People are going ape shit. I have never been so frustrated with poor people. I am usually on the side of the revolution...the fight against the oppressor. But who exactly had the ass-hat idea that foreigners, who are generally fairly impoverished themselves are the new oppressors. It disgusts me to see the people running out of tiny ruined shops with their arms full of loot because their faces are so consistently euphoric. And the people whose shops they have ruined are hardly rich enough to bounce back without years and years of work and luck. Luck that they won't have in this climate of spreading xenophobia.
The violence is also very localized. It's in the townships and poor areas. I didn't even know about it for almost a week after it started because of my pampered Rondebosch existence (plus, since its exams now, I didn't even have time to open the paper or turn on the news). It's fairly amazing how it spread from Jo-burg to Durban to Cape Town. I understand that people who are already simmering with resentment can see that in Jo-burg they identified a certain enemy and struck against it and then have the bright idea to do the same. But seriously, I think its suspicious. I am almost convinced that there is a "third front" that the news has been talking about. Some group or person who is orchestrating the violence.
Fuck, though. Intra-ghetto revolutions aren't going to get anybody anywhere. It doesn't even make sense. I am so not condoning larger violence, but if you want to really get somewhere you have to find a bigger fish to fry than the Somali down the road who had the good fortune to start a small tuck shop.
What is with people today? They are now so separated from "the struggle" (against apartheid) that they have the gall to compare their ludicrous riots to the old ANC-type uprisings. Open a fucking book or consult a fucking elder. Don't shoot your neighbor and call it a righteous revolt.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
That sucks. Workingmen of all nations, unite...
Post a Comment