Maravi

Mask no difficulties

Mask no difficulties
By Editor
Tuesday August 21, 2007 [04:00]

We believe in regional integration. This is what we believe in and we are not ashamed to state it publicly and strongly so. We do believe in ideas with unshakeable steadfastness and we defend them and we will defend them. Every country has its interests; every country has its pride; every country has its honour, regardless of its ideas, its culture, its beliefs of different kinds. And all that cannot be ignored when we start to look at regional integration.

There are no economic miracles. That is clear now. It would be worthwhile to assess the risks for each country of regional integration and include these issues on the agenda. The concerns raised by Simon Zukas about the development in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) member states being uneven and that some countries may be disadvantaged and become dumping grounds is valid and needs serious consideration. It is not regional integration for the sake of regional integration.

It is integration for the benefit of all our people as a region. In this regard we exhort all our leaders - political, business or otherwise - to meditate on this issue, to research, delve deeply into it; to help, advise, disseminate, as an essential thing, truthfully, without any dogmas and with broadmindedness, listening to everyone, without thinking that we are the owners of the absolute truth. On the contrary, if we believe in something, we are interested in enriching and substantiating what we believe.

If we have a conviction, we are interested in delving deeper into that conviction, and in rectifying any idea, in correcting it, perfecting it, and that can only really be done with great broadmindedness, gathering and synthesizing ideas, knowledge and information.

If something we believe in or think about is shared by others; that is, if this were true, only the effort and intelligence of many would be able to corroborate it, to draw conclusions that no one will be able to refute.

There will no longer be one single thinker. Hundreds of thousands, millions of thinkers can make up for the thinker our times need. New ideas to prepare our people for the future are needed, but we must start struggling right now. Beginning today, we must start building awareness, a new awareness. It is not that there's a lack of awareness today; but such a new and complex epoch as this one requires principles more than ever and requires a lot more awareness, and that awareness will be built, by adding together the awareness of what is happening and the awareness of what is going to happen.

It has to be built by adding together more than just one revolutionary thought and the best ethical and humane ideas of more than one religion, of all authentic religions; the sum total of the preaching of many political and economic thinkers, of many schools and of many religions.

Whatever position we take on regional integration we shouldn't take it out of vanity, or out of chauvinism, or out of pride. It should stem from a sense of responsibility and of duty.

In this regional integration we will need a lot of input out of the ranks of the intellectuals; first of all, of the economists. Of economists with a political sense, not economists to serve the trans-nationals, or economists to play the simple role of advisors. Of course, they have to advise as much as they can, economists that develop ideas and convey them to their people based on profoundly scientific foundations, based on science and human experience gathered for so long.

Economists of the people, and today to be economists of the people they must be political economists; and politicians must be politicians with a minimum economic knowledge and if it is possible with a maximum of knowledge in that field, that today is really the basis on which the fate of our people depends, the basis on which our struggles are being carried out. And the politicians who do not understand, or do not want to understand, or who do not strive to know economics, are not worth of exercising the duty they exercise as such politicians.

The new realities under which we are living should force us to reanalyse, work out anew and speed up the development of new ideas. The solutions to the problems in the hard conditions in which we are today living are not written in any book. We have to simply become creators of new formulas to confront our current difficulties with resolve. We are convinced that we will find solutions to the difficult problems we today face - we are absolutely sure of that. Doomsday, although following the saying about more haste, less speed, because we are in a hurry in some things but we have to do it well, on a solid basis, and analyse all the experiences.

Yes, regional integration is a very good thing and as we have already stated we believe in it. But this doesn't mean we should hide the difficulties and challenges inherent in it. We should hide nothing about the problems and challenges of regional integration from the masses of our people. We should tell no lies about the difficulties we are likely to encounter in this effort. And those who attempt to tell lies about regional integration should have their lies exposed whenever they are told.

Let us mask no difficulties, mistakes and failures as we try to integrate our region. And above all, let us claim no easy victories in this struggle to unite our people and integrate our region. For this reason, critical but extremely patriotic voices like that of Simon need and deserve to be encouraged and listened to attentively and with great respect. Regional integration is undoubtedly a good thing, a positive development. But like all good things, it won't come easy.

There will be a lot of work to be done, and problems and contradictions to solve and resolve. There will certainly be no economic miracles as a result of this regional integration. What will come out of this integration will only be that which we ourselves will be able to create out of it.

Labels: EDITORIAL, REGIONALISM, SADC

posted by MrK @ 2:38 PM