Maravi

(HERALD) Eddie Cross’ statement disturbing

COMMENT - They call it 'creative destruction', and is one of the reasons why neoliberalism is essentially a Utipian philosophy. And an EXTREMELY dangerous one. For a more complete analysis of this economic philosophy, read Naomi Klein's "The Shock Doctrine". To Reason Wafarova, please don't cede the use of logic to any 'race'. Thanks.

Eddie Cross’ statement disturbing
By Reason Wafawarova in SYDNEY, Australia

IT must be most disturbing to the generality of Zimbabweans and also to those extending a hand of help to alleviate some of the challenges facing the country when they are confronted with the MDC-T’s remiss policy chief advocating the "crashing and burning of the country so that we can pick up the pieces".

The insipid and spiritless utterances from Eddie Cross have been sold to the world through very unbelievable insinuations alluding that the "crashing and burning" of Zimbabwe is the feeling from the "grassroots" as researched by one of Cross’s colleagues, described by Cross as a common political activist. In fact, Eddie Cross shamelessly titled his January 5 piece "Let It Crash and Burn".

What can be read from this piece is a mentality that celebrates people’s suffering and an egregious greed for power that traverses all forms of morality and human decency.

This heretical political gospel being preached by Eddie Cross is most unfortunate in that it is coming from a man who evidently believes in the not so unfounded notion that disproportionately associates the white race with reason.

This is a view held by many in our midst today, not least those in Morgan Tsvangirai’s party.

What Eddie Cross is labouring to justify is the treacherous and irresponsible behaviour of his boss, Tsvangirai. Tsvangirai is reneging on most of his acceptance speech that he made on September 15 last year during the signing of the broad-based agreement.

Tsvangirai proposed co-sharing the Ministry of Home Affairs and firmly opposed the same once his proposals had been honoured.

He made proposals that Sadc make a ruling on the same issue and when the ruling was made, Tsvangirai insulted Sadc and prioritised a trip to Europe, ahead of concluding what virtually every Zimbabwean was waiting for.

MDC-T secretary-general Tendai Biti followed this up by calling the Sadc ruling a "nullity" and Tsvangirai concurred by his silence on the clearly obnoxious utterance.

MDC leader Arthur Mutambara briefly touched on this ill-conceived theory that says Zimbabwe can be crashed and burnt down economically in his January 5, article titled "The Inconvenient Truths about the West and Zimbabwe".

Mutambara particularly queried that there will ever be such a collapse as to result in the Government just disappearing to allow the opposition to "pick up the pieces", as Cross would put it.

Secondly, Mutambara argues in his article that even if such an event were to occur, there is neither evidence nor guarantee that MDC-T will naturally assume to power.

From its formation, the MDC has always overestimated the power of sanctions, hoping against hope that campaigning for Zimbabwe’s isolation would earn them the ruins of a destroyed nation — with some envisaging a celebratory mass march that would carry Tsvangirai shoulder-high all the way to State House, with the police and the army saluting.

As history will record, all attempts at such mass marches were ignored by the public and all attempts to force people were soundly thwarted by law enforcement agents and there was one memorable cruising for a bruising that captured worldwide attention in 2007.

In the run-up to the March 2008 harmonised elections, Tsvangirai engaged in pseudo-religious transfiguration of politics adapted to the moral posturing that the man held the messianic keys to the eternal happiness of Zimbabweans.

MDC-T resorted to a historic process in which resentment against Zanu-PF and President Mugabe was preached with vigour in the ecstatic cover of unreason.

Symbols and slogans that appealed to fear and other elementary emotions were used and aid was politicised under the political philosophy that said what the people were receiving from Western-oriented NGOs was just a foretaste of the good days ahead in an MDC-T government.

In fact, people were brazenly warned that all the aid would vanish into thin air if MDC-T did not win the election.

This is the mentality that makes Biti fume that South Africa has proceeded to release aid to Zimbabwe.

China, Venezuela and every other country that does not agree with the West on Zimbabwe have all been derided by the opposition for giving aid to Zimbabwe simply because this aid does not come under the umbrella philosophy of demonic messianism.

Noam Chomsky in his book "Failed States — The Abuse of Power and the Assault on Democracy", defines demonic messianism as "a natural device for leadership groups that are at the extreme of the spectrum in their dedication to the short-term interests of narrow sectors of power and wealth".

The goals and programmes enacted and pursued by such groups are anti-public time after time and case after case.

For MDC-T, these goals and programmes have included an unachievable desire to reverse the land reform programme, a diabolical pursuit of ruinous sanctions against Zimbabwe, an attempt at holding the country to ransom through abuse of privilege in the broad-based agreement and a reported and alleged appetite for military instability.

In their short-term interests of narrow sectors of power and access to wealth, the opposition MDC-T has sought to exploit features of mass suffering that have uniquely diverged from the common suffering of an ordinary African since Zimbabwe started going into recession in 2000.

