Some Good, But Lots of Bad

IN support of all people who try their level best to develop a sound public awareness and promote decent behaviour towards fellow human beings, to the ideal of property and towards the environment, I request you to place the following in your newspaper.

There are good people in Government, in political parties and on all levels of society (a few per cent). I admire how they survive the mob of criminals, but they obviously are losing the battle.I really do not understand why there aren’t more people trying to emulate the truly great South African ex-president Nelson Mandela.And yes, I think there is hope, because our President apparently also is doing his best, but that does not help much without the support he so badly requires.Increasingly we read and hear of what – by some – already is called a ‘culture’ of crime and corruption and what people in high-ranking positions, or, for instance, members of the defence force are perpetrating.As a whole, Namibia has sunk terribly low in this regard; this newly independent country suddenly consists of a bunch of criminals and people who just lack culture! The number of rapes, the amount of money that is being squandered or vanishes in Government and parastatals and all the extravagance and megalomania regardless of who is the “genius” behind it, the burglaries, stolen vehicles and rape cases, the tons of litter at the coast and along our roads, etc, per capita, are surely 10 to 100 times bigger than in many other so-called civilised countries, and this has increased since Independence! It simply is not true that things are just as bad in other countries, and even if they were, it is no argument and no excuse at all.All this has to be stopped urgently – starting at Government level, because our leaders with their behaviour are the ones who coin the Namibian culture.There is very little that we can be proud of, except that we still have peace since Independence, especially since there are useless revolutionaries in positions they don’t deserve.What were the main factors that gave us Independence, and what has really improved since then? All this is also about humility, and what Namibians purportedly can be proud of does not really exist or has been achieved by others on their behalf.And what about a work ethic? What has happened to that? The first priority of labour unions in our country should be to increase employment.What has any one of them done about that? A small country like Namibia could so easily become a jewel in terms of national culture, pride and behaviour, but very little is happening in this regard.How a person behaves and treats his or her environment (including, of course, fellow countrymen and women) depends on their culture and upbringing, their education as well as the character of that particular person and – very importantly – the culture, upbringing, etc, of our leaders and superiors.This leads to the very important aspect that how badly a nation treats its environment, litters, rapes and steals, depends on how much Government officials and people in parastatals, judges, magistrates and people in any high-ranking positions ‘rape’ the country, how they treat foreigners, colonialists, etc, and in Namibia unfortunately the facts speak for themselves.The dirt and litter in Namibia’s social, political and natural environment is a clear and direct reflection of the dirt and litter on the minds and character of Namibian people and how other people, animals or the environment are treated.Throwing litter out of your car window or leaving your rubbish where it does not belong is a very clear reflection of this.Even the people in most civilised countries – but in Namibia in particular – just do not have culture and/or character anymore, which is the only common denominator of all evil.It is not primarily poverty, upbringing or education, because this evil is present among poor and rich, educated and uneducated and well or poorly brought-up people.There just is no excuse whatsoever for what is going on in this country.Disgruntled Namibian WindhoekI admire how they survive the mob of criminals, but they obviously are losing the battle.I really do not understand why there aren’t more people trying to emulate the truly great South African ex-president Nelson Mandela.And yes, I think there is hope, because our President apparently also is doing his best, but that does not help much without the support he so badly requires.Increasingly we read and hear of what – by some – already is called a ‘culture’ of crime and corruption and what people in high-ranking positions, or, for instance, members of the defence force are perpetrating.As a whole, Namibia has sunk terribly low in this regard; this newly independent country suddenly consists of a bunch of criminals and people who just lack culture! The number of rapes, the amount of money that is being squandered or vanishes in Government and parastatals and all the extravagance and megalomania regardless of who is the “genius” behind it, the burglaries, stolen vehicles and rape cases, the tons of litter at the coast and along our roads, etc, per capita, are surely 10 to 100 times bigger than in many other so-called civilised countries, and this has increased since Independence! It simply is not true that things are just as bad in other countries, and even if they were, it is no argument and no excuse at all.All this has to be stopped urgently – starting at Government level, because our leaders with their behaviour are the ones who coin the Namibian culture.There is very little that we can be proud of, except that we still have peace since Independence, especially since there are useless revolutionaries in positions they don’t deserve.What were the main factors that gave us Independence, and what has really improved since then? All this is also about humility, and what Namibians purportedly can be proud of does not really exist or has been achieved by others on their behalf.And what about a work ethic? What has happened to that? The first priority of labour unions in our country should be to increase employment.What has any one of them done about that? A small country like Namibia could so easily become a jewel in terms of national culture, pride and behaviour, but very little is happening in this regard.How a person behaves and treats his or her environment (including, of course, fellow countrymen and women) depends on their culture and upbringing, their education as well as the character of that particular person and – very importantly – the culture, upbringing, etc, of our leaders and superiors.This leads to the very important aspect that how badly a nation treats its environment, litters, rapes and steals, depends on how much Government officials and people in parastatals, judges, magistrates and people in any high-ranking positions ‘rape’ the country, how they treat foreigners, colonialists, etc, and in Namibia unfortunately the facts speak for themselves.The dirt and litter in Namibia’s social, political and natural environment is a clear and direct reflection of the dirt and litter on the minds and character of Namibian people and how other people, animals or the environment are treated.Throwing litter out of your car window or leaving your rubbish where it does not belong is a very clear reflection of this.Even the people in most civilised countries – but in Namibia in particular – just do not have culture and/or character anymore, which is the only common denominator of all evil.It is not primarily poverty, upbringing or education, because this evil is present among poor and rich, educated and uneducated and well or poorly brought-up people.There just is no excuse whatsoever for what is going on in this country.Disgruntled Namibian Windhoek