By Ndung'u Wa Gathua
For starters, Robin Hood is a popular character in English folklore and whose tale has captivated the western culture for many centuries.
From William Shakespeare to many other authors who have shaped the western culture and entertainment, all have told the tale of Robin Hood, the heroic outlaw who 'stole from the rich and gave to the needy'.
In the original version of the tale, Robin Hood stole from those who stole from the poor and returned the loot to the rightful owners. In those days the upper classes, from the king to all his cronies, routinely engaged in extortion. They disguised this, however, with the phony claim that everything belongs to the king and his cronies.
While the story is often misinterpreted to fit various selfish narratives and contexts, the truth is that Robin Hood became a hero because he stole from the king and his cronies, who were only able to amass significant amounts of wealth by plundering the people they ruled and stealing the productive outputs of private individuals.Robin Hood didn’t become a hero because he stole from entrepreneurs who were benefitting the society, but because reclaimed what the State had already stolen from the people.
Ruto Versus Raila in Robin Hood Context
It is important to understand the context of Robin Hood because when the tale is misinterpreted, economic disaster follows. It is the people who believe fortunes are only made because of theft from public coffers like ODM leader Raila Odinga, who propagate this narrative leading to more misery and poverty among the majority poor.
This is because such narratives by Raila and his ilk leads only to State harassment in terms of hefty taxation and political persecution resulting to what the likes of Ruto would have otherwise spent to grow the economy being held back.
When money is saved, the economy does not grow in the present because if an entrepreneur wants to see his or her wealth expand, then s/he must either spend or invest his savings, argues Phillip Parissh, an American author.
The point of having money is not to have money, but to have the things money can buy. If money is saved by hoarders just to be passed down from generation to generation, the benefit of having the money is never achieved.
Unfortunately, this is the retrogressive idea that the Kenyan dynasties have nurtured and watered with sheer dedication since independence and do not want it challenged by anyone any time soon.
That is why they are barking like crazy dogs whenever they hear that 2022 general election will be a race between the hustlers and dynasties; the peasants on one side, and the barons on the other.
Sadly for the dynasties, the rallying cry has been well received by the poor masses and the dynasties have began to wet their pants. The ship has undocked and there is no turning back. The status quo must now be shifted in the favour of the poor masses.
If Raila and other members the malevolent dynasties club can't understand how Ruto's wheelbarrows bought with 'stolen' State money will help empower the peasants, they have this Robin Hood tale as a point of reference.
These thugs would rather continue hiding their stolen State billions in Mauritius and other havens of corrupted public funds than use the same to help their poor masses break from the chains of poverty. And you wonder why Raila is the unrivaled Lord of Poverty.
So, whether the Kenya's 'Robin Hood' (Ruto) is a destructive thief or a public servant, it all depends on your perspective and is of no significance to the hustlers as opposed to the dynasties!