Critical Lyric: May 2017

Friday, 26 May 2017

MONEY: HOW IT BETRAYED US...

“The love of money is the root of all evil”...1^st Timothy 6:10 (The Holy Bible)

Evolution

Not until when the last Lydian King Alyattes, Croesus minted the first official currency in 600 B.C. out of electrum, a mixture of naturally occurring gold and silver, the entire world predominantly traded in barter.

The norm required you to find someone who wanted what you had, and coinciding with you wanting what he had also. If you wanted an apple in exchange for a pear, you would have to find someone with a pear in need of your apple and the list went on.

In as much as barter was popularly the direct trade of goods and services, the introduction of other recognizable and acceptable items with markings on them proved to be faster and more effective.

Then money evolved, although money in itself is actually worthless, for all we know it can be a rag, stone, shell or scrap metal, money develops worth by being a vehicle of trade.

Money creates an unseen bond of understanding between people doing business with each other, going ahead to being a part of our lives for the past 3000 years.

“Wealth is the ability to fully experience life”…Henry David Thoreau (1817 - 1862). American essayist, poet, philosopher, abolitionist, naturalist, tax resister, development critic, surveyor, and historian.

Money makes the world go round…right?

No doubt money makes the world go round, the question we might as well ask is ‘how fast can money spin the planet?’

It’s a whole new world and this generation has yet witnessed unprecedented growth, discoveries and development that our forefathers wouldn’t have imagined in a million years, and unsurprisingly, there is no doubt that money has had a huge contribution to all of these phenomenal changes, but how rounded up by this money have we really been?

Some people are so poor, all they have is money”…Patrick Meagher (1890 – 1958) Irish Hurler, who played as a corner back for the Tipperary senior team

True Wealth

Of course we are all ardent fans of Forbes magazine because there is this thrill in reading about the wealthiest guys, coolest rich kids and all that creative money matters gossip they’ve succeeded in baiting and capturing our longing minds with, but does the publication about rich folks comfort us or does it make us green with envy, and is it really worth our while?

In as much as a school of thought admonishes us to cultivate a positive mental attitude in order to become wealthy, other sages have simply preached the quest for gratification instead.

It of course apparently borders on the same premise on deserving the physical wealth that you have if you are a good person, and even if you don’t actually have a huge material prosperity, your anxiety will not make you desperate enough to chase money aggressively, thereby hurting your environment and ultimately yourself.

“A little thought and a little kindness are often worth more than a great deal of money”…John Ruskin (1819 -1900) was the leading English art critic of the Victorian era.

Contentment: What Matters

This new generation is sure missing out on all the real fun that our fathers and their fathers had in their prime time, the new age of development bearing expensive gadgets and the constant crave to travel and conquer the world is driving us insane.

Our pursuit for knowledge and consequently money has birthed monsters of us than we can barely handle.

Our perpetual desire for material things that aren’t exactly within reach and borne of vanity is turning us against each other, and now war has broken out for the most senseless things.

Have you considered why folks in the villages live longer and healthier lives? Well, parts of the reasons I know is that it is because they are contented with the simple and little things of life, I’m not saying that we shouldn’t be ambitious, but maybe we should try to be in touch with our roots and history to understand how our fathers fared and were happy when there was no money.

“You aren’t wealthy until you have something money can’t buy”…Garth Brooks (1962 - ) American singer and song writer.

Blind Servitude

I’ve heard of folks that worked all their lives and yet didn’t live to spend and enjoy the wealth they painstakingly amassed. I have also met a few people that life started to have meaning to them only when they had near death experiences, then they started to give off their time, treasures and talents freely especially to the needy, this is because you have not really lived until you give a part of yourself away for free.

A good example is Bill Gates and Warren Buffet giving off huge chunks of their wealth, not because they are the nicest people, but they simply feel more alive when their money helps solve problems around the world especially of the less privileged people.

“Money is in some respects life’s fire; It is a very excellent servant but a terrible master”…P.T. Barnum (1810 -1891) American politician, showman and businessman.

The Best things are actually free

Who doesn’t like fast cars, Inspector gadget stuffs, an overpriced beach house and money that will fill up a whole room? But guess what, they all come at a price.

We are so busy chasing all of these material accumulations that we forget that we already have it all.

Do you believe that in this same planet earth that we currently are fortunate enough to be alive to be living in, there are people in hospitals that cannot breathe, eat or use the bathroom on their own?

This reminds us that we have to be thankful for the sun that shines, the moon that mildly illuminates our nights, the air we breathe, the love that abounds in our families, and even the butterfly that gently caresses our head in the shaded garden, nothing comes close to these heavenly luxuries, and surprisingly they are free, and not all of us have been able to be calm enough to notice and appreciate them.

