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“The continued judgment and setting of Utopian standards for Zimbabwe are callous, vindictive and should not be allowed to continue,” Mnangagwa told supporters in an address at the National Sports Stadium in the capital, Harare. “We say enough is enough. Remove sanctions now.”

Sanctions against some individuals in the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front and businesses associated with them were imposed back in 2003. The U.S. has made periodic amendments to include people the State Department believes are responsible for human-rights abuses or enriching themselves at the country’s expense.

Zimbabwe has received more than $3 billion in U.S. aid since 1980 and at least $300 million this year alone, the U.S. Ambassador to Zimbabwe Brian Nichols said in an interview with newspaper publisher Trevor Ncube that was posted on the U.S. embassy’s Twitter account.

The U.S. is Zimbabwe’s single-biggest donor. Despite diplomatic tension between the two countries, American aid kept Zimbabweans from starvation after former president Robert Mugabe authorized the often violent seizure of about 90% of all white-owned farms between 2000 and 2012. That cost the country millions of jobs and saw farm exports almost disappear.

“Our targeted sanctions are not responsible for Zimbabwe falling tragically short of its potential. The fault lies in the catastrophic mismanagement by those in power and the government’s own abuse of its citizens,” Nichols tweeted Thursday.

The Southern African Development Community reiterated an August call for all forms of sanctions against Zimbabwe to be removed.

Sanctions “directly impact on employment and income generation opportunities, and thus the livelihoods of the ordinary Zimbabweans,” it said in an emailed statement Friday.

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In Harare, many stayed away from the demonstrations, saying they were a distraction from the president’s mishandling of the economy, which is plagued by 18-hour daily power cuts and shortages of foreign exchange, fuel and medicines.

Mnangagwa has so far failed to unify the country since taking over from the late Robert Mugabe, who was ousted in a coup in 2017. Hopes of a swift recovery have faded as the economy struggles to exit its deepest crisis in a decade.

Mnangagwa, like Mugabe, blames the sanctions imposed by the United States and European Union since 2001 for the economic ills and says they are intended to remove his party from power.

“Every part and sector of our economy has been affected by these sanctions like a cancer,” Mnangagwa told a sparse crowd in Harare’s 60,000-seater national stadium. “Enough is enough, remove them. Remove these sanctions now!”

The poor attendance showed the difficulties that Mnangagwa faces in mobilizing party members still divided between Mugabe’s supporters and those who ousted him. The rift was exposed by a bruising dispute over the former leader’s funeral.

Earlier, government supporters led by Mnangagwa’s wife Auxillia and bussed from across Zimbabwe marched for 5 km to the stadium.

Singing and dancing, they waved placards inscribed “No sanctions, no discrimination, sanctions new version of slavery,” and “Enough is enough, remove sanctions now.”

“We have no jobs because of the sanctions. America wants to remove ZANU-PF from power through sanctions but we will defend the party and our president,” said 32-year-old Martin Mafusire.

Similar marches were held throughout Zimbabwe after Mnangagwa declared Friday a public holiday.

But in downtown Harare, many people went about their daily business selling everything from fruit to cellphones.

“It is Mnangagwa who has to go because he has failed. I can’t leave my station to go on a useless march,” said mother-of-three Catherine Chihota, selling fruit at a street corner.

The EU and United States imposed financial and travel bans on ZANU-PF and top military figures for alleged human rights abuses and electoral fraud. The government says the measures are punishment for its seizures of white-owned farms.

ZANU-PF supporters condemn the sanctions while the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change says they are not the cause of the country’s economic crisis.

The regional Southern African Development Community has rallied behind Zimbabwe’s call for an end to sanctions.

While the government ran documentaries and articles in the official press criticizing sanctions, the U.S. and EU embassies took to social media to rebut the official narrative.

U.S. Ambassador Brian Nichols wrote an article in a private newspaper on Thursday saying “the greatest sanctions on Zimbabwe are the limitations that the country places on itself”.

He said the United States remained the biggest donor to Zimbabwe but corruption and lack of reform had dragged down the economy.

The EU keeps some sanctions in place, but in June it began talks with Harare meant to move on from the Mugabe era.

Harare says the U.S. sanctions have been the most devastating. These bar U.S. officials at the International Monetary Fund and World Bank from voting for debt relief or fresh lending for Zimbabwe.

In March, President Donald Trump extended by one year sanctions against 141 entities and individuals in Zimbabwe, including Mnangagwa.

