So I am close on 40. Been hearing this message for the past 25 years. The end is near. Kind of bored of it now.
Yes the government is corrupt, so is a large percentage of the world. Yes they are incompetent, well so are a few other first world country governments (Aus, USA, England spring to mind). Fact of the matter is I have a great job, decent quality of life, great medical services, and my kids are getting a first rate education for R1K a month. My family lives close, and while I have lost a few friends overseas I really don't see any reason to panic and run just now.
Things always get so negative around election time. While I agree there is lots of room for improvement and some big problems to solve I don't think we are all as screwed as seems to be the prevailing mood on this forum of late. I have also visited several family and friends who relocated and despite the impression they try put out on facebook of idyllic life when I actually got there and saw I found them often a lot worse off than they were in SA and doing their best to hide it from those of us who stayed as it would show them up as hasty and perhaps foolish. Most are completely unable to retire due to cost of living in those countries. One mate who owned two properties and two cars fully paid off here is now in NZ and has given up on ever owning a house again, its just too expensive. Most are not fully accepted. The way we look at people from Nigeria and Congo in SA, is the way all those first world people look at us from SA. And crime is there too. My uncle was mugged in USA, aunt's car was broken into, another uncle was almost murdered by local thugs in England (no investigation even) so crime exists there too. Everyone I knew did not have local friends unless they were also immigrants. So all that green grass, is so green because of the manure. There are still problems over in all the places people want to flee to.
A while ago during yet another round of panic in SA I created an objective list of stuff I needed to stay in SA. That list is still fine and looks like this:
1. I am decently employed, and can continue to be so (my skills are scarce, not an issue)
2. Decent reasonably priced education available for my kids (yes, although a little concerned about universities)
3. Reasonable safety (the most subjective one, so far I am happy though. Secure complex, etc)
4. Access to first class medical care (My daughter has CF, if this is threatened in any way it is a huge issue. So far so good though)
5. Respect of property rights (If private land or property is expropriated without compensation no economy will survive. If they do it, I am gone)
So yes a few of the above are a little harder than they should be due to stuff like AA, government meddling in the medical space, and all the talk about EWC, but so far everything by and large is still working. I am not an idiot thinking it does not have the potential to collapse, and have back up plans, however the main plan is to stay. Also, I wander how many of you would be willing to put down say R1000 for all these certain predictions you are making about the way the country will go, and how much poorer you would be if you had been doing that for say 20 years.
Pessimists seldom make the world better, optimists do. Try be a bit more positive.
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