Aaron Gono
As the African Union lacks clarity on its mission statement, vision and objectives; the continent looks obsolete, dejected and clueless.
It remains the punching bag of the world, hunting ground for the rich. As always African or third world leaders pander to the arbitrary whims of developed nations leaders.
They always try to outfox each other on pleasing their white handlers. They snitch against each other and bring suffering, sanctions and economic stagnation to the continent. European leaders have specialised in “gas lighting and MacCarthyism.” Gas lighting is a theory derived from a 1944 film of that name. ” It psychologically manipulate a person so that they begin to doubt their sanity.”
Many Africans fall in this category, they believe in western propaganda. They see nothing good coming from African leaders and either from the continent. When the Trump- Iran War started; I was traveling from Mvuma to Masvingo with an intelligent young man sitting next to me in a bus. I asked him about this war and he went on praising D. Trump, for being tough and a superpower. And l went further asking if he thinks what Trump is doing from Nigeria, South Africa, Venezuela, Cuba, Greenland and Canada, constitutes democracy and sovereignty. He said yes, “Trump is getting rid of dictators around the world.”
I questioned him if Trump is not a dictator, himself and he said he is not. That was when l realized an article l read some weeks ago written by A.J. Horn, it is called ‘ Cultural Hegemony: How Power Wins Without Force…Why capitalisem survives not just through force, but through consent.” The writer describes Cultural Hegemony as a process by which the world view of the ruling class comes to be experienced as common sense. It is not simply a set of ideas people consciously endorse. It is the background framework through which reality itself is interpreted.”
Donald Trump is going the Adolf Hitler way but no single leader around the world has called him a fascist, or Nazi. The world now is under Trump naziism, which he calls “Trumpism.” Nobody dares challenge the King, or stop his expansionism. Only Iran stood up against him. Venezuela was wiped out of its sovereignty and European leaders started cheering the ” Fuehrer.” After Iran, he is planning of seeing how the Cubans are catching up after the ” Bay of Pigs” scenario of 1962. The British prime minister Starmer, not to be left out in the extravaganza has offered Trump his air bases to use to strike Iran. These are individual wars who are not sanctioned by the congress or 10 Downing Street.
The reasons why he is striking Iran, are to stop it from owning nukes and replace the current leadership, with the one which he prefers. Even our British colonialists never treated us ‘ too cheap’ like this. They respected protocols although they were cunning, they didn’t treat us like pawns. MacCarthyism is another theory whereby third world leaders are portrayed as dictators, incompetent, undemocratic and totalitarians. They make sure that label stick to them and fortunately us, Africans believe in that.
Despite the African continent being endowed with every critical mineral, the continent has nothing to show for it. We are good in exporting those raw materials without beneficiation and poor accountability and collection of our taxes further cripples the continent. African cities are decaying and sewer blockages are now scenic sites. Water outages due to lack of retooling, make African cities death traps. Water borne diseases like cholera, typhoid, etc are now common.
For more than a century America managed to sell its image as a citadel of human rights, free speech, free trade, freedom of association etc. To quote A.J. Horn again he wrote, “Capitalism endures not because people are stupid, and not because they are endlessly deceived, but because ruling classes have learned how to rule without constant force. The concept that helps us understand this is cultural hegemony”.
African began distrusting the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), China, Yugoslavia, North Korea etc. These countries were barraged by western propaganda as ‘communist countries ‘ who know nothing about running smooth economies and living in opulence. We took this scam, hook, line, and sinker, and began mistrusting our erstwhile friends from the East. Now the chickens are coming home to roost. Trump now looks dangerous and ready to devour anything that blocks him. “Mukuru, mukuru hanga haigare bvunde” literally translated ( the bigger is the bigger, the guinea fowl can not sit on the kaffir corn).
As we were fasting and praying like never before, America and its allies were busy experimenting with weapons of mass destruction. In Africa we still believe by praying alone, we gonna enjoy life in paradise (chasara pasi pano ndechekunamata ). Donald Trump invokes God when he is maiming and killing you. Some countries like Russia, France, America, China and Russia are legally allowed to own nukes. When push come to shove they are distributed equally to distant lands like Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It is a man’ s club only, where rights to own them are legally available without terms and conditions.
Who gave them those rights? The United Nations a quasi peace body formed in 1945 after Hitler’s devastation world war 2, promised us nothing of this sort will ever happen again. The body is now sitting on the fence, whilst Trump is excited by his country’ s military industrial complex and the profits which his country reaps. It is now a lame duck and lacks any mechanism to leash the beast. The world is on fire.
The United Nations now rubber stamps every wrong move America makes. Assassinating and deposing leaders of sovereign countries without any form of punishment meted against it. Creating wars which maim and kill civilians in those war zones without any form of condemnation coming from the world body.
All the countries which Trump is attacking, pose no threat to the U.S, but only factory settings like terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, and dictatorship. What you did in Minnesota and Minneapolis with your Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents is dictatorship and terrorism, Mr President. I don’t need to teach you about how you run your country and also don’t apply the same to us. You label other countries ” Axis of Resistance, ” Axis of Evil ” “Dictatorships “etc, but nobody calls you those derogatory names. We don’t need nuclear war Mr President.
“This is why hegemony cannot be reduced to lies or deception. It works by organizing real experiences into interpretations that ultimately reinforce the existing order. “- A.J. Horn.
