Potholes of the way forward – Chuck Stevens

Key topics:."Cultural genocide" and "civilizational suicide" reshape global debates.Europe's rightward shift challenges open-border immigration policies.SA's BEE policy under scrutiny as global trends reject DEI initiatives..Sign up for your early morning brew of the BizNews Insider to keep you up to speed with the content that matters. The newsletter will land in your inbox at 5:30am weekdays. Register here..Support South Africa's bastion of independent journalism, offering balanced insights on investments, business, and the political economy, by joining BizNews Premium. Register here..If you prefer WhatsApp for updates, sign up to the BizNews channel here..By Chuck Stephens*.Language is dynamic and it goes with the flow of current events. Three examples come to mind..First, the exquisitely Canadian term "cultural genocide". This is somehow worse than killing off all the people – like in the Rwanda genocide, when a Canadian general stood by helplessly and watched Hutus kill off 800 million Tutsis. It also involves killing off their culture. The woke-induced argument is that by sequestering indigenous people on "reservations" not unlike South Africa's bantustans of old, and forcing their children into residential schools where they were discouraged from speaking their native language and indoctrinated with Western religion and culture, missionaries committed "cultural genocide"..The jury is still out on the allegations which many believe are contrived and lacking solid evidence. At this point in time, elections will be held in Canada later in 2025 and are likely to be won by the Conservatives, who already have a double-digit lead in the polls. It seems fair to say that if the Liberal/socialist alliance is voted out, this allegation of "cultural genocide" may fade into oblivion..This week I head another new term, namely "civilizational suicide". It was coined by Vice president of the USA JD Vance, talking of Europe and its loss of Christian roots. Certainly those roots are deep. St Benedict is the patron saint of all of Europe. The Roman empire shifted to the east and became the Byzantine empire, whose eastern orthodox Christianity spread afar – to Ukraine and Russia, where the churches have onions not pointed steeples. Then along came the Reformers like Jan Hus in eastern Europe and Martin Luther in western Europe and the ancient creeds were refreshed and refurbished..But according to this new term, Europe is contemplating civilizational suicide with its open-door immigration policy. Europe already has right-of-centre conservers in power in Italy and Hungary. Germany has voted heavily on the right, and the UK seems to be excited about Nigel Farage and his Reform Party. So again, a shift towards conservatism may be on the cards. Is Europe finally heeding the warning about civilizational suicide?.A side-bar comes to mind here. What is the difference between civilizational suicide and ethnic cleansing? Are those who fervently want Europe to be Islamicized committing cultural genocide?.Today I heard another new phrase: "controlled demolition of the economy"..Read more: 🔒 Rubio declares South African envoy 'Persona Non Grata' over Trump remarks, escalating diplomatic feud.The influencer was explained all the steps that Donald Trump and Elon Musk are taking in the USA with DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency). To my way of thinking, the words "government" and "efficiency" do not belong in the same sentence. It's oxymoron..I have seen demolition experts take down huge buildings in urban centres. You have to really know what you are doing to avoid damaging nearby people and buildings. When they do this to buildings downtown, they do it at night or on week-ends to minimize the risks. But DOGE is daylight demolition. They are collapsing parts of the economy – on purpose..Now at the United Nations approaches its 80th birthday, it has begun a similar clean-up operation on waste and corruption. Probably because the newly appointed US ambassador to the UN – Stephanik – has spoken about "internationalizing DOGE". .I sit and reflect on a world that is swinging right. There has been a sea-change in the USA. This is having a knock-on effect in other parts of the world, like the Ukraine, Israel – and South Africa..This is not my first media article saying that South Africa may once again become a pariah among the nations. Not because of apartheid, but because of BEE. Because what others call DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) is being de-commissioned. In South Africa, it is getting dangerously close to cultural genocide, and it could be leading to civilizational suicide..The most recent indicator is the South African ambassador to the USA being declared a "persona non grata" for remarks he made about President Donald Trump. This was ill-conceived, because the 2024 election campaign is over. Trump won and is busy implementing his election promises, his campaign platform..The Government of National Unity needs to re-visit its social engineering scheme called BEE in the context of the new world order that is emerging. To many onlookers, quite frankly, it looks like Black Supremacy. Can we afford to cling to it? Even if it is still doing the economy any good, which is debatable..Should we get a new broom? What about a little "controlled demolition of the economy"?.The ambassador's expulsion should be a wake-up call. The times they are a-changin'..Read also:.South Africa scales back VAT hike in bid to end budget standoff🔒 RW Johnson: Some problems don't go away, South Africa's relations with Iran loom again Ramaphosa slammed for targeting Israel amid South Africa's murder crisis: 'Victims could fill FNB stadium' – André Pienaar.*Chuck Stephens: Desmond Tutu Centre for Leadership

Potholes of the way forward – Chuck Stevens

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