Crossroads Of Oppression's End: Liberty Or Greater Tyranny-Part Four South Africa Session Ten

Crossroads Of Oppression's End: Liberty Or Greater Tyranny-Part Four South Africa Session Ten 

The philosophy of entitlement for material benefits must not be engendered. Instead an environment in which people have a stake in their locality, state/province, and nation must be promoted. People have to feel they can make an impact so that they can assume the proper responsibility of being a full-fledged citizen of an independent Republic. That is the very nature of enfranchisement. It goes far beyond voting.

Before South Africa could transition itself into a viable Representative Democratic Republic, it had to have a Constitution that established proper and divided governance and also that protected the basic rights of all its citizens. Before the fall of Apartheid, that nation was divided into four provinces and ten Black homelands. After its fall, South Africa established nine provinces.

There should have been elections in each province for state/province legislators. All voters should have been 25 years of age or older. One vote should have been assigned to each household. All household votes should then have publicly casted for one locality officeholder (regardless of population of the locality). Ranked Choice Voting should have been implemented for the choosing of officeholder from all eligible candidates. All eligible candidates should be 30 and older. Finally no elected officeholder should be a participant in any branch of government other than his/her specifically sought office.

Each elected state/province legislator should then have appointed two people to attend the conference to write the national Constitution. Those two people should not be a participant in any branch of government. Once the Constitution has been finally drafted, it should have been sent back to each state/province for ratification. 

Approval from 60% of members of each state/province legislature is needed for a state to ratify this Constitution. After that process, ratification from a minimum of 2/3rds of all states/provinces would have then been needed for the Constitution to be established as the Supreme Charter of the nation. 

Crossroads Of Oppression's End: Liberty Or Greater Tyranny-Part Four South Africa Session Nine

A good thing will not remain good for long without proper follow up. That good thing in fact could become bad as a result. People who have been oppressed should not be promised permanent entitlements. That in itself would ruin them. For example, if Black slaves who joined the Union forces in the US Civil War were given forty acres and a mule as suggested by the Union forces' leading general William Sherman, they would have squandered it. That would have caused grave harm to them and everyone else in the process. 

People who are or have been oppressed need to understand that freedom is not free. Independence and liberty means people have to work harder than ever before. Blaming foreign powers, other ethnic groups, and special interests will no longer serve as an excuse. The people must be vigilant to protect these basic freedoms. The best way to do that is to forsake opportunism. People must resist the temptations that private and same-hands governance offers.

Crossroads Of Oppression's End: Liberty Or Greater Tyranny-Part Four South Africa Session Eight

 

This part of this series about South Africa addresses the key question "If life in many respects was better under Apartheid than it is now, should South Africa go back to it?" The answer is a resounding no.

It is true that Africa has fared the worst of all subjugated continents in terms of shaking the yoke of colonialism and racist dictatorships. In many respects, life got much worse for many African nations after that yoke was removed.

Any nation that becomes independent will have its "growing pains". When a child is growing up, he/she has their parents to take care of them. As an adult, one gains independence that gives him/her liberties to do as he/she chooses. However, one must forsake the benefit systems that the parents provided during his/her childhood. This usually means people will have to struggle to make it on their own. 

The described principle applies to nationhood. However a flawed Democratic model can and will lead to a flawed Republic form of government. This will result in tyranny based on mal-governance. South Africa must make its governance much more Representative, both in its Democracy and its Republic, so that it can make a far better transition into a free and stable society.

Read my next post for the prospective solutions needed to guide South Africa into achieving a more successful transition.

Crossroads Of Oppression's End: Liberty Or Greater Tyranny-Part Four South Africa Session Seven (A Harsha Sankar Post)

 

When Colonialists from Europe descended on the Western Hemisphere, Asia, and Africa, they would provide certain infrastructure (sanitation, medical clinics, roads/bridges/canals,and even primary schools) to the domesticated locals. The addage "The Natives Are Restless" was heavily internalized by the conquering elite. They knew they had to bribe the subjugated locals to keep them content, docile, and submissive. 

