Current realities in the Animal Farm

“As the Animal Farm opens, Mr. Jones, the owner of Manor Farm, is drunkenly heading to bed. The animals gather in the barn as Old Major, the prize boar, tells them that he has thought about the brutal lives that the farm animals lead under human bondage and is convinced that a rebellion must come soon, in which the animals throw off the tyranny of their human oppressors and come to live in perfect freedom and equality”.

The boar asserts, "Man is the only real enemy we have. Remove Man from the scene, and the root cause of hunger and overwork is abolished for ever. Man is the only creature that consumes without producing. He does not give milk, he does not lay eggs, he is too weak to pull the plough, he cannot run fast enough to catch rabbits. Yet he is lord of all the animals." The speech, as intended, is very inspiring and encouraging to the tired, troubled farm animals.

Old Major does know a few things though. He boldly warns all of them, "Your resolution must never falter. No argument must lead you astray. Never listen when they tell you that Man and the animals have a common interest....we must not come to resemble him...No animal must ever live in a house or sleep in a bed, or wear clothes, or drink alcohol, or smoke tobacco, or touch money, or engage in trade." The animals resolved that the Centre for Political Analysis (CPA) be asked to arrange a survey of the current realities in the Animal farm, in order to prepare battle plans.

The survey summary of CPA is as follows;
The Leadership Team – Lacks commitment, Lacks the capacity for effective of visioning and planning the required strategic next steps, Lacks competence to deal with present and emerging critical issues, Ineffective team work, Arrogant, Egoistic, Unrealistic expectations and belief in outcomes, Foolish enough to take on all and sundry for a fight at the same time, whilst attempting to please all stakeholders by adopting short term gain strategies.

The Governance – Key positions held by connected persons or club members, Meritocracy not a key component of choice, Personal characteristics similar to the leadership team, Intellectual integrity in question, Ineffective in delivery, Key members of a similar mind -some with ambitions of their own, Willing to bend the system and rules to suit circumstances, priorities misaligned with that of the nation and its people, willing to mislead the community for short term gain and willing to use power to pressure others to comply and effectively network with leadership action irrespective societal outcomes.

All good governance structures and systems paralyzed or led by network partners willing to look aside or cast aside governance commitments. Willing to lie and present wrong facts / interpretations to safeguard Chinthana and ego of the leadership. Critical governance institutions paralyzed or manned by cronies.

The Armed Services and Police – Very powerful and empowered to deal with harsh realities of those opposing and standing in the way, willing to support the governance requirements without consideration for human security and human rights, lacks leadership and capability and network capacity to decisively win the war against the enemy as promised to be delivered. Responsibilities cast aside when wrongful acts are done by powerful and connected persons.

The Legal Redress – Unpredictable, Biased and Unreliable, Justice delayed and denied, No permanent friends or enemies.

Transparency and Accountability- No shame or fear in breaking the accepted codes of conduct and ethical norms, low commitment to transparency and accountability with high levels of corruption and right to access information made difficult, no one bothers cares about an expose of facts in the media, key institutions outside Auditor Generals review scope.

Human Rights and Human Security- A low priority and openly violated, throws the ball back and compares with state of affairs in other countries.

Media – Effectively controlled and those willing to take a path of dissent restricted and harassed, Full of ‘negative’ news and very low on ‘positive’ reports and portrayal of ‘positive role models’.

Opposition – Ineffective leadership, disunited and Ineffective as a force of support for good governance.

Civil Society – Incapable and incapacitated as an effective force to assure people led good governance, easily deceived, disorganized, disinterested in the longer term, looking for short term gains and ineffective networking and leadership commitment to become a force of collective action, low level collective Voice of dissent, those with collective power/reach are silenced or silent for short term gains.

International Community – Disturbed by trends and governance especially on human rights/human security and exerts significant force for positive action without much success, becoming disinterested and distanced.Farm Animals should now collectively agree that the time for a civil society led rebellion is here and prepare battle plans!