I’ve been doing a lot of thinking, lately, as well as some much-needed research. You see, I have been wondering if there is a name we can put to the various crises currently plaguing our land (South Africa), as well as the rest of the world.

In this post, I will be concentrating mostly on South Africa, as it is my home, however I am sure you will see some commonalities arising. I am also not a psychiatrist, so what I am writing about is solely my opinion and I am using “phobia definitions” in order to achieve a better understanding of what I am trying to say.

I have realised that there isn’t a single name or description that fits what’s going on as a whole, unless we simply use a generality: “Crises”. This doesn’t, however, lend itself to a solution because we cannot, from this word alone, move forward.

While I am of the opinion that we in South Africa live in what is colloquially termed an “ineptocracy”, the spate of events over the last couple of months has made me realise something: what we are experiencing is not a mere political, religious or racial problem. We are experiencing what appears to be an increase in multitudinous forms of phobias – a “disease” that needs proper treatment in order to be overcome. Where this help will come from, I don’t know – it is bigger than me, or any one person. I don’t believe it is only a South African problem either – take a look at what’s happening in the Middle East, for instance. I say “appears”, because that is just it – it seems to be more prevalent. Perhaps it is because we have access to more information, that we weren’t aware of this in times gone by, but there has definitely been an exponential increase (which I doubt can be directly attributed/ correlated to increased population sizes either).

Certain “people” (factions, political groups, religious leaders) are using others to fuel their own agendas – this has become increasingly obvious. These groups are playing on the emotions of those who are, perhaps, not as free-thinking or critical as others. I, for one, believe we have a huge problem – we need more free-thinkers, people who offer constructive criticism and workable solutions, who don’t incite violence, who don’t abuse others’ emotions and inflict tragedy upon tragedy on humankind (or animals, the environment, etc.).

We need people to be educated on a different level. I believe that what’s happened is those who are being led blindly into these acts have not been given the opportunity to learn, to gain some form of respect for what other cultures bring to the table, or to develop an understanding of why we (in South Africa) have one of the most vastly-diverse populations (and cultures) on the planet. People have not been able to grow within themselves, as human beings – we are becoming more like “human doings”.

I’m not saying that people are uneducated – please don’t get me wrong. There are many educated people out there who still don’t have that which I am referring to. I am saying that a deeper level of understanding has not been allowed to grow and develop. There is no tolerance, no understanding, and [most] often, no willingness to consider either of these. The same goes for other places around the world.

Some definitions are in order, I think, before I continue (forgive me if I have excluded one pertinent to you – it is not intentional):

• Xenophobia: an intense or irrational dislike for people from other countries or people one does not know (fear of other religions may also be included under this banner [Theophobia being a fear/ distaste of god(s) or religion itself])
• Negrophobia: the fear or contempt of black people and their culture
• Blancophobia (Albophobia): the fear or contempt of white people and their culture
• Indophobia: hostility towards India, Indians and Indian culture
• Colorphobia: the fear or contempt of people of a particular skin colour
• Sophophobia: the fear of learning anything new
• Allodoxaphobia: the fear of opinions
• Nomatophobia: the fear of names
• Epistemophobia (Gnosiophobia): the fear of knowledge
• Georteyphobia: the fear of history

Rather big words, describing incredibly difficult and complex “issues”.

We may ascribe Xenophobia to the attacks against foreign nationals in our country. We may ascribe Negrophobia, Blancophobia, Indophobia and Colorphobia (and the like) to the racial tension inherent in this country, and intolerance that is often expressed (or remains buried and only spoken of in closed circles). We may ascribe Sophophobia to many humans in general – we do not really want learn new or different things, or ways of thinking; this is considered “just too difficult”.

In ascribing the remaining phobias – Allodoxaphobia, Nomatophobia, Epistemophobia and Georteyphobia: If you think about it – the government is attempting to censor the media in many ways and ensure access to certain information is blocked, street names etc. are being changed at great cost, our education system has gone to the dogs (for the most part), and it appears an attempt is being made to erase some of our rich history. All in the name of what, really? What are people so scared of? Surely, if we continue to allow these things, where will we end up? Should things not serve as a reminder to never go back to where we once were?

Someone once said: “The only thing we learn from history, is that we do not learn from history”. I think this is one of the truest statements ever made. If we are going to remove our history, does this mean that we will continue to make the mistakes of the past, rather than learn from them? We see with the latest spate of attacks on foreign nationals that nothing has really been done after the last incidents to actually remedy relations between our peoples (which is obviously a huge problem – why ignore it?). We see how there is a form of “reverse-apartheid” occurring, and in fact, that B-BBEE in its current form is really not all that beneficial to our country, only to a few “connected” people. We have seen how people are being murdered on their farms, for no other reason than being white and “formerly privileged”. I personally know people who worked their whole lives to build something (with little resources and assistance from anyone), only to be gunned down without mercy in their home – and for what?

Why ignore all of the issues plaguing us? There is often talk, but no action. Again, we can possibly ascribe this to a fear of some kind. If someone stands up and actually tries to DO something, they often become victims themselves, which, in turn, gives others pause…and we are back at square one again.

I don’t think that these issues will remedy themselves very easily – it will take discipline, respect, courage and understanding. We need to step up to the plate and be accountable for our words and actions, difficult as this may be. If we can’t do this, I fear the worst.

Perhaps I have found the word I was looking for, now that I am almost at the end of this post. It is so obvious that I am ashamed I didn’t realise it sooner. It is in fact a very good word, one that is simple and widely descriptive. It is something we can really do without, at this point in time and with what we need to accomplish:

FEAR.