Wayne’s recent post set me thinking about the path of South Africa and where I fit into it. Make no mistake, this country is in rapid decline. Even the most ardent optimists predict gloomy futures for our country, and I have expressed as much myself, only I have changed some opinions since. Indeed, only the most delusional comrade would pronounce a golden age for the country under the sterling leadership we currently have. So what, pray tell, do we do about it?

Before I left for Japan on my year’s paid holiday I used to think that folks who leave the country for greener pastures were weak-willed and cowardly. But it’s not easy, and I know this now. Although I’m only away for a year, it was very difficult to leave my entire life behind and start anew overseas in a country that doesn’t have the same culture or practices as you’re used to. It’s not easy to leave everything that you’re familiar with for a completely different country. The culture shock alone makes for a miserable couple of weeks, let me tell you. And this is the same in London, Australia or outer Mongolia. It’s difficult leaving your life behind and starting from page one somewhere else. And even when you do, you’ll be an immigrant from a foreign country for the rest of your life, regardless of what colour your passport is.

Now I don’t think I have that courage to relocate again, especially after being in Japan for a year. I now know what an absolute stress and strain it is on one’s life, and indeed on one’s friends and family. When I come back in August, I will be there for a good while methinks, if only to build up the nerve to look at emigration in about 5 years time, like Wayne has wisely set for himself. But what, then, do we do in the meantime? Are we, as the relatively intelligent (I like to think so at least!) middle class folk meant to simply bend over and take it up the mine shaft while our country goes to hell in a hand basket? I for one refuse.

We live in the age of the internet, where information is freely accessible and cannot be disrupted easily by the state or the foamy-mouthed cadres gaining an ever-louder voice on the street; it’s a lot harder to justify the government’s ludicrous actions in the cold and rational space of written word than with a large gathering of sycophantic comrades who will agree to the raising of the titanic if it were only uttered from JZ’s lips. So it is through the internet that I shall wage my war against an inept and hopeless government. It is through writing that one can hope for some smidgeon of support against the tide of despair our country is headed toward.

I may of course be jumping the gun here, in which case please disregard all I have said here. But if/when JZ is elected and the downward slide can be seen to continue, expect this middle class sniveling white boy to get loud. I might be privileged with white education and a cushy lifestyle, and I might be an intellectual upstart thanks to my university degrees, but I still get to have my say, whether we live in a democracy or a totalitarian socialist wonderland. If folks could blog in Baghdad while Saddam was busy killing his own people, then I can write while our leaders single-handedly craft the world’s biggest political joke since Watergate. This country has taken me from extreme highs to complete lows. From the great times studying at Wits to the murder of two of my uncles, I’d like to think I’ve experienced South Africa in its extremes as much, sadly, as the next moaning middle class kid. We’ve all been affected by crime, power cuts, corruption and inept leadership, and we’ve all experienced the majesty and sheer awesome nature of living in Africa’s greatest country. But at some point, you need to draw the line. South Africa will not have a rapid and sharp plummet into chaos, but shall instead slink ever downward if current trends are any indication. But unlike Zimbabwe and other gradual disasters, I intend to do something about it. It might be futile and useless, but at least at one point in my country’s decline I put my foot down and did something about it.

Feel free to join me.