On the Illusion of Tranquility

[Fundi Mchundo]

Akufukuzae hakuambii toka! Sasa wanapoweka maneno kama haya 'quintecensce of status quo' sisi tuliokimbia umande tubaki tukitafuta nini? Halafu Masanilo anataka nitafsiri? Hanitakii mema.

Sio siri, Nyani. Nisingekimbia umande angalau ningekuwa mhandisi. Huu ufundi mchundo ni baada ya kusota sana kwenye 'grade test'!
Haya wasomi, kazi kwenu. Ingilishi ndiyo hiyo. Na msijisumbue kujibu kwa kiswahili kwa kutuonea huruma wengine. Mwageni hicho kimombo bila wasiwasi wowote! Ndiyo faida ya skuli!

Amandla.......

 

[Masanilo]

Halafu Masanilo anataka nitafsiri? Hanitakii mema.

Do not take it personal tunachangamsha jamvi tu wengine.....Kata nondo Fundi....!

 

[Nyani Ngabu]

Akufukuzae hakuambii toka! Sasa wanapoweka maneno kama haya 'quintecensce of status quo' sisi tuliokimbia umande tubaki tukitafuta nini? Halafu Masanilo anataka nitafsiri? Hanitakii mema.

Sio siri, Nyani. Nisingekimbia umande angalau ningekuwa mhandisi. Huu ufundi mchundo ni baada ya kusota sana kwenye 'grade test'!
Haya wasomi, kazi kwenu. Ingilishi ndiyo hiyo. Na msijisumbue kujibu kwa kiswahili kwa kutuonea huruma wengine. Mwageni hicho kimombo bila wasiwasi wowote! Ndiyo faida ya skuli!

Amandla.......

Bado hujachangia hoja zaidi ya kulalamika tu! Vipi unaonaje hoja za Mwanakijiji, zimetulia?

 

[Fundi Mchundo]

Bado hujachangia hoja zaidi ya kulalamika tu! Vipi unaonaje hoja za Mwanakijiji, zimetulia?

Nitachangiaje wakati kimombo hakipandi? Hii lugha nawaachia wenyewe. Kiswahili chenyewe taabu!

Mimi silalamiki bali najilaumu mwenyewe kwa kukimbia umande.

Amandla.....

 

[Bluray]

M. M. Mwanakijiji

We believe it is there.

Right of the bat, the tool of the oppressor is identified, though subconsciously I am inclined to think. Dickens, through his characters said hope - a version of belief- can be poisonous, he emphasized facts, cold facts.Can we downplay beliefs and crank up the facts?

It is belief that let people elect corrupt officials year in year out, in the belief and hope that "This year it will be better" or "Better thye devil you know..."

We act as if it does exist in perpetuity and the very attempt of questioning its relevance is met with a forceful and reliablee opposition. Peace.

I am glad you are bringing up the issue of questioning peace. like characters straight out of Plato's "Allegory of the Cave", Tanzanians have been blinded by the fear and propaganda of "sticking to what you know" to the extent that, even with the shatters of "chama kushika hatamu" being gone, the populace is essentially failing to change the corrupt regime and demand responsible leadership from among the ranks of all our leaders, regardless of party affiliation.

We are described to be a unique African nation that is blessed by the Almighty with peace, solidarity and tranquility that seem to be exclusively ours.

This is an overstretch used for propaganda reasons at best, at worst a blatant lie.When people speak of peace, the most immediate image that comes to mind is the horrific genocide of Rwanda, child soldiers of Liberia and such godforsaken corners of the world.What we may not grasp immediately is the millions of babies dying in childbirth, preventable communicable diseases, lack of sanitation, lack of basic health facilities, you know the litany of services lacking in our villages which end up costing million of lives.It is as if we are living in the ancient times, some readings of history tells me the Romans city states had running water and hot baths in their nobility's households. Most of present day Tanzanians in this aspect are living worse than ancient Romans who lived more than 2,000 years ago. This is a tragedy.If this is peace give me war to attain livable conditions.

