The Sunday Mail
Writing a review of Naomi Klein’s book “This Changes Everything” (subtitled “Capitalism vs the Climate”) in early May, David Cupples makes a poignant observation that is timely for Zimbabweans.
Cupples says 97 percent of climate scientists agree that human activity is responsible for climate change. There is a delusional three percent.
“Take any group of 100 000 persons, whether bakers, candlestick makers or rocket scientists, and a few thousand are pretty much guaranteed to march to the beat of a different drummer.
“True, nonconformity can be an important social good, and consensus-challenging ideas of visionaries who have the basic science correct must be evaluated. . .
“Ninety-seven percent agreement means that of a group of 33, thirty-two have reached consensus, with one holdout.”
He goes on: “Adrift at sea in a lifeboat with 32 navigators and oceanic geographers who agree unanimously on Plan A, versus one guy in the corner with wild eyes who argues for Plan B, who ya gonna believe?”
Since 2013, we have been saying, and grown tired of saying, that the clear majority supports and trusts President Mugabe to deliver in a way that no other politician in Zimbabwe can do.
A minority in the lunatic fringe, or as Cupples says “one guy in the corner with wild eyes”, would like the rest of the world to believe otherwise.
Even when Afrobarometer and the Mass Public Opinion Institute — who those in the lunatic fringe called the private media and some opposition political parties normally love — say President Mugabe is indeed the real deal, one guy in the corner with wild eyes insists this is not so.
The Son of Man tells us in the good book that the poor will always be among us.
It seems so too will the wild-eyed lunatic fringe.
But that is their own problem.
Our problem is when the lunatic fringe tries to detract the rest of the nation from focusing on the bigger picture.
And right now the bigger picture is delivery on the electoral promises that gave President Mugabe another term to lead and guarantee him the continued support of the vast majority of the people of Zimbabwe.
Misinterpreting simple statements and trying to weave a destructive tribal agenda can be the pleasure toy of the lunatic fringe, but the nation should shrug such off as one would do a pesky insect and carry on with the business of life.
In a nutshell, Zimbabweans must be focused on doing what is best for business. And here we mean the business of developing our country, ensuring our people lead better lives, getting our schools working as they should, and equipping our hospitals with the materials they must have, among other real issues.
All other things are high-sounding nonsense, full of sound and fury and signifying nothing.
We want to see public servants seized with service delivery, and those mandated to do so weeding out any elements that are working at cross-purposes with the national development agenda as espoused by Zim-Asset.
Zimbabweans should resist being sucked into the mindless whirlpool of cheap politicking that the lunatic fringe revels in.
The outside world has been watching developments in Zimbabwe and there are many signs indicating that they want to do business here.
Yes, once many in the West naively accepted being misled by the thoughtless agendas of our wild-eyed guys, but they are now seeing through that.
We should be taking advantage of this growing willingness to engage with Zimbabwe and President Mugabe’s Government to attract the kind of sustainable and real investment that this country needs.
Even the IMF, the first Western institution to impose de facto sanctions on Zimbabwe during the formative stages of the MDC, is saying the country’s economic agenda is clear and lays the foundation for economic growth, as reported elsewhere in this publication.
The French, the Italians, the Belgians and sections of British business are also seeing what our all-weather friends in Russia and China among others have long seen and are seeking ways of getting in on the economic proposition called Zimbabwe.
Surely, all Zimbabweans should be able to see what outsiders are seeing and should unite to do what is best for business.
We have too much work ahead of us to get bogged down by the ravings of the wild-eyed lunatic fringe.
EDITORIAL COMMENT: Doing what’s best for business
The Sunday Mail
Writing a review of Naomi Klein’s book “This Changes Everything” (subtitled “Capitalism vs the Climate”) in early May, David Cupples makes a poignant observation that is timely for Zimbabweans.
Cupples says 97 percent of climate scientists agree that human activity is responsible for climate change. There is a delusional three percent.
“Take any group of 100 000 persons, whether bakers, candlestick makers or rocket scientists, and a few thousand are pretty much guaranteed to march to the beat of a different drummer.
“True, nonconformity can be an important social good, and consensus-challenging ideas of visionaries who have the basic science correct must be evaluated. . .
“Ninety-seven percent agreement means that of a group of 33, thirty-two have reached consensus, with one holdout.”
He goes on: “Adrift at sea in a lifeboat with 32 navigators and oceanic geographers who agree unanimously on Plan A, versus one guy in the corner with wild eyes who argues for Plan B, who ya gonna believe?”
Since 2013, we have been saying, and grown tired of saying, that the clear majority supports and trusts President Mugabe to deliver in a way that no other politician in Zimbabwe can do.
A minority in the lunatic fringe, or as Cupples says “one guy in the corner with wild eyes”, would like the rest of the world to believe otherwise.
Even when Afrobarometer and the Mass Public Opinion Institute — who those in the lunatic fringe called the private media and some opposition political parties normally love — say President Mugabe is indeed the real deal, one guy in the corner with wild eyes insists this is not so.
The Son of Man tells us in the good book that the poor will always be among us.
It seems so too will the wild-eyed lunatic fringe.
But that is their own problem.
Our problem is when the lunatic fringe tries to detract the rest of the nation from focusing on the bigger picture.
And right now the bigger picture is delivery on the electoral promises that gave President Mugabe another term to lead and guarantee him the continued support of the vast majority of the people of Zimbabwe.
Misinterpreting simple statements and trying to weave a destructive tribal agenda can be the pleasure toy of the lunatic fringe, but the nation should shrug such off as one would do a pesky insect and carry on with the business of life.
In a nutshell, Zimbabweans must be focused on doing what is best for business. And here we mean the business of developing our country, ensuring our people lead better lives, getting our schools working as they should, and equipping our hospitals with the materials they must have, among other real issues.
All other things are high-sounding nonsense, full of sound and fury and signifying nothing.
We want to see public servants seized with service delivery, and those mandated to do so weeding out any elements that are working at cross-purposes with the national development agenda as espoused by Zim-Asset.
Zimbabweans should resist being sucked into the mindless whirlpool of cheap politicking that the lunatic fringe revels in.
The outside world has been watching developments in Zimbabwe and there are many signs indicating that they want to do business here.
Yes, once many in the West naively accepted being misled by the thoughtless agendas of our wild-eyed guys, but they are now seeing through that.
We should be taking advantage of this growing willingness to engage with Zimbabwe and President Mugabe’s Government to attract the kind of sustainable and real investment that this country needs.
Even the IMF, the first Western institution to impose de facto sanctions on Zimbabwe during the formative stages of the MDC, is saying the country’s economic agenda is clear and lays the foundation for economic growth, as reported elsewhere in this publication.
The French, the Italians, the Belgians and sections of British business are also seeing what our all-weather friends in Russia and China among others have long seen and are seeking ways of getting in on the economic proposition called Zimbabwe.
Surely, all Zimbabweans should be able to see what outsiders are seeing and should unite to do what is best for business.
We have too much work ahead of us to get bogged down by the ravings of the wild-eyed lunatic fringe.
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