Why nations fail by James Robinson and Daron Acemoglu is a book I enjoyed reading. The book does not save on examples that speak to Africans. It digs into the unknown history of the Democratic Republic of Congo to show the roads we took to fail.
I understood by reading the book that failure is not a random event, it is an outcome of our attitude toward newness, risk, and the unknown. Curiosity engages your spirit, and dissociates yourself from your own world. Moreover, I understood that our failure cannot be separated from our ancestors' system of thoughts.
In Africa, ancestors are regarded with a great esteem. They are in the imaginary of Africans part of their societies. I still have a little understand of the role my ancestors played in the making up of Africa. When I look back in history, it is difficult to understand why we give them so much place in our life when they did not prepare the future we are in. May be I am not humble, but I do not see many signs from the past to invite them. Their failure is not as much in the lack of technological initiative, but in giving themselves into others' ideas.
There are people who believe strongly in the ancestors as physical entities. They feed them. They call on them. In the Nether Congo, where I am from we are not really into ancestors' business. We are much westernized in our beliefs. Every thing is about representation. Surely, the weakness of our African beliefs is the lack of codification. Every one has his/her own ancestor, own god, and own way to relate to the future.
The way we believe in a large part of Africa runs against the common belief that Africans come from like-minded communities. Nothing is more false than the idea that Africans drink from the same stream of beliefs. We share material things, but not spiritual things. May be we share the same fear, but fear does not proceed from knowledge, it proceeds from ignorance of one's environment.
In places where beliefs were codified in few schools of thoughts, it helped to unite a large group of people. Sharing into the same beliefs give power, confidence, and trust. Africans are individuals united in their souls, but not in their brains.
I understood by reading the book that failure is not a random event, it is an outcome of our attitude toward newness, risk, and the unknown. Curiosity engages your spirit, and dissociates yourself from your own world. Moreover, I understood that our failure cannot be separated from our ancestors' system of thoughts.
In Africa, ancestors are regarded with a great esteem. They are in the imaginary of Africans part of their societies. I still have a little understand of the role my ancestors played in the making up of Africa. When I look back in history, it is difficult to understand why we give them so much place in our life when they did not prepare the future we are in. May be I am not humble, but I do not see many signs from the past to invite them. Their failure is not as much in the lack of technological initiative, but in giving themselves into others' ideas.
There are people who believe strongly in the ancestors as physical entities. They feed them. They call on them. In the Nether Congo, where I am from we are not really into ancestors' business. We are much westernized in our beliefs. Every thing is about representation. Surely, the weakness of our African beliefs is the lack of codification. Every one has his/her own ancestor, own god, and own way to relate to the future.
The way we believe in a large part of Africa runs against the common belief that Africans come from like-minded communities. Nothing is more false than the idea that Africans drink from the same stream of beliefs. We share material things, but not spiritual things. May be we share the same fear, but fear does not proceed from knowledge, it proceeds from ignorance of one's environment.
In places where beliefs were codified in few schools of thoughts, it helped to unite a large group of people. Sharing into the same beliefs give power, confidence, and trust. Africans are individuals united in their souls, but not in their brains.
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