Western media and academia express so much anti-Westernism that they seem unable to acknowledge that Western consumers are essential to expanding good jobs for Africans. Our domestic denials are also misconceived. The West will increasingly rely on motivated African workers. Their counterparts in many Western and Asian countries are often the sole children of affluent…Continue reading Who will guide our young adults?
Category: Recent
Don’t let patronage discourage voting
How should we respond to school leavers who say, ‘I don’t care about politics or what happened in the past, I just want a real job’? If they faced a merely difficult job market, we might encourage them to study diligently and try ever harder. However, a majority of South Africans who have left school…Continue reading Don’t let patronage discourage voting
How the ANC distracts us from solutions
Our ruling party’s corruption, incompetence and ideological indulgences are so extreme and unrelenting that they distract opponents from developing the powerful solutions which could attract disaffected voters by overcoming pervasive poverty and unemployment Sustaining attractive life-styles for South Africa’s middle and upper class should not be a high bar for a competent government to clear.…Continue reading How the ANC distracts us from solutions
How foreign policy kills prospects of the jobless
Authoritarianism threatens as long as SA remains one of the worst countries at trickle-down economics A recent Business Day editorial spoke of an “unacceptably high level of youth unemployment” and how it “is now probably the biggest threat to SA’s stability” (“President must assemble a wartime cabinet”, February 7). Since then Stats SA’s labour force figures…Continue reading How foreign policy kills prospects of the jobless
Las Vegas solutions for SA
The Godfather trilogy spotlighted issues and answers we should freshly consider. How it informed American audiences about political protection of the mob in Las Vegas is particularly relevant. Domination by gangsters didn’t make Las Vegas of the 1940s, 50s and 60s comparable to South Africa of the last three decades. Those mobsters included builders with vision. …Continue reading Las Vegas solutions for SA
When solutions are blocked by social justice spin
If irrefutable evidence showed the world would benefit from permanently exempting Elon Musk from paying taxes, would you be ok with that? If the US granted Musk a life-time exemption from paying taxes while shifting NASA’s mandate away from building rockets, it seems quite likely that US taxpayers and space exploration would both benefit. Space…Continue reading When solutions are blocked by social justice spin
Can AI help SA?
Asking ChatGPT to identify the most profound change of the last 200 years yields a lengthy response about the Industrial Revolution. An AI-styled political correctness seems to preclude a simple reference, such as the decline in farm work from 80% of all jobs to 2%. Whereas the industrial era spurred a massive migration away from…Continue reading Can AI help SA?
Mandela’s style versus Kissinger’s
Who would be better at ending the Russo-Ukrainian war, a Kissinger type of negotiator or someone with a Mandela-like leadership style? Why is this relevant to South Africa’s political and economic malaise? Mandela personified morally resplendent leadership. His courage, conviction and magnanimity encouraged us to indulge aspirational values. It is natural to admire a role-model…Continue reading Mandela’s style versus Kissinger’s
Purging politically induced learning blockages
The Covid pandemic freshly queried how we define ‘freedom’ and ‘to live’. Meanwhile, political actors sought to shape and exploit such views. A year ago China’s high command could smugly presume its Covid policies evidenced superior leadership. As their recent reversal leaves only one country, North Korea, still relying on a zero-Covid strategy, we should…Continue reading Purging politically induced learning blockages
How the ANC’s playbook resembles Donald Trump’s
The ANC’s policies, and antics, are so frequently counterproductive that its opponents confidently presume they can do better. Yet, as its rivals lack plans to surge employment, our feckless ruling party still gets away with framing issues around inequities. While Donald Trump is very different from the ANC’s leadership in countless ways, both are elites…Continue reading How the ANC’s playbook resembles Donald Trump’s