The sentiment of despair among the ordinary people has been manipulated for political gain by amoral politicians who would do anything to ensure that this despair does not go away until they manage to ride on it all the way to echelons of political power.

They behave like wandering spirits that declare sickness on their victims until their demands to be worshipped are met.

Another strategy that has been regularly exploited is the creation of a fear for a tyrannical and boundlessly evil regime, and on this one all manner of documentaries, pictures and mobile images have been gathered from whatever source and whichever place they can be found and they have all been attributed to "the murderous Mugabe regime".

This is understandable when one considers that Washington is the principal mentor of the British-created Zimbabwean opposition.

The American propaganda machinery has for hundreds of years depended on instilling in the public the fear of imminent destruction by enemies of boundless evil.

The story has always been the same whether the enemy has been the Japanese, the Russians, the Nicaraguans or the "Arab terrorists".

Like their masters in Washington, MDC-T has been trying very hard to create a faith in the nobility of purpose among Zimbabweans.

They want to make everyone believe that by making the country economically ungovernable through inviting ravaging sanctions, they are engaging in "democratic resistance" and that the whole episode is part of a "struggle for democracy".

This is not different from what Bruce Franklin identified in 1889 as the "Anglo-American Syndicate of War" that imposes its "peaceful and enlightened rule" by threatening "annihilation" of those who stand in the way, bringing "the Spirit of Civilisation to backward people".

During colonial days and in the wake of struggles for independence, all those aspiring to be independent were portrayed as demons about to destroy Western humanity.

These were Africans, Chinese, Indians, Arabs, South Americans and the rest of Asians.

Author Jack London even wrote a "popular story" in 1910 advocating the extermination of the Chinese by bacteria-based warfare so as to undercut their "nefarious secret scheme to overwhelm us".

This is the culture that has been mentored to Tsvangirai by his handlers and he calls it political strategy.

Whatever the roots of the economic features that characterise Zimbabwe today, the fact of the matter is that these features have been easily manipulated by cynical leaders from both sides of the political divide.

Some of these cynical leaders have emerged from the ruling party leadership and they have manipulated these economic features to enrich themselves while their counterparts in the opposition have manipulated the same features to try and ascend to power.

Most of this manipulation has been done in ways that are hard to believe.

On the one hand, some leaders have been reported to divert fuel meant for cultivation to the illegal parallel market where the scarce commodity was resold to the public ending up being burnt away by speeding teenagers hunting for juvenile mischief; and on the other hand, those in opposition have sought to campaign for more fuel shortages so that the economic features of shortages do not go away; not until "the regime collapses".

This is the politics that stand as character to the envisaged inclusive Government.

There is an opposition that hopes that there is a crash-and burn down coming and they seek to manipulate the economic crisis to the advantage of their short-term personal interests and also a clique in the ruling party that seems resigned on initiative and hard work, seemingly contented with using their positions to access whatever the sanctions-ravaged economy can spare for them by way of political privilege.

Africa is not looking for any of these kinds of political leaders when they call for an inclusive Government in Zimbabwe.

They are hoping for a good-willed opposition willing to work with an honest and good-willed ruling party in an administration that will aid in reversing in earnest the economic crisis bedevilling the country.

It is absolutely stupid for Eddie Cross to trust his friend in the assertion that the masses of Zimbabwe want Zimbabwe to crash and burn so that Tsvangirai can pick up a presidential piece from the wreckage.

It is frankly annoying and idiotic for Tsvangirai to keep on pronouncing a commitment to an agreement he does not respect, just for the sake of maintaining relevance within the African community.

This writer will urge Sadc and South Africa to make sure that everything that can be done to have a functioning Government for Zimbabwe is done and done immediately.

In the same vein, President Mugabe must respect Tsvangirai’s decision to turn down the invitation to the premiership and simply proceed without him.

MDC-T needs Constitutional Amendment Number 19 if they are going to keep arguing the case for a power-sharing Government and they cannot afford to kick out the Bill in Parliament in that regard.

That would be self-destructive and they should know better.

If the Bill is passed, then MDC-T can pick up their posts when they are ready, but a fully functional Government has to be appointed as early as possible.

If the Bill is not passed in Parliament, then Zimbabwe has always had laws and these laws should apply while the country prepares for the next election, whenever it comes.

This is the approach that seeks to address people’s needs, and not to exploit and manipulate the economic features of our country for political expediency.

The people of Zimbabwe must have no business spending 10 solid months following meaningless and stupidly endless negotiations between politicians.

They have a right to be governed and governed properly by responsible people who do not indulge in evil "crash-and-burn" hallucinations.

Zimbabwe, we are one and together we shall overcome. It is homeland or death!

l Reason Wafawarova is a political writer and can be contacted on wafawarova@yahoo.co.uk or reason@ rwafawarova.com or www.rwafawarova.com

Labels: COLOUR REVOLUTIONS, EDDIE CROSS, NEOCOLONIALISM, NEOLIBERALISM

posted by MrK @ 8:23 PM