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Thread: The most unequal society in the world

  1. #11
    Bronze Member Butch Hannan's Avatar
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    I quite honestly think that we should stop measuring ourselves against the rest of the world. This is a dangerous practice because if we are better than the average we will be lulled into a sense of false security. I agree with you when you say we have to fight what is wrong with whatever means we have at our disposal.
    We must not be happy that we are not the worst in the world. We must strive to become the best!!!

  2. #12
    Platinum Member desA's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Butch Hannan View Post
    I quite honestly think that we should stop measuring ourselves against the rest of the world. This is a dangerous practice because if we are better than the average we will be lulled into a sense of false security. I agree with you when you say we have to fight what is wrong with whatever means we have at our disposal.
    We must not be happy that we are not the worst in the world. We must strive to become the best!!!
    You know, Butch, I remember a time when we were proud to be South Africans. Not from the point of screwed-up politics, but rather from the can-do perspective. We were not afraid to innovate & take risk, where appropriate. You know, at one stage, we even had nukes. We did a lot of spectacular engineering research & in some areas were very much to the forefront in the world. Our university standards were benchmarked against some of the best universities in the world.

    We were able to excel.

    Then came the opening up of the power-base & rightly so. Many of us actively campaigned for, or supported this change. At that point, a switch seemed to turn off & the innovation train hit the end-stop.

    I am starting to see a faint glimmer of hope on the development front again, in some areas. I have actively campaigned to birth a number of radically new technologies in SA - these will create an enormous amount of new opportunities, if managed correctly. The most frustrating thing has been to come up against the professional managers whose only answer is 'NO'. Most times, they have not even taken the time to try & understand the concept. Ironically, when they are shown that a Euro-Merkin JV is about to kick off in this field - ok, then... MAYBE I was correct in my forward vision.

    This is ridiculous.

    Now, how does this translate down into the rest of society?

    Empower the visionaries & forward thinkers - an uber think-tank if you will - to develop & craft strategies that will move SA into the forefront of the arena when our citizens will be most profitably used. Then, go out & look for international partners to assist with capital, technology, know-how, to help birth this innovative process. This is the Singapore model.

    Come on, people. Stop bickering, & finger-pointing. Let's move forward into a new paradigm.
    In search of South African Technology Nuggets(R), for sale & trading in South East Asia.

  3. #13
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    No country is perfect and all of them have some problem or the other. SA currently has it better than most other countries. Of course there are issues and things will improve with time. I agree with DesA above that the Singapore model is quite good and it can be applied to a country like SA as well.

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    Most of the replies display an instinctive reluctance, on account of relative privilege, to accept what is now a reality. It is symptomatic of a deeper problem at the heart of which is our disunity, mainly racial, as a society.
    Come on, just view the miles and miles of shanty towns ... starting as you fly in at OR, Cape Town, East London ... So even if we are not THE MOST UNEQUAL society, we are in a pretty rotten state ... and that really is the point.
    See -http://coginito.blogspot.com/2010/12/pope-australians-japanese-all-said-it.html

  5. #15
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    Nothing like giving your own blog as a citation. Hey Chris, you sure do waffle a lot on your blog. You go round and round in circles feeling sorry for yourself. You wanna say you're sorry, knock yourself out. There comes a time when saying sorry doesn't cut it anymore. Get over it, its done. My 9 & 11 year old daughters don't have to say sorry for being born white. I think that your views are very naive!

  6. #16
    Site Caretaker Dave A's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by ChrisNG53 View Post
    So even if we are not THE MOST UNEQUAL society
    Chris, I think you miss the point. There's no denying the poverty problem. But if the statement isn't founded in fact, you have to ask why it's being trotted out.

    A deliberate attempt at polarisation, perhaps?
    Where is the disunity coming from?

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    As regards your "shoot the messenger" response, I respectfully ask that you now go back to the blog and read the POST SCRIPT (since added). When you do, substitute the child mentioned for your own daughter.
    Naive??????

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    Shoot the messenger - Dude you are not the messenger, you are the author of the round about tripe written in the blog. - So no, I'm not shooting the messenger, I am shooting the author.

    You are naive if you think that the reason this lot are running around shooting people is because we don't go around saying sorry all the time.

    When you do, substitute the child mentioned for your own daughter
    This is not an intelligent argument to support your point. What does the last bit added to your blog have to do with running around saying sorry?

  9. #19
    Gold Member Martinco's Avatar
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    Ask yourself just one question – are you sorry? If you are, why have you not said it?
    When you discuss this with yourself … and others, pose this question and answer first. Then recall that the Pope has said sorry for the pedophile priests … for the Vatican looking the other way during the Holocaust. East Germany has said sorry to the Jews. Australia has done the same as regards the Aborigines. The US has said sorry to Native Americans. So have the Japanese as regards the Chinese. This list is long. If you are sorry, you say it.


    And what did the British say to the Afrikaner after the Boer War ? Killing thousands of women and children ? Nothing, Zip ! No TRC.
    No amount of "sorry" will change the situation. Try telling a criminal holding a gun against your head that you are "sorry" and see where that gets you.
    No man.......get real !
    Martin Coetzee
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    We solve your fastening problems.
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    You may never know what results will come from your actions, but if you do nothing, there will be no results... Rudy Malan 05/03/2011

  10. #20
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    Exclamation The most unequal society

    We do not have to be the "most unequal society in the world' to be concerned; seriously concerned.
    When we left Zimbabwe in 1992 it had none of the problems that we have in SA, i.e, education, health, security, energy, crime, corruption = all fine. We held to the view that there were concerns ... serious concerns. People thought we were mad to leave.The rest is history. In just 7 years (1999 - 2006) the country collapsed and over 3.5 million of us are now in the Zim Diaspora scrounging for acceptance. (My blog post "Despotism Unlimited - Robert Mugabe" refers).
    So to say "well we are not the worst in the world etc" is a very dangerous argument. It is called being supine ... in the face of that which is bad, that which is wrong. It is this acquiescence that tyrants and bad governments thrive on. It is an acceptance of "powerlessness" which will ultimately ensure "victimization".
    Government needs to be held accountable. To do that, we first need to ensure clarity about our own thinking.
    Let us have the conversation!
    Blog: http://coginito.blogspot.com Cognito ergo sum

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