“Happy is harder than money. Anyone who thinks money will make you happy hasn’t got money”…David Geffen (1943 - ) American business magnate.

Don’t worry, be happy

I know, this is the hardest part, how can I be happy when there are countless troubles circling all around me? Well, this reminds me of a story I read online sometime ago.

There was this pregnant Antelope whose water had apparently broken, being chased in the forest by a hunter on one dark and rainy night. Unfortunately for the antelope, while fleeing the hunter, then she met with a vicious Lion a few yards away growling towards it.

Looking back at the opposite side of the forest, there stood the hunter with a gun pointed at the antelope. In that situation what would you do if you were the antelope? Well, here’s where it gets interesting.

The antelope concentrated on delivering its baby, then unexpectedly as the Lion was about to pounce on its prey and while the hunter aimed a perfect shot at the antelope, oblivious of the Lion, just in the nick of time, lightning struck, partially blinding the hunters view, he missed his target as he momentarily fired a shot, the bullet narrowly missed the antelope and pierced through the Lion’s head, killing it, while the antelope carried off her young.

My point? In as much as danger is real, fear is a choice, so we have to cautiously choose not to be afraid, having genuine faith in God that its all good.

And also we don't have to worry about our quest for material things and our lack of financial wisdom and intelligence, and how it is rubbing off on our kids, but we have to pro-actively do something about it before the entire world gets mortgaged for future scraps.

Thank you, and be awesome.

Akin Abimbola.

(akinzogee@yahoo.com, akinzogee@gmail.com)

Twitter: @akinzogee

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Sources: Brainy Quote, Google, Good reads, Investopedia, The Holy Bible, Wikipedia

This article is an original piece, reasonably researched and contains considerable opinion and a unique style of the author.

The names in actual stories are not real and the stories in this write-up are usually fictional, consequently, people’s names appearing are purely co-incidental, except for quotes and news that are typically referenced.

Saturday, 20 May 2017

HOW TO PRESERVE THE ENVIRONMENT!

“Sooner or later, we will have to recognize that the Earth has rights, too, to live without pollution. What mankind must know is that human beings cannot live without Mother Earth, but the planet can live without humans”…Evo Morales (1959 - ) Bolivian politician and Cocalero activist who has served as President of Bolivia since 2006

Knowledge

The key words ‘preserve’ and ‘environment’ are apparently in tandem with ‘sustainable development’ which is not only one of the most searched and researched words of the intellectual society of the current generation, they co-incidentally also happen to be a creative brain child of the United Nations in her quest to assure the existence of the future generation and her longevity by recycling, renewing and embracing green energy.

In as much as we are products of our environment, and environment can be relative depending on how we literally create it and what we make of it, it has hugely become our responsibility to care for it as long as we can vaguely remember.

It has become imperative to make our environment knowledge based and systemized one so that people are aware of the goings on in the environment in order for us to employ initiatives to preserve it and save us from total annihilation.

“The only way forward, if we are going to improve the environment, is to get everybody involved”…Richard Rogers (1933 - ) British Architect noted for his modernist and functionalist designs in high-tech architecture.

Our Environment

Look at our environment in two ways, physical and psychological, and unsurprisingly, they massively correlate, and technically, you cannot have one without the other.

For example, if our environment is clean and people aren’t conscious enough to maintain such standards, there is tendency that they will mindlessly litter it. Also the other way round, if you have a blocked mid set where you cannot see a clean environment in your mind in order to cause an inspiration to replicate the thought physically by actually transforming your environment, then it is impossible to make it happen. This is why education and enlightenment is important, which is also why the high illiteracy level in Africa and other third world countries leaves them with poverty, heaps of garbage and diseases.

“Sustainable development is the pathway to the future we want for all. It offers a framework to generate economic growth, achieve social justice, exercise environmental stewardship and strengthen governance”…Ban Ki-Moon (1944 - ) South Korean Diplomat and eight Secretary-General of the United Nations from Jan. 2007 to Dec. 2016

Preservation

Just as mentioned earlier, the preservation of our environment has a relationship with ‘Sustainable Development’ only it is a whole lot wider and has more in-depth content and world followership due to its inclusion of growth and expansion.

Just like safety is our responsibility, so should we be made to appreciate the importance of taking care of our environment, for the sake of living quality lives.

The Big Picture

It’s the 21^st century and many things have changed, firstly we must realize that partnership is gaining a new meaning as sometimes enemies become allies when they are united in fear for a mutual danger, and the world has become massively monetized as economic hardship forces people to be creative in the face of hazards that present opportunities for innovators to be relevant.

