I DON’T HATE ANYONE EXCEPT FOR MUGABE
Do you want to eradicate the entire species of TALONG?
A lot of people tend to use the word HATE loosely. Dictionary.com defines the word as “to feel extreme aversion for or extreme hostility toward” or “to dislike intensely or passionately”. To dislike someone or something with passion would probably mean that you would genuinely wish this “object of hatred” ill. For me, when I say “genuinely”, it means that you really abhor something or someone so much that it makes you forget about your principles and values to the extent that you would wish for its (his, her or their) existence to cease. Yet we use the word HATE to describe our petty dislike for things.
I admit to being one of those people. I tend to express my so-called “hatred”- for fish, the colours yellow and orange, sand in my shoes, cockroaches, and even cats-so casually, that when I think about it, it’s just absurd. So mate, the next time you open your mouth and feel tempted to use the word “hate”, think very carefully, especially if you’re affixing adverbs like “really” or “definitely” to it; and if you’re merely using it to express your feeling of simple displeasure for such a petty thing like a vegetable, for example.
Do you really hate EGGPLANT that much that you would wish for its existence to cease? Do you feel an intense dislike for this vegetable that you sometimes feel the urge to go all the way to the Arctic Circle, break into the World Seed Bank-Yes, such bank exists and it’s more formally known as the Svalbard Global Seed Vault- and wipe out the entire species of TALONG (Filipino translation for eggplant)? If you do, I reckon you should see a psychiatrist because you obviously have issues.
MUGABE TO SABAW: Why Me?
Considering the real sense of the word “hate”, I can probably say that I don’t hate anything or anyone. Or that I have never even come close to actually hating anything or anyone. Well, that’s until I’ve read and heard about Robert Mugabe.
What does a young, Philippine-born and raised, and relatively new Australian migrant like me, have against the President of Zimbabwe? Personally, I haven’t got any. And I am neither an analyst nor a student of the science of politics, so my basis for detesting the man (if you can still consider him to be “a man”) is not even politically-motivated. After months of contemplating on whether to write this article or not -for this is more personal than anything else, and in spite of my brother’s caution to take heed in writing articles like this that might be considered political propaganda by some men of power-You’ll never know who might be reading this-I have decided to write this to raise awareness among the youth who are often too self-indulgent to even care about what’s happening in the world.
Frankly, I don’t give a rat’s ass if Mugabe was a former political prisoner, some sort of freedom fighter, who was a once hailed a hero by many Black Africans because of his party’s movement to liberate his country from white minority-rule. I am all for racial equality but I think he’s become so power-hungry and greedy that he’s gone delusional and out-of-control.
According to Steve H. Hanke, Professor at The Johns Hopkins University and a Senior Fellow of The Cato Institute (taken from http://www.cato.org/zimbabwe), Zimbabwe’s inflation rate surged up to the unimaginable in November this year. Have you heard of 89,700,000,000,000,000,000,000% annual inflation rate? If you’re eyes are getting blurry, counting those zeroes; that’s 89.7 Sextillion Percent. Frankly, I have my reservations about this source. I'm not sure if it has actually reached this point but back in October 2008, even before the whole global financial crisis happened, Zimbabwe’s inflation rate was already at 231,000,000% or 231 million%, (taken from http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/ 2008/oct/ 09/zimbabwe). So it’s of no surprise that when the financial crisis sent the US and the other European, Asian and Oceanic economies crumbling, the economy of Zimbabwe was hit like a tiny island struck by a tsunami. That sent my blood boiling and made me weak on my knees.
SABAW TO MUGABE: Now, what did ya do that (to Zimbabwe) for?
Based on an electronic publication released by the U.S. Department of State on March 12, 2003 (taken from http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/16501.htm), the crisis that Zimbabwe is facing now, was “man-made”.
