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This dragon has at least three heads

The recent protests against the plans of the government of Kenya were a sight to behold. It seems that finally the youth of Kenya are becoming politically active in a way that is far greater than at the time of my youth. This is great to see.

We all know that the government of Kenya is corrupt and probably criminal and that knowingly or unknowingly it makes life in Kenya a constant struggle, but the spark for these protests and demonstrations was the Finance Bill 2024 that is being forced down the throats of Kenyans and which will bring further pain when it comes to effect. It was interesting and inspiring to see young people from everywhere burst onto the streets to demand better from their government. We never did that during my day, sigh.

Anyway, the thing that I want to talk about in this post is to point out that the dragon that we are fighting has at least three heads and may have more. When you fight a dragon that has more than one head, you must take care to vanquish all heads so that you can be assured of final success.

I want to point this out because it appears to me that a large part of the demonstrators want to fight the system using the system. For example, they are talking about going the legal route of recalling members of parliament so as to (legitimately) send a message to the leaders that they must act and be seen to act in the interests of Kenya and Kenyans. This is probably a good move. Kenyan MPs have never been held to account for any of the things that they have done to us over the years and decades.

However, Kenyan MPs are just part of a large system which has absolutely n intention of relenting in whatever it is that they are doing to us and for themselves. Kenyan MPs, representative of visible Kenyan political leaders and other authorities, are but one head of this dragon. This head must be devastated and defeated but only targetting it is a mistake.

One other head is the “system” wich some call the “deep state”. The plain truth is that the entire system in Kenya consipres against the average Kenyan. This is why there is no real opposition to the government from other leaders. This is why Kenyan politicians frequently “change sides” and this does not affect in any way the realities on the ground in Kenya. There is a system that exists and that benefits from the status quo. This is the second head.

The third head is the prevailing global system. I don’t know if you want to call it the global American empire or neocolonialism or something else, but there is a dark power that ensures that countries like Kenya never rise beyond a certain point. Ask yourself: why do people still die of hunger (HUNGER!) in Kenya every year despite billions in “aid” from global bodies and so-called developed nations? It doesn’t make sense. And this is just one example of how this third head manifests itself. You could very well argue that this third head might be the power that is at least partly behind the other two heads.

Perhaps this dragon has other heads? I do not know.

But as we fight (and we must fight), we need to be aware that all of the dragon’s known heads are aligned and actively work together. Any moves made against on of them will be countered by the others. I don’t know how to fight this dragon and win, but this must be taken into account.

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400 years of shame

Look at this tweet:

“Africa has failed. Should be fully recolonised and used as a giant Australia-style deportation destination.”

Has Africa failed?  Probably, yes.  Should it be recolonized and used as an Australian-style settler colony, or worse, dumping ground?  Eh?  Should it?

Consider this other tweet, speaking about one possible outcome of the trouble in Ethiopia:

“It would end up being divided between Turkey Israel and Iran with Israel moving into a syncretism with Islam that is natural to it (Islam is a variety of Judaism)….”

This tweet is part of a conversation that concludes “Africa is full of dumb people who like fighting”.  Imagine that!

The fact of the matter is that since the second world war, Africa has enjoyed a prolonged period of time in which it has been free of “direct” colonisation by anybody – probably because of the so-called Pax Americana.  There are many reasons to believe that this is coming to an end.  Soon, Africa might be facing way more than just indirect neo-colonialism.  If I may be so bold as to make a prediction: the old colonial powers, and maybe even some new ones will be back (to Africa) before the year 2050.  From the above tweets you can tell that some are already thinking along those lines.

And what is Africa doing about it?  You know what immediately popped into my mind when I typed that? “Don’t say Africa, name the country!”  There is, of course, nothing like a collective African will, it is every African country for itself.  And probably all are failed countries, in my view.  This is to mean that “Africa” is doing absolutely nothing about what’s coming.  Instead of lamenting our 400 years of humiliation (think Chinese century of humiliation), we are leaving the door open to more humiliation, shame, and slavery.

