Yes...
People often ask why I have not gone back home, and ONE of the reasons is that we have become that which we fought against for so long. I first heard the claim, "we did not fight the struggle to be poor" when we (senior colleagues on the newspaper) received car allowances/company cars and I bought what was, then, the cheapest car on the road, and one of the most vocal revolutionaries and big time organised labour fellow at the time, bought a Mercedes Benz... He is now the MD of some media conglomerate and absolutely loves capitalism. I am unemployed and enjoying Sartre's condemnation to freedom.
So, giving in was, indeed, very seductive; it was also cowardly, expedient and exploitative - perfect case of apostasy!
I
Is http://www.ilagardien.com My little space in the e-world: A profit-free zone :-)
________________________________ From: Doug Henwood <dhenwood at panix.com> To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org Sent: Wed, 10 March, 2010 11:36:08 Subject: Re: [lbo-talk] FYI & Comment if you Wish
On Mar 10, 2010, at 12:31 PM, Ismail Lagardien wrote:
> Just incidentally, having made the decision in 1995, that I would quit journalism to return to graduate school,
> I was asked to join the government in the office of Trevor Manuel... (snip, snip)...
> Trevor Manuel was at the very fine edge of the blue wedge that gave in to foreign pressure and
> opt for an internally implemented structural adjustment loyal to the Washington Consensus
Yes, there was international pressure - but wasn't there a lot in it for the SA elite? ___________________________________ http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk