Sunday 30 December 2018
Friday 28 December 2018
Friday 21 December 2018
Tuesday 18 December 2018
Saturday 15 December 2018
Friday 14 December 2018
Thursday 13 December 2018
Tuesday 11 December 2018
Monday 10 December 2018
Sunday 9 December 2018
Saturday 8 December 2018
Thursday 6 December 2018
Wednesday 5 December 2018
Tuesday 4 December 2018
Monday 3 December 2018
Friday 30 November 2018
Monday 26 November 2018
Sunday 25 November 2018
Wednesday 21 November 2018
Tuesday 20 November 2018
Saturday 17 November 2018
Friday 16 November 2018
Thursday 15 November 2018
Tuesday 13 November 2018
Monday 12 November 2018
Saturday 10 November 2018
Friday 9 November 2018
Thursday 8 November 2018
Monday 5 November 2018
Sunday 4 November 2018
Saturday 3 November 2018
Tuesday 23 October 2018
Sunday 21 October 2018
What a day in South Africa is like for a local
PLEASE NOTE: With regard to the unemployment rate, there are
conflicting estimates in terms of the actual number. State sources put it
somewhere in the high twentieth percentile, while private organisations
speculate that it’s significantly higher. Our government has a dismal track
record in public accountability, so I am not inclined to trust their analysis.
conflicting estimates in terms of the actual number. State sources put it
somewhere in the high twentieth percentile, while private organisations
speculate that it’s significantly higher. Our government has a dismal track
record in public accountability, so I am not inclined to trust their analysis.
Friday 19 October 2018
Thursday 18 October 2018
Tuesday 16 October 2018
Saturday 13 October 2018
Saturday 6 October 2018
Thursday 4 October 2018
Sunday 30 September 2018
Saturday 29 September 2018
Friday 28 September 2018
Thursday 27 September 2018
Saturday 22 September 2018
Friday 21 September 2018
Tuesday 18 September 2018
Saturday 15 September 2018
Thursday 13 September 2018
Tuesday 11 September 2018
Saturday 8 September 2018
Thursday 6 September 2018
Tuesday 4 September 2018
Monday 3 September 2018
Sunday 2 September 2018
Thursday 30 August 2018
Tuesday 28 August 2018
Saturday 25 August 2018
Friday 24 August 2018
Thursday 23 August 2018
Tuesday 21 August 2018
Friday 17 August 2018
Saturday 11 August 2018
Thursday 9 August 2018
Tuesday 7 August 2018
Tuesday 31 July 2018
Thursday 26 July 2018
Tuesday 24 July 2018
Friday 20 July 2018
Thursday 19 July 2018
Monday 16 July 2018
Friday 13 July 2018
Wednesday 11 July 2018
Tuesday 10 July 2018
Monday 9 July 2018
Saturday 7 July 2018
Thursday 5 July 2018
Tuesday 3 July 2018
Monday 2 July 2018
Sunday 1 July 2018
Friday 29 June 2018
Thursday 28 June 2018
Tuesday 26 June 2018
Monday 25 June 2018
Sunday 24 June 2018
Friday 22 June 2018
Thursday 21 June 2018
Monday 18 June 2018
Sunday 17 June 2018
Friday 15 June 2018
Thursday 14 June 2018
Wednesday 13 June 2018
Tuesday 12 June 2018
Sunday 10 June 2018
Saturday 9 June 2018
Wednesday 6 June 2018
Tuesday 5 June 2018
Monday 4 June 2018
Saturday 2 June 2018
Friday 1 June 2018
Tuesday 29 May 2018
Monday 28 May 2018
Sunday 27 May 2018
Saturday 26 May 2018
Friday 25 May 2018
Thursday 24 May 2018
Wednesday 23 May 2018
Tuesday 22 May 2018
Monday 21 May 2018
Sunday 20 May 2018
Saturday 19 May 2018
Thursday 17 May 2018
Wednesday 16 May 2018
Tuesday 15 May 2018
Sunday 13 May 2018
Friday 11 May 2018
Thursday 10 May 2018
Tuesday 8 May 2018
Monday 7 May 2018
Saturday 5 May 2018
Wednesday 2 May 2018
Monday 30 April 2018
Saturday 28 April 2018
Friday 27 April 2018
Thursday 26 April 2018
Wednesday 25 April 2018
Tuesday 24 April 2018
Monday 23 April 2018
Sunday 22 April 2018
Friday 20 April 2018
Wednesday 18 April 2018
Sunday 15 April 2018
Saturday 14 April 2018
Friday 13 April 2018
Thursday 12 April 2018
Wednesday 11 April 2018
Sunday 8 April 2018
Saturday 7 April 2018
Thursday 5 April 2018
The demon of resentment
Over the last few years, I've developed a modest following through my videos, which tend to be positive and motivational in nature. This might lead you to think that despite my cerebral palsy, I'm an emotionally well-balanced guy who has his life well in hand. In that assumption, you would be gravely mistaken. I battle a number of personal demons on a daily basis, the chief of which is resentment.
