Shooting from the lip

we scratch the sleep from our eyes. News, weather, pix of an arbitrary friend on some rock-star holiday.

There’s also an army of advertising genii trying to slither into our consciousness. Masters of crafty commerce.

And then there’s what governments believe is important. Fascinating to look around the world. For example: the Chinese state’s latest news:

April 22, 1.59pm: Xinhua: “BEIJING – China plans more measures to lower business costs this year, according to the National Development and Reform Commission.

“The country plans to cut business costs such as charges for electricity use, logistics and intermediary services… expected to save more than 150 billion yuan (R288bn) for enterprises and the public this year,” said Yue Xiuhu.

“With the government’s efforts to further reduce administrative charges, this will lighten the non-tax burden on market entities by more than 300 billion yuan this year.” Next door, the Indian government: “Digital Gender Atlas has been developed to identify the low-performing geographic pockets for girls, particularly from marginalised groups such as scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and Muslim minorities, on specific gender-related education indicators.

“India has achieved high enrolment rates for girls at primary and upper primary levels of schooling. However, at the secondary level girls’ enrolment remains low. That all girls are not attending school yet is reflected in low rural female literacy rates.” Two governments with combined populations of about 2.6 billion people are choosing to talk about incentives and smart tech to improve the economy and education.

Some in SA believe these should be at the forefront of our national dialogue too. But, far too often, what’s really crucial gets lost in the noise. Our most valuable national conversations are usually chaotic, making collective progress near-impossible.

Do we plan our digital diets deliberately enough? Or are we at the mercy of who can reach our little screens most deviously?

Who best understands our “r-word”: Relevance? Who dominates the debate?

And with what agenda?