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IT’S DOWNHILL FROM HERE

05/06/2020 09:25:00 By Khulile Thwala

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2020 has definitely been one for the books thus far. The unpredictability of this year has been evident in the emergence of a global pandemic, which has become a frequent topic of conversation, to unforeseen lockdowns, imminent economic downfall and the riots surrounding the death of a black American by the name of George Floyd. The conspicuous events that have surrounded this year are mind boggling, more especially because we are only halfway into the year.

Tribulations

What was initially thought to be just another year with repetitive trials and tribulations, has turned into an experience our generation didn’t anticipate this soon. I say ‘this soon’ because a majority, if not all of us, have always had knowledge of how the world would eventually bring forth events that would classify that particular period as the supposed ‘end times’.

The world we knew before 2020 might never be the same, and it is high time we prepared ourselves for the change that is happening. It is unfortunate that most people are yearning for their ‘normal’ to resume albeit the current events taking place. Humanity has always been enforced to evolve and adapt throughout history, where drastic occurrences have altered the ways in which humans function, communicate and further do things. This has been over the years classified as the paradigm shift. Paradigm shift, according to American physicist and philosopher Thomas Kuhn, is a fundamental change in the basic concepts and experimental practices of a scientific discipline. This term has not only been limited to the scientific discipline but has been further used to describe a pivotal change in approach or underlying assumptions.

Poverty

It is high time people are enlightened about the way things are going to be from now on, how economic downfall will probably cause a downward spiral in terms of poverty and how the race issue, the distinguishing of individuals based on their skin colour, will become more prominent than ever. The time of sugar coating matters has unfortunately come to an abrupt end, and now more than ever we need transparency, not only from ourselves, but from the people that lead us as well. The changes that are going to be imposed on the world will be daunting, to say the least, however, we need to all prepare ourselves mentally, spiritually and emotionally for what is yet to come. Life as we know it might never be the same and new rules and regulations might just be the order of the coming days. It is highly necessary that we change our mindset in order to survive the next coming years.

Our mandate from now on should be equipping ourselves and the society at large with principles that will guide us as we move into a new dimension. Our children should be particularly focused on as they are after all ‘the future’. What we teach in our schools should be relevant to the current changes and deviate from teaching skills that were applicable six years ago.

The truth surrounding the history of the African continent should be revisited and the focus should be more on our ethnicity and the power we uphold as Africans and our capabilities. We should enrich our children with education that celebrates who they are more than condoning content that highlights oppression. Our inferiority complex is exactly what is hindering our success as black people and we need to start working on that and maybe just maybe, by working on that we will finally realise our power and stop focusing on that which oppresses us.

The truth is, racism won’t end any time soon and COVID-19 is not the first nor will it be the last pandemic, therefore we need to switch our mindsets to enable us to not only adapt but evolve. Judging by the times we live in, the financial crisis is yet to escalate and recovery will take close to a lifetime. The reality is sour, but the reality is necessary. The lies and the denial will only make matters worse; we need to be honest with ourselves if we are to evolve.