Political Dependants

Nikki Haley and her mentor Donald Trump. She formally endorsed him on 22 May. She's up to something.

Common movie line: Everybody has a price.

Depending on someone or something is a good thing I guess. That is why the English proverb, no man is an island, is intrinsic in all languages. For example, the equivalent Zulu proverb would be: hands wash each other. Animals depend on each other. They have a way of sending signals when ‘you know who’ is hiding in the grass with her killer kids, ready to pounce on unsuspecting animals taking a walk in the park. Well! Not exactly. A walk in the jungle.

Depending on someone or something is a good thing I guess. It’s in the same family as cooperation, coming together to achieve a common goal. Politicians don’t like each other very much, but they form coalition governments when the need arises. The social unit called a home is about inter-dependency, despite the common belief that a man is the head of the family. Our mothers and grandmothers did not  have sleepless nights about it. They did what they had to do. Which is? Run the home.

The goal of bringing up kids is to make them independent, learn to fend for themselves so to speak. Teenagers in Canada, America and Europe cannot wait to be 18 and move to their own bachelor pads. They don’t like being depend on their parents, but that doesn’t stop them from sneaking in to use the washer and dryer because they are too broke to buy laundry cards in their apartment buildings.

Dependency at work can lead to a heart attack. Sucking up to the boss at my expense is seasonal. You will get the promotion or force me to leave. You’ll have a heart attack when you see the new kid in the office, using the same tactics you used to destroy me. In politics, dependency is based on promises.

“I’ll make you the vice president, when I win.”

“What if you don’t?”

“You’ll make sure I win.”

“Me? How?”

“By any means necessary.” 

Nonqaba waka Msimang

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