Worse, we are led by an elite that is blinded by greed and their proximity to power and who are knowingly or unknowingly doing the very things that make it easy for us to be taken advantage of again.  One might even say that our elites are facilitating and have always facilitated our recolonisation.

What can be done about this?

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Spirit of Slavery

Have you noticed it too? Does it also annoy you? I am asking about this weird resigned, pacified state of contentment that time and time again I come across whenever there is a “political” discussion going on.

It goes like this: there is usually one party complaining about something the government is doing or not doing, and how it negatively affects us. Then the other party swiftly jumps in to remind everyone that we should all be thankful that things are not worse – and that they could be VERY MUCH worse. At this point they might even give examples from here, or other places, where there was strife, war, genocide, etc.

In effect, the message being passed is that we should not complain. We should be happy, thankful and relieved that things are not as bad as they could be.

You want examples? Sure. I’ll give you just one though – and leave coming up with others as an exercise for yourself. A near perfect example is the mantra of “accept and move on” that is usually all over TV, radio, and the Internet right after a presidential election in this country.

At this point I am going to ask you to go and read this article whose title can be summarized as Today’s Slave Mentality.

Now that you have read the article, how do you feel about that? Isn’t it curious that most slaves were resigned to their fate, and accepted it without much fuss? And that in extreme cases they even fought to defend their masters?

If we can call this weird phenomenon the spirit of slavery. Then my assertion today is that most of our modern day countrymen at all levels are deeply affected and infected by this spirit. We do not want to rock the boat and we are happy to let our ruling class to continue raping our country because we have somehow come to believe that:

  • We cannot do anything about it anyway
  • We should actually thank God and our lucky stars that things are as good as they are – we have “peace” and food and such. You know? (As an aside I think it is interesting to ask whether we actually have these things at all).
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So you’re boring as hell, now what?

For some people – not all, just some – life sometimes settles into some kind of predictable routine. Something like work-home-sleep-repeat, or the slightly better version work-home-{read/gym/dance/etc}-sleep-repeat. And then suddenly its been three years of that and you “don’t have a life anymore”. You know what I mean?

Well, I am a bit worse than that. I should say “I used to be worse than that”. I am naturally not social (or maybe just lazy), and generally really like things that keep me indoors: code, books, and such. So unlike others where the work-home-sleep-repeat cycle generally starts after school, for guys like me it started from day 1. Additionally I used to be heavy into video games…

Anyway, let us get back on track. So it had been years, and I couldn’t really put a finger on what I had been doing with my life. I’ve never been 40 before but things felt like how I imagine that infamous moment when you are 40 and you are wondering what the fuck happened to you. I used to be better than this! Where had all my friends gone? How did I actually spend years of my life, what had I been doing? Surely this is not how one leads an interesting life. Right?

And then I stumbled upon an article titled “So, you’re a boring fuck. What now?” Okay, that was not the actual title but it was gist behind the article. You can read it here. Quick piece of advice: don’t click on that link if you get offended easily.

Mind blowing. Right?

Okay, quick summary for those who didn’t read the article: Basically step 1 of working towards a more interesting life is getting the following:

  • Hobbies – these are things that you do regularly (at least once a week) which have a tangible output.
  • Interests – these are things that you are, well, interested in. These can be obscure and don’t necessarily need to have a tangible output. Their main benefit is that through them you are able to talk about interesting things.
  • Experiences – these are cool things (as judged by you) that you have done in the past.

Five years ago, I had none of the above (playing video games does not count). Here’s what is different these days:

  • I work out at least 4 times a week. This has been the biggest and most important improvement. I am ashamed that I spent the whole of my 20s not doing this. Definitely something to tell younger me if I met him.
  • I read voraciously. I can talk all day about stuff I’ve read over the years. I am especially happy because there are a few years in my 20s where I had completely stopped reading. Shame on me.
  • I make soap. A surprisingly easy thing to pick up. Plus, I always have gifts for things like birthdays. I hope that wonder if people appreciate my hand-made-with-love gifts of soap (they don’t).
  • I bake gourmet bread. This is actually therapeutic. And it seems popular with the ladies – who knew?
  • I try and go out a couple of times a month. This is my weakest link 🙂

