From a sports bar in Accra, to theatres in Cape Coast and Tamale, to a flickering screen at the staff canteen in Mole National Park, visions of these places culminated in that instant after the goal. What a scene of unbridled joyous human expression it must be, and I don't mind telling you I got a little vaklempt.
After the game I flipped over to a local news channel to see the wanton destruction and criminality running amok on the streets of my home. As I worked the bar tonight I observed a wide range of opinions on the destruction in downtown Toronto. Maybe I was cranky and maybe it was too humid for my liking, but I felt something that I didn't like.
Now, I don't want to get all Wavy Gravy on your ass, but during a set tonight Cheryl Beatty commented that there was a lot of negative energy in the city. Yup, thats what I'm feeling. The air feels oppressive, and I don't mean that in a political way, I mean it in a human way.
Now I recognise that the overwhelming majority of the protesters are peaceful, and I support their right to be present and heard, but I also respect other peoples stuff, even if I don't like those people. Those that gleefully disrespected other peoples stuff should be charged with incitement to riot and anything else the police can think of.
Make no mistake, we all saw your faces, it is only a matter of time.
As for those who protest, most of you are nothing more than a self gratifying and churlish mob of smug fist shaking douchebags who pretend to care about certain issues only because you are told to do so. Sadly you lack the attention span to actually engage the system.
Caring about an issue and wanting to appear to care about an issue are not the same thing. And lets face it, if you really cared you'd put a little more effort into it than your streetside fools errand.
We live in a democracy and mechanisms do exist that encourage you and all your friends to participate. It is not that difficult to get your name on a ballot and stand up for what you and your friends believe in. I know, because I've done it.
But it would take more effort than heading downtown and sloganeering for a few hours, while pretending to yourself that you are affecting change. The real people who can do that are on the inside because they engaged the system.
If you don't do that, you don't have a hope and you'll be nothing more than a useless fist shaker for the rest of your life.
Its not about the fence, its about the gate.
Now if you'll excuse me, The Queen is expected and the state of the grounds simply will not do.
Man, I wish I was in Ghana.
http://www.goyestoeverything.com
Posts