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The scene opens: It’s daytime, in a bank, let’s say 11:30 a.m. on a Tuesday. The customers are going about their business with quiet purpose. The sun washes in from the eastern windows. Everyone is at least a little tan, and they look a little like people who smell of sea salt and the waves. L.A.? Could be. You can tell they all not-so secretly wish they were surfing. But who doesn’t, am I right?

Suddenly the front doors burst open, and the camera rushes to them. Who swaggers through the door, but Ronald Reagan, Richard Nixon, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Jimmy Carter, each carrying an assault rifle. “I voted for you, Mr. President!” shouts one shocked customer. “Shut up, you stupid Oakie!” Jimmy Carter inexplicably yells back.

And on it goes. What is happening? Are you watching some amazing science fiction film about time-traveling and/or cloned former presidents robbing banks? Normally I’d say, “You wish!” but here you don’t wish. Because you’re already watching the greatest movie ever made. You’re watching the opening scene of Point Break.

THE SECRET OF POINT BREAK

Why is Point Break such an amazing film? Many have asked this in the 28 years, three months, two weeks, and one day since the film’s premier. And there are many reasons: the surfing; the breathtaking cinemaphotography; the epic skydiving; Gary Busey; the flamethrower scene; the ex-presidents, of course; two meatball subs at 10 in the morning; and Keanu Reeves in the heartbreaking final scene.

But the real Point Break connoisseurs know that the secret is that its characters don’t set non-tubular goals. They never aim for, or settle for, anything short of totally bodacious. They make flamethrowers out of gas pumps. They skydive without parachutes. They go absurdly and impractically into character as ex-presidents while robbing banks. They say things like, “If you want the ultimate, you’ve got to be willing to pay the ultimate price.” They live absolutely to the limit.

This dedication to excellence allows the characters of Point Break to achieve great things. They never do things half-way or settle for mediocrity. Keanu Reeves even applied it to his own life, culminating in his recent action star renaissance due to his intense dedication to his John Wick training regimen. You too can be like Bodhi and Johnny Utah, if only you’re also stoked and ready to rip.

START APPLYING THE SECRETS OF POINT BREAK TO YOUR OWN LIFE

Too often, though, instead of being gnarly, we allow ourselves to be satisfied with taking a nosedive.

Stop taking nosedives. The first step is to set better goals. How do you know if a goal is bad? One red flag is if you achieve it. Achieving goals will leave both lost and self-satisfied. You will wrongly convince yourself that you’re “OK.” But you’re not “OK.” You’re never “OK.” Because there is always more, and you should always want more, like Bodhi.

Start by sitting down, thinking about what you want out of your life, and setting the biggest goal you can think of to that end. This should be something really big, like being the absolute ruler over all of humanity and all of its offshoots until the heat death of the universe. If you can think of something bigger, for instance involving time travel, go with that. Then remember that all acts are measured only relative to that goal: You can move forward, towards your goal (be more like Bodhi) or backwards, away from your goal and into mediocrity (be less like Bodhi). You always want to move in the direction of being more like Bodhi. No act is neutral. All things move you forward or backwards.

Next, carefully consider the path to achieving that goal and set smaller, more achievable sub-goals that will move you further along the path. For instance, a sub-goal may be turning your law firm into the most successful commercial entity in the past and future of human civilization. You want alien archaeologists 10 billion years in the future to be writing books about you. Then you start psyching yourself up, such as by yelling at yourself in mirrors. Continue this process as long as necessary.

Then, build your self-identity around those goals. Dr. Gregory House used to say that he needed his team’s entire self-worth to rise and fall based on how well they did their jobs. You need to be the same way.  The idea of failure should be intolerable.

SURF’S UP

By applying these simple lessons, you too can become a great surfer, capable of mastering the legendary 50-Year-Storm, or whatever else you wish to do. So stop making excuses and start today, living the lessons taught to us by Bodhi, Johnny Utah, and whatever character Gary Busey plays.

Matthew W. Schmidt has represented and counseled clients at all stages of litigation and in numerous matters including insider trading, fiduciary duty, antitrust law, and civil RICO. He is a partner at the trial and investigations law firm Balestriere Fariello in New York, where he and his colleagues represent domestic and international clients in litigation, arbitration, appeals, and investigations. You can reach him by email at matthew.w.schmidt@balestrierefariello.com.