>
> Lähettäjä: Mamadi Corra <[log in to unmask]>
> Org: University of South Carolina
> Päivä: Wed, 23 May 2001 23:53:36 -0400
> Vastaanottaja: [log in to unmask]
> Otsikko: Reconciliation
>
> G-Lers:
> For a while now, a number of people on this forum have been advocating
> for a &#8220;need for reconciliation&#8221; and a need for a &#8220;truth and
> reconciliation commission&#8221; in the Gambia. I hope and desperately pray
> that the people throwing that idea around are carefully thinking of its
> long-term implications, and not just being copycats. All will agree with
> me that we cannot afford throwing ideas around without thinking of their
> long-term implications.
> First, Most fundamentally, I hope that all of us realize that, whether
> we like it or not, coercive exploitation is a very, very lucrative and
> enticing business. That is to say, making other people work hard for
> you, make your life rewarding, enriching and better, while you watch
> them or force them is a very profitable business indeed. Take that, or
> let it alone, but exploitation is a very lucrative business. Does the
> words, &#8220;I and my descendants will never be poor for the rest of our
> lives&#8221; ring a bell? In fact, killing and maiming others with impunity is
> even more efficient (sorry for my bluntness; it is meant to make a
> point). Does the words, &#8220;six feet deep&#8221; ring a bell? It should not take
> a rocket scientist to figure out that exploitation persists among people
> because it is sweet, irrespective of people&#8217;s ethical, religious and
> moral convictions. NOTE: IT FOLLOWS THAT WHEREVER EXPLOITATION IS CHEAP
> OR COSTLESS, PEOPLE WILL ENGAGE IN IT. This is why I ask whether the
> people spreading the notion of reconciliation are thinking of the
> long-term implications of it. Our people went through slavery, and in
> the end, we are told to &#8220;reconcile&#8221; and forget about the past. But,
> should you need a reminder, just about all of us have been permanently
> damaged by the impact of slavery. The colonialists destroyed our
> society, economy, in a permanent way, yet again we are told to
> &#8220;reconcile&#8221; and forget the past. Again, if you need a reminder, that
> past has a permanent impact on just about all of our lives. Today, our
> own leaders are ruining our people&#8217;s lives, in a permanent way, and yet
> again people are going around spreading this notion of &#8220;reconcile&#8221; and
> forget. Should I need to remind people, that the people for whom the
> words &#8220;reconciliation&#8221; and &#8220;truth and reconciliation commission&#8221; became
> famous are just as poor today as they were prior to &#8220;reconciliation&#8221; and
> the &#8220;truth and reconciliation commission.&#8221; My question to the people
> putting forth this reconciliation idea is: When is it that what is done
> is so reprehensible that &#8220;reconciliation&#8221; is no more an issue but taking
> responsibility for permanently ruining our lives? When are our lives
> going to be important enough that when people deliberately, consciously
> and calculatedly ruin them that the issue of &#8220;reconciliation&#8221; will not
> be proper? Or are we just going to continue the failed practice of
> &#8220;reconciling&#8221; with those that ruin our lives time and time again, while
> their lives are perfected at the expense of ours? Will it ever be the
> case that we come to the realization that as long as exploiting us is
> costless or very cheap that we will continue to be exploited? My
> friends, this is the 21st century, not the first!!! &#8220;A mind is a
> terrible thing to waste!!!&#8221; Please, let us realize that the problem in
> our countries should not be attributed exclusively to particular
> individuals. The problem is that exploitation is sweet and costless or
> very cheap and as long as that persists, we will remain to be exploited
> by one group or the other. Changing particular individuals is not going
> to solve that fundamental problem. To solve the problem, we must come up
> with ways of making exploitation expensive, very expensive. If people
> can become millionaires by taking over our governments, killing and or
> maiming some of us in the process, but managing to make their lives
> luxurious and permanently good, that is what they will do. As long as we
> fail to recognize this obvious reality, we will waste spending our time
> and invaluable resources on changing governments without getting rid of
> the fundamental problem &#8211; the cheapness of exploitation. We must figure
> out a way to make exploitation expensive, and &#8220;reconciliation&#8221; is
> certainly not adding to the solution. Reconciliation simply means that a
> would-be exploiter will think, well, there is a way out after all. You
> can exploit them and then ask for reconciliation. Your life will be
> perfected, their lives will be permanently ruined, nevertheless you will
> reconcile with them so that your exploiting them would be costless. This
> is also why the past actions of our prior leaders should not be
> forgotten, just because the actions of the current leaders are &#8220;worst.&#8221;
> Incidentally, this is also why the practice of calling for and
> participating in elections after coups is very damaging in the long run.
> Calling for a &#8220;transition to democracy,&#8221; instead of declaring the
> illegitimacy of a government that came to power by force, only serves to
> legitimize the government. And most fundamentally, it provides a way out
> for would-be coup plotters. The only thing you do is, take over a
> government and then announce for a transition to democracy. This
> legitimizes you and gives you further chance to exploit more. It appears
> to me that the people that we are calling stupid are much smarter than
> many of us. Wake up, my friends!!! Let us spend our time, resources
> (especially our brains) into figuring out ways of making exploitation
> expensive, rather than focusing on replacing particular individuals with
> others. Do you ever wonder why military governments never run out of
> people to make ministers? Isn&#8217;t that a clew that perhaps the focus
> should be on making people responsible for their actions. Does it have
> to take a rocket scientist to figure out that becoming an instant
> millionaire, having a safe place to keep stolen financial resources in
> western banks and once out of office, having the avenue of slipping into
> the west to live one&#8217;s life peacefully and luxuriously is a lucrative
> business?
> Peace!
> Mamadi
>
>
>

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