This peace that is constantly portrayed to be a result of good governance and exceptional leadership of the founders of our republic is used to warn us every time that if we stand in opposition of the current government, if we stand firm against mediocre leadership we are endangering this unique and rare value and therefore by default we are always asked not to cause trouble "lest peace be the first victim".

Every mediocre misleadership (for I refuse to call what we have "leadership") needs a scapegoat and propaganda of obfuscation.The Iranians have their "Great Satan", Hitler had the Jews.Ours has been extermely fluid and inventive, from "mabeberu" "makabaila" "Nduli Iddi Amin" to "walanguzi" up to the "global economic calamity".In the process, the politics of fear is duly deployed through the experienced CCM machinery. we must refuse to submit to this fearmongering and the obviously ill intended psychological tactics.

We are admonished by leaders of the ruling party (in different ways and by different words) to be wary and watchful of politicians who 'seek cheap popularity" from the opposition. That, if we were to listen them and take them seriously we will be putting peace and tranquility of our beloved nation at stake.

If there ever was a politician who ascended to power via using cheap popularity that would be Kikwete himself.He had no achievement whatsoever to distinguish him as worthy of the presidency when he came to power.Worse still, even after ascending to Ikulu he has demonstrated nothing but indecisiveness and a parochial, decrepit, morbid, unparalled crawl that regards presidential duties as irritants than shots at progressively advancing our country's condition.

CCM by the sheer virtue of it's lack of direction and ideology coupled with it's behemoth omnipresent, can be said to be the biggest benefactor of cheap politics, or as some would say, politricks.

Thus, I'll argue that to most Tanzanians peace then is that absence of violent conflict, internal strifes and wars. According to this flawed mentality we are a "peaceful" nation just because such negative events are not happening in our country. We are a peaceful nation.

The definition is rather narrow as noted.In addition, what difference does it make whether the bombs are unleashed from an opposing army in a civil war or from Mbagala? Our culture of incompetence is threatening the prevailing of even this ultra-narrow definition of peace. As has been noted before by medieval English linguists and popularized by Bob Marley "A hungry man is an angry man" and who knows what a hungry angry man is capable, we have witnessed unprecedented events in our nations history, from the stoning of a presidential motorcade, the booing of an ex president to the slapping of another ex president, these are not the telltale signs of a peaceful society, what do we want to see to realize that this "peace" is propaganda? "MENE, MENE, TEKEL" on the wall?

That my friends is an illusion; an illusion of a magnitude only comparable to that famous illusion in Plato's Allegory of the Cave. It is not real. Our minds are lying to us; we are looking through a fault instrument and hence our interpretation is inherently erratic because it is based on wrong information that we have acquired.

It is interesting that you mention Plato's Allegory of the Cave. When I wrote up there I hadn't read this part (I am going piecemeal as evidenced by my quotations), but it just shows that we are on the same wavelength, the analogy captures the Tanzanian situation succinctly.

Unfortunately, those who believe this illusion will defend it to their death and strongly and sometimes I fear violently, charge anyone one who promulgate a different view to be heretic to be "burned at stake".

Some have an interest in the status quo, some are inculcated with this fear to an astonishing degree, some are simply puppet pawns caugh up in the thoughtless adulation of the status quo, with fake patriotism and self defeating outlooks on life a la Thomas Frank's " What's the Matter With Kansas".

My friends, peace is not the absence of war, violent conflicts or internal strives. Peace is the result of rule of justice and the presence of equality. Sometimes what is seen to be seen as tranquility is nothing but the rule of fear. The quietness on the surface of the ocean should not be taken as an indication of stillness of the ocean.

We must work to eradicate the notion that rights -even basic human rights- are undeserved privileges.

Tanzanian people are quiet and most of the time very laid back. We like to present our cases through arguing and making proposals and counter proposals. At the same time, we hate arguing! Whenever someone make a strong arguments or pushes a certain proposal we tend to default to "mpeni basi". We don't like stubborn people (wabishi). Because of that very fact we give up easily and sometimes with minimal opposition.

