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IT’S seduction, nothing but pure seduction.
The idea that our forebears were on a higher moral plane than us and that humanity is on a march to an Instagram abyss of immodesty is nothing but fiction. It suits us to see our origins as a heavenly bubble above our mammalian vices.
Humanity has always been about glory and showmanship.
Look at the robes worn by men of the cloth and the grand houses of worship which are a symbol of the pomp of old.
Although the believers may still pray to their God, these days the world worships money.
In the old days, the centrepiece of the city was the temple, where the markets were and where the business of prostitution was first recorded.
Ishtar was the Mesopotamian goddess of love, sex and political power, and the Sumerian priests managed her temple.
The temple had three classes of women.
Those in the first class were only allowed to perform sexual rituals inside the temple.
The second class could do so on the temple grounds. Their clientele was limited to the visitors to the temple.
The women of the third class lived on the temple grounds but were allowed to solicit clients on the streets.
This is not dissimilar to South African life.
Third-class blessers who pay only for airtime will not object if their blessees get cheap alcohol from other, third-class, street blessers.
Second-class blessers who buy Champagne in dingy pubs and taverns get angry if they hear that their blessees burped beer someone else had bought.
But the first-class blessers, who buy SUVs and townhouses for their blessees, expect them to be available at all times. These blessees only leave home when going to get a new Brazilian weave or a facial or to have their nails done.
Since money has become a god in its own right, so the corporation has become the modern temple. Those in management have become the priests who get employees to sacrifice their family relationships for money.
What people are prepared to do for money these days is greater and scarier than what they are willing to do for the living God.
Most corporations have branches, and so the headquarters have become the Vatican, Mecca, Jerusalem or Angkor Wat of business.
Companies are putting up magnificent buildings and want them to be treated with reverence.
Medical aid giant Discovery has just completed buildings its glass shrine in Sandton.
It stands opposite the castle of the US empire, creating the western gate that separates Sandhurst, where the wealthy live, from their sties of cash, Sandton.
The law firms have put up cathedrals of justice such as Bowmans, whose shadow is so long it eclipses the largest law firm in Africa, Edward Nathan Sonnenbergs, which is miles away and where the plebs toil.
Amazon, the e-commerce retail giant, is looking to build its second headquarters.
Already 283 American cities are bidding for the opportunity to host it, because they hope to create 50 000 “permanent jobs”.
As the world gets more connected with trains and the internet, more cities will be begging corporations to set up shop on their front lawn.
Don’t believe the preachers.
Nothing is permanent in business.
Trends change, industries wilt, people lose jobs and cities die.
Instead of spending money trying to attract businesses, in this age of artificial intelligence cities must invest their money in the high-class education of their residents, especially in their poorest areas. This will ensure they produce knowledgeable workers who’ll find employment in this new world.
* Muzi Kuzwayo is the founder of Ignitive, an advertising agency.
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