Siyaya

From the native tongue of Zimbabwe, Siyaya means 'on the move' and is the name of a music band from that country.  Originally known as NASA (Nostalgic Actors and Singers Alliance), the group was founded in 1989 and renamed themselves Siyaya during their tenth anniversary.

Dedicated to bringing the voices of the people of Africa to the rest of the world, they reinterpret the ancient tales, music and dance of their country so that the rest of the world will be interested in listening to them.  They also tackle the social issues of the modern world and therefore start people thinking about them as well.

The track that jumped up and bite me off their Futhi-Njalo album is 'We Want Peace', which starts with these words:

"Nine million people take to the streets,

All against the war,

All for peace.

What do we do?

We go to war.

A war wanted by our leaders

And not needed by our people."

 

 

Part of the song then revolves around the names of the countries that have been raked by war, be that international or civil, within our life time and it is frighteningly long - "Indeed an endless list".  And for what?  What gain has all these wars brought to the people, the common soldiers and their families?  What improvement has the mass graves and marble headstones brought to their countries?  Has any war benefited the people who actually slogged through the mud and the blood?

 

It seems to me that whenever the elites order us to fight, it is the common man who goes out to die and the common man's family who follows him into oblivion, not the elites who do the ordering.  Why is it that we call barbarians the people who's elites are willing to fight alongside their men?  Why are they considered less than civilised when their leaders are willing to take the same risks that they people do?

 

It has been said that 'vox populi, vox del' (the voice of the people is the voice of God).  If that is so then consider this - in 1995, the countries of Southeast Asia spent $435 billion on military expenditure.  Not because the people demanded it, you understand; how many peasants do you know who've started a war?

 

It strikes me that if no war has benefited the common man and no war was started by the common man then surely that means the basic idea of civilisation is flawed.  The basic idea of civilisation has been put forward as this - that mankind is a warlike, aggressive creature who requires constant control and domination by a ruling elite for his own good.  Take away its leaders and society would degenerate into a chaotic nightmare of bloodshed and destruction.  But if no war has benefited the common man and no war has been started by the common man then perhaps that basic idea is only what our leaders want us to believe.  After all, if we didn't believe it they wouldn't have a job, would they?