With the current wave of “terrorist” attacks, not only in France, but in other parts of the world such as Nigeria and Mali, too, “fundamentalist” organisations have become the focus of many questions, including the one concerning the reason why (particularly young) people join these despite risking their lives in the course of performing their […]
General
Posted inGeneral, Media, News/Politics, Tech
Homo naledi, Piltdown and a lesson in African prehistory
Professor Lee Berger and his team of scientists caused a huge stir when they unveiled the skeletal remains of not one, but at least 15 members of a previously unknown hominin species they’d discovered at the Cradle of Mankind. While the team had made no claim to have found the missing link between man and […]
Posted inEnvironment, General, News/Politics
Why is the state not helping farmers and miners?
When things go pear-shaped and certain critical sectors of our economy are likely to implode, the critical intervention of wise leadership is required. The role of government, even in countries like the US, which subscribe to laissez-faire policies, is to intervene when the market fails and when national interest is at risk. Thus in 2008 […]
Posted inGeneral, Lifestyle, News/Politics
Dear young African, it’s time to wake up
No, this is not about #FeesMustFall or #RhodesMustFall. It’s about stepping up to the leadership plate when the doors to lead are flung open for you to walk through. Are you well-equipped to take up the leadership mantle and lead when the old-guard fall by the wayside? Where is your attention? What are you focused […]
Posted inEquality, General
Now is a good time for South African whites to show courage
I can sum up my feelings over the last 20 years of democracy in South Africa as being a progression of emotions, from concern (pre 1994) to euphoria (elections) to “this is not so bad” to “quite comfortable thank you” (Mandela days) back to concern, (Zuma) then to anger (Nkandla et al), followed by frustration […]
Posted inGeneral
Smelling my whiteness
“O lekgoa” was thrown around whenever we smelt good, or “O nkgasekgoa” (You smell white). – Lorato Palesa Modongo Thwack … squish and I feel the mud slurp at the edge of my spade as I rip up carpets of agapanthus from my Kiwi customer’s flowerbeds. A wash of snail- and worm-slimed earth, along with […]
Posted inBusiness, General, News/Politics
Derrida and the present world (dis-)order
Anyone who believes that the present world-dispensation is one of “order”, merely has to scan all the many sources of information to be disabused of such an illusion. In doing so, however, they would probably not realise that, as Derrida (1994; see below) enables one to see, these very news sources — mainly television, the […]
Posted inEquality, General, News/Politics
Are violent protests cleansing, like Fanon said?
By Liezille Jacobs and Julian Jacobs Frantz Fanon, often referred to as the psychiatrist who prescribed violence, would turn in his grave at the condemnation of the student protests because he believed overcoming oppression could be realised through a violent uprising of the masses. Fanon said the slave thinks of overthrowing his master while being […]
Posted inGeneral
Žižek and that strange animal, the human
A fascinating discussion of jealousy, fantasy, animals and utopia, by Slavoj Žižek — the “most dangerous philosopher in the West” (New Republic) — in Living in the End Times (Verso, London, 2010), helps one understand the reasons for our fascination with animals in their “natural” state. This fascination is well-known to most of us — […]
Posted inGeneral, Media, Tech
Facebook helps restore our humanity (at times)
I am 52 and come from a generation where one can be bewildered by, and dismissive of, the proliferation of instantly accessible information (not knowledge, there are important differences) online. This is often in my hand or in my pocket in the form of my Android. However, I use the social media to my advantage, […]
Posted inGeneral, Lifestyle, Tech
Emerson, a much-neglected thinker
Ralph Waldo Emerson — the leader of American “Transcendentalism” in the 19th century — has a lot to teach the self-obsessed, narcissistic, smartphone-wielding generation of today. Despite the fact that his famous essay, “Self-Reliance” (1841; available here) is written in the excessively patriarchal language of the time — one might be forgiven for thinking there […]
Posted inGeneral
Here is an innovative solution to SA’s sub-standard education, school vouchers
By Mbulelo Nguta South Africa spends more money per student on education than any other African country and more money than many countries in the world but our education outcomes are disgraceful. We rank at the bottom in all international rankings on literacy, maths and science. The Centre for Development and Enterprise will tell you […]