The best way to articulate what I mean by internalising the good and externalising the bad is with a real life example.
It was 2008 with Zimbabwe gripped in hyperinflation. Purchases at the time were made with “bricks” or bundles of notes that neatly came up to a billion Zimbabwe dollars. We hadn’t started dealing in quadrillions or trillion dollar notes yet. Gideon Gono was just warming up. People were really struggling.
Driving past the official State House, which housed President Mugabe at the time, I was en route to visit a friend who stayed in the mega affluent Borrowdale area. I noticed many people at the side of the road trying their best to flag down a lift. My friend told me that the people were all headed to one of the new churches recently established.
As it turned out a couple we gave a lift to had just sold their car in order to give money towards the establishment of this church . They were indifferent to their current transportation situation. By pure coincidence, my friend and I attended this same church later that day. The Pastor spoke about how given the state of the economy it was important for the community to keep giving to the church. How it’s survival was everyone’s responsibility. After the service the throngs of people lined the road again looking to hitchhike home, while the Pastor climbed into his expensive sedan and drove off to his suburban home. This is internalising the good and externalising the bad.
Economists refer to it as rent seeking. Where policies are manipulated for the benefit of a few at the expense of many. In South Africa they called it State Capture. Where ordinary citizens are having to potentially risk their pensions in order to fund the excesses of a few. Some South Africans also call it Steinhoff! Where good things happen they are shared by a few, but when it hits the fan it becomes everybody’s problem.
Business leaders worldwide are paid huge sums of money. For many of them these payments come with a lot of responsibility and stress. Many experience health issues and many of their marriages break down. However, they cannot deny that they experience huge financial gain in their positions. Interesting enough when the company goes under, or buys a department store in Australia, it becomes the shareholder’s problem and said CEO is nowhere to be seen. Good news is for me, bad news is for all of us.
One company in KZN had the unfortunate incident of polluting a river when its caustic soda silo collapsed. The company spent a few months on a clean up effort, but really every community within a 50 kilometer radius of the spill was affected. The lack of potable water affected people and livestock equally. The local government and NGOs had to step in and try and assist. All the profits from this company are retained by the owners. Yet the mess created is shared by the community and 3rd parties.
I’m not an advocate for socialism and I strongly believe in individual entrepreneurship and endeavor. However, there has to be a way for us to start to shape society so the good news and the bad news are shared more equally. It seems the norm is becoming that one can enjoy the benefits of their position, but quietly slip away and pass on the burden of troubles when they eventually come.
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