optimist view on the future of SA

[tec0]

My apologies for forgetting that this is your world and I just live in it.

[Dave A]

I reckon we're in a situation where things could work out well - or could go really badly. How much of a change is that from the situation 15 or so years back? I made a decision then, and so far I haven't seen enough cause to change it.

As a nation, I think there are areas where we've slipped backwards a bit. There are areas where we have moved forward. We could have done better and we could have done much worse.

An immigrant will always be a second class citizen pretty much anywhere in the world, at least for a while. If I have to be a second class citizen, I reckon it may as well be somewhere where I really understand what makes the place tick.

For me this is home, and I'll not be giving up on my country easily.

[murdock]

thats is exactly the way i felt about the situation when lots of my mates and family members left...i had hope for this country...thats why i am still here...but its fading fast.

the only differrence is that when the changes took place there was a leader nelson mandela who gave us hope for a rainbow nation...he didnt have plans of nationlisation of mine accelerated land reform or maybe he did we just werent told about it...the crime wasnt out of control...the anc was a party was about creating a better life for all not just a minority.

you didnt worry that while you are at work people could be breaking into your house to harm your family...you didnt worry to lock you office door... have beams around your factory and razor wire on the fence to prevent someone from entering your property to hijack you while working a little late then lock you in the boot of your car then driven around the locations for hours then if you are lucky dumped on the side of the road...or you are not so lucky like some one i know got gang raped by the 4 who hijacked him...we have all become part of the food chain.

they werent taking away our firearms...to prevent us from protecting our families

i cant get contracts because of the colour of my skin...my son cant get a job because of the colout or his skin.

skilled engineers are being retrenched and cant find work because of the colour of their skin...yet there is a skills shortage in this country.

do i need to depress you anymore...shall i keep going.

thats why i am looking for some positive things to look forward to....one is not not julius malema as president.

personally i can cut it anywhere even if it means digging a hole everynight to sleep in... like io have done in the past...i can even sleep on the side of the road as i have done in the past...but i now have a rsposibility to my family to create a "safe living enviroment" for my wife and daughter.

this why i need an opitmist to help me understand why i want to stay and live here in this country and bring up my daughter.

make a list of all the good things to look forward to...ireland is also a beutifull country and probaly a lot safer...i cant afford R300000 a month to have security and VIP protection...i can only afford a small portion towards the civil servants protection...the joke of it.

[murdock]

my biggest concern is why is the anc leadership not standing up at this time...when they are needed most and clearly statng the way forward.

as leaders they should have stood up and said....these are the problem the country is experiencing and we as goverment have these measures in place to overcome these issues and are taking this action to overcome and resolve the uncertainty amongst our fellow citizens...instead they are sitting quetly waiting for what?

people in this country see these crimminals as heros...i thought it was despute over wages

[tec0]

Chapter 2 - Bill of Rights

9. Equality

1. >> Everyone is equal before the law and has the right to equal protection and benefit of the law.

12. Freedom and security of the person

1. Everyone has the right to freedom and security of the person, which includes the right:

1. not to be deprived of freedom arbitrarily or without just cause;
2. not to be detained without trial;
3. to be free from all forms of violence from either public or private sources;
4. not to be tortured in any way; and
5. not to be treated or punished in a cruel, inhuman or degrading way.

22. Freedom of trade, occupation and profession

Every citizen has the right to choose their trade, occupation or profession freely. The practice of a trade, occupation or profession may be regulated by law.

How many of the above mentioned is true in your life? The short end of the stick is that Affirmative Action and BE is not constitutional because if a business do not have the above mentioned he/she can no longer do business?

[Dave A]

Here's a reason to be optimistic - reading much of the commentary after a pretty dramatic week, I think the moderate majority is starting to speak up and make its voice heard.

All the coverage of the extreme seems to have made many realise that most of us would prefer to be part of a peace-loving nation - and actually stand up and say as much.

[desA]

People, would you mind if I interjected with a scenario that no-one in SA would ever want to see. Please press on with verbal debate & contest as long as possible.

In Thailand yesterday, the puppet government ordered its soldiers to shoot and kill unarmed protesters. As of this morning 689 injured, 18 dead. Some of the casualties ended up being soldiers as the protesters found a way to defend themselves with sticks & recovered weapons. The has been termed the Songkran Massacre of 2010.

All of this murder has been to defend the Thai king & the aristocratic rule which pushes down the emerging grass-roots classes. A red struggle has begun & Thailand is now in the early stages of a full civil war.

We have all been incredibly shocked by the pictures of death & injury.