The "White Government" did the same for the Blacks and Coloureds in South Africa and for the same reasons. They emphasized the previously described services. However, when "Black Government" took over, these socialized services no longer received the same billing in terms of prioritization. Since Blacks and Coloureds were part of their own independent democracy, they no longer could expect the same benefits from their own government that they received previously from their "White Dictators".

Crossroads Of Oppression's End: Liberty Or Greater Tyranny-Part Four South Africa Session Six

 

During Apartheid, the police such as the SAPF had a Gestapo-type presence in enforcing the draconian segregation laws. They had an overwhelming presence at the borders of Bantustans(homelands reserved for Blacks) and townships/areas in close proximity to White cities.

After the end of that era, the "Racist White Cops" disappeared suddenly. The vacuum that occurred led to the advent of organized crime. Foreign "Mafia" from Nigeria brought drugs into that Cape Nation, causing devastation in the Black but mainly Coloured areas.

Crime and murder soared in South Africa as the new "Democracy" arrived. Annually, over 20,000 murders and 200,000 robberies have been taken place annually.

During Apartheid, the SAPF that sealed the borders of Black homelands and POC townships only answered to the White only democratically elected government in Pretoria, the administrative capital. Their job was solely to keep those borders sealed and to put down any political unrest in those non-White areas.

When this era of involuntary segregation ended, the police force lost much of its authority. Since the activities of police force were greatly expanded to actually provide policing to citizens and their affairs, it was needless to state that anarchy took place in the non-White areas since the current police force infrastructure was wholly inadequate. Hence the underworld and political criminal activities took deep root.

Since the police force in the new democracy were of the people and answered to the people, massive corruption arose as an highly flawed democratic model was in place. Pandering and PTB influencing marred policing often, rendering it inept and/or corrupt.

The preceding led to the boom of private security. In South Africa, there are 9000 security firms, the vast majority of firms are White-owned. There are nearly half a million active security agents and 1.5 million inactive security staffers. Unlike the 200,000 SAPF personnel which is predominantly Black, these private security agents are mainly White.

Anytime private security is providing the bulk of the protection, this Imperial mode will cause upheaval in society as not all people will be the recipients of the same protection under the law. This is the reason why the police should never be defunded and abolished.

The moral of the story: The end of authoritarian policing should be gradually replaced by policing consistent with the norms of a Representative Democratic Republic in which individual liberties and public safety are protected only.

Crossroads Of Oppression's End: Liberty Or Greater Tyranny-Part Four South Africa Session Five

 

The Coloureds (mixed-race) have fared much worse financially since the end of Apartheid. During that era, because Whites were a small minority and could hardly fill all the "creamy layer" positions, the Coloureds were given first preferences as Blacks were totally denied any positions unless it consisted of manual and menial labor.

In the last 27 years, legislation made it conducive and easier for Blacks to be proportionately represented in the industrial workplace. This hit the Coloureds the hardest. Unemployment soared.

The smallest remaining major ethnic group, the Asian Indians, have actually fared quite well since the end of "White Rule". Nearly all were self-employed as medical professionals or as trade merchants so they never relied on industrial or bureaucratic employment in the first place. They are probably the only ethnic group as a whole who have reaped economic benefits.

Crossroads Of Oppression's End: Liberty Or Greater Tyranny-Part Four South Africa Session Four

 

After the 1994 fall of Apartheid, non-Whites were allowed to vote.

The plutocratic Whites, owning much land and a high percentage of industries, continued to do well. They are able to buy off the politicians and "lawyers" needed to cement their plutocracy.

The last 27 years have seen the rise of the Black non-productive power brokering elite that have been instrumental in the redistribution of resources and rights. The economic system incorporated far more patronage as well as far more collusion between the public and private sector than existed under Apartheid. Under Apartheid, while there was reservations that favored the Whites, the economy was much more free enterprise back then than it is now. 

