Why we have failed as Africans of all walks of life? Because we are stubborn peoples scattered across the African continent.
We are not worse than others. May be we are the last if continent must be ordered in terms of its success to solve human problems. But being the last among the best is not always a bad outcome. There must always be a first and a last thing. If I am not, someone else is. When you consider a group of people, the notion of last is meaningless. Last makes only sense if you have a linear view of things or peoples. A nonlinear view eliminates the last effect. It much depends from which perspective you look at things. A last thing for one may be a first thing for another person. May be this is why people travel around the globe to discover the last they do not know. They pay to visit the last thing, the last civilization, the last beast, the last of the last.
The last thing is mysterious to me. Once the last thing is known, it becomes a thing among other things. A profound sense of search makes the last thing, a think to add to other things. No human will try to destroy the last thing. No human will aim to eliminate the last people. If such a mistake is intentionally done, then the next to last become the last. May be some of the brilliant minds who know who is intellectually last are afraid to walk a mile and discover the truth of the last. Obviously, they must be the last.
So being last is not all bad. In many situations to be last is to be first. Consider the European struggle in experimenting different economic, political and technological systems. Consider now African countries we gained their political independence in the 60s. Normally, those who were last should have been the first to improve the old systems. Unfortunately, the last went further back. They got their inspiration from Machiavelli. Some went even further to resuscitate Cesar and the Pharaohs. Obviously the last was still the least. Considering that a human is a completion of another human being, it is a conundrum that dictators were born to Africans.
I asked myself why we did not learn from others. Our fathers thought they were different from others. In their misery, they run away from the past of those we came to colonize their minds, to tame their spirit, and to brutalize their body. They were much afraid to be like them. But were they better? If they were better in which ways? We have to go back in history to find out what kinds of people our African ancestors were before the arrival of colonizers. Did not they brutalize their fellows?
We are now in the 21st century. Still we know very little about others. We are still in the path of our own. We still believe in our differences. Just because we were colonized, does not mean we are better. Just because we are victim of racism, does not mean we are not racists. Just because we were enslaved, does not mean we are not abusers of our fellow Africans. We are all those things. We are exactly like them. May be worse.
I believe peoples are complementary beyond what we can imagine. Without this complementary, human being would have destroyed himself long ago. Therefore, learning from others is essential. You learned from others, if you believe that you are like others. You do not learn from others, if you believe you are different. History only serves the minds of those who humble themselves. So being last is not a big deal. The harder you try to separate yourself from the rest of the world, the quicker you fall backwards.
We are not worse than others. May be we are the last if continent must be ordered in terms of its success to solve human problems. But being the last among the best is not always a bad outcome. There must always be a first and a last thing. If I am not, someone else is. When you consider a group of people, the notion of last is meaningless. Last makes only sense if you have a linear view of things or peoples. A nonlinear view eliminates the last effect. It much depends from which perspective you look at things. A last thing for one may be a first thing for another person. May be this is why people travel around the globe to discover the last they do not know. They pay to visit the last thing, the last civilization, the last beast, the last of the last.
The last thing is mysterious to me. Once the last thing is known, it becomes a thing among other things. A profound sense of search makes the last thing, a think to add to other things. No human will try to destroy the last thing. No human will aim to eliminate the last people. If such a mistake is intentionally done, then the next to last become the last. May be some of the brilliant minds who know who is intellectually last are afraid to walk a mile and discover the truth of the last. Obviously, they must be the last.
So being last is not all bad. In many situations to be last is to be first. Consider the European struggle in experimenting different economic, political and technological systems. Consider now African countries we gained their political independence in the 60s. Normally, those who were last should have been the first to improve the old systems. Unfortunately, the last went further back. They got their inspiration from Machiavelli. Some went even further to resuscitate Cesar and the Pharaohs. Obviously the last was still the least. Considering that a human is a completion of another human being, it is a conundrum that dictators were born to Africans.
I asked myself why we did not learn from others. Our fathers thought they were different from others. In their misery, they run away from the past of those we came to colonize their minds, to tame their spirit, and to brutalize their body. They were much afraid to be like them. But were they better? If they were better in which ways? We have to go back in history to find out what kinds of people our African ancestors were before the arrival of colonizers. Did not they brutalize their fellows?
We are now in the 21st century. Still we know very little about others. We are still in the path of our own. We still believe in our differences. Just because we were colonized, does not mean we are better. Just because we are victim of racism, does not mean we are not racists. Just because we were enslaved, does not mean we are not abusers of our fellow Africans. We are all those things. We are exactly like them. May be worse.
I believe peoples are complementary beyond what we can imagine. Without this complementary, human being would have destroyed himself long ago. Therefore, learning from others is essential. You learned from others, if you believe that you are like others. You do not learn from others, if you believe you are different. History only serves the minds of those who humble themselves. So being last is not a big deal. The harder you try to separate yourself from the rest of the world, the quicker you fall backwards.
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