The history of the word will show that nothing worthwhile was gained without passionate exchanges of ideas.tycho Brahe and Alexander Hamilton even took it to the level of a duel, as a result we have one of the finest financial system (although now in muddy waters) and modern astronomy.Some things are worth fighting for, we cannot shy away from a duel of the intellect, we can only be excused for refrain from unworthy duels.

What I see is that, there is a new generation of young Tanzanians who when certain circumstances change will not tolerate or accept this illusion of tranquility. They will stand up against corrupt regime and as we have seen in other parts of the world, they will challenge the status quo and the sight of that won't be very good to our eyes!

I se the arrow of time coupled with the unbending forces of entropy wielding an imminent whirlwind of change.At the same time, the corrupt system is working hard to maintain the status quo and frustrate the impending paradigm shift through propaganda and even coercion.Too many young people go into government and industry with revolutionary ideas only to be swallowed by the machine of homogenization.We must guide against compromising principle for security, for as Benjamin Franklin summarized this equation, "They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security". We must unwaveringly stress on the paramount importance of principles.

the singularity is near, even these machines we are typing / processing information on will become aware of the gross inhumanity of the work of the Tanzanian aristocracy, let alone the people of Tanzania.

When that day comes (as it surelly will), we should understand that the seeds of its fruition have been planted so many decades ago.

To quote Michael McFaul "In retrospect, all revolutions seem inevitable. Beforehand, all revolutions seem impossible". It is only a matter of time, the question is how long.

Only the cultivation and defence of the rule of law, the presence of accountable and transparent leadership, and the exaltation of the virtues of justice and equality among our people will create an environment where true and sustainable peace will exist and flourish.

They will be ready to debate you all day and night as to the true nature of those ideals and in the process excel with their much practised obfuscation, the truth is like the sun, when the time is right, if you cannot see it's light you will feel it's heat.

Yes, true peace! Not the peace of the fearful, but the peace of the grateful; Not the peace of the scared, but the peace of what is shared; Not the peace as an illusion, but the peace that is an allusion of what we truly know to be true.

And only then, the illusion of tranquility will seize to amaze and dazzle us. For then, we will know peace in reality, potentiality, and in actuality.

NB: First Draft.

This is a process, but we have started and resolved to continue, some of us will fall by the wayside, some will go all the way.

More fire!

 

[Nyani Ngabu]

Right of the bat, the tool of the oppressor is identified, though subconsciously I am inclined to think. Dickens, through his characters said hope - a version of belief- can be poisonous, he emphasized facts, cold facts.Can we downplay beliefs and crank up the facts?

It is belief that let people elect corrupt officials year in year out, in the belief and hope that "This year it will be better" or "Better thye devil you know..."



I am glad you are bringing up the issue of questioning peace. like characters straight out of Plato's "Allegory of the Cave", Tanzanians have been blinded by the fear and propaganda of "sticking to what you know" to the extent that, even with the shatters of "chama kushika hatamu" being gone, the populace is essentially failing to change the corrupt regime and demand responsible leadership from among the ranks of all our leaders, regardless of party affiliation.



This is an overstretch used for propaganda reasons at best, at worst a blatant lie.When people speak of peace, the most immediate image that comes to mind is the horrific genocide of Rwanda, child soldiers of Liberia and such godforsaken corners of the world.What we may not grasp immediately is the millions of babies dying in childbirth, preventable communicable diseases, lack of sanitation, lack of basic health facilities, you know the litany of services lacking in our villages which end up costing million of lives.It is as if we are living in the ancient times, some readings of history tells me the Romans city states had running water and hot baths in their nobility's households. Most of present day Tanzanians in this aspect are living worse than ancient Romans who lived more than 2,000 years ago. This is a tragedy.If this is peace give me war to attain livable conditions.




