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 COMMENTARY BY CHORPHIE CHARLIE
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was one of Germany greatest thinkers and
argued that “Insofar as I am static, I am enslaved.” This thought is
regarded as a romantic polarity, a romantic concept to be on two sides
of an issue at the same time and not a prisoner to a particular dogma.
Such thinking characterize a famous adage in Liberia that “the wise man changes” thus licensing our so-called educated political actors to deceitfully vacillates in the politics of gravy seeking by disregarding what Plato described as the ideal government-JUSTICE. This is the case with Counselor Varney Sherman.
Quoting FPA News, Counselor Varney Sherman has now come out in defense of Madam President, Ellen Johnson in the wake of the TRC report listing her as a WAR CRIMINAL. Counselor Sherman described the charged against Ellen as political motivated to prevent THE ACCUSED from contesting the 2011 presidential elections of Liberia. The TRC report recommended the banning of Ellen and forty-nine (49) other political actors for thirty-years (30) from holding elected offices in Liberia. It is no secret that this very Varney Sherman opposed Ellen in the last elections of 2005 and labeled Ellen exactly what the TRC has accused her of. Sherman at the time characterized Ellen as a “white collar rebel.” The term “white collar” refers to individuals who use their legitimate position of public trust to commit crimes. So was Varney Sherman intentionally deceiving the Liberian people by calling Ellen a “white collar rebel” so that he could get elected president of Liberia?
Sherman defense of Ellen is a classic Liberian politics of gravy seeking under the guise of romantic polarity or that the wise man changes. When Goethe philosophized about romantic polarity he was not speaking about the politics of vacillation simply for seeking gravy. Goethe was making a point that Emmanuel Kant would argued, transcendental reimagination. Transcendental reimagination, in this sense is what the Americas would regard as the politics of moderation or acting as a centrist. It is an attempt to understand and experience how the other side thinks and feels by not adopting an extremist viewpoint. Extremism imprisoned the mind and blocks our sense perception from viewing the world in its true context. Extremism reduces the world to the narrow confines of the individual’s self interest culminating into some of the worst actions in human history from terrorism, genocides, holocaust, and the very bloodbath that occurred in our nation. This is what Goethe was referring to “Insofar as I am static, I am enslaved” not using others, under the guise of wise men changes, as a mere means to a selfish-gravy seeking end.
Counselor Sherman further described the TRC report as a “blanket indictment” and that it “violates the language and spirit of Article XIII of the Comprehensive Peace Accord”. What! Is the Counselor really serious? Now the learned Counselor has placed his legal credentials on the line just for gravy. Ok, let’s examine Article XIII of the Comprehensive Peace Accord:
Section 1: A Truth and Reconciliation Commission shall be set up to address issues of impunity, as well for an opportunity for both the victims and perpetrators of human rights violation to share their experience…..
One needs not to go further but address the term “IMPUNITY.” IMPUNITY simply means “exemption from punishment” for crimes that was committed. In international law, it is regarded as the failure to bring persons to justice who have violated or abused human rights. So clearly, section one of Article XIII of the Comprehensive Peace Accord is empowering the TRC to bring those people to justice who have committed human rights violation but have been “exempted” whether under the very CPA, the Liberian Legislature or any other body. This section is saying that these people must be book. Now moving on to:
Section 3: The Commission shall among other things recommend measures to be taken for the rehabilitation of victims of human rights violations.
So how do we read this section? Clearly it is saying that the TRC “must recommend measure to be taken for the rehabilitation of victims of human rights violations” but such recommendation should be combined with “other things.” Thus, one could argued that rehabilitation of victims could be in the form of mental health treatment, restitution, restoration but it must be combine with RETRIBUTION? Here again, the action is left to the TRC in keeping with section one to address IMPUNITY. So our learned Counselor in his quest for gravy misses the metaphysical construct of the theory of dialectic understanding. George Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, another German philosophy, was the master of dialectics. Hegel arguments was fundamental to synthesis of opposites, it proposes that “every concept, as we think about it, begins to show us its limitations, and passes over into its opposite, into the very negation of itself.” Simply put, Hegel is saying that the TRC concept for reconciliation cannot reach its fullest potential to reconcile Liberians without cancelling out reconciliation to achieve JUSTICE. Hegel’s dialectics is premise on a “triadic”: a thesis, anti-thesis, and synthesis.
Hegel’s triadic embarks on a thesis to reconcile all Liberians due to the conflict of war, it then moves to the anti-thesis that reconciliation cannot just be about IMPUNITY (exempting perpetrators from punishment). Thus, the anti-thesis of punishment cancels out the thesis of pure reconciliation to pursue an element of truth that illuminates the crimes of war and making it correct to dispense punishment as a deterrence – to stop or prevent others from bringing future wars upon the people of Liberia. Thus, the triadic moves into its final stage of synthesis and embark on a transcendental mission to again reconcile the thesis and anti-thesis. Here the synthesis engages in Nietzschean sublimation of reflection, not in the sense of Freud’s psychoanalytical defense mechanism as “Notorious Libs” (warlords) are doing but to heal the wounds of all Liberians where perpetrators will show “contrite” and victims will show forgiveness.
Thus, for Liberians to liberate ourselves from a political curriculum, plagued by gravy seekers like Counselor Varney Sherman, we must embrace Hegel’s dialectic for dynamic change from conflict, contradiction, opposites, towards Kant resolution of transcendental reimagination. Only then, will we be able to organize ourselves on John Locke’s theory of enlightenment. That is using human reason both in a scientific and analytical way to build a great nation. And so, Varney Sherman is no wise man, no romantic and no transcendental figure; he is simply on a personal mission for wealth and power; Varney Sherman is a gravy seeker.
On the altar of Jehovah, I pledge undying resistance to the politics of gravy seekers. Above all else, the people’s struggles must continue. It is time to build a BLOJU NATION. Excuse me while I throw out!
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About the author:
Chorphie Charlie is a social and political commentator who resides in Philadelphia. He can be reached at
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