Life around here
Trip Start
Jun 02, 2009
1
6
Trip End
Jun 26, 2009
Johannesburg, South Africa
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
I have also met or re-met after many years, many young people - mostly in their early to mid twenties. Being a 'foreigner' so to speak, usually the discussion turns to the current state and the future of South Africa. Overall, it is not positive. Most young people have in mind some idea to get out. On the other hand, and in some respects, South Africans have it really good. Everybody has a cell phone or two, food and fruit is relatively cheap and in abundance, and walking into one of the numerous shopping centers here is like walking into those I go to back in the USA, except cheaper products (like $1 for a huge bag of oranges containing about 50). Some brand names are different, but many are the same, like Lay's chips). Everything is in abundance. Everything is clean and neat, except that the American meat packing is better and neater. But I cannot imagine a product one cannot find here. Internet and phones are expensive, as is any tech stuff.
Politics is the problem, naturally, as is employment, and I mean that generally speaking. It is not easy to find a job if you are white, even if your skills and qualifications are higher than a non-white applicant. The post office system, something I always consider a guideline to the well-being of any country, is in ruins. Few people send stuff through the post office, since your chance of delivery is very slim. Private systems are used.
Security is huge business. In my brother's kitchen are numerous bunches of keys. I have asked them to get all the bunches together and lay them out on a table for me to take a picture, but my guess is it will fill a shoebox. Everything is locked and double-locked. Vicious dogs are everywhere. Cars have gear locks (a stainless steel pin that gets inserted and which has a key) as well as alarms, steering locks and electronic lock-start systems. Simply getting your car onto the street outside your house is a cumbersome process. Property fences, though beautiful and artistically built, are high and most have an electric fence on top. Security is your major concern, though once you are inside and locked in, there is a relaxed feeling. My brother, as well as most South Africans, I'm sure, has a number of firearms. Children are exposed to them and trained early on in their proper use. There is no mystery or mystique to a gun, rather, it is a tool that serves a purpose. With all these measures, most people I have asked have not been robbed or endangered in many ears, and nobody I know has ever had to use a gun for protection, at least not by firing it.
There are deep racial divides here. I'm a yogi and given to universalism and humanism, so some of it makes me feel uncomfortable, but I understand the feelings. When almost all conceivable social negative items in your life seems directly related to "the other" race, it has to be difficult not to place blame. The thing is, as an irony, this works both ways because black people see it like that at well. So you have mutual blame. When I ask how long it will be before things settle down and change for the good, the optimistic view is about two generations. The cross-directional blame is based on the past, but there is a view that the younger generations will fare better with race relations. Also, with better education, people are more likely to more closely examine who to vote for and what these people actually do when elected than simply vote according to some old idea or affiliation. The new President here, Zuma, scares the shit out of people. He's seen (among various color lines) as a 'crook' who might be taking South Africa the Zimbabwe route. Also, the probability of major corruption and mismanagement for personal gain seems without doubt.
There is so much to say about politics and race-related issues, and these are passionate subjects for South Africans. In my travels I will pick up as much as I can, even though it is a bit off-center for me on the whole, but hey, I'm here, I in it now and happy to be so for the time. It is, after all, my roots, too.
Stay tuned. I'll get you guys some pics soon.
