On Kenya’s New Polygamy Bill
Oh look, while I was busy plotting to take over the world another corner of the internet, Kenyan politicians have come up with another one of their gems that force me to come out of my self-imposed purdah. This time, it’s a doozy: polygamy without consultation!
First, I note that polyandry seems to be missing from the bill. If women are equal citizens, why are women not allowed to have multiple husbands? That smacks of a double standard. If men are allowed a harem, women ought to be allowed a troupe of taut, oiled dancing boys – or something similar – to amuse them when hubby is too tired from work or dealing with his other wives. What’s good for the goose is good for the gander, after all.
And while I haven’t read the bill in detail, it appears to make a distinction between civil marriage and customary (read: tribal) marriage. That is a problem. Say a man has taken on a number of wives, but only one of them is registered as “legit”. Are household assets and income split equally or is one favoured over the others? When the wives are in dispute over the treatment of themselves or their children, to whom do they have recourse?
What I can predict with a degree of certainty is that this legislation will lead to the death of romance and the rise of cold calculation where marriage is concerned. A thinking woman, when considering a “come we stay” or marriage proposal, will demand the following as a show of good faith:
- A formal written proposal outlining the arrangement she is entering into
- A guarantee as to her status in the relationship going forward
- Assurances as to the status and support of any progeny arising from the relationship
- Provisos for restitution should the relationship sour
Congratulations, Kenyan lawyers! I do believe that our legislators have just made pre-nups, post-nups and new-wife-appearing-nups a thing! All it needs is the right test case and the floodgates will open for an entirely new cohort of people seeking legal advice about their relationships. Think of the fees! And when the relationships break down? Just think of all the billable hours that could be charged! Without any pre-existing arrangements, divorce cases are about to get awfully complicated. And just imagine what happens when the father of such a brood dies without leaving a comprehensive will. It is going to be a bonanza out there. Start advertising now!
If Kenyan legislators had thought about this in any depth before voting for the bill, they would have laughed it out of the chamber, because unintended consequences can be serious and detrimental to everyone. But they didn’t, because the majority are men, and so are convinced that having more than one wife is what their Sky Daddy wants for them (your flavour of Sky Daddy may vary; mine is the Flying Spaghetti Monster, preferably with carbonara sauce). So while some Kenya men celebrate the idea of unlimited spouses, women quietly see the deckchairs being moved on the Titanic, and wonder whether marriage is worth the bother at all. Those with money plot silently to fly to foreign sperm banks with sane legislation should they wish to have children. Good Kenyan men of quality have effectively seen their lawmakers make them redundant.
Kenyans: a nation of lions led by donkeys. Only this time, some of the lions are happy to follow.
(Image by Free Grunge Textures)
Inari Media is Migrating
Despite the lack of activity on the blog in the last… erm, wow, that’s a long time! Anyway, regardless of the fact that I had inspiration burn-out and a life away from the laptop, Inari Media is still very much a going concern and in the interests of keeping things going, there are going to be some changes.
First, because I am like a kitten with a ball of wool when it comes to new things, I have been playing around with a Drupal Gardens* site. The idea is to relaunch Inari Media there once I have it looking the way I like. To appease the Google gods, archived posts will remain here.
Second, while the focus of the blog will remain business and technology-oriented, there may be more posts on international development, the changes in public policy brought about by the internet, and various other topics. I’ll try to keep the ranting about Kenyan politics to a minimum.
And finally, as I grow up (a little) and attempt to behave like an adult, there will be occasional cross-pollination from other projects I’m working on, with full disclosure, of course.
These changes will all be fairly gradual (there are only so many hours in the day, and I don’t have a clone yet), so there is no need to strap in and hold on for a bumpy ride. The Twitter feed is still ticking over nicely, and I will give notice before the final switch takes place.
So I’m not dead; I’ve just been resting, and now feel suitably refreshed to pick up where I left off. We are still living in interesting times, after all.
