Have we returned to the dark ages?

Remember when you were a kid and your mom would take you to the supermarket? There were always those moments when you'd throw your favourite candy or chocolate into the shopping basket, only for your mom to consistently put it back. The child's reaction in those moments always amused me. The well behaved child would just accept the mother's decision; the normal kid would beg and plead for a while before giving up and conceding defeat. But then there is the immature terror child who would throw an absolute fit and trash the entire store hoping to get their way. 

To me, this represents a proxy sliding scale for maturity in the world. 

Child 1) The SA government was adamant that South Africa would avoid recession until the last minute, but earlier this week when they were proven wrong, they gracefully admitted their fault and decided instead to focus on a solution. 

Child 2) During the recent Champions League semi-final between Chelsea and Barcelona, Chelsea players spent 50% of the game yelling, begging and pleading the referee for a penalty on several separate occasions. It almost got ugly, but in the end the Chelsea players begrudgingly conceded defeat.

Child 3) Maphatsoe again threatened militant action: “Should Zille not immediately cease the racist tendencies that bring pain to all military veterans of SA, MKMVA will not hesitate to implement a militant programme of action to take back the streets and our communities.”

I must admit that I find that last bit slightly amusing and highly disturbing. When did we return to the dark ages where people would unrightfully demand to get their way and threaten with force in order to get it? Or has the American culture of acting like 10-year olds spread to SA? Have we not evolved at all? And you have to love the new catch phrase in SA politics, commonly used by groups such as the ANCYL, COSATU and MKMVA: 'we will render it ungovernable'. Can you imagine if everyone approached their problems this way?

Boss: Paul I want those reports completed by Friday please.

Paul: No, I refuse. And if you insist my mates and I will make this office ungovernable. Additionally, I require a raise and a car allowance.

Teacher: Greg please stop pulling Sarah's hair.

Greg: No, you can't make me. And if you try I'll make this class ungovernable.

I could go on... But then again, we should ask ourselves what do we really expect from leaders whose education is limited to this:

(a low blow I admit, but I just couldn't resist)

Fear and Distrust...

Allow me to spend one post on a fairly topical issue.

Many people don't seem to be aware of this, but the current global economic recession is as much a product of fear as it is of underlying macroeconomic issues. In fact, if we gaze through history, we can identify countless tragedies that were brought about by the fear of the unknown and distrust of people and things that were different and unfamiliar. The burning of witches, the persecution of scientists by the Catholic church, the holocaust, religious wars and holy crusades... one could go on forever. Even today, conflict (both physical and otherwise) continues in certain parts of the world because people fear each other and are unwilling to attempt to understand and trust people that are different. The metaphor extends to organizations and institutions as well, just look at the US banking sector and various governments' reactions to the global recession.

But I digress... the reason this topic came to mind is far more recent and hits closer to home. Over the last month, a South African trade union (COSATU) attempted to block the public listing of SA's most prominent mobile telecommunications provider (Vodacom). Their public reasoning for this action was to prevent British company Vodafone from acquiring a controlling stake in Vodacom, because they feared that a foreign company would have no reason to care about South African employment, concerning themselves with profit margins instead, and jobs would be lost as a result. In an environment when job losses are almost inevitable, they had no concern about South African controlled Vodacom shedding jobs, but once a foreign country had control they FEARED job losses.

It appears however, that the true reasons for COSATU's (who are firm political allies of the ANC) actions actually make even less sense. It turns out that prominent members of a rival political party (COPE) stood to gain substantially from the R22.6 billion deal's success. So the actual motivation for blocking the listing of Vodacom was to prevent these individuals from making money that could end up in the coffers of COPE. To me, this reasoning is astounding. They were so afraid of money flowing towards a rival political party that they tried to block a massive R22.6 billion deal. Not only that, but they managed to persuade the supposedly 'independent' regulatory body to reverse their earlier decision and object to the listing as well! 

The big issue here, is that if COSATU had succeeded, it would have been a significant blow to an economy already in recession. Without boring you with economic details, South Africa depends on foreign cash flows to finance a substantial deficit in our current account (imports minus exports). A successful action by COSATU would have resulted in significantly reduced investor confidence, most likely resulting in seriously diminished capital flows into SA. Something that would have hurt South African workers as a whole substantially more than most people realise. The same South African workers, whose interests COSATU claims to represent. 

