Spinning out - under the influence of spin

In my world, commerce is cut-throat, friendships are fickle, and everyone I know dances to the tune of money - which is evaporating faster than thinners on a hot night under Pamela Anderson-in-bygone-day's butt.

...Just another bright new day.

But hey, that's life. You get used to it:

"America's at war again..."
"Yeah? Who the poor sods going down this time....?"
"...You hear? Another bank's collapsed? We're all going down!"
"Hmmm...? Pass me a beer."

The problems facing us are present and real, but for me, the real danger is all the spin... The propaganda, political correctness, politeness, passiveness, acceptance, self-denial - and the resultant mute response to issues screaming for attention.

What we're taught

Why? 'Because that's the way we are.' Just like that - or that's what we're taught. That's how we have been brought up. Don't question the system - just accept it.... Forget that we are sitting at the top of the food chain - a place you only reach if you are the most aggressive, invasive and effective predator on the planet.

'But that's not in our nature' social etiquette declares as we meander around in happy tab-induced states of catatonic bliss, smiling politely as our world implodes around us... Because we are civilised.

...And all the while, spin keeps truth hidden from scrutiny, away from debate, opening the door to acts making parody of justice, morality, reason, and humanity.

But the world is slowly awakening. With social media literally giving voice to the world, smoothing and shmoozing are not as simple any more. For every word of spin, there are a million words of response, reaction and opinion.

Nowhere is this more evident

And nowhere is this more evident than around the Zuma Spear 'penisteria'.

Someone paints a picture and it gets to a gallery. Someone defaces it. The newspaper has a field day, and the issue dissolves into comical obscurity... The artiste wins his half-hour of fame and that's the end of it. That's what should have happened.

But next minute, ruling party power-players turn it into a racial issue, a morality issue, a dignity issue, an issue of political and criminal significance, and another reason justifying efforts to silence opinions and free speech. And what happens? Individuals who, in the absence of all the magnified attention sparked by a heavy-handed regime response would probably not even have given it enough thought to formulate an opinion, let alone align with a side, all of a sudden start aligning with a side.

One cannot help comparing the response of the current power players to this incident with the response of those at the helm when Mandela parted ways with Winnie, and then later married Graça Machel.

Emerged stronger and with more respect

What bigger stories could there ever possibly be, both on the national and global stages? Yet the great man would not be drawn into legitimising, justifying, explaining or apologising, and the stories not only fizzled and died but, on both occasions, Madiba emerged stronger and with more respect.

Madiba won our hearts with his compassion, understanding, love, words of conciliation, and unwavering honesty. There are few who believe even today that his truth and the real truth were ever too far apart.

The wheel has turned a great deal since those golden days of the new South Africa. And more than ever we see today: where actions are not questioned, answers not demanded, and transgressors not held accountable, benefit resides menacingly nearer to those who pull the strings.

In the face of spin both locally and globally, there can be little doubt that:

• Money-mongers and war-mongers rule the world, not presidents, politicians, popes or priests.
  
• Governments are expected to create jobs, while those that rape rewards evade the spotlight - and responsibility.
  
• Puppet-masters paint 'the big picture' through questionable agenda, rose-tinted glasses.
  
• Democracy and Freedom have very little to do with 'democracy' and 'freedom'.
  
• International and local turbulence are motivated by profit, not goodwill.
  
• The State of the Nation has very little to do with the state of a nation.
  
• Powerful hands and hungry minds exploit precious resources, hoarding wealth and fortifications against the inevitable backlash from rampant consumerism.
  
• Modern man has been seduced by modern life, and been brainwashed into believing the ship cannot sink and things will get better - in spite of the icebergs drifting all around us.

Common sense

It's not about a doomsday outlook or any activist-fringe hysteria; it's just about nose-on-your-face obvious common sense. We the spin-spinners go about our lives believing the task of saving the world only resides with the other guy. We pile on the makeup and fix the lights and argue ourselves to sleep that we've been here before... Maybe - but not in any recorded history.

If action - based on reason, right and foresight - is not taken in our lifetime, our kids will pay for our pleasures, our apathy, and our unquestioning vulnerability to the word-power of spin.