With an early morning start, a dose of sweat, and good collaboration, the UCT stand got setup with minimal hassel, despite the mystery of the hiding scissors. Very quickly we attracted a steady stream of visitors, with numerous conversations.
However, on the political front the rhetoric has quickly come up to speed. It was an interesting competition to see how long it would take before Mandela’s name was invoked, and how many times speakers would say “we can do it”. However, equally frequent were dire warnings of “2020 is too late”, “leadership is critical”, or “a binding agreement is essential” – stale but real recycled rhetoric (the mixed metaphors in that phrase alone are fascinating).
Not that I disagree with any of it, quite the contrary. However, I wonder to what degree the optimism for achievement will stay at the forefront of the rhetoric, how much is it hot air. Personally, my hopes are for a real course correction … I wonder how much more might be possible. Equally interesting will be how the media spin it, for spin it they will.