However the poverty rate for Whites has nearly tripled. One million to one million, six hundred thousand highly productively skilled Whites left South Africa in the new "Democracy". That departure has had a major impact on the economy and society.

Blacks have overall suffered somewhat worse, economically speaking, since the birth of the new "Democracy". Before the end of Apartheid, 25% of all employees in Industry were Black. Because many companies and industries have left South Africa due to the increased influence of bureaucrats, "lawyers", and unions, unemployment has increased for the majority Black population.

Crossroads Of Oppression's End: Liberty Or Greater Tyranny-Part Four South Africa Session Three

 

Crossroads Of Oppression's End: Liberty Or Greater Tyranny-Part Four South Africa Session Three

Apartheid was an evil system that had to end. vast majority of people justly totally opposed it from the late Seventies to 1994. However all people need to properly understand it for what it was and was not.

What happened in South Africa was no different than the treatment of the American Indians aka Native Americans during the 19th century and the treatment of Blacks from the end of the US Civil War to the Sixties. The same principles that existed in South Africa from 1948-1994 apply today in Israel, in their treatment of Palestinians, and also in China, in their treatment of the Uyghurs Muslims.

Crossroads Of Oppression's End: Liberty Or Greater Tyranny-Part Four South Africa Session Two

 

Crossroads Of Oppression's End: Liberty Or Greater Tyranny-Part Four South Africa Session Two 

Most people have misconceptions when it comes to the Cape nation. It is a common erroneous misconception to think that South Africa had the same segregation issues as America did. It was actually dissimilar.

Black Africans were gradually assigned to live in these ten homelands, then called Bantustans. The first four homelands were granted nominal independence by 1981. The other six homelands were self-governing. In 1992, 48 percent of all black South Africans and 1 percent of all other racial groups in the entire South African region, lived in the homelands. It comprised only about one-seventh of the total land area of the country.

It must be understood that nearly half of all Blacks did not live in proper South Africa. They lived in areas which were autonomous and had home rule. When Apartheid ended in 1994, ten homelands were re-incorporated into South Africa.

From nearly 15-20 years, Blacks living in Bantustans were deemed as living in foreign territories. So obviously they could not make illegal entry into proper South Africa. The Blacks who were in proper South Africa lived in informal settlements, or "squatter camps," close to cities where they either worked or hoped to work.

Crossroads Of Oppression's End: Liberty Or Greater Tyranny-Part Four South Africa Session One (Harsha Sankar Essay)

Crossroads Of Oppression's End: Liberty Or Greater Tyranny-Part Four South Africa Session One

Sadly most Black Americans do not know much about their own history, much less about the history of POCs or even of Blacks in other nations. The following should be taught to them.

In 1910, South Africa became a nation. It's population was nearly 22% White (originating from UK and Holland) and 70% Black.

A few years later, the White government of South Africa passed a law that mandated Blacks stay in specific homelands. These homelands were 7% of the total South African region. This measure by the White South African government adapted is highly similar to the measure the American government  adapted when they placed these Natives Americans in reservations.

In 1948 the White government of South Africa inaugurated Apartheid as its official law of the land. In 1950 when apartheid legislation officially restricted black peoples to approximately 13 percent of the land. This meant 4 ethnic groups (White, Black, Coloured(mixed race), and Asian Indian) had specific areas in which they had to stay. In 1994 Apartheid in South Africa officially ended.

Have matters improved for South Africans in the last 27 years? Stay tune to my next post for the surprising answers.

Crossroads Of Oppression's End: Liberty Or Greater Tyranny-Part Three Land Reforms (Public Use)

 

Crossroads Of Oppression's End: Liberty Or Greater Tyranny-Part Three Land Reforms (Public Use)

Imperial Democratic Republic Mode- Whatever land is left for distribution, after all eminent domain buyouts have occurred, should go to a few select buyers chosen by the central/federal government authorities. No additional land should go to the public domain as a Commonwealth Entity. The land earmarked for public domain as per the discretion of the central/federal government would be for government use solely.

direct democratic republic mode- After massive distribution of land and its contents to the vast majority of its citizens takes place, the remaining land should go to the public domain as a Commonwealth Entity solely. The state and/or local government(s) should decide what landholdings are to be allocated to the public domain.

