Don’t Judge A Book By Its Cover And Other Lessons Disguised As A Book Review
August 7th, 2016[wtr-time]
| Books and Public Policy
A man’s route takes him on a path that passes the back wall of a tannery everyday. That may be the worst part of his day because he can’t stand the odour associated with the process of converting cows into shoes and handbags. To him, the company in that facility is a producer of stench, not leather. In that environment, he is not a beneficiary of the stench creation and neither is he a problem solver – he is a victim. Handiti?
In Zimbabwe today, we have a lot of victims. And we have a trending increase in the numbers that are done being on the receiving end but don’t know what to do about it. That’s probably because they have a pedestrian understanding of what really goes on behind the walls that contain the buildings in which are located the fabled corridors of power. They are not entirely to blame for just as we don’t care what goes on in the kitchen of a well run restaurant, we would rather trust politicians to do their thing and efficiently send waiters with our productive economy with a side order of efficient social services. However, democracy requires the participation of its demos (people) in order for it to function. So spectator citizens are in fact a part of the problem we have. People that don’t know how things work say things like “ZANU PF has been destroying the country for 36 years”. This post is not for them.
For those on the move – those in position to be effective and those that are rearing to take their change agency to an effective level – a book was written. This one.
Don’t Judge A Book By Its Cover
I now understand why that phrase is so popular. I am currently working with an old lady (my mother) in the editing of her memoirs. We are on the first volume of what promises to be a set of page-turners. It’s taken us many months to get to where we are (chapter 3) and there are also many months ahead of us. So I understand that writing is a long process. And when I picked up my copy ofBeyond The Crises: Zimbabwe’s Prospects For Transformation (BTC), I was glad to be driving because the book is tangibly weighty. It’s 363 pages of big heavy words. What I’m getting at is that the authoring of a tome can be so exhausting that the final thing to be addressed before printing is the cover. One can be sympathized with for getting to that stage and saying “Just cover the item, mina I’m going to bed.”
This particular cover seems to have gone through a couple of hands with credits going to BluStrokes Designs and Amalion Publishing. I don’t think they read the thing they were designing a cover for. Or maybe the challenge was the brief they were given. I don’t know; I wasn’t there. What I do know is that the cover focuses the potential reader’s attention on Zimbabwe’s specific problems at a particular moment in time. Yet, the book addresses subject matter much broader than the economy and a timeframe much greater than 2008. Looking at the cover, one would be forgiven for thinking it’s a lecture about recovering from hyperinflation. And we’ve already moved on from that to new sets of currency problems, so the book looks like its message has already expired. But that is not the case.
Don’t Judge A Book By It’s Introduction
Of the 3 people in my world that received copies of BTC, I’m the only one that made it past the introduction and read on to the end. However, that was only possible because I skipped most of the introduction after struggling with it. There is something in the tone of the introduction that seems to be discouraging potential readers. Perhaps it’s the length of the sentences. Perhaps it’s the meatiness of the discussion before one has been adequately weaned into the subject matter. It’s a bit like a guy at a party that just wants to talk work. Even if it’s a company party dude, let’s have some punch first.
Judging A Book By Its Content
To the meat of it at last.
As Zimbabwe approaches a major plot point in its unfolding narrative – namely the succession of its first leader (and the unique order that sustained him) – it is imperative that anyone proposing to influence the nation’s future be prepared. “Beyond The Crises: Zimbabwe’s Prospects For Transformation” provides objective summation of our post-colonial journey to this point in time. That makes it a great place to start getting ready. Additionally, it goes on to suggest possible routes forward in several major areas of public policy. We would all be so lucky as to have a bunch of experts write our biographies in such concise self-contained slices that can be combined into one loaf. Imagine, a teacher writing about your educational background. And a marriage counselor writing about your love life thus far. And a human resources person analyzing your professional history. And so on. Then they go on to give you suggestions about how to dig yourself out of the hole you are in. You don’t have to agree with the prescriptions if you don’t want to, but reading the diagnoses should open your mind to new ways of seeing the sichaz between the Zambezi and the Limpopo.
A word of warning though. This book discusses things at the level of policy backed by research, not conventional wisdom. There is no regurgitation of opposition talking points like “2.2 million jobs”, “The Missing $15 billion” or “Mugabe must go” for that matter. The discussion taking place here is about problems that will be waiting on the desk for whoever comes next whenever that is. It discusses how the role of “the desk” itself can be reimagined. And it does all this by looking at the causes, symptoms and consequences of sichaz yacho (the current situation) and offers possible solutions. If you are ready for beef, then eat here.
In closing (I have gone on for far too long this time, sori). As one fully aware of his filtered personal experience of these last 36 years of Zimbabwe’s history, I now consider the book Beyond The Crises: Zimbabwe’s Prospects For Transformation a condensed marker of the overall momentum obtaining in my nation. As a trend observer, forecaster and suggester, I consider it an ally.