Day 178: Zuma says to benefactors: "Everything you touch will multiply" - EMC will End Corruption

For more context, please read Jo'burg's R1bn 'present' to Zuma benefactor.

The Problem

At the ANC anniversary gala dinner, President Zuma of South Africa made the statement that "wise" businessmen who support the ANC could expect that everything they touch would multiply. In the Mail & Guardian, this has been called a 'controversial remark' - but is it really controversial if everyone is doing it?

Whoever supports Zuma will receive support in return - this is how political parties buy their power in a country. An example was in the newspapers just a few days ago - where Reddy Vivian's company was awarded a R1.25 billion contract to supply 'smart' electricity meters to the city of Johannesburg. The way in which the tender was awarded is full of irregularities.

• "Detailed allegations that an initial technical evaluation score-sheet was amended to improve the result for Reddy's company, Edison Power;

• The revised scoring pushed another bidder, Hefcom, below the cut-off 70% technical score. When price was factored in, Hefcom – whose bid was half the cost of Edison's – would have scored better than Edison;

• A letter informing Edison it had won the bid is dated before City Power supply chain management even received the bid recommendation or the chair of the adjudication committee had signed off on the decision;

• Edison's share of the contract was pushed up from an initial recommendation of a R600-million share of an R800-million contract to an exclusive contract for R1.25-billion; and

• A man central to the award, City Power chief executive Sicelo Xulu, is alleged to be "friends with Zuma" though he denies this."

If it hadn't been for friends-politics, and if tenders were awarded purely on quality, Hefcom would have probably been awarded the tender, which would have halved the cost for supplying the electricity meters. The South African public is being conned continuously as no decision is made in the best interest of the whole, but only in the interest of those in power - both the politicians and the companies. This type of neocolonialism is a big problem as it perpetuates inequality and brings about results that are completely inefficient, imposing unnecessary costs to those with less. And, where decisions are not made to support life but to support greed, the environment incurs higher costs as well - because the environment which gives life is simply not considered.

The Solution

Firstly, each one will earn an equal income within EMC. One of the problems we're facing today, which prevents people from working together to find solutions for common problems, is the fact that the value of a person is not recognised as being equal. And each one's value IS equal - Because we are all here and we are all Life - it doesn't matter in which form - without Life, you wouldn't be breathing right now. Yet, the current capitalistic system gives value through money in an unequal way - creating the perception and idea that people are not Equal. Understand - equal does not mean the same - we are not all the same. Some run faster than others, some understand math better, for others math is like an alien monster. We are not equal in capacities and skills in that we are not all the same - but we all are equal in value - there is no one more important then another, there is no one that deserves better opportunities than another.

Every time each one receives an equal income, each one's value is being recognised as being equal to that of another. When value is not equally recognised, it creates the perception that there is a lack of value to go around and that each one must compete to receive value. With everyone receiving equal income, such competition for value will for a large part disappear - because there is no fear of ending up without value and without recognition. Things like power-hunger will for a large part disappear due to this simple correction, as being in a position of power is merely one of the ways individuals attempt to find value and recognition through competition. With each one being out for themselves, the larger picture is forgotten, and one's responsibilities towards one's fellow human beings are forgotten. Once everyone is recognised as equal, working together as a group becomes possible, because things like jealousy, competition and sabotage no longer stand in the way.

Of course, in EMC - Politics will be different from what it is today - one will not give up their voice to a representative and then hope that this representative indeed acts in your interest. Instead - each one will be part of the decision making. We go back to the origin of democracy, which was direct democracy. Ones territories started becoming too big for people to gather and do the decision-making, a system of representation was introduced. And for a moment, this was the best option available. But with today's technology, we are able to implement true democracy once again - because we don't require to physically come together to discuss and vote on things. We discuss and vote on things with people far away all the time on the internet; on forums, on twitter, on facebook. So - to organise our political system in a way that everyone has a direct say is today possible and very do-able.

Those in political positions will merely be managers, but they will not be decision-makers - and therefore, will not have the ability to influence, for instance, who is awarded the tender for supplying electric metres.

Rewards

EMC will put an end to Corruption - making sure that the funds that are pooled together through tax is no longer wasted on the exuberant lifestyle of those in power. Tax money will be used to provide each one with their Basic Living Rights. You'll be able to follow these things online, monitoring the entire process of why a certain solution was selected and you'll be able to say whether you agree with the decision.

Obviously, less money and resources will be spent on investigating corruption, cycling cases through the justice system. With such distractions out of the way, we'll be able to truly focus on how we can enhance life - for humans, animals and plants - this will create a different world for everyone, the world we were told we lived in as children, but soon realised was a lie.