[Image by Cody Kwok]
* It’s free, and remarkably easy to use, even if you’re not a techie. If you’re interested in playing around with Drupal, you should sign up.
War on Drugs: Have the Hippies Won?
Later this month, at the Summit of the Americas, a number of Latin American presidents are expected to call for a change in global policing of the drugs trade, labelling the current approach “a failure.” In the words of Guatemalan president Otto Pérez Molina,
The prohibition paradigm that inspires mainstream global drug policy today is based on a false premise: that global drug markets can be eradicated.
So, have the hippies won? Are we about to witness the legal right to get out of our gourds on whatever substances take our fancy?
Before you fire up the bucket bong or head out for a new syringe to celebrate, slow down. First of all, this is only a conference, a talking shop where our “betters” will mutter about needing to do something before heading home to try and get re-elected. You seriously think Barack Obama is going to start making noises about needing a more effective drugs policy? This year? Put that pipe down, I think you’ve had enough.
A dirty little secret is that in addition to the War on Drugs being a failure, it is also highly profitable for certain people. Think of the task forces who get extra equipment and funding, the extra legal fees that can be charged by lawyers, or the fees that private prisons can generate from incarcerating drug users. That is not small change, and invested parties would be loath to see that revenue stream dry up. It may be cheaper for addicts to receive treatment and counselling, but those private entities who have built their business models on a never-ending (and it is never-ending) supply of drug offenders are not going to put down that cookie without a fight.
Then, despite the fact that tobacco and alcohol are arguably at least as harmful as illicit drugs, there is the moral panic aspect. Say that you’re thinking of decriminalisation and some Nervous Nellies will think that you’re going to start forcing toddlers to snort cocaine at kindergarten, or teach high school students how to correctly identify magic mushrooms in biology class. Empirical facts or no, there will be some people who will see any loosening of drugs laws as a sign of the coming Apocalypse.
Additionally, even if all currently illegal drugs were legalised, tomorrow, what makes the politicians and lawmakers think that the cartels would cede control over supply and distribution? They have been running this business for time, making bank and living very well off the back of it, thank you very much. You think a couple of laws here and there are going to change much for them? Like I said, put down that pipe.
The global trade in illegal drugs in a business, and no matter how many initiatives are launched to educate, counsel or treat victims, the War on Drugs is destined to continue. And to fail. Until the production, distribution and sale of these drugs are fully legalised, control still lies with the criminals, and no amount of legislative fiddling will change that.
I don’t take illegal drugs. Not only do I not like the idea of getting arrested, but I would also be mortified to end up as a warning portrait on Faces of Meth. But I do recognise that the system is broken. Will it change, after the Summit of the Americas? Well, that would require the entire United Nations to agree on something. Good luck with that.
(Image by Occupy* Posters)
Your Freedom of Speech Ends Where Your Paycheck Begins
![Freedom of Speech, by [togr] at Flickr](https://i0.wp.com/farm1.staticflickr.com/79/267859171_0a8bc724c4_m.jpg "Freedom of Speech")
Do you have freedom of speech? Of course you do! And can you exercise it? Of course you can! But does that mean you can’t be fired from your job? Sorry, no.
Two sackings over the Easter weekend, which I normally would barely have noticed but for the gnashing of teeth from various bloggers and Twitterati. Did these two men deserve to lose their jobs? A quick look at the cases:
First up was US Marine Gary Stein, who had previously been associated with a Facebook page called the Armed Forces Tea Party. A Marine Corps review board on Saturday recommended that he be given a “less than honourable” discharge for postings he had made, one of which apparently said that he would refuse to obey orders from Barack Obama. US Marines take an oath when they enlist, promising to obey their commander-in-chief, who just happens to be the President of the United States. Under the circumstances, the Marine Corps review board decided that Stein’s postings made him…. possibly not the best team player, and so they decided to cut him loose.
