daniel chigunweMbuso Ndhlovu
Bulawayo Bureau
Zimbabweans studying literature for literature’s sake came across English legendary war poet Wilfred Owen.
I did too. The best of his poems, I reckon, was the one in which he writes about patriotism and willingness to die for one’s country Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori:
“Bent double, like old beggars under sacks; knock-kneed, coughing like hags we cursed through sludge. Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs; And towards our distant rest began to trudge; Men marched asleep. Many had list their boots, but limped on, blood-shod; All went lame, all blind.; Drunk with fatigue
“Deaf even to the hoots of gas shells dropping softly behind.
“Gas, gas, gas quick boys-an ecstasy of fumbling; fitting the clumsy helmet just in time; But someone still was yelling out and stumbling; And flound’ring like a man in fire or lime; Dim through the misty panes and thick green light; As under a green sea, I saw him drowning in all any dreams before my helpless sight; He plunges at me, glittering, checking, drowning.
“If in some smothering dreams, you too could pace — Beside the wagon thar we flung him in.; And watch the white eyes writhing in his face; His hanging face like a devil’s sick of sin; If you could hear, at every jolt the blood; Come gargling from the froth- corrupted lungs obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues; My friend, you would not tell with such high zest; To children ardent for some desperate glory the OLD LIE — Dulce et decorum est Pro Patria Mori.”
As we took part in the 2023 harmonised general elections on August 23, we definitely did it with the future of our children and grandchildren in mind.
The youth did it as they shaped their destiny. What is very clear is that as individuals, we view the future we aspire for differently.
There is no way we can all have the same opinion on anything. In a class or company or family, for instance, the individual preferences and aspirations in life vary hence their priorities will differ just as their world’s view.
Some will aspire to buy clothes, others to buy huge cars, and yet others buy houses with some simply travelling the world. There is nothing wrong with that.
What is unacceptable is for those who value cars to try and force those who enjoy travelling to appreciate the value in buying cars.
The definition of soft life differs from one individual to the other and even though we all want a good life, what we cannot agree on is what constitutes the good life.
A teetotaller cannot understand why an alcoholic believes carousal is the ultimate enjoyment.
A Catholic priest cannot appreciate speaking in tongues in carnal pleasure and a Casanova’s tryst with multiple partners as the ultimate pleasure.
It is clear that nobody must foist their preferences on others as we all have the same right to determine what we want in our lives.
Those who arrogate themselves the authority to direct others’ lives must be prepared to be told how to live their lives too.
Are they willing to be told how to think and act by their peers or colleagues or even strangers?
Obviously, a big loud no. So why is it that we all know of some pseudo dictator among our friends, family or colleagues who want to direct how we must all think and in the context of the recent elections, how we should have voted.
Where do they get that power to try and direct our lives as if we are an extension of their ambitions?
As an individual, there is so much that one needs to do with their own lives, especially since life is extremely short, such that it is quite shocking some people have time to try and run other people’s lives too.
Each to their own, an old saying goes.
In any contest there must be a single winner but in the spirit of camaraderie it is usually said there are no losers.
Our recent elections have opened sore wounds and brought out the worst among some of us.
It is only very fortunate that our strong Ubuntu detests the spilling of innocent blood but the weak sell-outs among us were already smelling blood like vultures circling an injured prey.
What is good is that calls for violence by people domiciled in Europe’s tiny council flats and South Africa’s tin and plastic shacks, which we do not have in Zimbabwe, have not been made by any bona-fide politician, but some people who do not have any influence at all.
Those potentially dangerous individuals calling for anarchy just because the electoral result did not go their way must know that their ways are not out of the love for democracy. There is a lot more we can learn from our electoral processes but the fruits of violence is not one of them. Vincit omnia veritas — truth conquers all things.
Online Reporter