Comments on: The endemic culture of blame-shifting and victimhood

By: Carol-Ann Brand

Carol-Ann Brand — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 16:56:04 +0000

Sentletse, my man you are the man! Let’s hope Jacob and his trusty crew read your column. i know i will read it faithfully. You make such sen(t)se man!!

great article

By: Candy Rover

Candy Rover — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 18:44:18 +0000

Excellent article! Please excuse me from straying from the topic a bit. I personally would like to shake Mbeki’s hand and certainly not prosecute him. It seems that everybody is ignoring the fact, that there has been in fact great controversy regarding HIV/AIDS causality and ARV’s for quite some time.

AIDS is steeped in so much scandal since the very beginning, when a special brand of AIDS indicator diseases were formulated for Africa, I could not possibly be in my right mind if I believed anything the AIDS specialists or pharmaceutical industries are saying anymore. The list is endless about the cover-ups concerning HIV/AIDS and dangers of ARV’s.

After realizing the truth about AIDS, I have come to the conclusion that the HIV diagnosis and the handing out of ARV’s are the real killers. The HIV diagnosis is the psychological killer and ARV’s is so toxic, you might very well end up with AIDS, even if you never really had it in the first place.

I believe people’s immune systems are severely compromised due to lack of good nutrition, chronic diseases such as STD’s etc. – people are dying from age-old diseases, which is now packaged neatly into a brand name called AIDS, and it is a very lucrative business, with no regard for the anguish people are being put through. Want free DVD – send postal address to candyrover@ymail.com

By: Kevern

Kevern — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 07:24:06 +0000

HIV is a virus. AIDS is a syndrome. Mbeki asked parliament: “How can a virus cuase a syndrome?”

Yes, that is not denying but putting a problem into proper context and perspective.

Treatment boosts immune using nutrients from food consumed in a hope to prolong life of the infected but does not cure conditions to be brought by the virus or prevent the subsequent death.

By: Fergie

Fergie — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 23:41:36 +0000

@Muafria, the point is that Japan was not a peaceful loving people before world war two as you were trying to imply in your comment. Also, when you kill your cow I hope it’s painless and I wish you could send me a piece of beef for barbecue. You SA love our barbecue and collard greens with cornbread.

By: nicholas

nicholas — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 13:07:43 +0000

The short answer is that every sensible person knows that accepting blame is legal and political suicide. As a general rule of survival, we (humans) are programmed to avoid suicide. Probably even the leading Lemmings don’t accept responsibility for the intermittent mass suicide of their species.

Since we now live in a world dominated by the democratic ideal… and since the governments of most functional places are composed of, and drawn from, those who were, in less enlightened times, the ‘underclass’; and since everyone who has been a member of an underclass is fully aware of the repercussions of being wrong: one could argue that we are behaviorally programmed to avoid accepting accountability…

This quaintly old-fashioned idea regarding acceptance of accountability (or falling on one’s sword)is a hallmark of what Nietzsche would have called ‘Noble’ behavior… ( in contradistinction to ‘Resenttiment’ behavior: see Geneology of morals: Master/slave morality: Nietzsche) and nobility is only fashionable these days when it comes to tearing drugged cattle apart.

By: Nelvis Qekema

Nelvis Qekema — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 12:14:26 +0000

well said

By: MuAfrika

MuAfrika — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 11:38:53 +0000

@ Fergie Duuuh I did ask what is the point??

While we are at it am off to slaugher me a cow for all the cultural supremists and Bible-bashers locking up their grandparents and protecting the animals….

By: Mos_Native

Mos_Native — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 08:49:36 +0000

@MuAfrika – what you allude to is very real. There is what a friend of mine refers to as an ahistorical group (black and white) who do not believe that there were certain events and a particular type of existence before 1994. And that those events and that existence has current consequences. The “lets just move on” brigade.

That condition, that black psyche, unfortunately it does need to be voiced on the web.

By: Fergie

Fergie — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 01:55:19 +0000

@MuAfrika, how about China should have known that the Japanese were going to bomb their major cities. I see that you didn’t read about Imperial Japan prior to world war two. Tojo killed thousandth of his own soldiers in Northern China as excuse to attack Russia in 1935. Once again MuAfrika, you missed the point of the whole article and what the author was saying.

By: Trevor Wilkes

Trevor Wilkes — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 18:00:33 +0000

It is encouraging that people are thinking about this issue. That is the value of your remarks in my respectful view but-So what Mr Diakanyo? You’ve identified some politicions to blame for past mistakes. I might add: you seem to make yourself part of the blame game. What solution is there to make governments more accountable on these and other issues? You concede that HIV causes Aids. The previous government’s notion that poverty contributes to the problem is obvious. That being so, at least the current government is making clearer public statements which indicate a move towards addressing the HIV aspect of the pandemic. This enables the reasonable expectation that poverty burdened individuals who are victims of the virus will at least have a chance of delivery by the government of access to ARV’s and medical care without which no amount of prosperity or even job security will make any difference. Any aids victim will tell you it will not help them to give them a nice house and a job and ask them to eat more beetroot! Actual delivery on this is the next step.