Elected officials are not superior

Any problem in this universe starts with confusing one thing for another. It can only be the insane, who can be observed as using underpants for headgear. Such behavior is similar to putting on a right-hand shoe to the left foot and vice versa. A person cannot be effective in running or walking, as long as obsessed with that kind of confusion. For things to function properly, this universe demands order.

All problems experienced in African governments portray failure to appreciate this simple axiom: Normalcy lies in the ability to be orderly, in one’s behavior. It seems Africans were more comfortable under a monarchial arrangement until the Western nations came with an idea of democracy.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, the idea of democracy was taken advantage of by criminals, masquerading as political revolutionaries. Any bad experience can be advantageous, when used for purposes of learning, before developing workable methods. This is different from those taking comfort in apathy, leading to unnecessary miseries.

At the point of being elected, a cunning politician immediately assumes the position of being king, not necessarily guided by the people’s wishes. Such cunning politicians adopt the stance that is practiced by kings, yet knowing that they would be elected by the people. Ordinary people accept treating such politicians as kings, due to confusing democracy with a monarchy.

Some kings are known to have ruled their people well, but not necessarily out of obligation. Generally, kings impose their own will on those under their monarchy. In fact, under a king’s territory, everything belongs to the king. This explains how monarchial kingdoms are sustained.

A king holds a monarchial right to decide on the question of who has to live or who has to die. The monarchial codes of conduct are determined by the ruling kings, whether good or bad. The Old Testament Bible shows a series of kings ruling both the Israelites and the Jews, in the first and second Books of Kings. Some of those kings were good, and others were recorded as having been bad.

The Western world can be credited for developing the system of democracy, which simply means governance by the will of the people, rather than oligarchy. The democratic system allows that those elected into leadership offices can be recalled if no longer following the wishes of the people.

Nevertheless, not everything is good about democracy, as the views of ordinary voters may not always be pro-survival.  The effectiveness of democracy lies in the quality of those privileged to vote. This viewpoint was sustained in the argument of Ian Smith, though viewed disdainfully, as advocating white supremacism. Let us not take away the possibility that Smith may have been saner than the opposite belligerents. The only problem with Ian Smith may have been in failure to engage black leaders.

There is no need to talk about democracy when those concerned are not thoroughly educated on matters of democracy. What criteria should those people use for government leaders? What is the intended goal for the electors to put such favored politicians into leadership positions? The failings of such politicians are a reflection of those who would have voted, in the first place.

This can easily be understood by those willing to adopt this axiom, as revealing democratic failures in Africa. However, the genesis of Zimbabwean problems appears as stemming from ordinary people getting whipped into voting for those without acceptable credentials.  There are documented cases where people have been forced to vote in particular patterns, in order to save their lives.

In uncivilized societies, power comes from the gun, rather than from ideas. This is why uncivilized societies require monarchial governance, rather than democratic functions. A monarchy is born out of fear, as people feel protected under a king. The traditional monarchy sustaining African kingdoms throughout the centuries was necessitated by fear.

While most countries have taken strides, as reflected in modern civilizations, Africa lags behind. The only hope of Africa lies in active interaction with advanced democracies in the Western world. Democracy is designed for mentally freed beings. The wrong thing is to advocate for democracy to those whose minds are still in slavery. Due to lack of education, such people cannot even know what would be good for them, as demanded of democratic tenets.

The difference between an educated person and the uneducated one is in understanding the principle of responsibility. An uneducated person thinks more about himself than what happens in the environment. He is not aware of the effects of irresponsibility impacting the environment. He becomes surprised when such bad effects threaten his survival.

The most astonishing reality is that one can acquire a Ph.D. and yet still remain uneducated. In a properly structured democracy, those electing leaders to take up governance responsibility are the ones in charge. Their responsibility is not surrendered to the elected ones. This is not different from employers hiring workers, whose salaries are dependent on contracts of employment.

Surprisingly, most Zimbabweans seem to be aware of exercising the role of responsibility, when employing housemaids. They exercise authority over the housemaids, performing according to the agreement, or else the housemaid’s employment contract gets terminated. The same employers become stupefied when treating those they elect into government offices.

The slavery mentality portrays another person as more superior than others. This is peddled falsehood, even among Christian Churches, failing to appreciate that all humans were created equal. None should portray himself as more superior than others. Only those in slavery mentality, find this truism too difficult to comprehend.

They say Godliness means obeying elected leaders, even when they trample upon people’s rights to be human. The electorate behaves like bewitched people, hypnotized to obey wicked instructions. Revolutions cannot change such minds. Only the proper education should make them aware of their human dignity. Even when not owning anything, those people are just as all humans are born equal.

Nothing is as painful as observing people appearing as supporting a wicked Kleptocratic government in Zimbabwe. One would have anticipated that the dawn of the twenty-first century would open up the floodgates of good governance. This is especially so, in Zimbabwe, where education became mandatory, at the advent of independence, in 1980.

The story of the Zimbabwean problem can easily be narrated as showing symptoms of assuming that other humans are more superior to others. Instead of copying virtuous standards from Western nations, it seems our African people prefer copying wicked behaviors from such nations. We should not forget that self-centeredness appeals more to uncivilized societies.

