Identity politics seem to be in fashion, in one way or another. News on China’s increasingly rigid social controls, crises of migration, and deaths in Europe seem to pervade the media. In my own country Government has decided not to renew Special Permits allowing more than a million Zimbabweans to live and work in South Africa. They have a year to apply for ordinary work permits, usually reserved for South Africans, or return to a hollowed-out economy.

The effect on the already stagnant economy will be significant, and Government is doubling down on the controversial Black Empowerment policies that, after more than twenty years, have still not delivered a vibrant economy, apart from Party deployees. Yes, 25 years after the end of apartheid race classification still regulates employment, stultifies innovation, and disempowers entrepreneurship.

Fear of the ‘others’ is a common technique of politicians who cannot inspire with more noble leadership. I grew up with such a system. From childhood I was indoctrinated to believe that somehow ‘we’ were different, we needed to protect our genetic heritage and belief systems. Apartheid was in origin a belief that western values and beliefs were incompatible with that of African nations. And it evolved into much more as time went by.

My own moment of truth came quite early, at about age five when I wanted to kiss the Swazi girl who helped my mother in the house and put us to bed with stories. It was made clear to me that a white child does not kiss a black person. Somehow that just did not seem right. And through the years this came up again and again: Do you shake hands? Do you....

A Hindu race supremacy ideology suffered a setback not too long ago: While Herr Hitler based his racial superiority policies on the imagined virtues of the Aryan proto-nation, modern Hindu nationalists were convinced that the Aryan virtues actually originated from the Indus valley civilizations. Except that DNA analyses did not bear that out. Seems that the Aryans were, after all, invaders. As were their predecessors.

Let Morgan Freeman have the last word: Let us just stop talking about differences between peoples. Because genetically we are all related. Cultural differences can be resolved by communication, by goodwill, by common humanity. Religion? Early Christianity flourished when there were no differences between men and women, slaves and free, between Romans and non-Roman citizens. And no paid priesthood that could manipulate people into fearing others. Let us concentrate on more important issues such as modernizing the energy sector, eradicating cancer and poverty. 

So, let us all be racists: Let us put the human race first. No jobs for the dirty Martians, no visa’s for Plutonians. There, problem solved.