Long before I started blogging - long before there was an Internet for me to blog on even - I was one of those people who wasn't taken in by the conversion of Rhodesia into Zimbabwe or the "saintly" Sir Robert Mugabe (just plain Mr. as he was back then), although I have to be honest and admit that even I was surprised by how quickly Rhodesia the bread basket of Africa was turned into Zimbabwe the basket case of Africa.
Zimbabwe didn't collapse overnight - it was a long process that began in 1979. Similarly, Mugabe didn't suddenly become a despot - he was always a despot. It just took a long time for the west to realise.
And the reason for both of these events being allowed to happen is that for 20 years of Mugabe's rule he was given an easy ride by the liberal left and their media. It was only when the dreadful state of that once successful state became impossible to deny that the liberal left started to give it some scrutiny - and by then it was too late. Zimbabwe is a failed state with a population riddled with disease and on the verge of starvation.
What is more, anyone pinning their hopes of an MDC putsch and a change of government making a difference will be severely disappointed. It will not change a thing - different face, same old corrupt despotic regime.
The reason I am saying this now is because I want it to go on the record this time - in 20 years time South Africa will be where Zimbabwe is now. The "rainbow" nation will be just another failed African state riddled with corrupt self-serving officials, disease will be rife and huge numbers of people will be living in a state of perpetual starvation.
Why do I think this? Socialism.
Mugabe was and is a Marxist. The ANC was and is Marxist. Even in the hands of genuinely good people socialism will always lead to authoritarianism and totalitarianism - it has to, there is nowhere else for it to go. The only question is - how soon?
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