If there is one thing modernity has achieved and mastered is deception. Words and assertions have gradually lost their meaning, and rhetoric is more celebrated than action.
For decades, we have seen crowds enthusiastically clapping for beautifully crafted speeches only to get people emotionally uplifted while their livelihoods drown in filth. To add insult to injury, all of these are performative because the speaker is nor author or has no understanding or intention of what they are reading. Even when this is so obvious, the masses seem to be oblivious to it, yet they do not wonder as to why they see no action from the higher tables. As the day turns to dusk, and the speaker sped off in an air-conditioned “metal can”, the dust left befalls the child’s plate with leftovers from yesterday’s meal.
As it has become common, the world seems to have come to a consensus that it is what it is, even when deep in its soul, the world knows it is not what it should be. In fact, even when it is asserted that it is what it is, it is still not true because all that is there is either a narrative, a performance or simply a justified lie. For instance, one of the best lies ever sold is that ‘leaders’ are elected to serve the masses, yet the evidence is clearly the opposite.
On paper, the concept of being a servant implies that the servant’s actions should be dictated by the wishes of the people (the boss) and have the authority to hold their servant accountable when their wishes are not fulfilled. However, after the voting and winning are done, the servant becomes special, and the “office of the people” becomes exclusive.
Sadly, the people realise that they cannot even just show up at their office or house to register their grievances or dissatisfaction. If they do so, especially in masses, it may eventually irk the servant to the point that it is seen as unruly, and the people may be threatened with harm or arrest – yet the servant will never be threatened or imprisoned for not fulfilling the wishes of their boss, the people.
If it were truly what it is, then politics should also be seen for what they are – poly-tricks or poly-ticks. This is because it does not make sense for the masses to willingly give away their power, freedom and taxes just to live at the whims of their servants. It must therefore be either by witchcraft or magic tricks that the masses are hoodwinked to accept the absurdity.
It is absolutely not what it is until everything that is written and said has meaning. It will not be what it is until, at least, integrity and transparency become common and general principles that guide society and every aspect of life. Of course, the ultimate wish is that honesty and fairness should be the general principles, but history has proven that to be impossible, and maybe even for the good of humanity. The truth is that not everything is what it is, what it should be or seemed to be. Not that it is wrong or bad, but if there should be one thing that we must be honest about, this is the one. Otherwise, help me make it make sense.
*Uncommon Sense is published in the New Era with contributions from Karlos Naimwhaka. YouTube channel: Karlos Lokos.
– karlsimbumusic@gmail.com