I resent the fact that I can never have the privacy or independence of a normal person. I resent the fact that almost every choice in my life is contingent upon whether someone else is willing and able to help me. The darkest part of me regularly resents my own friends and even those I see in passing for being given lives comparatively free of struggle.
It is in dealing with this emotion that I've gained some understanding of humanity's dark side. I now understand how easily hatred and bitterness possesses the hearts of teenagers who walk into schools and gun down their classmates. I get why - even in the face of numerous catastrophic failures which killed millions - violent communist revolution still appeals to so many people.
No matter how civilised we like to believe we are today, the same potential for brutal rage which drove Cain to slay Abel in the book of Genesis still lies dormant at the root of our collective consciousness. Disregard it at your peril
Wednesday 4 April 2018
Sunday 1 April 2018
Thursday 29 March 2018
Sunday 25 March 2018
Wednesday 21 March 2018
Sunday 18 March 2018
Saturday 17 March 2018
Thursday 15 March 2018
Wednesday 14 March 2018
Tuesday 13 March 2018
Friday 9 March 2018
Thursday 1 March 2018
Friday 23 February 2018
Meaning in a tragic world
It is a complicated time to be alive; here in South Africa, the structures of political power are in a state of extreme flux. Our former president, Jacob Zuma recently stepped down from office to be replaced by Cyril Ramaphosa, a man renowned for his entrepreneurial success and his skill as a negotiator.
Many South Africans see Ramaphosa's appointment as a step in the right direction, something which may steer the nation away from a gradual decline into tribalism and chaos. However, being the natural cynic that I am, I have yet to feel a surge of patriotic joy. The African National Congress remains top dog and as far as I'm aware, its aims and policies (many of which are the cause of the gradual decline I mentioned) have not changed.
Further afield in the land of red white and blue, Donald Trump continues to contend with his position as leader of the free world in his brash and bombastic style. Love Trump or loathe him, it's no understatement to say that he is perhaps the most divisive leader in modern American history. His election (in my opinion, at least) was a direct result of ordinary Americans constantly being told by the likes of Hillary Clinton and scores of the Hollywood elite that their very existence is racist, oppressive, patriarchal and any of an ever-growing list of buzzwords that ends in "phobic".
In the wake of such a monumental shift, you'd think the acolytes of social justice would have paused to take a breath and consider how it all came to this. Quite the contrary though, their constant virtue signalling has only become more intense. We've now reached a point where celebrities spark witch-hunts against their own under the guise of social media movements like #MeToo. In criticising this, I am not trying to defend or excuse rape or sexual assault, but it seems to me that all hashtag campaigns like this actually do is compromise the value of due process and fair trials in favour of a loud and vicious mob, desperate to see blood in the streets.
Being a wheelchair-bound quadriplegic, my life has been marked by isolation and solitude, which has in a sense, given me an almost monastic existence. (That is, if monks were allowed to binge-watch Netflix and entertain deeply inappropriate fantasies about Elvira, Mistress of the Dark.)
This has given me a lot of time to ponder the human condition and just what the point of it all might be. I was raised as what could be called a "cultural Christian" and except for a rebellious atheist phase in my early teens, I do believe that there is a greater force than us in the universe. Having reached the ripe old age of 27 though, I've come to doubt the rigid traditional concepts of heaven and hell. They seem overly materialistic somehow, too human to be convincing.
The question, then, is this:
How does one derive purpose or meaning from a life beset by struggle and suffering?
The answer, as far as I can currently see is that we should try to live in a way that's beneficial not only to ourselves, but to those around us and our communities at large. This realisation is in stark opposition to the vapid, self-congratulatory spirit that currently holds sway and I didn't reach it alone.
Search the mainstream media for information about Canadian psychologist, Dr Jordan B. Peterson and you'll see him labelled anything from a paranoid conspiracy theorist to a far-right extremist. In truth, he is a profound and thoughtful professor with decades of clinical and academic experience in the study of the human psyche. Some time ago, Peterson saw how rabid political correctness had begun to encroach upon individual freedom and resolved to speak out against it. This choice brought him international fame (or infamy, depending on who you ask). Peterson is knowledgeable on a wide array of subjects, but the core of his teachings suggest that instead of searching for happiness, which so many of us have been told is life's ultimate goal, we should conceive of the highest possible good and then shoot for it.
In striving toward a useful ideal, real meaning can be found.
Tuesday 6 February 2018
Friday 2 February 2018
Tuesday 23 January 2018
Wednesday 17 January 2018
Tuesday 16 January 2018
Monday 15 January 2018
Saturday 13 January 2018
Thursday 4 January 2018
Wednesday 3 January 2018
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