Where’s The ‘Mob’ When You Need Them?

IT is unbelievable sometimes how far some politicians have led us astray: we throw rocks at each other, while the real enemies of progress are free to do their work.

The RDP holds a rally in a traditional Swapo area and is met by a mob. (Or the other way around.For the record, it seems there were faults on both sides).But WHERE are these mobs the rest of the time? The WHO estimates that 50 per cent of women are targets of abuse at some time in their lives.But when the abusers are hauled into court (on the rare occasion that they are, in fact, caught), where are the stone-throwing mobs, or even peaceful protestors, when they could be of some use? Aside from a few employees of feminist organisations, they’re nowhere to be seen.Some of these would-be revolutionaries are probably putting up the suspect’s bail money, or getting him a lawyer.The elimination of violence and discrimination against women is a central point of both the Swapo and RDP political programmes.They should be marching together against this abuse, but instead they are hurling insults – and sometimes rocks – at each other.To cite another example, we have speculators in the West, who are, in the words of the President of Brazil, “turning the world into a gigantic casino” and putting livelihoods around the world at risk.Seriously, why aren’t we marching to the US embassy to call for a new global financial order, with support from all parties? Why aren’t we marching to the Namibian Stock Exchange to call for restraint from our own investors? We’re too busy throwing rocks at minor opposition party gatherings, that’s why.Or worse still, we’ve given up on politics as an activity inhabited by young buffoons, and resigned ourselves to looking after “number one”.We ought to be ashamed of ourselves.Hugh Ellis Via e-mail Note: Opinions expressed in this letter are the writer’s own.Ed(Or the other way around.For the record, it seems there were faults on both sides).But WHERE are these mobs the rest of the time? The WHO estimates that 50 per cent of women are targets of abuse at some time in their lives.But when the abusers are hauled into court (on the rare occasion that they are, in fact, caught), where are the stone-throwing mobs, or even peaceful protestors, when they could be of some use? Aside from a few employees of feminist organisations, they’re nowhere to be seen.Some of these would-be revolutionaries are probably putting up the suspect’s bail money, or getting him a lawyer.The elimination of violence and discrimination against women is a central point of both the Swapo and RDP political programmes.They should be marching together against this abuse, but instead they are hurling insults – and sometimes rocks – at each other.To cite another example, we have speculators in the West, who are, in the words of the President of Brazil, “turning the world into a gigantic casino” and putting livelihoods around the world at risk.Seriously, why aren’t we marching to the US embassy to call for a new global financial order, with support from all parties? Why aren’t we marching to the Namibian Stock Exchange to call for restraint from our own investors? We’re too busy throwing rocks at minor opposition party gatherings, that’s why.Or worse still, we’ve given up on politics as an activity inhabited by young buffoons, and resigned ourselves to looking after “number one”.We ought to be ashamed of ourselves.Hugh Ellis Via e-mail Note: Opinions expressed in this letter are the writer’s own.Ed