adminCynicism is the forte of those who have no fresh perspectives or good ideas to proffer. It is something that is easy to do as it masks – or rather shrouds – the cynic behind, in and under a false intellectualism that neither edifies character nor advances constructive engagement.
But this was not always so. In Ancient Greece, cynicism was a respected intellectual movement that counted among its followers Antisthenes (a contemporary of Plato and student of Socrates), Diogenes of Sinope and Crates of Thebes among other revered thinkers of the time.
It was a movement that busied itself with a system of beliefs that focused on living a life of virtue that was in agreement with nature.
For this reason, followers did away with those base impulses that steer us to lust for power, wealth and sex; primal urges that make us human.
Cynics lived what they believed was a simple life, and many left their homes to live on streets without any source of income. They largely lived on alms offered to them by the public.
Their sincere belief was that the world belonged to all people and suffering stemmed from those base and carnal desires mentioned previously. And like most people who believe they are leading a life of higher virtue than those around them, they had sharp tongues. It is this last trait, the acerbic tongue and the dim view of everyone who did not believe as they did, that has remained of original cynicism.
One of the more famous and sharp tongued cynics of Ancient Greece was Diogenes of Sinope. The story goes that he used to walk in broad daylight with a lit lamp. When asked what he needed a lantern for during the day, he would reply: “I am just looking for an honest man.” Needless to say, so the story goes, he never found one.
The cynics of today seem to have only inherited the unguarded tongue of the cynics of old.
They find it easy to fire barbs at anyone and everyone who they feel is not as smart as they are. That is why we still have Tendai Biti cynically goading the general public of Zimbabwe today into believing that the Zimbabwe dollar will soon return and sound the final trumpet of the country’s unstoppable decline into a failed State.
Addressing the media in Harare on Tuesday, the former Finance Minister spoke of the return of the Zimbabwe dollar in dirge-like tones meant to induce cynicism about Government’s ability to steer the economy.
Never mind that it was a Zanu-PF Government that pulled the master-stroke of introducing the basket of currencies when Tendai Biti and his colleagues were in opposition, a state of opposition into which they have well and truly retreated into thanks to the July 31 elections.
Never mind that on numerous occasions, Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa – who was himself the Acting Finance chief who introduced the basket of currencies – has said, with an increasingly weary tone, that there is no imminent change to the currency regime on the cards.
Never mind that the Reserve Bank (the custodian of monetary issues), when Dr Gideon Gono was still at its helm, said repeatedly that talk of a Zimbabwe dollar return is as premature as it is baseless.
Never mind that Zanu-PF, in whom an overwhelming majority of the country has reposed its faith to govern for at least another five years, has said any Zimbabwe dollar return will only see it being included as but one component of the basket of currencies. Never mind that President Mugabe, the supreme authority on the matter, has said there can be no return of the Zimbabwe dollar without a substantial improvement in industrial, agricultural and mining productivity.
No, none of that matters to a Tendai Biti and an MDC-T that seeks relevance through an empty cynicism that proffers neither advice nor ideas.
It is a cynicism designed not to help advance developmental discourse in Zimbabwe, but rather to create uncertainty and to make the nation second guess itself at a time that it should be uniting to take the country forward.
Zimbabwe is at a stage where it cannot afford to heed the mutterings of cynical politicians who issue self-serving statements when there is much work to be done within the realm of advancing economic development. It is understandable that opposition politicians will want to be seen to be talking, so that the electorate does not forget them. But in all we do, let us all remember that the interests of Zimbabwe have primacy over any other considerations, especially for those who have taken it upon themselves to serve public careers.
Online Reporter