Related articles

• Zuma funder awarded R1.25bn tender
• Questions over Zuma ally's R1bn tender
• Day 176: Will the Elite Manipulate the Public to Push for Privatization in EMC?
• The Future of Integrity with Equal Money Capitalism
• Day 163: Equal Money Capitalism - Redefining Profit
• Day 167: Harmony and Equilibrium within Equal Money Capitalism
• Day 169: Equal Living within Equal Money Capitalism
• Day 171: Life-Force and Expression in Equal Money Capitalism
• Day 166: Corporate Social Responsibility in Equal Money Capitalism
• Day 170: Companies and Industries in EMC

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Day 4: The Logic of Political Corruption in Africa

For context, see the article by Diana Cammack – “The Logic of African Neopatrimonialism: What Role for Donors?” http://www.uio.no/studier/emner/sv/statsvitenskap/STV4347B/v10/Cammack%202007.pdf

I forgive myself for accepting and allowing myself to blame African governments for wasting precious resources through friends-politics where their followers are rewarded through favours.

I forgive myself for accepting and allowing myself to judge corrupt governments as bad governments and place the bulk of why their countries cannot find their way out of poverty, on corrupt leaders and officials.

I forgive myself for not accepting and allowing myself to realise that from an African historic and cultural perspective, neopatrimonialism – where a patron takes care of its clients through sharing ‘his’ wealth – is socially accepted, because a leader is expected to use his/her access to resources to support his/her followers.

I forgive myself for not accepting and allowing myself to realise that African leaders will do anything to remain in power, including using public resources to award favours to significant and influential individuals of the population in order to retain support – because government positions are the easiest way to attain some degree of wealth in those countries, where, if they don’t remain in power, they are very likely to go back to a life of absolute poverty.

I forgive myself for not accepting and allowing myself to realise that if I were in the same position, where the only way to escape absolute poverty was to buy support from the population in order to remain in power, I would probably do just that.

I forgive myself for accepting and allowing myself to expect that simply by implementing Western institutional models in a country that has not walked the same path as the actual Western countries, the attitudes of the African population would simply adjust and that these same governing models would work in the exact same way in Africa.

I forgive myself for accepting and allowing myself to delude myself into thinking that African leaders are capable of concerning themselves with the ‘public good’ when they are in a constant state of fear of loss and where the threat of having to go back to a life of poverty inhibits them from seeing past their individual interests.

I forgive myself for not accepting and allowing myself to realise that corruption and greed are merely an outflow and manifestation of fear of loss and therefore, if I have any form of fear of loss existent within me, I cannot say that I am better than corrupt African officials and I cannot be trusted more with such power than them.

I forgive myself for accepting and allowing myself of expect of African countries that they undergo political reforms to limit the size of the government in order to eradicate or at least limit corruption opportunities, without realising that corruption is the only thing that allows them to maintains a form of social and political stability in those countries – and that to take away this tool of African leaders means to send the country into internal chaos and conflict.

I forgive myself for not accepting and allowing myself to realise that if I demand of African countries to reduce the size of their government, it will mean that many government-owned enterprises will be privatised and hundreds of thousands of people will lose their job.

I forgive myself for not accepting and allowing myself to realise that unless everyone has a secure income, corruption will always exist.

I forgive myself for not accepting and allowing myself to realise that rich nations are responsible for the state in which African countries are struggling since they, through exploiting them in colonisation and continuing to take advantage of them through the current economic power-relations, have completely incapacitated them, left them with nothing but crumbs with which to make meets end.

I forgive myself for not accepting and allowing myself to realise the hypocrisy and disgrace in demanding lower-developed countries to open up their markets to the world and extensively limit their government intervention – while Western countries protect their vital industries from cheaper competition with vigour.

I forgive myself for accepting and allowing myself to demand of African countries that they focus their efforts on exports to increase the country’s wealth and living standards, while obviously, if all lower-developed countries start increasing their exports of primary goods, the price of primary goods will drop on the world market and any increase of income generated from such exports will be insignificant – leaving on the rich nations better off, who can now buy primary goods for a real good price.

I forgive myself for accepting and allowing myself to criticise African countries for utilising corrupt methods for personal interests, without making mention of how the United States has continuously used foreign aid as a strategy to influence the international political scene in order to preserve and protect itself – not realising that the successive shifts in emphasis in terms of providing aid from South Asia to Southeast Asia, to Latin America to the Middle East and back to Southeast Asia, to then go toward Africa and the Persian Gulf, the Caribbean and Central America and after that, the Russian Federation, Bosnia, Ukraine, Asia and the Middle East reflect changes in US strategic, political and economic interests, more than changing evaluations of economic need – using the exact same ‘friends politics’ as corrupt officials and leaders do in order to avert conflict and the undermining of power.

 I commit myself to expose the unequal power relations in the global economy that condemn billions of people to absolute poverty.

I commit myself to investigating the motives of politicians within corrupt behaviour to see and understand the fundamental problems that perpetuate this behaviour in order to correct these fundamental problems in such a way that allows all to live as equals with equal consideration for all.

I commit myself to stop fear of loss within myself and find practical solutions so that none have to live with fear of loss and fear of death – but can instead share themselves and their world unconditionally.

I commit myself to eradicate poverty through the designing and implementing of an Equal Money System where dignified life is the ultimate value.

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