Rome is burning, the Emperor is playing his fiddle and censorship

a reply to: Gemwolf

Unfortunately no one will have almost any place to turn to. It seems that world leaders want chaos everywhere which is why they are embracing very radical ideas and trying to force them down everyone's throat.

If things continue as they are now in the U.S. I am considering moving with my family to Argentina, and if you want to escape the crazyness, you should do the same and move somewhere else.

originally posted by: teapot
Does Malema still enjoy popularity amongst the youth? I understand he addressed a rally last week? Was this before or after the current spate of protest and rioting?

Malema has been surprisingly quiet throughout all of this latest chaos. He did say that the "EFF is SA’s ‘most disciplined’ political party". Which is funny considering the amount of damage his followers did to universities recently... (To name one of several examples of the EFF's hooliganism.)

And earlier this week during a visit to Tembisa he and his followers were pelted with bottles and rocks...

It's hard to say with everything going on. Personally I think he lost some of his momentum and the opportunity (luckily) slipped through his fingers. IMO his party isn't a strong contender for the upcoming municipal elections...

originally posted by: Justshrug
Get out of that disaster of a country ASAP. You would burden your children with growing up there in *that* environment?

Exercise Free Will, for your family's sake!

Be safe

originally posted by: ElectricUniverse
...if you want to escape the crazyness, you should do the same and move somewhere else.

It's not really that easy. I can't leave my Mom alone here to fend for herself, nor would my partner leave his mom and sisters here in South Africa.

And let's pretend there was no family and loved ones to consider - the Rand is so weak against other currencies... If I sold my house, car and all my belongings and gathered all my live savings I'd have to convert it to - say - US Dollars, meaning I get about $0.0625 to the Rand. Minus taxes to take the money out the country...
And considering the cost of living elsewhere, would I be able to afford a house and car and survive until I can find a job with the few measly Dollars I'd get in return for my Rands?

And then we have to consider the politics... As I mentioned earlier - the world is not exceptionally friendly towards outsiders because of the Syrian refugee crisis. Trump wants to build a wall to keep me out.

Canada and Australia I would actually consider, and they aren't completely hateful against outsiders - specifically South Africans...

Still, the bottom line is - it's not really that easy to pack our bags and flee. Not impossible, though. And the question remains: Will I be trading one evil for another? As so many have pointed out - there are all kinds of trouble of similar or different nature all over the world... Would I survive Canada's cold winters? Or Australia's... well, you know... Australia...

And after all said and done, I still love my country. Better the devil you know than the devil you don't?

a reply to: Gemwolf

Well.definitely a dont move to Australia. You know what they say about that place.
Whatever doesnt kill you in Australia, will probably be back to kill you tomorrow.

originally posted by: ElectricUniverse
a reply to: Gemwolf

Unfortunately no one will have almost any place to turn to. It seems that world leaders want chaos everywhere which is why they are embracing very radical ideas and trying to force them down everyone's throat.

If things continue as they are now in the U.S. I am considering moving with my family to Argentina, and if you want to escape the crazyness, you should do the same and move somewhere else.

Most Americans are perfect lemmings with their heads buried in the sand, at the moment. The warning signs are all around us and they now neon and flashing, but we refuse to look at them. We won't do anything until something comes along and kicks us in the arse.

is africana a laungage?

Oh plenty changed over the last 40 years Gem - the people competent to do public sector jobs were fired to make room for ANC's friends and supporters. Nepotism at its finest. How's that self-rule working out for you South Africa? It isn't by all signs but so long as nobody will report it or admit it then it doesn't exist. Problems?! There's no problems here, just the whinings of those racist whites who long for the "good old days" of apartheid.

South Africa is the perfect example of good intentions gone terribly awry.
Communist liberation theology isn't terribly practical despite how nice equality may sound it's a promise never delivered.
Sad to see such a once wealthy nation fall in to ruin this way.

a reply to: lavatrance

If you mean Afrikaan? Then yes, it is. Derived from Dutch, I do believe.

If you mean Africana (whatever that is)? I don't know.

______

I've always wanted to visit South Africa, it would be a shame if I couldn't because of this sort of thing.

I can't help but wonder if this is what Tutu foresaw when he said he'd no longer be able to vote for the ANC? Sighting, as he did, corruption, violence, etc...

When one of the driving forces of your movement, or an ally anyway, leaves you...maybe it's time to take a closer look.

a reply to: seagull

Indeed, Afrikaans is a language derived mainly from Dutch. It also has words from indigenous Khoisan and Indonesian and Arabic languages (the first written Afrikaans was apparently in Arabic), as well as German and French. It developed during the early colonial phase at the Cape, and was also known as "kitchen Dutch", or a patois the Dutch colonists used to communicate with their servants and slaves, many of whom were political prisoners from Dutch colonies in Indonesia and Malaysia.
It remains the fist language of many Afrikaner, Boer and mixed "colored people", and is spoken as a second language by many other black people and English whites. Due to its association with the National Party under Apartheid it's official status in some schools and universities is changing and challenged, although it's culturally very much alive, with a huge market for Afrikaans pop music, movies and books.

"Africana", from what I understand, is a material culture and sensibility based on art, interior design and the related books that collect objects from local tribal cultures, or that's closely tied to the African landscape, fauna and history. The term is a bit dated, but still used, and might be reflected in the US term "Americana".

a reply to: halfoldman

Thanks!

So Africana is a thing.

a reply to: seagull

Oh yeah, we once had a famous Africana Museum in Johannesburg, although it falls under the wider Museum Africa collections nowadays.

The Africana Museum, formerly housed in the Johannesburg Public Library, has also been incorporated into Museum Africa, with its collection of historic utensils and furniture used by the Zulu, Xhosa, Tswana and Afrikaner.

www.southafrica.net...