Nothing can be as disgusting as imagining a country of over fifteen million people failing to exercise authority, as enshrined in the constitution. What remains enigmatic is how kleptocratic governance takes roots in a country with, supposedly educated people as Zimbabwe? The cause of that scenario can be zeroed on self-centeredness. We live in a society where each individual thinks of himself, without caring about what happens next door.

This comes from a wicked proverbial sentiment ‘Nhamo yeumwe hayiramirwe sadza.’ (One should not bother himself much about another person’s problem). I suppose this was a proverb coined by a self-centered maniac who assumed that physical life was all there was for human existence. The same psychotic would be quick to cry foul when visited by a similar predicament, himself.

There are those, like Jacob Ngarivume, known for advocating for mass action against the current government. This is as this government is viewed by many as being oppressive. Such massive action can be futile, as long as ordinary people are not educated on the need to exercise altruism in their conduct. In the advent of social media, it should be possible to educate the uneducated.

Zimbabwe is not in such a bad state as to deserve kleptocratic governance. More voices are needed in educating the populace to accept the principle of responsibility, as demanded of a thriving democracy. Why could a people as educated as Zimbabweans remain enveloped in hypnotic delusions?

Though being driven in an expensive motorcade, the president is as ordinary as any of those walking on the streets of Harare. Whether elected or just having imposed himself, he is not a god. The only reason for the existence of kleptocracy is the careless attitude of the populace. There is no problem greater than the people, themselves. All that is needed is for such people to be educated enough to understand the principle of responsibility.

The Zimbabwean security lies in re-coining the proverbial sentiment: ‘Nhamo yeumwe hayiramirwe sadza,’ to ‘Nhamo yeumwe inoramirwa sadza.’ (Another man’s problem should be a cause for disillusionment). There is no survival in self-centeredness. And never can there be survival in self-centeredness, even if one acquires massive wealth to himself, at the expense of everyone else.

Materialism appeals, only to the dead people in their sinful condition. Such are people often viewed as too preoccupied with death matters. When truly alive, materialism is as worthless as the earth is worthless, in this universe. This is why the curse of Adam was associated with the earth (Genesis 3:19). This is the reality that those, all along, boasting with their despicably stolen wealth fail to appreciate.

Life, in general, is not as difficult as most people assume it to be. What is required in handling life, is assuming responsibility to care for others, similarly to how one cares for himself. It is impossible for a person holding that mindset to ever assume that the person voted into power deserves to be worshipped. A person with such a voting responsibility thinks like God, rather than thinking like a slave.

Life is contained in answering the question of what one does for the benefit of others, rather than what one does for one’s own benefit. We live in a society with those putting value on money, more than themselves. Yet this cannot be true of those appreciating having been created in God’s image. In the business of humanity, no person should claim to be better than others.

The only difference, among humans, lies in being the cause for good things, in the direction of one extreme. Compared with being the cause for bad things in the direction of the opposite extreme. It is the mindset that needs changing, as such changing can project an overnight impact on human existence. All humans are born with the capabilities to solve problems in their respective environments.

I suppose the starting point is for celebrities to start spreading the reconstructed proverb: Nhamo yeumwe inoramirwa sadza. (Another man’s problem is a cause for disillusionment). On this maxim, lies the survival of the entire nation. The opposite of this is Nhamo yeumwe hayiramirwe sadza, (Another man’s problem is not a cause for disillusionment). This is what condemns the entire nation into a state of apathy, leading towards its unstoppable eventual demise.

 Let us all be our brothers’ keepers, more than we should only be our own keepers. The trajectory towards the eventual demise, at which the entire nation is headed, is alarming. This is when many people are seen as jostling to attract attention from a corrupt governing system. This is sad, especially when news headlines project stories of top MDC officials getting attracted to rotten offers from the Mnangagwa government.

Those in the Christian community occupy themselves in prayer but appearing as divorced from the idea of responsibility. Those prayers are focused on self-protection, rather than focusing on curbing the general catastrophe in the livelihood of ordinary people. God and the Holy Bible are commonly used for advancing self-benefits, rather than taking seriously what God advocates.

Indeed, Zimbabwe is in trouble, unless each of us exercises the willingness to take responsibility for advancing altruism. There can be no other answer to the miseries prevailing in our country, except altruism. I suppose, if there has been anything to learn in the last forty years of independence, it is only one thing. And it can’t be anything else other than that self-centeredness caused the current catastrophe.

Too much comfort in personal gains should be a cause for concern to a sane individual. That person should be answering the question of what others would be getting from his services. Without the willingness to advance such philosophies, the entire country remains in apathy. The consequences of which are too ghastly to contemplate.

There is a need to wake up and be our own masters. It is foolish to assume that we are not independent, resulting from failure to take responsibility for our own affairs. Suppressing the idea of altruism does not benefit anyone, except the criminals, desiring to brainwash as many people as possible, towards their catastrophic destiny. This is the time to come out of the confusion of deception.

Andrew Masuku is the author of Dimensions of a New Civilization, laying down standards for uplifting Zimbabwe from the current state of economic depression into a model for other nations worldwide. A decaying tree provides an opportunity for a blossoming sprout. Written from a Christian perspective, the book is a product of inspiration, bringing relief to those having witnessed the strings of unworkable solutions––leading to the current economic and social decay. In a simple conversational tone, most Zimbabweans should find the book as a long-awaited providential oasis of hope.

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