Optional Revolutionary

Revolutionary Options: From We and Them to I and I

This essay seeks to address the question of individual and group or community contributions to making a ‘difference’. How does social transformation evolve from the minds, the needs and strivings of a few people in order to engulf entire communities and capture the imagination of others far away?

Essentially, I am striving to find out exactly how I contribute effectively towards making social and psycho-spiritual revolution? How do I write, speak and act or work wisely and with enough creativity and ‘common sense’ in order to create irresistible change?

Surely the writing of books, articles and telling stories is just one idea that works to a certain extent. But libraries, bookstores and even rubbish bins of the world are filled with some of the greatest books. Bible’s, Quran’s, Bhagavad Gita’s and many other tomes of religious and spiritual salvation have existed and have been expounded ad infinitum. There are millions if not billions of souls who value and benefit from these.

Globalization has also allowed for the largest production and proliferation of self-help and Do It Yourself literature, recordings and audio-visual material to show us how far we have come and what our ultimate potential is. From the attractive titles of these books e.g. The Purpose Driven Life; Rich Dad, Poor Dad; The Power of Your Sub-Conscious Mind; The Road Less Travelled; The Richest Man In Babylon and many more, including one that I personally edited, titled Oh Yes You Can, written by a dear friend – we are left with no doubt that humanity is striving for perfection and that we are at a cross-roads to sheer godliness, excellence and success.

Yet the inverse is true. The levels of violence, crimes, violations of natural laws and the whole instability or chaos that characterizes the ‘real world’ is a complete contradiction and a cruel cosmic joke. This leaves one with a simple conclusion, and that is we are nowhere near the Self-realization and the New Man that the great sages have taught us about. It means the blood of the Lamb of God has still got much work to do and that the mystics need to take their mediation and mantras to a deeper or higher level.

Nowadays there is always talk of Revolution, transformation and being the change that we seek. These terms and aspirations have become almost redundant and are forcing many activists and ‘conscious people’ to ask: “What are we struggling for, is it really going to bring the desired results in our lives and communities?”

I too have begun to question, once again:

-       Do ordinary people really need salvation from the ‘system’, from the greed and manipulation of the powers that are assumed to be?

-       Don’t people just desire safe jobs, decent employment, good social security and the comforts of houses, Spurs, McDonalds and Steers burgers?

-       How does one convince blacks and willing whites that buying Coca Cola and fast-foods every week, consuming meat, using credit card swiping has such long lasting and destructive effects on the entire earth?

-       Can I convince my sisters and brothers that supporting local and international Live music and independent artists is good for all?

-       Can I be the one that holds up the mirror that clearly shows black people that there is life and prosperity after or without the African National Congress; Democratic Alliance, Inkatha Freedom Party, Pan Africanist Congress et al.

Steady Does It: One Revolutionary Option?

“The call for the Steady State Revolution bears no resemblance to Marx’s (socialism), in the sense that its aim is not communism or any other replacement of a prudently managed capitalist democracy. And there is no call here for a forcible overthrow of anything. Americans black and white have proven a great deal about the affectivess of non-violent revolution. So have others all over the world. As Brown (1995:119) pointed out in Models in Political Economy. ‘Most revolutionary social changes have involved little violence.’ On the other hand, the call for a steady state economy is far more urgent than Marx’s. Unlike his revolutionary perspective of communism, there is no reason to believe that a steady state economy is pre-ordained. And this is worrisome, because as Brown (1995:119) also noted: ‘It is the social breakdown that follows a failure to change that engenders violence.’”

I find this analysis quite apt, pertaining to the state we find ourselves in South Africa and in other countries wherein election promises amount to hot air, excessive yet ineffective spending. Many people have begun to see through the ruling party’s and elites sloganeering. An empty promise is nothing short of a betrayal. Although there are plenty Afrikans who still buy the lie writ large on politicians and business leader’s faces and bellies – there is certainly a clear social upheaval. The most concerning trouble for I is that the anger and frustration is not channeled and tempered by revolutionary ideas, thus it ends up manifesting itself in self inflicted impoverishment and violence.