The Times They Are a-Changin'

This blog post has been insipired by my sudden realisation of how quick things are changing around me, and my reluctancy to let go of some things I naively thought would never change. Ok, who am I kidding, I always knew life would change, just not so quickly.

Bob Dylan sang it in 1964, but it's one of those timeless songs that'll make sense in any one of our lives at some point or the other even to this day... The times they are-a changin'

Hmmm, where to start? 

It's wierd, I'd think the change from varsity to working life would be an immediate shock, but it wasn't, I settled in Ok, it's just now that I start to realise how things have progressed over a year and a half. But work is work, I'm actually more startled at coming to grips with the fact that I'm growing older, and so is everything else I'm familiar with.

A catalyst for this would be that a number of my close friends getting engaged/married (or planning to -you know who you are!). I never thought about it that hard, but when you see people you relate to do it, kinda puts it in perspective... The times they are-a changin'

But its not just that my generation is moving on thats hard to deal with, so are the other generations. Talking to some friends over the past week, the common feeling was how we're trying to resist the fact that our folks are getting older. Again, it's common sense, the circle of life, it's inevitable, but it hits you hard on the head and knocks you out cold when you realise it, to quote directly from the song, "Come mothers and fathers throughout the land, and don't crticize what you can't understand, your sons and your daughters are beyond your command, your old road is rapidly ageing. Please get out of the new one if you can't lend a hand for the times they are-a changin'

Don't even get me started at the 'kids', we're all looking at the little pipsqeaks growing up with slightly jealous eyes, sigh...

There's hardly any point fighting it (although I've heard five unique requests for time machines to take us back to standard 6 and below over the past month from friends). I'm not fighting it, just maybe seeking some solace in that I'm not alone in this yearning for our lost youth.

That said, woot woot! we're growing older! Finally! 

Our future will be defined by our actions now. Somewhat daunting, but at the same time exhilarating, I've always seeked for approval from elders with regards to decisions I make, yet I've made plenty recently on my own, no worries... The added responsibility is sometimes scary but at most times (so far anyway) awesome.

And that really is the key. Now is our time, the changing of the guard if you will.

We really have to embrace the change because as hard as it is to move on, to quote from Bob Dylan one last time then, "you better start swimmin or you'll sink like a stone... for the times they are a-changin"

Indeed they are... I wonder what brotha thinks of it all

Brotha's IQ is 175! What's yours?

Brotha laughs in the face of these ridiculous IQ ads that have been popping up all over the internet like weeds. The modus operandi appears to require a well known person, a fictional IQ score and a tease line to make you want to prove that you are smarter than the person pictured. With ads like the one below, I can't decide if I should laugh or cry.

Now despite the fact that an IQ of 110 (which is regarded as above average) seems rather generous in this case, the more important point is... WHO THE HELL CARES? 

Sadly this IQ test 'idea' has turned out to be a rather profitable one for advertisers (no doubt due to individuals with sub-100 IQs who keep clicking on these ads hoping to improve their score... the irony of it all) and it appears we'll have to tolerate it for some time yet. These ads have made appearances in various languages, some are bizzare, some have been altered in sick attempts at humour, while others are just plain ridiculous (130? seriously? drop the 1 at least). 

Of course, knowing google ad's cruel sense of humour, there is probably an IQ ad flanking this post, no doubt with Britney's face attached. I can only hope that the readers resist the urge to prove that they have a higher intelligence quotient than a woman who shaved her head, was admitted to a mental institution and flashes her genetalia as a hobby. If you click on the ad, don't bother taking the test, I'll save you the trouble, she wins.

However, if you only take one thing away from this post, let it be this... Brotha's IQ is 175, can you beat that?

- wifi

PS: All the contributors here at 'Where is Brotha?!' have IQ scores of over 140. Can you beat them? Go on, Brotha dares you!

Fear the Cost!

For those of you non believers out there, who think that this whole Lacost thing is a joke, i give you the latest bit of proof that his force is indeed real:

"French fashion designer Pierre Cardin has been hospitalised with an undiagnosed ailment after falling ill at his home in the southern village of Lacoste."

It's no joke guys, Brotha fears Lacost!