HOPE AND DOPE PEDDLERS EXPLOIT AUSTERITY FOR VOTES

Nigeria echoed preparation for another world double deep recession austerity measures while briber of House of Thieves exposed their yansh. In tandem their US Republicans partners in Senate Banking Committee praised JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon's brilliance for London-based hedging strategy poker game in billions dollar loss. It's exactly what had gotten the world into recession. Yet they demand world austerity measures for the middle class and the poor.

One young man answered that Nigeria has been in recession since he was born. Problems that would not matter much in good times exacerbate fracture lines into earthquakes. Families may become vulnerable and unstable as a result of world economic downturn. Some of us get sicker, some angrier and others get desperate. When children are helplessly influenced, crimes may be on the upswing in countries without safety net or family support.

Do you remember that song: we all need somebody to lean on? It is hope, a powerful tool but also a double edged sword. Most of us have fallen at some point in life, it is those that cannot get up losing it that fail. Political, religious and social leaders understand and so exploit it. Some of them peddle dope instead of hope. We might not know the difference at our weakest point when we were desperate and had tried almost every party or system that failed body and soul.

There is nothing worse than losing hope in oneself. When devastated, we can often make a difference with our votes and look deeper into ourselves. Neither false hope nor can dope peddlers help. Feeling good naturally increase the fighting spirit of our immune system. Most studies have shown that even in the face of diseases, we fair better when in high spirit. Others claim insecurity helps them prepare for their next move without looking back.

However, where a woman gets the power to lift a car off her baby or protect her baby from danger is a different source of power she never realized she had. But some of us have votes that count. As some of us seek basic needs, others equally consumed by their problems, seek deliverance from God or man. The fear of failure drives people to different levels. It drives some to success and others to a breaking point where aggressiveness becomes counterproductive.

During austerity, when we are most susceptible, we may fall on the shoulders of dope peddlers. Cases in point: How do we explain the reason a renowned scientist with a debilitating cancer, subject his better judgment to quacks promising hope of miracle cure. A reasonable woman that have tried almost anything to get pregnant, would subject herself to the promise of pastor or medicine man promising her miracle baby. So a hungry belly when desperate, sold his vote.

It is sometimes unbelievable what a verse from the Bible, Tora, Koran or Incantation from the Ogun or Sango would do in time of fear, need, fight or flight. It is no different to old wars when generals reminded soldiers of the bravery of their ancestors, as Churchill did: Once More On To The Beach! It raised confidence as a new source of power booster. Others would just go for a walk to clear and refresh their heads. Some people claim music, yoga and exercise give relief.

So dope peddlers push life to us like a gamble or a lottery that is purposely designed for players to lose more than they win. Peddlers urge us to keep on trying, if we don't play, we don't win. It is not what our vote desired. Such is lottery designed to lose more than we gain as politicians laugh all the way to the bank. In desperation, we try many remedies, trade vote for short relief.

Whatever our immediate or temporary failure, we sometimes throw rational behavior away and listen to these peddlers. A good place to start is to ask whoever is peddling hope what his track record is. When the track record is in heaven, be wary. Unless you know of someone that has gone to heaven and came back to say he enjoyed 40 virgins without Viagra. The problem here is that for a long time the poor and slaves have been blessed to expect heavenly rewards.

We have to be careful not to offend people of faith, be they Christians, Muslims, Ogun or Hindu. As for those of us looking for our reward on earth, hope peddlers must find a way to satisfy us by pointing to concrete achievements we can reach. Whoever prayer is answered with a baby and whose cancer is cured or won a lottery can be joyful but we cannot bank on some tokens. If we do not get enough of those proofs, dope peddlers can't blame our missteps.

Tokenism is the most powerful way to get people to believe in hope peddlers. While it is true that man cannot live by bread alone for those that have bread. Those without cannot feed on crumbs caught from the masters' table alone. There is no amount of crumbs that we catch that will satisfy enough families. Every family would love to have the basic necessities of life: eat well, afford their rent or buy their own house, healthcare and send their children to school.

Purchasing power of money has a limit. If money is our only desire, this world will eventually implode, as some are predicting. Others' desire may vary: reach the moon, reach the top of the Mt Kilimanjaro, fight for freedom of others, educate others or swear to oath of celibacy. It is when we seek other ventures that are not related to riches that we can satisfy our other needs.

No matter how highly placed or our station in life, pain is pain to whomever. Most of us that are not as rich as the upper class may sometimes think they have no worries or pain. Indeed, some rich people think the poor have no pain if all they cry about is lack of food and housing. Those are not difficult problems for them. They can be resolved by providing the money to those in need. The fear of the rich is that the more money provided, the more poor people demand.

We cannot rightly claim that the multimillionaires that jumped off the bridge after the stock market crashed have no problem because they only lost some millions. There are others whose problem is making the first million, thereafter, easier to make more millions. The problem with all humans is that once we get used to one way of life, letting go of a few conveniences become a threat to normalcy as they know it. The biggest threat is what money cannot buy; You.

Yet we have those that survived and strived in sickness, pain as in wealth. They never succumbed like most of us and that makes the difference. In austerity or double dip recession, we must watch out for all sorts of peddlers.

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Articles by Farouk Martins Aresa