What th'

  

 

  

 

 

 

What th’

 When I opened my newspaper this morning, there was a tiny insect crawling across a picture of an explosion in Ukraine, so I readied my index finger to squish it. But I didn’t. This was the second such insect that had crossed my newspaper within the last few days, and yes, I did squish the first one. This time I had second thoughts… these little fellas probably wandered into the paper as it was lying outside on the path and were probably surprised by the light when I opened it. They were tiny flies; they could run fast and fly as quickly, but they were small… about four times the size of one of the full stops on this print, yet vibrant life was packed into them. Although I couldn’t see them, this little fellow has sensory organs, a mouth of sorts, it defecated, so must have had internal organs, it had legs and wings. Actually, the tiny insect is one of those miracles of nature we don’t think about. I let it go with some care.

 I then read the article about the explosion in Ukraine. In a way, I had some power over that tiny insect just as Putin has with the people of Ukraine, although his power has dire consequences for the people and the country. If his reasons for the war are fathomable, I’m not privy to them, but they seem to be flimsy excuses rather than an honest justification… if there was justification, solutions are more possible. Does death and destruction, and the acceptance of his own people’s casualties justify Russia’s need for whatever it is Putin thinks they need? The killing and displacement of the people is tragic, and the wanton destruction of infrastructure and homes is a separate crime. According, to international law, the aggressor in any conflict is responsible for the rebuilding once peace comes, they are also responsible for the protection of civilians. Good on the lawmakers… and Russia did face up the its responsibility after their insurgence into Afghanistan. In the past, international aid has also come forth… but where does the money come from? The thing is while the welfare of people is of paramount importance, people can’t survive without bricks and mortar and the necessities of life.

 The other conflict reported on in the newspaper was the Gaza situation. I’m not sure media informs us with balance on this issue, and this report mentioned the word ‘genocide’. When strong words like that are used, it is often used as an inflationary tool to embarrass the supporters of one side. Israel hadn’t been an aggressor and is responding to an attack… and from a humanitarian point of view could be argued that the response is too strong, but if Hamas hadn’t attacked that day, there would be no killing and no infrastructure damage. Is Hamas’ excuse for the attack a legitimate protest? No, attacking civilians is a criminal act, and their dogma of ‘wiping Israel off the face of the Earth’ is at least dangerous rhetoric. The end result is civilians being killed, and infrastructure being demolished for which most feel great sorrow. There is long history in and area, that is important to each side, but there is a glaring elephant in the room that needs addressing. For the past thirty years or more, the people of Gaza have not been able to sustain themselves making them reliant on aid, and donations from various countries. If the current conflict had never happened, the aid would have continued… so how long do their leadership expect such aid to continue? Accepting continual aid creates an unhealthy dependency, yet they have no way of changing the situation. In the unlikely event of Israel suddenly disappearing, would the returning Gazan population be able to support themselves after decades of not having to use any expertise, especially in food production or working collectively?

 At least the media reported about President Trump blindsiding President Ramaphosa of South Africa about the treatment of white farmers in his country, but the media didn’t show the video which justified Trump’s assertion. * There some context to this – I wrote about it some time ago, but here’s the guts. Ain 1995, a young Israeli man came to Tanzania with an American who was working with me. At the immigration counter, he was arrested and held in prison until his release was won, but his passport was stamped ‘undesirable alien’. This happened because of a throwback to when the Israeli government cooperated with the apartheid government of South Africa. The present South African government recently complained to the International Court of Justice about Israel’s treatment of the Gazan people, which was arguably a revenge act rather than humanitarian. Trump was made aware of this. *  Ramaphosa had taken along a couple of white golfers, which he hoped might elicit some United States cooperation, if not funding, but when asked by Ramaphosa, one of the golfers confirmed that white farmers were indeed being targeted with violence. The media seemed not to take as fact that Trump had taken in white farmer refugees from South Africa, who were fleeing from the violence there, echoing similar events in Zimbabwe. Behind this is the United Nation’s declaration on indigenous rights… as toothpaste that can’t be put back in its tube. Despite Nelson Mandella trying to establish a free, multiracial democratic state in South Africa, the present administration has passed a law where land can be taken without compensation, and the video Trump showed was a stadium-full of people shouting, ‘Kill the farmers, kill the Boer.’ I saw a group of South African people being interviewed about the future of South Africa and three people stood out to me. A young man believes that all land should be returned to the people with tribal chiefs in charge. There was a white farmer who told of the challenges of farming, the expertise required and the need for access to finance. A young woman who farms a small holding agreed that the farming economy and food security are based on the expertise of white farmers. She thought all Soth Africans should be able to work side by side to feed the nation. It is apparent that cool heads are certainly needed. Back in 1900, the African population in South Africa was around four million, and the white settlers had already been there for a hundred years. Now there are sixty-three million Africans and many of them want the land back… the irony being the rapid increase in the populations is partly due to the food production carried out by the white farmers. But the land the people want, is the land already under cultivation by white farmers. In 1900 if all of the people wanted to farm land, they would have had small subsistence holdings, which would have been gradually been divided among the family until they become too small for sustainability. As happened in Zimbabwe, there is a large population to feed and traditional farming methods no longer suffice. The South African white farmers have reduced in number markedly over the last few decades, mainly because farming is a difficult business to be in… some have been forcibly removed, so there is the safety consideration as well. The young woman is wise… the poverty among the poorer people will not be solved by the return of land, except in a few instances. They’ve never had land, so have no farming expertise and don’t understand the responsibility of ensuring the nation doesn’t go hungry. Only by working together with the white Africana farmers will they be able to feed the nation… if violence continues, widespread chaos will be the inevitable result.

 This little snippet is timely but wasn’t in the newspaper; I still receive news from my Tanzanian friends, news which the mainstream media is unlikely cover. Tanzania has been progressing well, quietly minding its own business. I’m told that the European Union, pulled on its big-boy boots to threaten the withholding of funds if Tanzania didn’t lift its ban on homosexuality. Tanzania has many religions and the parliamentarians pray before each session; they believe that according to all the religions I parliament, legalising homosexuality would be blasphemy, so they have said so. Kiwi lingo probably says it best, ‘If that’s the basis of your funding, (respectfully) you can stick your funding where the sun doesn’t shine!’ The folk I know over there support their government’s point of view on this issue.

 My old Tanzanian mate Loti used to say that politics is a dirty game, and from what I’ve seen in my eighty-odd years is that there’s nothing new under the sun, just different players and occasions. There have always been tyrants who think that killing people will somehow change things for the better… but they never do. People become involved in politics because they are deluded enough to think they can make a difference, but they are hamstrung by a system where the unnamed drive the main engine. Children cry, but outrage is always brief.