Freedom or its synonym “liberty” has been the clarion call since the American Revolution, echoed wherever people dreamed of shaking off a yoke of oppression. Then came the French Revolution, as the power of monarchs waned and Parliaments waxed. The calls of Uhuru in East Africa and Amandla in South Africa echoed and overtook the Vryheid of the Afrikaners wanting to shake off English hegemony.
Another theme through all of these manifestations of liberation was the fight for Democracy. It was short lived after the French Revolution, overtaken by the despot Napoleon. After all, top-down leadership was better known in Europe and the world up until then. There had been earlier “outbreaks” of Democracy in Greece under Solon and later in Rome. But they were always crushed by despots like Alexander in Greece and Julius Caesar in Rome.
Caesar crossed the Rubicon as a military leader to chase Democracy out of Rome – because it had become so totally corrupt. It was unrecognizable. You couldn’t get elected without huge wealth enough to bribe your way into the Senate. This was having a disastrous effect on law and order and thus on the Economy. Corrupt leaders just can’t expect all the citizens to obey the law when they don’t. Today we call it cronyism. History is repeating itself. Freedom is going to people’s heads, intoxicating them… they go freedom-crazy.
Rome’s plunge from Democracy into Empire lasted for centuries. Democracy did not really return as such until the French Revolution. It was driven by radical ideas that emerged about human rights, as Europe began to secularize and re-think its world view. Because fatalistic systems like Feudalism or the caste system lock people into the status quo. Until visionaries help them to dream about freedom and having some control over their own destinies.
The motto of the French Revolution was – Democracy: Freedom and Equality. The corollary is that when Inequality reaches certain proportions, Freedom belongs just to some, not to all.
South Africa is approaching that threshold. So many books have been written about this problem. Sampie Terreblanche wrote Lost in Transformation. Moeletsi Mbeki wrote Architects of Poverty: Why African Capitalism Needs Changing. And so forth…
During the Struggle, the quintessential heroes were called “freedom fighters”. So where are the “equality fighters” now - when we need them most?
Perhaps the EFF has re-branded Equality as “economic freedom”? One can certainly understand this in the African context – a kind of second liberation.
The exit of some unions from the ruling alliance is another sign of the times. There is talk of a United Front on the Left of centre, giving an alternative to the plethora of parties crowded at the Centre. Why not just call it the United Left? Frankly all previous parties speak the language of Freedom, while the Left is starting to speak the language of Equality. Viva Vavi! Long live Juju and Jim! These three are what Sisulu, Mandela and Thambo once were - the scouts among us.
There is enough wealth in South Africa to go around. For everybody. Democracy must have a certain leveling effect – taking from the rich to give to the poor. In the case of Robin Hood, this was seen as heroic.
When Jesus read from the scroll in his home town synagogue, he read from Isaiah – that the blind would see, the lame would walk, and that the “acceptable year of our Lord” would arrive. He was referring to the Year of Jubilee. This was a year that fell every 2 generations – every 50 years. It leveled the playing field. Creditors were commanded to forgive debts. Those who were enslaved or bankrupt had to be set free. Land that had changed hands had to be returned to its original clan. It was radical. It was contentious. And it was biblical Law. Torah stuff.
No wonder they ran him out of the synagogue, out of the town, to the peri-urban areas around Nazareth, and tried to stone him (death sentence by religious vigilantes)! History will repeat itself on this again. Because when you mess with Ownership issues, they will want to shut you up. Watch this space. Remember Chris Hani.
Run-away corruption is failed Democracy. Excessive inequality is failed Democracy. Xenophobia is one symptom of economic stress. For an economy to thrive, you need law and order, not chaos.
Democracy without Equality is not what we sacrificed our futures for in the Struggle. But abandoning Democracy would be to regress (although that has happened in many African democracies). So there is only one way forward – get a bulldozer and level the playing field. Let there be a Year of Jubilee among us. Let this be Equality Day, not just Freedom Day!
Let Equality reign!!!
A Global Perspective
I read that the longest undefended border in the world is the one between Canada and the USA. So why aren’t there the scenarios there of the relatively porous Mexico-USA border? Or of the Mediterranean Sea where there is a flotilla of refugees escaping Africa and the Middle East, heading for Europe? Or the Transfrontier Park where Mozambicans and Zimbabweans risk being eaten alive by lions to enter South Africa illegally?
The answer is Equality.
Social Innovation is needed to find that “bulldozer” to level the playing field. We need to find better ways to:
- Relieve people from debt
- Address unemployment in a context of no jobs with Entrepreneurship training
- Re-distribute land, especially where it is currently unproductive
- Protect the poor and marginalized, including foreigners, giving them space for grace
“How do you get the youth to become employed? Three million jobless youth wander aimlessly and pennilessly… Pulling these young people into the economy means slicing through vested interests in the private and public sectors”
Equality can be a deception – when some people are free to be “more equal” than others.
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