It is regularly said in our media that our government lacks a vision for the country, they have run out of ideas. This problem goes much deeper and way down the social strata.
My first job on this planet was as a cashier at a supermarket in Durban. Because I grew up – dare I say this – on the right side of Apartheid, I got a (modest) car for my 18th birthday, I stayed at home, rent and food were free to me. Every cent I earned went to fuel for the car, and beers. There was no cider back then. The job was menial to say the least, but I had hope for the future. My university studies were paid for (obviously – there was no such thing as a “white tax”). I had no specific idea where I would exist on the employment ladder, the isolationist society back then wasn’t very entrepreneurially minded nor celebrity focussed. But I figured somewhere in some mid to large size business was where I would fit in. The point Im making is that the Christian National Education of the government back then, as inadequate as it was, but coupled with my secondary studies, did at least equip me with hope for the future. One cannot say this for so much of the youth of today.
A few years back I once sat on a train and watched a fellow passenger. The way he was dressed indicated that he was on his way to work. But the despair in his eyes told another story. One of, is this it for me, is this going to be the story of my life. My impoverished circumstances, the dysfunctional school system, has destined me to this level of work.
There is absolutely nothing wrong to being a waiter (I was even one for a while after running my own SMME for thirteen years), a security guard, a call centre agent, Mc Donalds employee, and so on. But when the realities of your existence do not afford you the opportunity to envision something higher for yourself, then the whole country suffers. And this is to talk only of people who have jobs, never mind the swathes who cannot find work. We see the results in the drug abuse, in the alcohol abuse, in the violence. As I write this, 12 youths between the ages of 18 and 25 are appearing in court for murders committed in Alexandria. To what extent did boredom, denial of having a vision for themselves, contribute to them undertaking these crimes (note: they have not been found guilty yet, but one cannot overlook the fact that so many of their ages are committing atrocities.)
I cannot condone crime, as it impacts negatively on innocent people, but I do wonder how tempted I would be if I existed in their circumstances.
As it turns out I do have a vision for myself. Im looking at ways to implement it. And this means that any job I do in the interim would be just that, a means to the end, not the end itself. The same scenario should apply throughout the population, especially the youth.