Representative Democratic Republic Mode- The landholdings that do not get a private bid of at least 50% of the eminent domain purchase amount should go for public domain purposes. 

The central/federal government should decide what landholdings should be allocated for government use and what landholdings should be allocated as a Commonwealth entity. The central/federal government should have the responsibility to regulate the landholdings for government use while the state and/or local government(s) should have the responsibility to regulate the Commonwealth Entity.

Crossroads Of Oppression's End: Liberty Or Greater Tyranny-Part Three Land Reforms (Distribution)

 

Crossroads Of Oppression's End: Liberty Or Greater Tyranny-Part Three Land Reforms (Distribution)

Imperial Democratic Republic Mode- Distribution of land and/or its contents, if any, is at the discretion of the State at the central/federal level. This distribution is limited to a few purchasers only. The sale price is usually, but not always, significantly above the eminent domain compensation price issued by the State in the initial acquirement. The regulations governing all aspects of the land (land that is distributed to the new and few select owners) are stringent. 

direct democratic Republic Mode- Distribution of farmland to the majority of farmers. Distribution of land and its content to the majority of citizens. All is distributed free of cost to the recipients.

Regulations are significantly less than in IDRM. Local and state authorities do most of the regulating as well as most of the distribution.

Representative Republic Democratic Mode- Distribution of land and/or its contents is carried out via the open bidding process, domestic and foreign. Any prospective purchaser must be required and also must have the right to utilize the land in the same manner by which it was used previously. The State at the federal/central level administers the sale and distribution of the property.

The regulations placed on the land, after that land had been distributed to the new owners, are enforced by the State at the provincial(state) and local levels.

Crossroads Of Oppression's End: Liberty Or Greater Tyranny-Part Three Land Reforms (Acquisition)- By Harsha Sankar

 

Crossroads Of Oppression's End: Liberty Or Greater Tyranny-Part Three South African Land Reforms (Acquisition)

Imperial Democratic Republic Mode- Leave all landowning as is. Implement no new policies in regards to land ownership.

direct democratic Republic Mode- Seize all or most land from the descendants of colonists. Redistribute that land as the legislature or executive branch deems suitable as per their discretion.

Representative Democratic Republic Mode- This mode recognizes that forced buyouts (eminent domain) is an option by the State as land is indeed finite. However it still recognizes that people do have property rights.

It bars all bills of attainder that pertain to race and ethnicity. It also limits the Corruption By Blood principle as people who have had property for at two generations or more will not be affected unless their holdings exceed certain land ceilings.

It also restricts the vast majority eminent domain buyouts of property to property belonging to large landowners. These buyouts have to offer an monetary amount of at least the market value of the improvements of the land. No land can be forcibly purchased from the landowner without compensation. The central/federal government legislature decides which landowners are classified as large. The central/federal government executive branch decides, according to written law, what land needs to be confiscated and what monetary amount needs to be offered as compensation. 

No landowner of a large amount of property can be forced to sell more than 50% of their land. All large landowners should be given first option to lease at least 25% of the land purchased from them via eminent domain. The duration of the lease is to be a minimum of 20 years.

After the 20 year period in which eminent domain buyouts took place, the State reserves to right to exercise eminent domain again with the same large landowners if they continue to possess land holdings that exceed the limitations as cited in the land ceiling law that existed at the time of the latest previous buyout. The State again will be subject to the same limitations that existed during the initial eminent domain buyout even if there is a change of land ownership. 

The general terms and conditions for land reforms need to be incorporated in the Nation's constitution. 

