When a government telling you what to do isn't such a bad thing
This picture taken on May 1, 2014 shows the 301.8-metre arch-shaped building which will house 69 stores, a luxury hotel, offices and shopping mall in Suzhou, eastern China's Jiangsu province. China’s economy has been slammed by a deflating property bubble and weak export growth, as well as a government crackdown on corruption. CHINA OUT AFP PHOTO
What you need to know:
- This is a classic example of a government that cares, one that will deny you things that other countries call freedoms, for your own good.
- The poor driver gave up, just like that. No one wore a safety belt. When he did over-speed again, however, the uproar was instantaneous.
- Mr Mututho was, and is, on the right track. If he really wanted to make it costly for those who like their tipple a little too much, he should have found a way to do just that
China has banned the broadcast of films and television programmes featuring actors who have been busted for drugs or found fraternising with prostitutes.
Yes. The people at the helm of the East, in their infinite wisdom, have decided that its youth are too precious and impressionable to be made to think that people who do that kind of thing are cool.
It makes a lot of sense. Although China is known for not being very humane, this is a classic example of a government that cares, one that will deny you things that other countries call freedoms, for your own good. Sounds harsh?
Does our own government care enough to do something like that, or is it too busy trying to appease us for things its predecessors did?
Corruption is illegal, on paper. So are drink-driving, prostitution, marijuana and a host of other drugs, over-speeding, driving without your seatbelt on and all manner of social ills that nobody is held accountable for.
Except for when John Michuki was Minister for Transport, no one really wears their belt in public or personal vehicles, unless they’ve been involved in an accident and become more careful because of it.
THE DRIVER GAVE UP
Of course the blame isn’t solely on the authorities. As passengers or drivers, we don’t insist that everybody wear a safety belt, and when anybody does, the uproar is heard in heaven and hell alike.
“Hizi belts zenu chafu na nimevaa nguo ya white, mimi nivae? Wacha jokes (These belts of yours are dirty, and I am dressed in white and you want me to belt up? Stop joking),” I once heard someone say when the call went out to belt up.
The poor driver gave up, just like that. No one wore a safety belt. When he did over-speed again, however, the uproar was instantaneous.
It’s the same with the television programmes, films, and music broadcast not just by government stations, but all private broadcasters as well.
Most of us have been bombarded with images of sex, romance, violence and generally destructive behaviour since we were children. It’s even worse today.
In fact it’s so bad that local film-makers, both big screen and television, have resorted to imitating those Mexican soaps in their productions.
SOCIALLY INEPT
You can’t fault them. That’s what they grew up being allowed to watch, and now it’s the reality.
There’s nary an educational programme left on local channels, so unless you stay without a television and make it clear to your offspring that the neighbour’s sitting room is off limits, and Internet access is allowed only under strict parental scrutiny, your child is probably going to be an oversexed, violent, socially inept, game-playing adult with a serious case of disillusionment.
There are a lot of things that our government should enforce that it hasn’t. There are a lot of personal improvements that individuals could make that they haven’t, and probably never will. This is why government needs to get more assertive.
In ensuring the good of all its citizens, bwana serikali needs to be as no-nonsense as China; if it’s a social ill, it needs to be punished and thoroughly discouraged. A policeman would never need to take a bribe if he got a commission for every plausible arrest or fine he enforced.
FINE THE NEIGHBOURS TOO
In case on non-seatbelt-wearing drivers and passengers, everyone in the vehicle should be fined, the driver for allowing it and passengers for not being their brother’s keeper. Have you found shops, matatus and cars that play music way too loud? Fine the owner, the employees and nearby businesses from which the racket can be heard, since they too should have complained.
Are there broadcasters that glorify sex, violence and general bad manners? Fine every last one of them because they should be more responsible in “transmitting culture and core values” as China’s government might say.
Mr Mututho was, and is, on the right track. If he really wanted to make it costly for those who like their tipple a little too much, he should have found a way to do just that; make drinking so costly that one would have to save for several months just to have a drink.
By then, most of us would have found better use for our hard-earned money. A benign, orderly dictatorship would save us all a lot of trouble.
Twitter: @njerish
