An opinion piece in the prevailing lifestyle wars going on among Zimbabwe situated all over the world and those in the motherland.

1. Who is living it up Zimbos at Home or in the Diasporas?
Let us stand together and fight to take down the dictators that have stifled our progress as a nation.
The greedy man and women that have stalled our progress as human beings.
Johannesburg | 18-06-2014 | MGLI
“We are in the water! We are in the Atlantic and we have a white captain therefore we are living it
up”. These are the words blurted out by a burly, Rick Ross look-alike Zimbabwean national based in
the USA. “We are on our way from Southerton to pick up a Range Rover, we have just purchased for
US$113 000.00” alleged an equally flamboyant Harare based individual. “Here in the UK, we are
eating sushi and not zimukonde resadza with two small pieces of meat cooked with untreated water
like people in Zimbabwe do, we are having a good time in the UK”, retorted a UK based guy who has
just been introduced to sushi and red wine. Courtesy of www.mafaro.co.uk I was able to watch my
brothers making a mockery of their intelligence. It was such an irony as I have been led to believe
that Zimbos are generally a notch higher than many Africans with respect to intellectual capacity and
its application. I am perplexed by their lowly expressions of joy, living it up and happiness.
Who is really living it up? What is the measure of living it up? From the videos on the website and
the ensuing comments it is interesting the variables that people are using to compare standards of
living in their respective places of residence. I have more questions than answers as I am not
privileged enough to experience the type of happiness and living up that is being highlighted by my
brothers and sisters scattered all over the world that have been highlighted on this website.
It seems that there is an underlying common denominator whereby each of the bragging individuals
seems to enjoy the suffering of fellow Zimbabweans so as to reinforce their enjoyment or perception
of it. This is evidenced by the denigrating of home-based Zimbos by those in the Diaspora and the
converse is true. Is happiness derived from others’ misfortunes or perceived shortcomings? How
does it help anyone if we generalise that all Zimbos in the UK are washing old people in the homes
and work multiple jobs? Is there anything to brag about not having formal jobs and being in a society
of informal traders who fuel the black market at the expense of value-adding national programmes?
How does that help us as a people to go forward? Instead of gloating and alleging that one has
bought a Range Rover and plans to buy a Land Cruiser for his driver, cant we put our energy to
something that will build our battered nation? Are our priorities as a people misplaced? Are these
cheap and shameful shots the best we have? Is this what we have come to be as a nation? Are we a
nation of people who brag about having a bigger braai with more meat than our neighbours? Is it
because we are not used to money that we are in a kind of euphoria at being exposed to a little? Do
the simpletons in the videos represent the ordinary Zimbabwean?
It is common knowledge that the ordinary Zimbabwean blames politicians for the circumstances that
the country has endured and finds itself in, but the question that no one seems to want to answer is,
“What have you done for the betterment of the country in a personal capacity?” Zimbabwe is our
home and we should be working together to make it the best place on Earth as opposed to picking
petty fight that do not add to anyone’s economic value. We all have to take pro-active steps in trying
to help the country soar in our spheres of influence. The only people that are going to change the

