New York City | paulhunterjones

In 1934 the South African (SA) government purchased Union Airways. The acquisition of the airline included its routes and a small fleet of airplanes. From this humble beginning South African Airways (SAA) was born. Today SA’s flagship airline, SAA, is an international carrier that generates millions of dollars annually in revenue. The airline operates out of OR Tambo International Airport where it also maintains its principal corporate offices. The airlines has always been owned and managed by the South African government which is the company’s sole shareholder.

It is universally agreed that SA has a dubious and troublesome history of racial relations. In 1948 Dr. D.F. Malan and his Nationalist Party assumed power of the government. The party set about the enacted a series of laws that segregated the races along color lines. In this legally recognized forced segregated society whites legally retained and were granted vastly superior stations in life in comparison to their black countrymen. This hybrid social, political and economic system of racial segregation and discrimination became known as apartheid. For years blacks lived and died under this oppressive system with little hope of every escaping the jaws of racial injustice. Blacks sweated and labored to drive an economy that benefited only whites. Black South Africans were forced to live in abject poverty with all of its trappings.

The international community would eventually turn its collective attention and weight towards SA’s apartheid form of government and the impact it had upon its black citizens. In the mid-80s various international organizations imposed a wide range of sanctions against the SA government and its businesses. As a result of the sanctions doing business with SA became if not impossible prohibitively expensive. It was believed that by the imposition sanctions the world community could force SA to abandon apartheid.

I do not believe that the debate will never end over the effectiveness of the sanctions in bringing about the dismantling of apartheid. Following a 20 year campaign against apartheid Nelson Mandela, a political prisoner under white rule, become the nation’s first black president upon the end of apartheid. He has stated that the sanctions helped bring down the political system of apartheid. On the other hand the white President who presided over the dismantling of apartheid, F.W. de Klerk has consistently stated that the sanctions did not force his government to negotiate the end of apartheid. Maybe both esteemed gentlemen are correct.

Professor Philip I. Levy who has held many high level U.S. governmental positions concerning economics while teaching at Yale University wrote a Central Discussion Paper (796) in February 1999 entitled Sanctions on South Africa; What Did They Do? In this work Professor Levy cites the relevant facts, arguments and offers a political and economic reason why the sanctions definitely changed South African policy towards apartheid. Professor Levy states early in his work that:

“Alongside this alternative case the paper will try to illuminate the kind ofarguments that one must make if one is to argue that sanctions were effective. The fundamental problem in assessing the role of sanctions is that the end of apartheid was over determined. Given the sequence of events, it is impossible to prove that sanctions were ineffective; they were among the many potential “causes” linked to the single “effect.”3 In lieu of such a proof, the rest of the paper will describe the sequence of events

In South Africa, consider what it would mean for sanctions to be effective, and argue that at best sanctions failed to interfere with the other forces that were bringing down the apartheid regime”

I believe that the arms embargo against SA had profound impact upon the white government’s decision that the time to end apartheid had arrived. F.W. de Klerk and his ministers understood the futility a fighting a guerrilla war from without and within the country. Rhodesia fielded a better trained army that employed better tactics than the black liberation Marxists fighters could muster. Yet in the end the arms embargo prevented the Rhodesian government from prevailing in a long draw out bush war. The white government in SA understood the military obstacles that its Rhodesian brethren faced. And, just like Rhodesia, it could not count on Western powers to aid a military struggle that would help it to stay in power.

It cannot be reasonable argued that the sanctions did not have an impact on the operations of SAA; they definitely did. The U.S. Senate on October 3, 1986 overrode then President Reagan’s veto of legislation that would have imposed serve sanctions against SA. Not only did the law ban new investment in SA it prohibited the import of a long list of items and canceled landing rights for SAA on American soil. The Senate’s action mirrored legislation that had been recently enacted by the European Community and other nations. Because business between New York City and Johannesburg was so vital the SA government sued in Federal Court to have the cancellation of its landing rights blocked. After hearing and reading the arguments an Appeals Court denied SA’s request for an injunction and allowed the cancellation to stand.

We must not forget South Africa’s geographical location. It sits at the southern most tip of Africa. I would say that it is somewhat geographically isolated. During the Apartheid era SA was far from its usual and few trading partners. Because of the sanctions SAA, regardless of transporting people or goods, was not able to over fly or land in many African countries. Globalization was slowly becoming a reality that SA could not take part in the growth.

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Have you ever wanted do something in the company of someone else but did have any real friends you could count on? Maybe you wanted do something special, like – see a Yankees afternoon game, take in a show, or go by bus to one of those shopping outlets in a neighboring state, or maybe just visit someone in a hospital – but could not think of anyone who might want to share in the activity?

