Real Flesh & Bones in Politics

http://youtu.be/z5X04KlnSCc Last night after a long flight from New York to Austin and settling in the beautiful Resort we are now calling home for the next few days, my Beloved and I took care of some more business and decided to call it a day when it came to work.

We then did what we only do at hotels (not that, you sillies!). We turned the TV on so I could try and catch glimpses of  the GOP debate that just went on. I wanted to "show" Michael what I meant about Herman Cain.

I could care less about politics, I think the very game of politics is a rigged one, by definition. Most saddening is the fact that whether they are Republicans or Democrats, in the end it is the same: there must be a winner and a loser. Well I despise that and any game that feels that we must have a loser and a winner. I still believe in win-win-win. Call me crazy. In any case, this time around, i found myself really intrigued and interested in what is going on on the political scene. And I have been captivated at the rise of Perry, then his fall, then Christie's decision not to run, followed by his endorsement for Romney, now Herman Cain coming back from the depths of the system...

I have been watching indeed. And I have been wondering. Again, I am not into politics, at all. I am observing this phenomenon from the standpoint of a Senegalese born young woman who spent most her formative years in France. And beyond all of that, I am most interested in the human aspect of things, even in politics.

And when it comes to humanity in politics, I just love Herman Cain, the man. I love listening to him. I find him so funny and real. He does blink a lot :)  But he is no non sense. And I crack up whenever he says "9-9-9" plan. It is a very catchy term. He is so not your typical politician, and that is probably why he will not win (but hey, I am not an expert in these things).  He is also a man of simplicity, which is very refreshing. I just wish that more of these men and women who want to take the supreme seat would show this much authenticity and transparency. You may or may not like who he is and what he stands for, but at least he shows you who he is and what he really stands for, unlike so many others. Everyone else on this GOP list  of contenders (except maybe for Ron Paul) feels so plastic and fake (i.e Perry, Romney, Santorum), when they don't  just come across as outright slimy and shady (i.e Gingrich).

Again, I am not judging here any of Herman Cain's proposed policies or strategy, just his human contribution to the race.

I am in love with another man

Sir Seretse Khama and wife

I was just reading about Seretse Khama, the first president of Botswana, and I'm wondering why on earth we don't hear more about him. He was a hereditary king of one of the major tribes of Botswana, who was elected president of Botswana upon independence in 1966 and remained president until he died in 1980.

"From "close to the poorest" country in the world at the time of independence in the 1960s, and with few natural resources, an arid climate and little infrastructure, Botswana has transformed itself into an upper-middle-income nation, with the fastest rate of GDP growth (7.7 per cent per annum) in the world between 1966-1996 and 10.74 per cent between 1965 and 1975. [16] It achieved this by avoiding to follow the path most travelled in Africa, that of anti-capitalist, statist policy development. Instead, keeping much of the British common law and British-style institutions, and led by a visionary founding President, Seretse Khama, Botswana embarked on a series of reforms that reduced the government presence in the economy and promoted economic freedom (respect for rule of law, protection of property rights, disapproval of corruption, etc). As a result, government spending fell from 23 per cent in the mid-1960s to 15 per cent of GDP in the early 1970s."

The entire article can be found here.

Bostwana is now the second wealthiest nation on the continent of Africa (after Equatorial Guinea, a small oil rich nation), wealthier than all of North Africa and wealthier than South Africa. While it is true that Botswana's wealth is due to diamonds, Khama reinvested much of the wealth into health, education, and infrastructure, unlike most African leaders who had mineral resources. He also instituted strong anti-corruption policies. Today Botswana is the highest ranked African nation on Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index, at 33rd one of the least corrupt nations in the entire developing world, ahead of Costa Rica, Hungary, Taiwan, Italy, etc. Please note that the United States is at close 22nd place.

Moreover, diamonds weren't discovered in Botswana until 1972, thus the incredibly fast growth from 1965 to 1975 must be attributed to Khama's good governance, not to diamond wealth (I doubt the diamonds had a large impact on the economy the first year or two after they were discovered; it takes a while to get a diamond mine into production).  At independence, Botswana was the third poorest nation in the world.  And, in part, I suspect that the fact that he had good governance in place BEFORE the discovery of diamonds helped protect Botswana from the resource curse.

He sounds like simply a fabulous leader, a real African hero. And I can't help but notice how handsome and regal he looks :)

He was also exiled from political office before independence, due to his inter-racial marriage which the South Africans hated. Indeed, curiously his inter-racial marriage helped to keep Botswana independent of South Africa:

"After World War II, the British attempted to combine the Bechuanaland Protectorate with their South African colony, but Bechuanaland was able to thwart this annexation attempt. Two important events helped to keep the Bechuanaland Protectorate independent from the South African colony. First, a strong nationalistic current continued after World War II. In 1948, the National Party, a well-organized party that favored an independent Bechuanaland Protectorate, was formed.More important, Chief Seretse Khama of Bechuanaland was banned from the protectorate in 1948. He studied in England and was not allowed to return to Bechunaland because he had married a white Englishwoman. The British hoped the ban would ease tensions in South Africa. South Africa’s white leadership found the interracial marriage to be repulsive, and they insisted that Khama be prohibited from ruling Bechuanaland. Since most people in Bechuanaland supported Khama, this political issue divided South Africa and Bechuanaland. In 1956, Khama rescinded his claim to chieftainship and returned to Bechunaland."

http://www.cato.org/pubs/journal/cj23n2/cj23n2-6.pdf

Also, as it turns out, Botswana successfully combined traditional tribal law with British Common Law (probably because Khama was both an African chief, and thus knew and supported traditional tribal law, as well as an Oxford-trained British lawyer). Basically the Cato article cited above makes the case that Khama's leadership, which included also support for freedom of speech and for harmony between blacks and whites, as well as good legal institutions and a pro-market, pro-investment approach, is the essential reason why Botswana has been so successful. Perhaps there is something less than perfect about him, but from everything I'm reading he sounds like a truly great African leader who ought to be more widely known and recognized. For my part, I am simply in love!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seretse_Khama

"The Great Yogurt Conspiracy"

Don't you think we ought to be able to put whatever we want down there?  I mean really, do you want the government telling you what you can and can't put down there?  Think about it . . .

"The Great Yogurt Conspiracy

In September 1972, two founders of the Federation of Feminist Women's Health Centers, Carol Downer and Colleen Wilson were arrested for allegedly practicing medicine without a license. Their Los Angeles Self-Help Clinic was raided by the California Department of Consumer Affairs and the Board of Medical Examiners. The Self-Help Clinic presented the local medical establishment with competition. Concerned with the potential loss of revenue for the local physicians, one doctor, three uniformed police and several plainclothes investigators confiscated four truckloads of supplies and equipment, in order to shut down operations of the women-controlled clinic. The reason for the arrest? Downer had inserted yogurt into the vagina of a women's center staff member.

The trial became known as the, "Great Yogurt Conspiracy" and was a crucial turning point in the women's health movement. Downer was found not guilty by arguing that applying yogurt as a home remedy for an ordinary yeast infection is not practicing medicine. The verdict reinforced women's control over their own bodies and established that at-home methods of self-care are, indeed, lawful."

Read more here.