Down there, KuMzansi, the Zimbabwe-born social, political and economic commentator and selfie-blogger, Rutendo Benson Matinyarare, found himself in some kind of pickle following one of his comments on the economic situation in South Africa. He was lamenting the low participation rates in the economy by South Africa's black population. The tone of his message might have had a rather rough age. However, the general scope of his comment needed to be put at the feet of his South African cousins. Rather than focus on the message, some South Africans, including some very prominent political honchos went ballistic. They literally wanted to tie him mbiradzakondo to toss over on the northern banks of the Vembe River. Hogtied in this manner, they had hoped to teach him a lesson; do not temper with our good life on luxuries inherited from the Apartheid lest we depot you back to a country you have not called home for nearly two decades.
It reminded me of the allegory of a madman and his dogs, one that I wrote a few years ago. I was not so much interested in the madman as I was with his dogs. Before their domestication, the dogs roamed the breadth and width of the land with complete freedom and solidarity. One day a man appeared on the scene. He enticed the dogs with cheap meat. It meant the dogs did not have to go on an incessant daily search for food. Why, the dogs loved the new order. All appeared to go well. The dogs started to feel greatly confident that the new life without agony was going to last into perpetuity. It was a foolish mind set that was bound to haunt and hound the dogs.
You see, one day the man built a strong cage. He told his dogs that this cage was meant for their comfort. Mind you, at the beginning, the man called the dogs his friends. "You are this man's best friend," he told the dogs. Upon hearing this, the dogs were elated beyond belief. When they saw the cage, they were utterly convinced that the cage was a boon born out of their friendship with the man. For what looked like eternity, the dogs went into the cage. The man left the door of the cage open. Slowly and in such a deliberate way, he started to lock the door of the cage, meaning that the dogs had lost their freedom to gallivant around. Not to worry, the man placed food and water in the cage without fail. This made the dogs very happy. That cage appeared to them like paradise. For as long as their stomachs were full, the dogs were happy. There was harmony in that cage.
One day, the man developed a peculiar disease of the mind. He locked the dogs in that cage and, for days, he gave them neither food nor water. The dogs became hungry and weak. With each passing day, they hoped and prayed for the appearance of the previously beneficent man. Whenever he was around, he ate his food in front of the starving dogs. At the beginning of the ordeal, the dogs commiserated with each other. They used to hurdle in a group to find solace in their unified plight. They did not have to say anything to each other. At times hurdling in silence offered reprieve, however brief it was.
Out of nowhere, the madman threw a worthless bone into the cage. It had no meat on it. About any marrow in that bone, forget about it. There was nothing. What was sad is that the fogs were too hungry to realize the bone was worse than worthless. The moment that bone was in the cage, the dogs reflexively fought each other for that worthless bone. All the previous solidarity evaporated just like that. The fight was pitiful in its ferocity.
When the man finally opened the cage, all the dogs arrayed themselves around the madman. Some were still licking their festering wound from the dog fight that had taken place in the cage. They fawned at his feet while wagging their tails as a sign of eternal subservience to the man. Because of the dictates of their empty stomachs, they humbly submitted to be under the subjugation of the madman. By this time, they had lost their canine independence to hunt for their own food. Not that there was no free food, there was plenty of it around, most of it as easy pickings. The hunger they had suffered in the cage had convinced them that they were doomed without the presence of the madman.
Of course, the man was not mad at all. He wanted to make sure that the dogs were totally dependent on him. Beating them through deliberate starvation had accomplished that objective. To this day, dogs are called a man's best friend. It is a friendship bereft of any meaningful reciprocity. The dogs are used for hunting by man. They are fast and adept when it comes to hunting. Once the chase is successful, they loyally wait for man claim the prize of the hunt. The dogs find great contentment eating the offals of the prey while man eats the best cuts.
Make out of that allegory, the creating of my own mind, what you may. All I can say is that what you are doing is not very dissimilar from trying to alert the dogs that they are in a parasitic relationship detrimental to their welfare. The dogs are going to bark at you. They will threateningly bare their deadly fangs. If overly agitated, they may bite you. As Africans, we are in a heap of trouble, most of which is of our fault.
From a Facebook update.
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