Friday, August 7, 2009

The Politics of Insults

I've stopped reading news from Zambia of late because it does nothing but frustrate me. Our people deserve better. We do not need more visionless political parties or power hungry leaders; what we need is radical change.

Our current leadership has not been leading but rather maintaing the status quo. They have not been representing our interests but rather engaging in the politics of insults and character assassinations. This kind of political theatre does not help the ordinary Zambian. If our political leaders have no vision and plan, they should simply step aside and let others lead.


While I applaud the formation of new parties, they look like more of the same and while I applaud the efforts of other citizens forming semi political NGOSs, I am skeptical about their motives. If there is one thing we Zambians know to do is talk and a lot of talking is happening right now but I do not see any visionary leadership emerging. I am still waiting for the real leaders to stand up; Zambia's Obama if you will and we will know him/her when we see his/her vision for Zambia.

While we wait for the real leader to emerge, we the people need to remind ourselves that no one will bring the change we seek unless we demand it through our actions and words. Here are a few worthy things to fight for and pressure our government to deliver:

1. Quality education:
2. Quality Health care
3. JOBS

These are a few of my thoughts. What do you think?

2 comments:

Yakima said...

Campbell,

I sympathize! However, one cannot get to an Obama without a rigorous process involving truly democratic mechanisms. It was the "grass roots" of the Democratic Party that brought Obama to the forefront. If it had been up to the apparatchiks, the so-called "super-delegates" alone, then Clinton would be Pres and not Sec of State. I guess what I am trying to say is that only someone as qualified and personally impressive as Obama can come through a shower of mud and appear clean on the other side. I was not a big fan of Ronald Reagan, however he also had this quality, as did John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr, and certainly Mahatma Mohandus Ghandi. Nixon, on the other hand, was the kind of guy that dirt stuck to like lint, and the only thing that kept him from being totally drummed out of office in full tar and feathers was that everyone hated his VP Spiro Agnew far more than him. (Sound familiar? Cheers George!) Getting Gerald Ford into Spiro's place took priority, and Nixon traded for a lot to allow that to happen. This is yet another reason that unelected VP's are a BAD IDEA.

Anyhow, don't lose hope, I am increasingly getting the feeling that this current crop are not bright enough to hold on to power (by legitimate means at least, we shall see what dirty tricks they have up their sleeves in good time). The saddest part for me is that in many areas they seem to have decent or at least fairly neutral policies, but if I say that instead of cheering like a toddler on a sugar rush then I get accused of being an anti-government partisan. Okay then! Thanks for letting me know! Now I am an anti-government partisan, guess I had better act like one. These ignorant old men can't last much longer, the world is overtaking them. The real question is how much can we salvage versus how much they will steal or waste.

Thanks for the blogspace Campbell!

lolita dress said...

search the google then find your site.
that is a really excellent post.

Thanks for the post.

Potty Training