The scenario in SA must not be allowed to inflame to this level. Please learn from the mistakes of Asia, to reboot to the next chapter in SA history.

Why I bring in Thailand is that their grass-roots leaders look strongly to the peaceful model of Nelson Mandela & de Klerk, rather than to war. They stood against rising to arms for more than a month, in the face of police & military crackdowns - many times referring to the SA model.

People, think long & very hard.

[murdock]

i have...and i have been reading up about the nazi ss human experimentations...japanese human experiments...inhumane acts in pow camps...the ratios of death in the various camps around the world...peeling skin off womans breast in the pow camps to make lamp shades...and most of the experiments where done without medication...or pain relief of any sort...i come to the conclusion there are some really sick humans out there...and what is even more distubing are people who make these really sicks movies...the thoughts that go thru their minds to come up with the material for the movies...makes me wonder what they do for pleasure when not making sick movies.

when i mentioned to some people america would be a good place...they gave me lists of sites to visit...showing me that even in america women are gang raped...there are some seriously sick people there who dont just kill you they eat you as well...

i wouldnt advise anyone with a weak stomach to do research on these issue there are so graphic pictures which will make you sick in your stomach...and some of the deatails will metally disturb you.

i watched angus bucham and my new favourite pastor this morning ps oliver...life by design...i need to spend more time watching these fellas and less time on the internet...so i can clear my mind of the filth and inhumane acts on humans and concentrate on more positive things in life...as i have mentioned this journey i on to try help my soul end up in heaven rather than hell becomes difficult when you read about how humans are treated...it is extremely difficult to have faith.

i sometimes feel like i am in a wishing well and i can see the light at the top of the well but there is no ladder to get out...i come up with plans to build a ladder get half way out then it becomes tooo easy to just fall back in again.

i tried something different on friday...after reading all the misery on the internet...i decided to go out smile and greet every single person i encounted on my travels...and i mean every one from the black guy walking along the road...to the lady cleaning the floors to the md of the companies i visited...the response was increadable...every single person no matter how unhappy they looked smiled back and greeted me.

[tec0]

Well there is a lot more going on in the world. Yes you do get evil people and sometimes I question faith “actually I question faith all the time� So here we are “humanity� this word have lost its meaning when humans discovered technology and still want to hurt others.

So what to do? If all goes to plan there is nothing we can do... Well not so, see people are forgetting that we are all connected and the earth is at a point where its oscillations will soon activate more markers in our DNA and we all know that this can cause cancer or evolution “perhaps both�

If there is any truth in this we will soon face something that we cannot control and or comprehend or it can just be a load of BS and life will go on. I am hopeful that there is a change coming and that if we are lucky this change will allow for growth of the human mind and allow for evil to end.

I personally cannot care less if any of the above mentioned is true. We can do extraordinary things just look at our technology and het we cannot get away from our animalistic nature.

I hope that we will find some type of peace within the next 30 to 50 years because at this point in time life itself has become a curse...

[murdock]

i have been through some serious challenges in my life...but after an experience i encounted in november last year made me drop to my knees

i went to church for 16 years then decided that it wasnt for me...i then lived a life of emptyness which i thought was the way life should be lived...my main focus was on money and material objects...i eventually lost both...until i got to a point that i was in the gutter...i then managed to get my life back together...and lived a life of bliss...booze...fast cars...motorbikes and loose women...and i thought that was life...even though i woke up every morning and sometimes only the afternoon with a hangover from hell...but this was the the life...the problem was that my soul was dead and going nowhere.

i stopped drinking and smoking and decided to try pull my life together in other words join the rat race...to material success...the goal to live in a big house with a fancy car and enough plastic debt to pay the bank managers salary with all the interest and fees.

in the mean time visiting angus buchan shows hoping for some miracle to happen...but it never did.

in november last year something happened that bought me to my knees...as i mentioned to the person who i had never met i am not scared of any human being but he was scaring me because he had a hold over me that i cannot explain...he also told me that he couldnt explain what was happining to him...well i also believe that men dont cry only girls and babies do...i cried begging god for forgiveness ( i havent done this since i was a kid at school)

i am still battling to understand what is going on so i go to bible study evey week and watch angus buchan and pastor oliver on sundays. i am still trying to understand what and why....after reading things like what the nazi did to the jews... the chineese did to pow prisoners and to their own people....and how christians also get the short end of the stick getting thrown to the lions etc...what i do know is if all people had hope and faith and lived according to the 10 comandments we wouldnt be experiencing the challenges we do.