The Weekly Sneak: African Social Intelligence

The UK riots, eh? Who could have predicted that? Well, most social scientists, actually. Here's a great post that gives a brief breakdown of the circumstances leading up to the explosion we just saw. I imagine this is just the beginning- like Columbine spawned a series of copycat crimes, this youth-anger-slash-and-burn method of social protest might just gain legitimacy as a form of "revolution." Look what happened after the Arab spring: a global obsession with reproducing the phenomenon.

Well (expletive deleted) that. While I am all for cultural exchange, I am decidedly a cultural relativist, and in many ways a total Afrocentric conservative. And this ka-"youth culture" that is emanating from the American mediatainment industrial complex has created a global fetishization of youth that I often find completely abhorrent. Women's magazines horrify me with their sexualized emaciated prepubescent children passing as supermodels, hip hop terrifies me with its vastly unchecked misogyny, violence and consumerism... anorexia, bulimia, self-hatred, botox, cutting, rioting, plastic surgery, preserved Hollywood celebrities who pervert our notions of what a forty- or fifty- year old looks like in real life... young Tanzanian women with perfectly beautiful pear shapes worrying about whether they are skinny enough or not...

Some aspects of what passes for "modernity" can just go straight to hell as far as I am concerned.

Too long it has been desirable (expected, frankly), for Africans to look Westward and Northward and take our cues from there. We have internalized this message, unfortunately. I can see it in the Facebook updates of people demanding that we bring violent means of conflict resolution to Tanzania to change our internal relations of power. That this is said with no irony whatsoever (violence in the service of... peace? in Tanzania of all places?) makes me wonder how self-aware we are as Tanzanian youth. Also, just how much world history we understand...

Anyways, I do think we've got something precious that apparently the UK could use more of. I call it Utu, although it goes a little bit beyond that. So this week, I took the UK riots as a jumping-off point to say to my peers: yeah, we got problems. But let's step away from all the cultural and political copycatting and handle our business like some well-raised, intelligent, self-aware Tanzanians. If we don't, we'll only end up in the same tight spots when its our turn to be called Elder. And won't that be a bitch to explain? The UK riots are the horrible lesson we don't have to live through to learn.

"Which leads me to the notion of respect for elders. This one is a double-edged sword: anyone who has spent five minutes watching Bunge TV will know that age does not automatically confer good sense, wisdom or even good manners. Sometimes drastic measures are needed to discipline our elders when they misbehave, since the worst of them believe complacently that age will protect them indefinitely from critical scrutiny. However, even as angry youth we cannot afford to ignore the ways in which our society provides for inter-generational conversation and mutual support in the things that matter. Those who have walked before us do know one or two lessons about life that are worth learning, wisdom does have its place in life."

Besides, we have a legacy to respect here. Mwalimu was barely in his thirties when he took command of a new country and foxed his way through the Cold War to protect a fledgeling country from predation. Most of his cadres were hardly old enough to shave. I can bet you that the previous generation didn't earn us the international reputation we enjoy by being hot-headed dingbats. Yeah, youth is cool, but maybe we can learn a thing or two from the old revolutionaries. They actually earned their stripes.

Oh, yeah. So this is for the EA. Which is owned by the Aga Khan, a mzee poa if there ever was one (and he started out pretty young). I expect to be thoroughly caned for my conservatism this time around :)

The Weekly Sneak: Education

Why not? I like invented traditions and honestly it allows me to look like I'm blogging when really I'm getting two pieces for the price of one. Dodgy, but fun. So here is this week's preview paragraph for next week's East African article:

"Still, the underlying point is a poignant one: what they are really asking is how can they hope to get out into the big bad world and earn a living without poverty rolling over them like a runaway upcountry bus. I do have an answer for those of us who are unemployed by our anorexic formal labor market: your creativity is your labor market advantage. Most of us are going to have to invent our jobs and ride our own brains on the journey from subsistence farming with a hand-hoe, to the bright lights and city smarts of the middle class lifestyle."

The idea came about during a conversation about jobs and youth and what Tanzanians could expect to happen in the next few years when we look at the combined effects of a population boom, a crapulent public education system and a future that rewards intellectual work and innovation rather than labor that can be mechanized. Somewhere along the line we agreed that individual creativity would provide the labour market, so to speak, that young Tanzanians are looking for. My twin then casually told me that there's no way I could present that argument in an article and make it work. And here I am, genetically programmed not to resist a dare...

Also, I wanted to expose an interesting behavior: I'm getting asked for money by strangers. Sigh. Look: I don't believe in hand-outs. Charity for good causes? Yes. Constructive help? Yes. Mentorship? Any time. Collaboration? Sure, as time and inclination permits. Hand-outs just because? Not so much. I hope we're clear on that. If you don't like it, you can always report me to the socialists ;)

And then there was Vodacom or Vodanet or Vodacell or whatever the hell they call themselves these days. When they rebranded this year, their campaign translated the English slogan of "Power to You" to "Kazi ni Kwako" for the local populace. Which doesn't mean remotely the same thing, and has been quietly grating on my nerves for months now. Typically Tanzanian of me, being intolerant of the cultural faux-pas. Their local staff must hate the corporation if they neglected to inform the (obviously clueless) marketing team about this one little thing. In comparison to the ads that Zantel is putting out there, Vodacom is only showing itself to be out of touch with their consumers and frankly uninterested in their customers. You'd think that Big Telecoms would have a clue. Apparently, not these guys.

Money, man. Money.

'Elimu ni kila kitu, dada'ngu.' I was arrested by this statement as I watched my friend struggle to figure out what he was going to do next. Out of a job in 24 hours due to circumstances outside his control. Kids growing, rent is due. Not enough jobs to go around, and he's that most undesirable of human surplus: young, male, too few years in school. This guy is far too sharp to land anywhere except on his feet, but it makes my shoulder blades itch to think about all that latent power in the labour market- strong, smart, motivated, creative, frustrated...

No doubt about it- if we had such a thing as a functioning education system, my friend would likely be heading a corporate empire and I'd be slaving for him. But, you know. Family had few means, crap education and here he is, a self-taught transportation services provider. Our conversation made me wonder a little about Jay Kay's promise to create a million jobs in his first term, and those Ward Secondary Schools with VodaFasta teachers. Itchy shoulder blades!

Speaking of government, Minister Mkullo is in the background saying something about promoting Export Processing Zones. The World's Best Housekeeper* is giving me dirty looks because she just lost an argument about food price controls. Asking for a raise is well within her rights, but she can forget about that command economy business. Happy Budget day.

*Oh, yeah, she also chuckled evilly while reminding me that this is the last Bunge session for those MPs who haven't got a chance in hell of being re-elected. Might as well enjoy your seating allowances, buddies :)