Concord Times (Freetown)
27 August 2008
On his 90th birthday, Nelson Mandela said: "There are many people in SA who are rich and who can share their riches with those who have not been able to conquer poverty." We all understand why he said that, but "wealth redistribution" is the wrong focus for the nation. More than enough of it has taken place since 1994 -- legally and illegally.
[ See Article ]
I suppose the old and gracious man still cannot forget the false promise of "Communism." Or, maybe he has. Anyway.
Here is a bold hypothesis: Every social formation, territorialist or nationalist, is based on the legitimized expropriation of the fruits of the labor (call that "wealth," if you care to), in different magnitudes, of the majority of the producers of wealth by THE FEW. Among those expropriated one could postulate "workers," hand and brain; companies, small and big, and other entities that now escape my creative imagination.
Hence, every social formation is already anchored in "redistributed wealth," if one subscribes to the theory that the "producer" of wealth should keep it, which, as may appear obvious, but ain't so---necessarily.
Of course, the last paragraph begs two questions: first what could reasonably be characterized as "wealth" and who could be reasonably be characterized as "the producer of wealth"?
Bracketing the theoretical problematics of the antecedent paragraph, could someone please REFUTE, NOT CORROBORATE, my "bold hypothesis"?
This is an enormously important contribution that should be reprinted and widely distributed.