Next, fearless iconoclast/professional troll (pick your political poison) John Derbyshire found himself booted from the National Review. From the looks of things, he embarassed his fellow writers there so much that he couldn’t be kept on. His downfall began with an article he wrote elsewhere, but as a growing backlash repeatedly referred to him as “a National Review writer”, they had to take action. Fellow writers disowned his article on Twitter, and on Sunday, the National Review editor Rich Lowry confirmed that Derbyshire had been jettisoned, describing the offending article as “so outlandish it constitutes a kind of letter of resignation. ”
Cue cries of “Freedom of speech! First Amendment!” echoing around the internet, and those are just the more measured reactions. On the wilder fringes of the blogosphere, you can probably find someone trying to tie these cases to a Marxist conspiracy, the Illuminati and the coming Rapture.
So who is right? That’s for the lawyers to decide (it’s always for the lawyers to decide). I am not a lawyer, but I would probably want to be paid upfront before taking on either of Gary Stein or John Derbyshire as a client in a case of unfair dismissal.
When you sign up to the military, you sign certain rights away, and one of those is being able to flap your gums whenever you feel like it, in whatever context you like. Don’t get me wrong: you still have freedom of speech, it’s just constrained. There are certain things you can’t say in uniform, or as a representative of the military. Them’s the rules, and you’re expected to follow them. If you don’t, there’s inevitably going to be consequences. Gary Stein does have lawyers and free speech advocates who are working on his behalf, so this one could run and run. Make extra popcorn!
John Derbyshire is equally easy, in my view. As a high-profile National Review writer, when his article generated such controversy, it reflected badly on his main employer. Bringing the bosses into disrepute? That’s grounds for dismissal, especially if you tack on public shunning by colleagues, and this not being your first ride on the controversy carousel. Derbyshire will probably be fine; he’s an established writer with a body of work behind him. I’m sure he’ll pop up somewhere soon enough.
The overall message, however, is this: when you are dependent on somebody else for your income, they will probably have a number of expectations about what you need to do to get that money. Doing what you are told (Stein) and not making your boss look bad (Derbyshire) are probably pretty high on the list of obligations. So, before firing off a quick blog post bemoaning your HR department, or sending a tweet about the capaciousness of a workmate’s bottom, stop. Think. Are you setting yourself up to lose your job?
[Image by [togr]]
#SOPAStrike and the Great Internet Blackout
How are you doing today, with some of the world’s most popular websites shutting down in protest at proposed US regulations?
I’m doing OK, I guess. Mainly because I had a lie-in and then spent a couple of hours doing lots of offline work that didn’t need any internet access at all. I’m not taking part, beyond having this blog hosted on WordPress.com (who are), and agreeing with the strikers.
Let’s get one thing straight: SOPA and PIPA, the legislative acts that are being proposed, are not only muddled, wrong-headed and overly punitive, but they could have the perverse effect of making the internet more dangerous for ordinary users by potentially breaking the DNS system. And that should terrify everyone, not just US citizens.
ICANN, the body that basically manages the internet, is based in the United States. It has to adhere to US law. Google, Wikipedia, Reddit, many other of those websites striking today are in the same position. Just because they have a global reach doesn’t mean that their size will protect them from what’s going on on their home turf. This is despite the fact that the US by no means makes up the majority of global internet users, despite the power of Silicon Valley.
Should the rest of us be worried? Obviously. If the websites that we have come to rely on (no matter how incidentally) become vulnerable to malicious and vindictive regulation, it affects not only their US users, but their global audience. So what is to be done? Well, aside from encouraging everyone to move to Iceland, which is planning to position itself as a bastion of internet freedom, we can fight for internet freedom on our own turf. We have to agitate against action we see being taken that might undermine internet freedom elsewhere.
Above all, we must support those who are willing to take a stand, whether or not it causes us a minor inconvenience for a few hours. So lobby your local politicians, threaten to move your domains if your webhost looks wobbly, and join the virtual picket against shoddy lawmaking.
[Image by Steve Rhodes]
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