The burden of acquiring money weighs heavily on anyone without it. Without money, you cannot have clothes, food, shelter or enjoy any prospects. For money, we trade the bulk of our waking hours, five days a week, until old age renders us incapable. Money is not everything, but it comes damn close! So with all these reasons to pursue money, why is the drive to lead a comfortable lifestyle or become rich often perceived negatively?
Being “economically disadvantaged” degrades esteem. The number one rule of life, 'Cover the Basics'. Even though vitally important and perhaps easily attainable, happiness, like love, will practically do nothing much for you. You cannot eat happiness or pay your bills with love.
I often hear people say things like: "Be grateful you are alive, have a roof and can get by". These are soothing and silly tactics to keep you poor, get cheated and survive on a bad diet that gives you bad skin, then claim you are happy, "because that's all that matters". Yeah, right!
Money equals freedom and people will gravitate towards money; we don't need to hold it against them. They just go where they will get opportunities and be rewarded for their efforts. Poverty is abnormal and unnatural. I dislike how some people tend to embrace struggle and poverty. I abhor words like, “the poor”. Even those who pretend to “represent the poor” do so, so that THEY can eat.
Our local politics have been marred with talk of people joining parties for financial gain; ba ba batlang go ja. My argument is, Ke mang asa batleng go ja? The tricky part about politics is that there are some people who think they own or have a better understanding of the profession. Batswana have allowed politicians to do as they please, and only now, more than 40 years after independence, you get people who rant, "Batho babatla go ja fela!" So all this time we thought all politicians are embodiments of messiahs, out to save the world? Perhaps mildly so, to improve the quality of life and create a conducive environment, but if politics was on volunteerism basis, very few people would be interested. I like capitalism because it is honest about the natural condition of most people; communism is a fairy-tale. People want to hoard, own and have things others lack. It is basic human emotion that cannot be eroded nor altered. This begs the question, is politics a plausible means of acquiring an improved economic status or wealth?
Half the time, when someone decides to hop to the ruling party, the uproar is not entirely about principle. People rarely moan when people move to the “other” parties, only when it is to the ruling party. Some people want to see others struggling like them and get frustrated when others untangle themselves from 'commoner' status. Interestingly, it is often the ones who are “just getting by”, who moan the loudest. If you cannot beat them, join them, or face a corner. Anyone who bars another from wanting a better standard of living or pursuing different ideals is a lost tjatjarag agent. In real life, it is a clear case of “Each man for himself, God for us all”.
Politicians are people and most of them are out to make a living. People work to be paid, among a few other reasons relating to personal satisfaction. There are some politicians who have been called “sell-outs”. Our economic situation is too dire for popularity contests. Being 'liked' by people does not mean anything. There is no progress in our politics; sometimes it is about the party losing relevance. Some political parties resemble chicken coops: there is a lot of commotion, hollering and quacking, but nothing happening. There are communists who live like capitalists and vice versa and when you take off the rose tinted glasses, there is no such thing as “government”, just controlling corporations. So let people eat!
I agree that people are losing bits of integrity and morality because things are changing: we are a materialistic and success driven society. There is always the lingering question of integrity and principle over gain and favour.
Do not resent people who want to “eat”, but rather the dishonesty and slyness they use to do so. Go tile, 'Kokota, otlaa bulelwa!' If you cannot accept the reality, “fornicate, have a drink and read the papers. Life is just entertainment and no one comes out alive anyways". Double dollops of sarcasm and pun intended.
