current affairs

We are not seeing much of this in western media, but this is the most important story in the world right now. Here's why:

1.     Riots broke out following removal of price controls on fuel which saw prices of petrol, diesel, and LNG double.

As pictures roll in from around the country of our urban masses crammed into peri-urban slums (which we sanctimoniously refer to as informal settlements), many of us have taken to sharing sentiments about how privileged we are to be relatively safe within our middle-class and upper-class dwellings.

Privileged? No. At best, we are lucky.

Seth Goddin earlier this month wrote about the notion of "objective reality". I quote:

Objective reality is measured. It’s not based on talking points. It’s repeatable and verifiable. When humans share an understanding of how things are objectively, we’re able to make enormous progress, because this objective reality is consistent.

South Africa's budget deficit for this year is R370 billion.

(That's the difference between the money government receives in taxes and the amount government spends by borrowing.)

This triggered a thought as to what we could have spent that money on as a nation, and as I started by taking a look at companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.