Objectively Speaking

I wrote this piece because I was/am pissed about "racism", politics and our "education" system. Read it, give me your thoughts. (Note: I know some of you had issues leaving comments before cause you had to login, but I changed the settings so hopefully it works now:) Happy New Year by the way. Enjoy:


South Africa's matric results came out on the 4th of January. We achieved a 70 odd percent pass rate. If you celebrated and creamed your pants when that was announced, you're a dumbass and you're part of the problem. I hope that offended you. My second point of offense (to you) has to do with people forever more bitching and whining about how racism prevents them from getting certain jobs or living in certain cities. Get over it! If you feel that statement makes me a self-hating, model-c coconut please refer to the latter half of the third sentence of this paragraph.

Let me break down my two statements economically for you, since everyone in SA is a life taught economist. People go on and on and on about how racism is rife in certain parts of the country and they could never work there. I'll take Cape Town as an example since it was recently in the "news" regarding how racist it is. I have met many a black professional who has said to me "I could never work in Cape Town, there aren't any blacks there (especially in senior positions) therefore it must be racist." Hmmmm. Fair comments, but did you ever stop to think that black people leave places like Cape Town because they're chasing money in Joburg? Did you ever imagine that the large majority of blacks in SA aren't from Cape Town, THEREFORE they choose not to build their lives/careers there? No, you default to racism.

Now let's bring in the economics of the pass rate. People jump up and down like monkies when they see a 70% pass rate. Great, but what does that really mean? I'll tell you what it means: jack shit!

Granted, we broke the mystical 70% pass rate, but that was based on lowered standards. I quiver to think what the pass rate would look like if we used the tertiary standard 50% pass mark. Above and beyond that, the percentage which actually matters, the exemption rate (those who qualify for tertiary) is at 24%. That means, and follow closely boys and girls, a whopping 76% of our matriculants are walking away from high school either empty handed or with nothing more than a glorified piece of paper. Let me not even get into the fact that roughly 50% of kids who started Grade 1 with the class of 2011 didn't even make it to matric.

Now we all know that in South Africa you need one of two things to get ahead in life. You must either have a reputable qualification from a reputable institution, or you need to have contacts. I won't even get into work experience because that's a whole other kettle of fish.

So here's the bit where I need you to apply that life taught economic thinking of yours. Let's say you're in a position to hire (read empower) an individual for a summer internship, knowing full well that your aim is to maximize profit and efficiency for your business/company, so objectivity is key. You have Sipho, who goes to a "black school". He's top of his grade and he does this by following a ritual everyday. Go to school, come home and study. No TV, magazines or Internet because his parents can't afford them, and no friends because they're a distraction. On the other hand you have Mandla. Mandla goes to a former model-c school. He's an average student, but he is well read and up to date with current affairs. He comes from a middle income family so he can afford a good tertiary education - Sipho does not, and he was hoping to save his earnings from this job to pay his registration fees and work his ass off so he could get a bursary (but you don't know this). Given that typical interview questions can include things like: "What's your take on the death of Bin Laden?" or "Do you think it's fair for Iran to withhold oil?" or "What effect do you think the tolls will have on trade in Gauteng?", who do you think will answer the questions better/with more confidence? Now that you've answered that question, I doubt I'd be wrong in saying that's the guy you would hire 10 times out of 10. That means while Mandla continues to thrive, Sipho will lose faith in hard work and most likely end up in a political party siphoning money from the state.

So let me ask this: is it really fair to claim that certain areas are racist because there aren't any blacks living/working there? Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying lets shut up about racism, but maybe we should stop defaulting to it as an excuse everytime instead of doing some introspection into ourselves and our people.

I will conclude by asking this, if we define racism as the systematic degradation of blacks by a group of individuals, objectively speaking, is it not those in charge of the education and uplifment of blacks who are not only failing at their jobs but also keep shouting racism who are the true racists here?

Changes

So, I’m in a frustrated space right now. Life is throwing all of my well engineered plans clean out the window. As far as timing is concerned, I am using a precision engineered time piece while the world is on a sundial…powered by a dim fire lit in a cave. This piece is about…hmmm, I’ll let you decide what it’s about. Enjoy:


Change is a scary thing. Even with the most perfectly laid out plans; it can still be a bit unnerving. So what then of plans that fall by the way side? Those fairytales that are dashed by a what-if? A really promising job interview resulting in an email starting off with “we regret to inform you that…”, your marks falling short of the required aggregate for you to move on to the next stage, a lease agreement falling through, your business finance not being granted.

What happens then? What do you do when a spanner gets thrown into the cogs when your plans are so far in motion that it’s just too late to turn back? Do you walk away? Do you keep the faith and try to push through regardless of the shock of the stone cold facts? Maybe you just put it off for another week, or another month. I mean, it’s been two years, will another year really hurt?

I read a quote, given to me by a friend back in varsity which read “without death, there would be no deadline for success”. Time doesn’t stop for your setbacks, the clock is in motion and the grains of your life’s sand are running down. No-one knows what will happen tomorrow, if you’ll be there to see another sunrise, kiss the love of your life good morning, lift your kids out of bed, or be able to go out and face the world to make your dreams come true. Sure, feel the knock, let it shake you, maybe even stay down for a minute; but understand this: time waits for no man.

It might not have to be today, or tomorrow, or even next week but sooner or later you’ll need to make a move if your dreams are ever going to become a reality. The world won’t wait on you, ever. You need to stop waiting on it. Realize that every year, every month, every week, every day, every waking second you put your dreams off is time and potential advantage that you will never get back.

I may not know the answers to all the questions in my head right now. I do not even have all the answers to the questions I’ve posed here, but I do know this, God gave me hands, legs and an able body. He also gave me a mind, not always the sharpest or the brightest mind, but it’s a working mind. Tools that I will use. That said, I promise myself that regardless of what the world decides it has in store for me, success will be the only outcome.