No one would dispute the intrinsic value of having friends. Passing time with friends is enjoyable. Social behavior experts say that friendship generates long-term emotional health benefits. Recent studies have shown that healthy relationships make aging more acceptable. Sharing with friends has the added benefit of lessening stress and grief in our daily lives. Reaching our goals can better be archived if we are pushed and motivated by friends. i think that all of us could use a healthy dosage of friendship in our lives. The camaraderie derived from being around people is an important factor in our happiness and continued development. With all the benefits that friendship offers we sometimes stop ourselves from trying to befriend someone.

Yet; some of us are shy by nature. There are those who are loners by force of habit. Some people make friends only with people who fit a particular model. I know a few people who will only seek friendship with someone if it advances their career goals. While some of us struggle to make and keep good friends there are others who make friends as easily as checking their Smartphone. It is said that humans are social creatures. It is clear that enjoying and making friends does not come easily for everyone. Social skills differ from person to person. I believe that if you want to have more than just “a best friend” it important to develop your social skills to the point that meeting and sharing with people comes naturally. The skills necessary to make friends are transferable to all phases of life.

It is important to have different types of friends who fulfill different emotional needs or personal requirements. It is rare to have that one perfect friend; therefore, it does not make sense to invest the time and energy into looking for only this type of friend. Putting aside all preconceptions it is important to take advantage of any realistic chance of forming a friendship with someone. Sharing with others their life experiences is an integral part of our continuing education and development. There are educational benefits that are derived from getting up close and personal with someone else.

Hurricane Sandy has visited the NYC metropolitan area and gone. By almost everyone’s standard the storm was an unwanted and ungrateful guest in the City. The death and destruction caused by the storm has been well documented and will not be repeated here. The storm caused me to reflect upon many aspects of my life and society in general. The storm’s passage presented me with an opportunity to think about the meaning and value of friendship.

By October 28, 2012 governmental officials and weather forecasters had NYC residents ready to the extent possible for the arrival of Hurricane Sandy. They warned residents to expect the loss of electrical power do to heavy rainfall and strong winds toppling trees. The experts believe that the impact of the storm would be devastating. City residents were given instructions on how to prepare for the approaching storm. ABC News (NYC) offered 7 useful tips for surviving any natural disaster. I must confess that out of the 7 tips offered by ABC News I had prepared to carry out only one. Residents were advised that they should stock up on necessities if travel was disrupted and electricity was lost. As a consequence of the constant warnings people literally flooded into local grocery stores and supermarkets. The checkout lines in the stores were very long.

I am sure that in my life time another natural disaster will occur. That event could have a devastating impact on my personal welfare. When the next disaster comes I will definitely implement ABC’s seven tips and take other preparatory precautions.

Perhaps more out of curiosity then a belief that it was necessary in the early afternoon of October 28, 2012 I went shopping for supplies. The local large supermarket was full of shoppers. The news had reported that the supermarkets were full of shoppers trying to pick-up necessary supplies at the last-minute. Users of twitter were tweeting about the long lines at the check out counters. There were long lines at the supermarket that I had entered. Not wanting to wait more than an hour to pay for my few items I left to find a grocery that would probably be less crowded. It is a sad commentary on my priorities at the moment; I allowed my impatience to prevent me from taking steps to secure my personal safety and well-being. I left the supermarket in search of a less crowded store.

In the grocery store near my residence the workers and shoppers were discussing the storm and how to best prepare for it. The owners of the store are from Indian. They shared with us their adventures of having lived through monsoons that left complete devastation in their wakes. Most of the customers in the store were recent or second generation immigrants. It seemed to me that everyone had a story to share about how they survived an earthquake, a coup d’état, a hurricane or years of violent civil strife. I thought that their stories were interesting but I could not imagine that Sandy could or would cause anywhere near the destruction that these people had experienced or seen.

After purchasing my few items I was approached by a man who asked to speak with me. I recognized this person. Like me he was a regular customer in the grocery store. Whenever we happened to meet in the store or passed each other in the street we would exchange pleasantries and engage in small talk. It is strange that I never took any steps to become better acquainted or, even friends with this person. I will call this person “Rasheem.”

Rasheem invited me to spend the passing of the storm at this home with some other people. He explained to me that he had invited a number of people over to share food, survival supplies and companionship during the arrival of Sandy. He believed that mega-storm would disrupt electrical power. In numbers our personal safety would be enhanced. Rashseem told me not to bring anything that required the use of electricity. The way I saw it; I had just been invited to a potluck dinner. I welcomed the idea of riding out the storm with others. The possibility of making friends during the storm appealed to me. I made up my mind to attend the gathering at Rasheem’s house.

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