Ideology is nothing more than a set of principles (considered or not) internalized by individuals or communities, explicitly stated or not. The current negative connotation associated with the word ‘ideology’ is (to a large extent) a legacy of rigid political, religious, etc., doctrines of the recent past, like Marxism, Nazism, Fundamentalism, etc. Acknowledged or not, the reigning global ideology is neoliberalism or unfettered capitalism, more to the point. Under (almost) half a century of its rule, a lot has changed globally. Its neglect or outright violence against nature stands out as its major crime. Inequality within countries and polarization between nation-states is another hallmark of its legacy, to say nothing about perennial wars on which it voracious feeds. As a result, the world is now in a state of chaos, threatening to become unmanageable. Many have no clue as to what to do, including the putative African states!
Africa needs a new ideology, perforce! Those of us residing in the periphery of the prevailing world system still have a fighting chance to redefine what social existence ought to be, based on the natural tendency of all creatures, which is, the sustenance/reproduction of God-given lives. In this regard, the core countries of the world system, i.e., the materially rich nations of the OECD are, (probably) in a more difficult position than us, as they have been wholly incorporated within the inhumane logic of capital; physically, intellectually, emotionally, materially, culturally, spiritually, etc. The alienation capital has bestowed on them has left them atomized and powerless, especially when it comes to challenging the ‘unnaturalness’ of their social being. It has been and still is a taboo to question the merit of many of the diktats of capital, monopoly or otherwise. Consequently, a good portion of the Western sheeple has decided to forgo some of the key prerogatives of its natural existence. For instance, procreation, which is the defining characteristic of all life forms, is becoming anathema (almost) to the average sheeple in the OECD, because of non-conducive socio-economic reality on the ground. When such an insensitive social system of superficial contraptions denies the sheeple the very life force of existence, the whole charade must be severely interrogated! The sheeple’s failure or put another way, the stifling characteristic of the system, particularly when it comes to asserting the fundamentals of life, has become increasingly disturbing. Encouraging the sheeple to passionately engage in useless/frivolous activities, while forcing it to negate the basics of life says a lot about the system’s capacity to completely subjugate the population’s psyches. This system is inherently vile and evil!
The real question for Africans remains; do we have what it takes (the C’s) to eject ourselves from this dominant global ideology that systemically enslaves humanity for the sole benefit of accumulation/profit. We believe our new ideology should come about via; Commitment, Confidence, Competence, Compassion, Cooperation… These are amongst the basic ingredients needed to foster a more democratic, a more egalitarian, a more peaceful and a more resiliently sustainable existence. Commitment to have the fortitude to propagate life; Confidence not to be swayed by detractors, and to hold on to our Commitment with tenacity; Competence to achieve the task at hand by forging all round capability built on formidable foresight; Compassion to accept the inherent fallibility of humanity, in all its forms; and Cooperation to solidify harmony within diversity. We agree these are not easy to come by, but since we’ve got nothing to lose we might as well give it a go! Once such initiatives are seriously initiated, Africa can earnestly tackle the challenges of survival based on a different and more humane ideology, with a view to create livable societies, not only to ourselves! Granted, there will be immense obstacles along this difficult journey, but the high level of internalized Commitment should see us through, hopefully! As it stands, our blind submission to crass consumerism will only lead to more unmet desires (not needs) and to even more unmet satisfactions. Fulfillment remains a chimera to many a sheeple in our fast collapsing world system, despite increased nihilistic gluttony across the globe! Again and to be sure, the whole project will not be easy to pull off, as the gatekeepers of inhumanely derived capital, the psychopaths/sociopaths, will be up in arms to frustrate the humane initiative.
A good portion of the challenge to the above project will come from our learned experts, deployed as useful operators by the bosses of the world system. On its own, this will be a formidable challenge, as majority of our leading elites (not only the political ones) are fully assimilated into the numbed and non-thinking existence of blindly worshipping material affluence. In other words, outside of their gadgets and phony conveniences, our elites have become, just like their contemporaries in the OECD, mere consuming zombies! In the words of a philosopher, ‘sometimes people don’t want to hear the truth because they don’t want their illusions destroyed.’ Friedrich Nietzsche. Therefore and for a start, we need to detox our learned experts or what the movers and shakers of the world system furtively call the ‘useful idiots’. These functionaries of the global order, despite their incessant rhetoric, are not in a position to challenge the dominant global ideology on their own, because: 1) they benefit (superficially) from the existing setup and do not want to rock the boat by engaging in serious queries. Or 2) they are sufficiently brainwashed not to see the obvious contradiction between the life force of natural humans and the artificially imposed system of profit that is willing to destroy anything and everything that is on its way. Or 3) some literally fear for their lives, as this is a very subversive move and won’t be tolerated by the power that be; admittedly a very valid concern, given how the ‘deep state’ of the powerful countries operate with absolute impunity! Or, Or, Or,….
This was first published in April 2017
