But these attitudes are not limited to grassy knolls and steep slopes of the Central Highlands. Down by the lake, or in the streets of Nairobi is found an equally uncompromising stance towards rebuke of Raila Odinga or ODM-K party pronouncements. Here is taught the myth that Raila was a brave knight who rode into KANU to destroy it from within, a champion of the common people and their self-less defender to the last.
Such mythologies are not in themselves harmful, and neither is the passionate support of a political group. The danger for Kenya comes in the fact that our national destiny is held in the hands of a few men who rule by fiat. These men do not mean well for us, they hurt all of us but they enjoy the impunity which our culture of ukabila and narrow-minded patriotism confers on them. They bask in the knowledge that their every action, even such actions as endanger the whole nation will always be staunchly defended by hordes of ignoramuses ruled by a faith to blood and filial ties.
If these men held up a goat tomorrow, and declared in concert that it should be not our next President, but our next king and their little nations rose in chorus to shout God Save the King, we would all the rest of us be shackled to their whims, hurtling into the great future with our goat king leading the charge. This is true tyranny and the only way we could ever get out of it is by ensuring that no strong leader ever gets to State House. I am not of course speaking of strong in the sense of intelligent, or forceful, or effective; but strong in the sense of a leader who can and will ride unshod over the barbed obstacles of our constitution and courts, one who can thumb his nose at the plurality of public opinion because unthinking lemming hordes will follow him to the very precipice.
Kenya does not need such men, and it is for this reason that the likes of Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga are dangerous for our country. This is the reason why we have as a nation grown more polarized during these last four years than at any time since the 1970's. It is why there can be no unity or harmony inside ODM-K, because sadly, so sadly some of us think they are more Kenyan than the rest of us.
Saddest of all, they can make it true.
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Not to make too fine a point of it, but to realise just how terrible the two party system is, look at the American Presidential election and especially at the recent debate among the Republican canidates.
While Rudy Giuliani and the rest of them kept bleating on and on about hate, and fantasies such as 'Muslims hate us because they hate our freedom', Ron Paul was conspicuously ignored by America. So cartoons like O'Reilly and Hannity and Limbaugh are much more revered than actual thinkers.
There is no debate in America on almost all issues, and where there is debate one of the sides is often so very wrong but at the same time so very supported, even by the majority of the country. When only two views are halal, the truth is bound to get lost in the translation.
Your example about duopolies shows this point exactly. The consumer only benefits when the market is filled with many competing players.
To add to the arguments from above. True democracy is achieved when the voter enjoys choice. Thus even when there are two large parties (like in Germany or Japan for example), the other parties in the system (the small ones ) that is control the system by deciding coalitions. So whilst the system retains the balance inherent in the conservative stances of the traditionally large parties, these parties can only form governments by moderating their positions and including smaller players. In a two-party system on the other hand, the two party positions are so rigid and far apart that there is little competition for core voter groups. This is why elections in some countries (where we are heading) are decided purely on the opinion of a select faction. This culture enforces a need in the parties to either swerve to the extremes and therefore leave an unrepresented centre, or else to steal to the centre, or in the other direction and effectively disenfranchise one's core voters (Tony Blair).
Sorry to re-post this here.