name to Idi Amin for propaganda purposes.
Quite shameful then that the ANC would have the effect that people would rather not vote at all... a right they have been fighting for, for the past 100 years... than vote against them.
Secondly, you have the Democratic Alliance...
Quite simply the other side of the coin the ANC sits on.
Most people vote for the DA because they want to counter the ANC. These people have no clue as to the policies of the DA, nor do they even care that it started out as a white party... all that matters is a counter against the ANC.
True... the DA is based in logic whereas the ANC is in struggle credentials, but the average DA supporter couldn’t tell you the top five figures in the DA in their hierarchy if they tried. Me included.
So, that pre supposes that sheepleness is not the exclusive realm of the average shack dweller...
But... the plot thickens...
What about the National Party... you know the orange and blue party that ruled for decades before?
Their supporters made themselves out to be moderates to moderate liberals! Simply because they didn’t support the Conservative Party! Talk about people falling for kak!
If ever the word sheeple were to make it into a dictionary, a picture of a National Party supporter would be next to it, simply because the Nazi’s didn’t rule long enough for one of their supporter’s pictures to make the grade.
I suppose the point is that we’re all influenced emotionally, where we wished it would be logical... you know... thinking with the mind rather than the heart...
Anyone with the ability to see the big picture, also has the ability to influence people in the right (or wrong) way.
The media is the guiltiest culprit of them all...
Smashing headlines normally turn out to be something completely different, yet the most interesting of them all is media specific to a culture, such as the Sowetan.
However, the most precious of gems is the Afrikaans media...
If you are Afrikaans, and you managed to open your eyes, then you would have seen the ability the Beeld newspaper has to attach emotion to a story.
Most articles read like novels in there, and they always base the doom lying in front of us on some unknown Prof’s opinion, in some unknown department of a used to be Afrikaans University.
“The man is a Professor Marie, surely he must know what he’s talking of. And for that matter, it’s in the Beeld!”
Yes... the Afrikaans version of Der Spiegel in 1939.
So, the media play’s us all to sell papers, views and comments...
The politicians buy us candlelight dinners just to feed us roofies when where not looking...
The Americans have transformed democracy to a popularity contest in their elections, and the guy who manages to wield the highest price for people to buy his loyalty, normally turns out the winner.
The Jews have managed to make everyone (especially the Germans) feel guilty, yet they somehow legitimised apartheid at the same time...
And we all look at the scenarios above and ask ourselves...
...“what do the others say about this?”
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