It is unfortunate that even in 2012-2013, Black Africans still mete out violence and looting against each other when they are really angry at their employers, councilors, and political mis-leaders. What they are really raging against is a failing state and a fundamentally flawed economic regime. This is an economy that ensures growth and fruitful promises for everyone else but the worker or the ordinary person. Here I am reluctant to use the term citizen to describe the slave-like condition of the black majority in any given Afrikan ‘third-world’ country. Thus I think that a special type of revolutionary education and training has to be created and freely propagated, by all means necessary among the so called working class. 

This is really the slaving class. This revolutionary re-education has to be also done among the youth of the burgeoning middle class and even upper-class. I include the latter because if they are unprepared and unresponsive or apathetic to the needs and anguish of others, the rising tension and fury of the oppressed and poor ones will scorch them too.

I am an incorrigible optimist, with a few reservations that Afrika’s young people in their diverse backgrounds can yet produce a revolutionary ethos and idealism that is doxastic – a theory to rival that of Marx, Lenin, Mao or even the prominent pan-Afrikanists of yore. This societal theory should be both imaginative and pragmatic enough to replace the ubiquitous neo-liberal laissez faire that we have all become so used to. This zeal can only be produced by a people who are dedicated to Meaningful, Willful Change in their present and future living conditions.

With all this, one is also mindful of the ‘hidden hand’ and the malevolent effects of die-hard capitalists, neo-liberal elements and even the blissfully ignorant some of whom are hell-bent on maintaining white supremacy and its ailing behemoth/leviathan economy.

This is why any Afrikan revolution must also be shrewd and internationalist (outer-nationalist) in scope. I also suspect that the seeds of this revolution are already among us, thus to safeguard it against reactionary elements, there needs to be a some levels of secrecy or invincible invisibility.

With a keen insight and interest in the ecological consequences of their actions, their habits and mentality, the young and ‘upwardly mobile’ Afrikan must be transformative or no less than a ceaseless revolutionary. S/he must reject all the trappings and illusioary behavior of neo-liberal, boursois-elitism. The credit cards, pseudo-euro centricity and Americanism and culture of entitlement has to be abandoned if we are to save ourselves from the culture-bomb. We must only be able to live as we have earned and also make social responsibility part of our natural disposition instead of just a policy or legislation. Individualism has already crept into our systems but it is not a part of our DNA. We are neither traditionally nor psycho-spiritually selfish people, so much of what can be found in our communities today is nothing more than a social construct that exists as part of the capitalist slave conditioning. Whatever we have picked up along the way are bad-habits during our encounter with missionaries, colonialism – we can still very much unlearn as long as long as we are willing to do so. It is necessary for our survival and for our re-emergence as a fully humane people.

Young Afrikans worldwide must and can cease from being imitators or trying to compete with gloating superstars who resemble puppets (overdressed and underdressed and usually intoxicated) on the strings of their white masters, the industry owners. As Brian Czech has put it: “While the super-rich are spending embarrassing amounts, anybody with the means seems to be following suit. In fact all the way down the line Americans seem to have a problem. We do it on credit, if necessary.”  (p.112: Stopping The Train – The Steady State Revolution)

This is similar to what former ANC youth leagues brash leader, the suspended and ‘broke’ Julius Malema said at a news conference pending his trial for fraud: “ You see that Mercedes of mine that you like, the bank owns it. Anyone earning my kind of salary and has some business interest on the side, can afford my lifestyle – but I remain poor, yet I am credit worthy.”

Although many young black people in the Republic of South Africa have been under the rhetorical spell of this so called youth leader, it is clear that being credit worthy does not make one a worthy leader nor a revolutionary example. 

But the media being what it is has created many types of celebrities and as it follows their way up the ladder of influence, so does it follow them as they descend it. But a true revolutionary is not concerned about being showy or being seen to shine because there are many other options, many other ways through-which one can change the world without assuming power. It all begins with Fining Ones Self and defining yourself according to what is truly empowering and liberating.

TBC

Menzi Maseko ©