Don't panic!!

So I came across something a bit more positive regarding South Africa in the past day or so. Apparently an internal email sent by a Managing Director to the staff members at his company earlier this year has been turned into a book. The aim of the book it seems is to encourage South Africans about their country and get them to focus on what is good and not just the bad news that sells newspapers.

I just read the contents of the email (use the address at the bottom of this entry to read it) and while the message is really simple it is also true. I guess some people might then say “well, why are you wondering around the world instead of helping to rebuild South Africa?” The truth is that I am where I need to be right now and one day I will return, but it’s encouraging to that the kind of zealous ignorance displayed in the videos I mentioned in my previous entry is not as prevalent as that South African might imply. Anyway, so take a look at what the email and the book etc are all about and make up your own mind about South Africa’s future.

http://www.iburst.co.za/default.aspx?link=new_latest_news&blogs=100

Who is to blame?

I am a South African guy – I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned that before – but I have not lived there for a while. I’ve been living in a few different countries and I have not only been learning about the world around me, but also a bit more about myself. So, recently I have been watching a few videos on www.youtube.com regarding the state of the nation in South Africa (RSA), where we have been and the progress (or lack thereof) that has been made in recent years.

Saying that these videos have been ‘eye-opening’ would not be the truth because there aren’t any significantly new ideas or opinions coming out of these videos. What I do find interesting is to see this kind of ‘dialogue’ actually taking place in some forum – these issues aren’t regularly discussed in everyday life, although perhaps in some circles such as university classes. Some of the videos I’ve been watching have names such as “South Africa: What about White People” or “South Africa: The Racist Capital of the World”. Quite honestly I’m not sure what to say about any of this at the moment (there’s so much to say that I’m not sure where to start). One thing though is that I see RSA as being a microcosm of the issues at play in the world at large - know what I mean? Anyway, that’s all I’m going to say for now… One thing I do notice is that there is a bit of a blame-game going on here at least from one side of the dialogue…

PS: I’ve included the address of some videos below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHPKhVmgtJM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GLVdgA1jJU

Kind of ironic... don't you think?

“I am not advocating cutting of relations with Russia… I am advocating for actions that will make it very clear to the Russians that there are long term consequences for violation of the norms of international behaviour” (Jon McCain on the current situation between Russia and Georgia…)

“…bullying and intimidation are not acceptable ways to conduct foreign policy in the 21st century.” (George W Bush commenting on Russia and Georgia…)

Occasionally I watched podcasts from various news agencies around the world in order to stay up to date with things happening in politics and other areas of this global village we call earth. While watching some newscasts recently I heard these words from 2 USA politicians. Considering the state of international relations at the moment, not to mention the various conflicts currently underway, I found these comments deeply ironic. Enough said (for now).

A few more thoughts on Beijing...

Earlier today I was watching the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing and quite honestly I had very mixed feelings. Ever since the 1992 Olympics (before that I was too young to be all that interested in the Olympic Games) I have watched the ceremonies, the events, read the stories and shared in the excitement that comes from seeing your nations best on the world stage. As a sportsperson who spent years in training I know the excitement of competition, yet nothing I have experienced can compare to what it must have been like standing in that stadium.

But, as I watched this years opening ceremony I couldn’t help thinking about the recent coverage given to human rights abuses taking please in that part of the world including the ongoing conflict over the status of Tibet. The Olympic movement is at times looked at as a way to bring the world together in sport rather than in conflict, and this in spite of differences. Unfortunately as I watched this year’s opening ceremony I couldn’t help feel as though there is an attempt, at least on the part of some people, to gloss over some things going on in the world today in order to have this festival of sport and global brotherhood (this thought rising to the surface especially when seeing George W Bush in attendance and smiling at the USA’s athletes).

But then again there is quite a bit of money in sport today, more so than at any point before, and that is definitely a motive to gloss over the abuses suffered by a few unknown people in some lesser known part of the world.

Perspectives can divide…

Recently I’ve been thinking about perspectives and the way that while they overlap in some places they can be so incongruent in other areas. A few months ago I was chatting to a friend and something regarding politics came up (after an earlier conversation we decided to avoid politics) and we realised that we had a very different perspective. I mentioned that I admired some aspects of what Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara stood for and fought for. My friend (from the USA) on the other hand was convinced that he had been a terrorist who didn’t care about anyone.

One reason I find this interesting is that many people in the world today Nelson Mandela is revered as a great man, a statesman, an icon. He said that Guevara was "an inspiration for every human being who loves freedom", yet to this day there are those who both revere Mandela and regard Guevara as a terrorist. I guess this supports the often-quotes and occasionally-disputed aphorism that states “one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter”.

Recently I came across something that M. Scott Peck (he was a psychiatrist and author) once said. He suggested that we should “share our similarities, celebrate our differences” yet unfortunately I see all too often these days that we are encouraged to focus on our similarities and ignore hope that differences don’t get in the way – or something like that. Anyway… that’s all for now…