To look for self-defeating behaviour at work we don’t have to go back to ages past. And there is nothing like trouble over public access to water to bring out behaviour of the worst kind. In 2019, touring the Eastern Cape I encountered towns and trendy resorts with this trouble. The government blamed drought. Residents who knew better blamed comrades out of their depth who’d got winks and nods from higher comrades to run town councils.
Israel stepped up to the plate. The ambassador put Israeli know-how for desalination and other fresh water solutions at the disposal of dry towns. He might have saved breath. Political leaders would rather leave them dry and dying if the alternative meant getting into bed with Isaac’s seed. To make these feelings clear they threatened expulsion from the ANC party for any member who travelled to the Promised Land to see what Zionists were up to – understanding it as the land Palestinians were promised, not the avaricious lot who nipped in and settled it for their own people.
In her book World on Fire, Amy Chua argues that ethnic hatred will always be directed by the host society against a minority that fares well. Three conditions must be met:
[1] The hated group must be a minority or people will fear to attack it.
[2] It must be successful or people will not envy it.
[3] It must be conspicuous or the majority will fail to notice the group.