Every mediocre misleadership (for I refuse to call what we have "leadership") needs a scapegoat and propaganda of obfuscation.The Iranians have their "Great Satan", Hitler had the Jews.Ours has been extermely fluid and inventive, from "mabeberu" "makabaila" "Nduli Iddi Amin" to "walanguzi" up to the "global economic calamity".In the process, the politics of fear is duly deployed through the experienced CCM machinery. we must refuse to submit to this fearmongering and the obviously ill intended psychological tactics.



If there ever was a politician who ascended to power via using cheap popularity that would be Kikwete himself.He had no achievement whatsoever to distinguish him as worthy of the presidency when he came to power.Worse still, even after ascending to Ikulu he has demonstrated nothing but indecisiveness and a parochial, decrepit, morbid, unparalled crawl that regards presidential duties as irritants than shots at progressively advancing our country's condition.

CCM by the sheer virtue of it's lack of direction and ideology coupled with it's behemoth omnipresent, can be said to be the biggest benefactor of cheap politics, or as some would say, politricks.



The definition is rather narrow as noted.In addition, what difference does it make whether the bombs are unleashed from an opposing army in a civil war or from Mbagala? Our culture of incompetence is threatening the prevailing of even this ultra-narrow definition of peace. As has been noted before by medieval English linguists and popularized by Bob Marley "A hungry man is an angry man" and who knows what a hungry angry man is capable, we have witnessed unprecedented events in our nations history, from the stoning of a presidential motorcade, the booing of an ex president to the slapping of another ex president, these are not the telltale signs of a peaceful society, what do we want to see to realize that this "peace" is propaganda? "MENE, MENE, TEKEL" on the wall?



It is interesting that you mention Plato's Allegory of the Cave. When I wrote up there I hadn't read this part (I am going piecemeal as evidenced by my quotations), but it just shows that we are on the same wavelength, the analogy captures the Tanzanian situation succinctly.



Some have an interest in the status quo, some are inculcated with this fear to an astonishing degree, some are simply puppet pawns caugh up in the thoughtless adulation of the status quo, with fake patriotism and self defeating outlooks on life a la Thomas Frank's " What's the Matter With Kansas".



We must work to eradicate the notion that rights -even basic human rights- are undeserved privileges.



The history of the word will show that nothing worthwhile was gained without passionate exchanges of ideas.tycho Brahe and Alexander Hamilton even took it to the level of a duel, as a result we have one of the finest financial system (although now in muddy waters) and modern astronomy.Some things are worth fighting for, we cannot shy away from a duel of the intellect, we can only be excused for refrain from unworthy duels.



I se the arrow of time coupled with the unbending forces of entropy wielding an imminent whirlwind of change.At the same time, the corrupt system is working hard to maintain the status quo and frustrate the impending paradigm shift through propaganda and even coercion.Too many young people go into government and industry with revolutionary ideas only to be swallowed by the machine of homogenization.We must guide against compromising principle for security, for as Benjamin Franklin summarized this equation, "They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security". We must unwaveringly stress on the paramount importance of principles




To quote Michael McFaul "In retrospect, all revolutions seem inevitable. Beforehand, all revolutions seem impossible". It is only a matter of time, the question is how long.



They will be ready to debate you all day and night as to the true nature of those ideals and in the process excel with their much practised obfuscation, the truth is like the sun, when the time is right, if you cannot see it's light you will feel it's heat.



This is a process, but we have started and resolved to continue, some of us will fall by the wayside, some will go all the way.

More fire!

Wewe ndo umemkimbiza kabisa Fundi...you are so inconsiderate....

 

[Bluray]

Wewe ndo umemkimbiza kabisa Fundi...you are so inconsiderate....

Fundi is a controversial convoluted contrarian concocting cocoons of Cocopa conspiracies.

Back to the subject at hand.

 

[Maxence Melo]

NB: First Draft.

Anxiously looking forward for the Final Draft

 

[Fundi Mchundo]

Wewe ndo umemkimbiza kabisa Fundi...you are so inconsiderate....

Waambie, Nyani. Waambie!

Fundi is a controversial convoluted contrarian concocting cocoons of Cocopa conspiracies.

Back to the subject at hand.

Nilikuwepo!

Amandla......