All in all, if interesting-ness was measured on a scale of 1 – 10, I would rate myself a solid 10. LOL. Just kidding, I’m a 6/10 🙁

Here are things I think I still need to work on:

  • Get a more active social life. Maybe commit to going out somewhere every weekend? With people, of course.
  • And when I am doing social things I need to completely be in the moment, let go, and let things flow however they will. This is hard for me.
  • Take up an additional hobby. Something completely out of my comfort zone like biking or boxing or woodworking. Need help here.
  • Do something that takes me to the great outdoors more. I hike maybe once a year, but this is not enough. Need help here.
  • Stop working weekends completely. I need to rearrange my life to be such that I go hard on work as much as I want, but leave ample time for rest, relaxation, hobbies, and people.
  • Write more.
  • Learn how to dance. (Sad, I know.)

What have I missed?

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Finding Myself

The last time I really wrote on this blog was years ago.

One of the goals that I have had for the last few years was to get back into writing again. It’s been a real struggle! I mean, even now when people ask me what I love to do, writing is never too far down my list. But the minute I mention it, that sinking feeling of dishonesty kicks in. You know? Anyway, here I am. Trying to be a more honest person.

Before I started writing this blog post, I attempted to look for the last post that I really really wrote, and after going back nearly five years, I still had not found one. Its been five whole years. So, what’s been up? What have I been up to?

The biggest thing, I would say is that I found myself. I have gone through a huge amount of … stuff in the last few years. Some things were happy, and some things were not so happy. But the result was that I found myself. I feel much more sure of who I am and what I want.

I hope to write about some of my more interesting experiences some day, but for now I’m going to talk about what has been the biggest revelation to me thus far.

Now, for those of you who are keeping count (which is none of you), back when I was in school I used to think I was a pretty smart guy. You know that guy with good grades and a slightly obnoxious overconfident attitude? That was me. Then life kicked me in the ass and just simply humbled me. Seriously humbled me.

To the point where I was constantly plagued by thoughts of inadequacy and self doubt. Constant gnawing thoughts of “what the f am I going to do with my life? I am not truly good at anything”. Stephen Fry might as well have been talking about me when he said:

“One of the traps of adolescence is the sort of paranoid resentment that, somehow, you are never going to match up…and that everybody else’s life is going to be better, and finer, and fuller. That everyone else attended some secret lesson in which “How to Live” was taught and you had a dental appointment that day, or you were somehow not invited.”

I used to spend a lot of time reading articles/books with titles such as “How to find your life’s mission”. Is there anyone out there who did or is doing this? I do not know if I have now truly found my mission, but I no longer seek out such articles or books.

What changed? What did I do to get out of that downward spiral? I’m afraid I do not have anything clever to say. I was stuck at what seemed like a dead end for years, greatly frustrated that I was wasting away. I guess about the only thing that I can think back on fondly is that I was always trying something new. Whenever I had an idea or an urge I always pursued it as faithfully as possible. And God knows I have done a ton of things in my life so far – and I’ve got stories, if you care to ask.

Anyway, my point is that if I had a child who was asking me what they need to do to get out of a dead end and downward-spiraling life, the only thing that I would be able to tell them honestly is to go out there and never stop trying. Even when life beats you down continually – which is almost guaranteed. That’s what I did, anyway. That’s what I am still doing.

Along the way I tried programming and found out that I love it. Totally and completely. If I was not writing code, I would be dead or in prison. This is what I was meant to do and I try and get better at it every single day. I did not actually study programming or even anything to do with computers in university so my road has been a little harder than it could have been. But I’m not complaining.

A year or two ago I was dumped by a lovely lady who I was trying to woo (such strange word – amiright?). I was telling her what I have since come to truly believe in:

I do not want to be president. I don’t want to be a world famous CEO. I want none of that fancy stuff. I just want a simple comfortable life in which every day I can afford to do only the things that I love.

Well, she dumped me as soon as I finished saying that. I was not “ambitious” enough for her. That stung for months!

But that’s me. That’s who I am these days.