Due to Mugabe’s land reform to take the farms from their white owners and give them back to the Black African farmers, Zimbabwe’s economy suffered. I do not have a full understanding of Marxism to criticise its philosophy but this reform just seems wrong. The intention was noble but I don’t think the end justifies the means, in this case. Moreover, there are many allegations that he just gave the land to his cronies, anyway; and that some lands were taken by force, even from some other Black farmers, to control the rural economy and support his own political agendas. Exports went down. Unemployment skyrocketed. Economic opportunities were missed. The printing of Zimbabwean dollars in ridiculously large denominations were not justified, so the country’s currency was reduced to “Mickey Mouse Money”. It has become virtually worthless that you could probably have sacks and sacks of these monies and only be able to buy a loaf of bread. What’s worse, you don’t even have any bread to buy because there is a shortage of food and commodities. Mugabe’s regime created such an imbalance in the political and economic atmosphere of the country that more and more Zimbabweans- if not lucky enough to escape to some other countries abroad-are dying everyday from political killings, starvation and diseases.
The Zimbabweans and the world are sick of Mugabe. In fact, in the last national election held early this year, the people were hoping for a miraculous touch from democracy. They voted to topple Mugabe, amidst a political atmosphere surrounded by intimidation and fear. The opposition leader for Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), Morgan Tsvangirai, got more votes on the first round but failed to win by technicality. He dropped out of the race for the second round, claiming that his supporters were being persecuted and threatened by the current government but the election still proceeded even with just one candidate. Mugabe even voted for himself! Geesh! What’s the point of that? Mugabe has ruled the country since 1980. Why does he still refuse to go? Many countries and Zimbabweans reacted to this sham election. But Mugabe just ignored the outcries of the people. (http://www.voanews.com/english/archive/2008-06/2008-06-27-voa18.cfm)
Then, in September, both parties signed this “historic” (pseudo) power-sharing agreement, mediated by President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa. Are we really supposed to buy this? Fine, Mugabe finally decided to share “some” of his power. However, he’s still considered the President and the Head of Government while Tsvangirai acts as the Prime Minister. Does anyone really believe that this will work? It’s nothing but Mugabe’s band-aid solution to the worsening Zimbabwean crisis. I’m actually surprised Tsvangirai even bought it. Well, not for long, I guess. The next month came, and they were already arguing about who’s managing which ministries. Mugabe was planning to give his own party, ZANU-PF (Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic Front), the key ministries like including defence, home, foreign affairs, and justice, leaving the crumbs to the opposition. Tsk! Tsk! Oh, Robert, don’t be greedy now! Didn’t your mother teach you to share? (see http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7677379.stm)
Oh, but the debacle doesn’t end here. The saga continues and it gets even more ridiculous. Later that month, Mugabe’s government failed to issue a diplomatic passport to Tsvangirai-who happens to be the Prime Minister of the Zimbabwe, just in case you forgot-when he was supposed to attend the power sharing talks held in Swaziland. It’s sooooo funny. Guess what the reason is for the administration’s inability to print Tsvangirai’s passport-they ran out of the special paper used for passports! Hahahaha. I told you, it’s hilarious! Of course, Tsvangirai was later issued with emergency travel documents but everyone thought it was a deliberate act from Mugabe to frustrate his rival so the opposition boycotted the summit altogether. (see http://www.voanews.com/eng lish/archive/2008-10/2008-10-24-voa47.cfm )
Unfortunately, that was the only funny chapter in the story. The next one that followed was nothing short of a tragedy. Mugabe’s list is not complete without it.
Political killings ü
Starving masses ü
Blatant corruption ü
Unemployment, to the roof ü
Election, rigged ü
Failed power-sharing agreement ü
Tsvangirai, pissed off ü
Now, what else, could be missing? Oh I know…
Other: Cholera Outbreak ü
As if Zimbabweans weren’t already suffering enough, many died when the cholera epidemic hit the country last month. It was all over the news. The death toll reached 1000+.
It was getting out-of-hand. Some of the most powerful countries like France, Britain and the US threatened Mugabe with military intervention. So what’s Robert gonna do; deny the allegations of a cholera outbreak, of course! He dismissed the idea of an epidemic and made the following statements, “…Now that there is no cholera, there is no need for war… The cholera cause doesn't exist any more." (see http://www.sbs.com. au/news/article/1002162/No-more-cholera-in-Zimbabwe-Mugabe ) There were even news reports about Mugabe’s military attempts to cover up the cholera outbreak. I think, or should I say, we all think Mugabe’s gone too far now and he should step down.
Whether Zimbabweans will soon see the break of a new dawn or not, I’m not sure. Though I constantly hope and pray for nothing else.
** Original post's in Multiply so LJ might screw up the formatting **