 

[Maxence Melo]

Fundi is a controversial convoluted contrarian concocting cocoons of Cocopa conspiracies.

Back to the subject at hand.

Am lost Bluray...

 

[Nyani Ngabu]

Fundi is a controversial convoluted contrarian concocting cocoons of Cocopa conspiracies.

Back to the subject at hand.

Damn you....

 

[Fundi Mchundo]

Mnaona sasa (Bluray na wenzako) tulivyobaki wachache kwenye nyuzi hii. Tuliokacha umande tuko wengi ingawa wengine wanamezea.

Amandla......

 

[Bluray]

Mnaona sasa (Bluray na wenzako) tulivyobaki wachache kwenye nyuzi hii. Tuliokacha umande tuko wengi ingawa wengine wanamezea.

Amandla......

Labda hiki kiingereza cha kujifunza ukubwani tukifanye kama chachu ili sote tujue zaidi kile Mzee Mwinyi alichokiita "Kiswahili cha Dunia".

Kuna watu wa mashirika ya kimataifa wananusa humu, wengine hawajui kiswahili.Kuna watoto wanajifunza kiswahili humu, na wao tuwafikirie, sio kila siku kiswahili tu.

Unataka kuniambia wakuu wote hawa wametoa thanks bila kuona ndani? Acha matusi ya rejareja

The Following 14 Users Say Thank You to Mzee Mwanakijiji For This Useful Post:
Augustine Moshi (Yesterday), Dingswayo (Today), Felister (Today), Ibrah (Today), Interested Observer (Yesterday), Invisible (Today), Josh Michael (Today), Mag3 (Yesterday), Mkandara (Yesterday), Msanii (Today), Njimba Nsalilwe (Today), Ogah (Yesterday), PJ (Today), Recta (Today)

Back to the subject at hand.

 

[Nyani Ngabu]

Labda hiki kiingereza cha kujifunza ukubwani tukifanye kama chachu ili sote tujue zaidi kile Mzee Mwinyi alichokiita "Kiswahili cha Dunia".

Kuna watu wa mashirika ya kimataifa wananusa humu, wengine hawajui kiswahili.Kuna watoto wanajifunza kiswahili humu, na wao tuwafikirie, sio kila siku kiswahili tu.

Back to the subject at hand.

Damn you..

 

[Bluray]

Damn you..

Sema na hilo Kiswahili basi.

 

[Nyani Ngabu]

Sema na hilo Kiswahili basi.

Ulaaniwe

 

[Fundi Mchundo]

Labda hiki kiingereza cha kujifunza ukubwani tukifanye kama chachu ili sote tujue zaidi kile Mzee Mwinyi alichokiita "Kiswahili cha Dunia".

Kuna watu wa mashirika ya kimataifa wananusa humu, wengine hawajui kiswahili.Kuna watoto wanajifunza kiswahili humu, na wao tuwafikirie, sio kila siku kiswahili tu.

Unataka kuniambia wakuu wote hawa wametoa thanks bila kuona ndani? Acha matusi ya rejareja



Back to the subject at hand.

Si matusi bali facts. Wangapi katika hao wamebaki kuchangia hoja? Hata muanzisha mada ameingia gizani! Mmebaki nyie na ma-konvyuleshen yenu.

Sasa, Mkuu, unamfundisha mtoto kiswahili kwa kuandika kile tulichokuwa tukiita ma bombastic ( kabla Shaggy hajazaliwa)?

Amandla......

 

[Dingswayo]

What is latent violence? Latent violence is poverty, hunger, diseases, fear, ignorance etc when they occur within confines of a society in which a few enjoy the opposite.

 

[Raia Fulani]

Mkuu mkijiji, natumai unaongea na wananchi si sehem yake. Kilichopo ndani ya mada zenu wanahitaji kila mmoja. Wekeni lugha wanayojua wananchi wengi

 

[Semilong]

Tanzanians needs to use violence to obtain the real peace and tranquillity.

The sad news is none of the JF members (tz middle class) is willing to participate in the peace process.