Crossroads Of Oppression's End:Liberty Or Greater Tyranny-Part Two

The sudden freeing of slaves on a resentful White populace in the South and a prejudiced populace in the North caused much antagonisms. It caused nearly all states to pass discriminatory laws against Blacks. No time was given to Whites to mentally adjust to their expected accommodation of Blacks.

Many freed slaves were good farmhands. However as the South was beginning its transition from an agrarian power to an industrial one due to the onset of the industrial revolution, the freed slaves were not capable in making a proper economic contribution to society. Most slaves (two-thirds to three quarters) picked cotton and tobacco. The literacy rates and productive skill set proficiency were very low for most freed slaves. As the vast majority of them also lacked managerial capabilities in agriculture, their foray into sharecropping in the next 60-70 years met very limited success. They had never received the high levels of training needed to generate productive yields.

Pets cannot be totally released from captivity immediately without transition. Neither can zoo animals be released into the wild in full immediately without transition. POWs cannot be kicked out of prison without provisions of adjustment. There has to instead be a phase-in period! Yet there was none in the abolition of slavery. 

Slave owners, just like pet owners, were masters. However they still had the responsibility to take care of their property. When President Lincoln suddenly released the slaves, most slave owners adapted the belief that they were absolved of that responsibility. They thereby forced the slaves to leave their premises as their farms and/or plantations were no longer normally producing because of the US Civil War and the Union blockade of the South. This caused the death of 250,000 freed slaves from 1863-1870. The consequences were heinous. 

Crossroads Of Oppression's End:Liberty Or Greater Tyranny-Part One

American Blacks suffered greatly after they were freed. 250,000 freed slaves died from 1863-1870 due to exposure, starvation, and disease. That is the same as 2.5 million people in today's terms.

They were freed without any transition. They should have been gradually freed over a period of time. During that time, they should have been taught productive skills and other skills so that they could handle the responsibility of being free on a much better basis. Because they went from one extreme to another without preparation, they developed psychological issues that exist even to this day. Moreover, Whites also developed adapting issues as they did not know how to adjust to such a huge influx of suddenly freed slaves. 

Adjustments should have been made on a gradual basis. It should have not been ushered in all of a sudden. Prisoner recidivism is due to the sudden implementation of such a dramatic change. When people spend so much of their adult lives in incarceration, they simply do not know how to adjust to the freedoms of normal life. It is obvious people need transition and follow-up in order to become capable in the handling of their new liberties, rights, and responsibilities. 

Another example of the need for follow-up after the end of a traumatic situation that "hits closer to home" for many is the following. There are soldiers who have fought for years, surviving deadly encounters in the process. However, once they are no longer involved in military conflict and are sent to civilian life, they fail to  adjust to their freedoms and peaceful existence properly. 

It is a paradox that is a real dilemma. That is why M. Gandhi and others took over 25 years before they wrested India from the tyranny of the British. They knew that India and Indians needed that time to prepare for the responsibility of Democratic and Constitutional Self-Governance.

Real Solutions To Minimizing Violence Against The Black Community- By Harsha Sankar

 

Notorious Black attorney Benjamin Crump states that a Black American cannot feel safe walking the streets in America.

Reality dictates that only the reverse is true. I have extensive experience with people who happened to be Black, particularly in the inner city.

Of all the crimes and acts of violence I heard and even saw in the inner city, not one of the perpetrators was White. A few were Hispanic White and couple were Asian Oriental. The remainder was Black. Nearly exclusively the perpetrators were Black.

Even though these perpetrators are a small percentage of the Black population, they still commit well over half the murders and violent crimes in the nation.

While the majority of their victims happen to be other Blacks, they are now committing more acts of random violence against other POCs, namely Asian Americans. Many Blacks are indeed unsafe in their own neighborhoods but that is due to Black-on-Black violence.

Benjamin Crump has looted millions for himself supporting such a narrative. Hypocrisy is alive and well. The real solution is not looting and debauchery by the BAR attorney profession. The real solutions lie in certain reforms such as the legalization of drugs and the protection of police officers from civil liability.