Is the (radical) left likely to ever win an election?
According to Thomas Sowell, in ‘A Conflict of Visions’, one of the two broad visions that underlie conflict in the world is the unconstrained vision. This vision sees human beings as capable of moral and social improvement.
Problems such as inequality and injustice are not permanent but can be overcome through reason, willpower, and transformative reform. Institutions and traditions are often seen as obstacles to progress. In South Africa, the popularity of the unconstrained vision is most evident in the growth and philosophy of political players such as the Economic Freedom Fighters, and Black First Land First.
How do the philosophies of these parties represent the unconstrained vision?
The unconstrained vision believes more in revolution than it does in reform. According to the unconstrained vision, current institutions and systems immanently problematic. They were designed that way. As a result, equal opportunity is not enough. Proponents of the unconstrained vision believe in such things as distributive justice – redistribution of wealth in the pursuit of ‘cosmic justice’ (Thomas Sowell).
The unconstrained vision sees the current sociopolitical and even economic systems as inherently flawed and proposes a solution which typically involves increased state capacity, state intervention, and state control of resources. As a result, the state in the unconstrained conception enjoys a more authoritarian role.
Why is leftist rhetoric attractive to South Africans?
Well, ideas on the far left of the economic spectrum tend to be utopian. South Africa has a population of over fifty million. As of 2016, the National Census reported 80.7% of people in South Africa were Black Africans, 8.7% were coloured, 8.1% were white, and 2.5 were Indian/Asian.
Meanwhile, the Marxist nature of the ideas on the South African left offer the vindication of naming and shaming the villain – the oppressor. The top five political parties according to the 2019 national election results were as follows. The African National Congress (ANC) enjoys first position at 57.5%, followed by the Democratic Alliance (DA) at 20.8%, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) at 10.8%, the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) at 3.4%, and at number five is the Freedom Front Plus (FF+) at 2.4%.
Do South African’s necessarily find the unconstrained vision to be more persuasive?
Distinctively, the provincial election results of the Western Cape provide a contrasting picture. The DA takes the prime spot at 55.5%, the ANC comes in second at 28.6%, followed by the EFF at 4%, the GOOD party at 3%, and the African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) also at 3%.
The Western Cape is of particular interest to me because (although it accounts for 11.3% of the national populace) the population demographics depict an interesting contrast to the national picture. The Western Cape is home to the largest population of coloured (47.5%), and white (16%) South Africans, across all provinces. Meanwhile, compared to the rest of the provinces, the same province is home to the lowest population of black Africans (35.7%) in South Africa.
Differences in language, religion, class, orphanhood, and education make these questions more complex and all the more worthy of attention. I’m curious to learn about and understand the peoples of this country. Who are they really? How do they live? What do they want?
I learned that every political question begins with a map, or a census. So let’s talk about it. What do all these figures mean? How, if at all, do they represent a contention of visions?
These are the questions I explore in the conversation which continues on the podcast. Join me there!
– Lele M
Lele Muthali 