2. fortunes of Zimbabwe are you and I. If we do the little that we can do in our small way it will
contribute to the overall overhaul of our country.
Let us stand together and fight to take down the dictators that have stifled our progress as a nation.
The dictators that have impeded the development of Zimbabwe are just not political office bearers
but you and I who are so engrossed in our greed and destructively competitive nature that we have
set self-serving personal policies, which on a macro-level reveal the moral decadence of us as a
people. For Zimbabwe to rise and be counted among nations it is necessary and sufficient that we all
tame the dictators within ourselves so as to love our brothers as we love ourselves and take selfless
actions that we be mutually beneficial to all Zimbabweans. Personal policies and actions that seek to
unite our people in the face of developmental adversaries and associated obstacles.
A regime change will not be sufficient as the cancer in our Zimbabwean society within and without
our boarders is far deeper than politics can solve. We need a seismic paradigm shift in our thinking
and not be all driven by self aggrandisement as the sole motivator for all our actions. The greed is so
perverse in the Zimbabwean society that it has permeated into the once sanctified religious circles.
Churches have become houses of hero worship and money laundering. We all need to change our
ways in order to carve a new dispensation for our country which has survived the worst economic
turmoil ever experienced in the history of economics.
Hundreds of thousands of students received subsidised education in Zimbabwe in the form of loans,
bursaries, scholarships, learnerships, apprenticeships and grants but nothing was recovered by the
State as a result of dishonesty from the multitudes of beneficiaries of the government system. Is this
not individual corruption which at a macro-level had a significant impact on the performance of the
country’s economy? Imagine if all beneficiaries repay 10% of that money and it can be channelled
into national infrastructure projects addressing issues mentioned by the sushi-novice UK based
brother.
Imagine if every citizen of Zimbabwe takes it upon himself or herself to improve the country of
Zimbabwe in the most selfless way possible. All these are my imaginations and have just been
triggered by the buffoonery being paraded by my fellow countrymen. With all the brotherly love, I
say to them, “You are forgiven for you do not know better, aspire for higher ideals that transcend
your current upper limit in the pursuit of happiness”. I searched the internet for something that
might inspire my small thinking brothers to experience a quantum leap in their view of life and
meaning and I came across a text from Charlie Chaplin’s speech in the movie “The Dictator”
produced in 1940. It is a contains a message that every Zimbabwean ought to hear and apply in
his/her life for a better future. After reading this, I am optimistic that there will be a 15% reduction
in violence against women and children as you tame the dictactor inside you. Hopefully this will
unite all Zimbos for a common purpose worth pursuing. Below is the tweaked speech.
I’m sorry, but I don’t want to be an emperor, president, member of parliament or prime minister.
That’s not my business. I don’t want to rule or conquer anyone. I should like to help everyone - if
possible - Jew, Gentile - black man – white (living in Zim or outside). We all want to help one
another. Human beings are like that. We want to live by each other’s happiness - not by each other’s
misery. We don’t want to hate and despise one another. In this world there is room for everyone.
And the good earth is rich and can provide for everyone. The way of life can be free and beautiful,
but we have lost the way.

3. Greed has poisoned men’s souls, has barricaded the world with hate, and has goose-stepped us into
misery, gloating and bloodshed. We have developed speed, but we have shut ourselves in.
Machinery that gives abundance has left us in want. Our knowledge has made us cynical. Our
cleverness, hard and unkind. We think too much and feel too little. More than machinery we need
humanity. More than cleverness we need kindness and gentleness. Without these qualities, life will
be violent and all will be lost....
The aeroplane, the television, the internet, the cell phone, the computer and the radio have brought
us closer together, we can communicate in real time efficiently. The very nature of these inventions
cries out for the goodness in men - cries out for universal brotherhood - for the unity of us all. Even
now my voice is reaching millions throughout the world - millions of despairing men, women, and
little children - victims of a system that makes men torture and imprison innocent people.
To those who can hear me, I say - do not despair. The misery that is now upon us is but the passing
of greed - the bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress. The hate of men will pass, and
dictators die, and the power they took from the people will return to the people. And so long as men
die, liberty will never perish. .....
Soldiers! Don’t give yourselves to brutes - men who despise you - enslave you - who regiment your
lives - tell you what to do - what to think and what to feel! Who drill you - diet you - treat you like
cattle, use you as cannon fodder. Don’t give yourselves to these unnatural men - machine men with
machine minds and machine hearts! You are not machines! You are not cattle! You are men! You
have the love of humanity in your hearts! You don’t hate! Only the unloved hate - the unloved and
the unnatural! Soldiers! Don’t fight for slavery! Fight for liberty!
In the 17th Chapter of St Luke it is written: “the Kingdom of God is within man” - not one man nor a
group of men, but in all men! In you! You, the people have the power - the power to create
machines. The power to create happiness! You, the people, have the power to make this life free
and beautiful, to make this life a wonderful adventure.
Then - in the name of democracy - let us use that power - let us all unite. Let us fight for a new world
- a decent world that will give men a chance to work - that will give youth a future and old age a
security. By the promise of these things, brutes have risen to power. But they lie! They do not fulfil
that promise. They never will!
Dictators free themselves but they enslave the people! Now let us fight to fulfil that promise! Let us
fight to free the world - to do away with national barriers - to do away with greed, with hate and
intolerance. Let us fight for a world of reason, a world where science and progress will lead to all
men’s happiness. Soldiers! In the name of democracy, let us all unite!
T is my wish that I have ignited fire in someone to change his/her ways and focus on building a
better Zimbabwe for generations to come. Let us unite in taking our country forward to the
promised land.
Reference link: http://www.mafaro.co.uk/2014/06/videos-living-large-at-home-and-abroad.html