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Peace and prosperityThere is a coat of arms over the portal of a state building in Australia which bears two ladies in diaphanous gowns, one on either side. The one bears an olive branch in her hand; the other, a cornucopia cascading with the fruits of the land. Beneath the coat of arms is the inscription, “Peace and Prosperity”. It is the motto of the wealthy state of Victoria, Australia’s southernmost mainland state.
As a youth growing up in that country, I came across that coat of arms and thought: how uninspiring, how boring, how utterly bereft of fire. What would I have chosen? How about “Shoot for the moon” or “He who dares, wins” – the sort of stuff your football coach would have emblazoned above the lockers?
Such is the tempestuous nature of testosterone-driven, impetuous youth.
Unbridled, uncontested, unrefined and uneducated, those sentiments can turn so ugly when in the hands of a political leader who grabs power and uses his position for self-aggrandisement. Such an ugly display has been handed to us for the entire world to see in the form of Julius Malema.
Nelson Mandela held this country together with a simple genuine expression: “All the people of South Africa” – statesman-like, all-embracing, nation-building.
The ugliness of Malema, he who would be my president (heaven forbid), threatens to pull us into tribal teams to find that which makes us all isolated from each other.
The stability of the country requires words of reassurance from those who have chosen to lead. They are only words, but words create perceptions and perceptions are reality. Words inspire, words can call us all to reach for the moon or take up arms and rally for the destructive powers of war.
Now, with a touch more wisdom that comes with age and experience, I have to concede that the thoughts which translate into the spirit of a winning nation and capture the aspirations of all its inhabitants are embodied in the words “peace and prosperity”.