We must realize that there are seven basic biggest environmental threats namely;

1. Human Population and Pollution.

2. Earth Changes.

3. Deforestation

4. Ozone Depletion / Deterioration.

5. Acid Rain

6. Dead zones in the Ocean

7. Species extinction

The long and short of it all being that as researchers and scientist have identified major environmental threats, the power is in our hands to safeguard it by not poisoning the earth with our wastes and industrial activities, its in our attitude and realization of the importance of the future of our planet.

So as publicly advertised, the best ways to preserve the environment is to reduce the use of heating and air conditioning equipment, reuse reusable material to reduce waste and recycle products such as plastic, cans and glass.

We also need to get the word out there through education and enlightenment on social media and through rallies and seminars.

Thank you.

Akin Abimbola

akinzogee@yahoo.com

akinzogee@gmail.com

SOURCES: Brainy Quotes, Good reads, Google, Love to know, Wikipedia

This write-up is in participation in the DW partnership with Cool FM on the Environment Preservation project.

Monday, 15 May 2017

SECRETS AND POWERS OF HISTORY!

“A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots”…Marcus Garvey (1887 – 1940) Former Jamaican Political leader, Publisher, Journalist, Entrepreneur and Orator.

Where have you been?

If I didn’t know better, I’d say that I’ve been to London to see the Queen, at least that’s what we were technically indoctrinated with as kids, but then we all know this is probably a rhetorical question and it is also a figure of speaking, because the inquiry actually depicts an apparent conversation between nature’s celestials and our forefathers long dead and buried, but for the history we know, who am I to lay a claim?

Nevertheless, where have we been really? Or maybe I should rephrase, where were our forefathers during the creation of history and the ostensible recording and gatherings of the ancient and precious chronicles?

You guessed it, we don’t really know, this is because our history has not been well recorded and secondly because history is written by the victors according to the words of Winston Churchill, and we were massively colonized remember?

“History never really says goodbye. History says ‘see you later’.”…Eduardo Galeano (1940 – 2015) Uruguayan Journalist, Writer and Novelist considered, among other things, ‘global soccer’s pre-eminent man of letters’ and a literary giant of Latin America’.

Where are we now?

If I still didn’t know better, I’d say we are literally soaked in immense fright, panting in the dark alley with our tails between our legs like orphaned puppies.

Sorry for painting the pathetic picture in a gross way, but seriously, our society is in a huge mess and we have not actually figured out what to do about it.

Going through the roof are crime, corruption, obscenity, and cravings for all things clandestine, so much that the next generation may not be able to differentiate between good and bad, they are all about the money which of course betrays us and disunites us as the insatiable lust for material things is vanity, and it blinds us from the important things.

The next generation need to be taught the history of Africa in order for them to realize how strong and determined their forefathers were, and most importantly, they should realize the sacrifice they made for us to live.

“Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is God’s gift, that’s why we call it the present”…Joan Rivers (1933 – 2014) American comedian, actress, writer, voice actress, producer and television host noted for her often controversial comedic personal alternating self-depreciating or sharply acerbic, especially toward celebrities and politicians.

Where are we going?

Guess where, on the way to the United States, but first stopping by in London, the same Western guys that made our great grans shit their pants over and over again till freedom became a holy grail.

What is wrong with Africa? We are never going to succeed if we keep idolizing the western world, no offense though.

Look at China, they broke away from the rest of the world to build themselves, and now they are virtually the biggest economy in the world, even America feels threatened by them.

Britain is only struggling to be relevant and that is why they do what they do best, manage people’s resources, which obviously is more like a reverse psychology, taking a cue from the elements of the wisdom age which sits the United States at the top of the food chain, with the main aim of exploiting Africa.

“History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people”…Martin Luther King Jr. (1929 – 1968) American Baptist Minister and activist who was a leader in the Civil Rights Movement. Best known for his role in the advancement of civil rights using non-violent civil disobedience based on his Christian beliefs.

Can we make it?

The whole world knows that Africa is the most fortunate and probably also a sacred Continent which is immensely blessed with love, loyalty, culture, human resources, mineral reserves, fantastic weather and so much more. Perhaps this is why the western world constantly visits her to cart away the booty she has to offer, still enslaving them mentally and repeating the colonization in a smarter and more sinister way.

Africa needs a rethink and a new strategy for sustainable development, and we can do it on our own because we understand our land better and we know our own problems, we only need to put aside ego and unnecessary pride that pits us against ourselves.

Africa needs to reinvent herself by not letting our culture die, rather we should propagate it even more and reconnect with the hidden heroes and geniuses deep in the villages with our languages so that they can contribute their quota to the future development we desire, and together we shall overcome.