a butterfly muse

I sat on my stoep yesterday and was honoured with a fly by of a black butterfly with turquoise dots on its wing edges.

It flew around the kumquat tree, glanced at me, I hope, then went on in a whimsical, unhurried flight.

It was perfect, a flimsy beauty filling thirty seconds of my life, then gone forever.

Beauty, like time, does not stand still. A portrait of a beauty captures some essence but not all. A photograph though true, lacks life.

Beauty happens to you, it is a moment, like happiness, then will pass leaving a memory and a want for more.

Xenophobia

“Never talk to strangers” was an admonition for young children. It was intended as a caution to be wary of the unknown; a portmanteau of the plethora of advice/warnings a parent gives: don’t take lollies from a stranger, don’t go anywhere with a stranger, don’t get in a stranger’s car…..

Seems to be still good advice. Take care with the unknown.

When a stranger wanders into our housing estate, warnings and photos are posted on community websites. I usually go out and ask if I can help.

My intention is primarily to help, but also to confront, to say I have seen you, so if you intend mischief, know you are being watched…

Europe, the US, Australia and South Africa are magnets for strangers who pour into their perceived rich territories, fleeing their less comfortable homelands.

The generation which has been taught that diversity and inclusion are holy duties and moral imperatives, faces political turmoil and dilemma as their homeland is flooded by alien peoples who have nothing and need support.

Suddenly refugees receive more support than pensioners, hospital access is clogged, crime rates increase with increasing unemployment. Welfare and employment of native citizens is vastly diminished…

In London, the last census reports a minority of white British people in 22 out of 33 boroughs …

In the Midlands of UK, churches are rapidly being converted to mosques.

The US Presidency will likely be decided by who will keep the most refugees out of the country. Many European countries are seeing political swings to the right because of the lack of political xenophobia.

In South Africa massacres of foreign migrants have to be prevented just 25 years after the end of apartheid. If you are white, you are unlikely to get a job, unless you have an extra special skill or a connection or start your own business., which must have a majority of black employees!

Of course taxpayers object if much of their taxes is spent on people who steal into a country.

Legitimate migrants have to jump through bureaucratic hoops and offer skills and money to be accepted. And God help you if you make a mistake!!

Refugee peasants just need to sneak in by boat and have a better chance of support from the government agencies.

So how can refugees be refused without offending the compelling Social Responsibilty imperatives which now dominate our corporate and political policies? How can we ignore the years of applying affirmative action and employment equity …?

I say we must protect our community by ensuring people who enter can support us and contribute positively and not be a drain on our resources.

Discriminate fairly: scrutinise strangers, ask where are you from, why are you here, what can you offer? before you invite them to stay.

Send the boats back – don’t let them in.

Soft, warm fuzzy attitudes and the inability to say no will ruin your country!

Thoughts during this week

I have just realised that it is Friday and I have not written anything… some may say that is a relief – I acknowledge that I have been ranting lately!

So just a random spray of thoughts.

My week has been dominated by the reading of The Running Grave by Robert Galbraith who you may know is also JK Rowling.

It is a detective novel about a cult/religion which bewitches and fleeces many people. The description of the religion, its dogma and rituals and ability to ensnare intelligent people provides a detailed, thought provoking literary artefact. The worlds of the wizardry in Harry Potter stories and Tolkien’s Middle Earth come to mind.

Her depiction of the ease with which our fellow humans are beguiled and converted to blind faith is all too real. The fact that new cults and religions flourish faster than second hand car salemen retire is a tragedy and clear indication of the need for meaningful spiritualiy in today’s world

There are estimated to be more than 45 000 Christian denominations with new prophets and witnesses, each with their own interpretation of the Christian God. This suggests religion has been a fertile field for creativity … and a comfortable living?

The story includes the experience of a beloved relative developing dementia, which provoked urgent thoughts about personal life plans and wishes …

Rowling is a serious social commentator and a literary treasure – I love her work.

Onto less valuable artworks…

I wrote this nearly 4 years ago about Married at First Sight:

What morally bankrupt, banal, conscience-less executive producer agreed to that? How can these people justify the immoral drivel they feed into people’s heads .  Tempting people with TV exposure and cash to perform questionable, objectionable, offensive and immoral ceremonies is disgusting.

Do you remember the film of the Depression-era dance marathon of the desperate for the amusement of spectators:“They shoot horses, don’t they?”  Why don’t they re-open the Colosseum in Rome and feed Christians to lions?

Finally, I despair that it is so easy to divide societies so easily and so damagingly … the Australia Day furore just deepens the chasm opened by the ill-considered Voice referendum.

Herself is away this week, on the otherside of the continent, grandson tending. The house is quiet in an empty way…