Western Civilisation Does Not Seem to Be Working in Africa

The West

Whenever I hear of the west, I always wonder; the west of what? In all my adventures as a Layman, I never met anyone who could answer the question satisfactorily. I know the west includes Europe and North America. I also know that the Arab countries are classified into near East, Middle East, and the Far East.

In order for me to find out what the West is west of, I decided to conduct my own research, using a map of the world. I wanted to know which part of the world was the point of reference; meaning, it was neither East nor West. I discovered that that place is the country of Israel. Now, before you start reminding me that am just a Layman who cannot possibly understand such matters, check it out for yourself.

Civilisation

According to Wikipedia, civilisation is any complex society characterized by urban development, social stratification, symbolic communication forms (typically, writing systems), and a perceived separation from and domination over the natural environment. Civilizations are intimately associated with and often further defined by other socio-politico-economic characteristics, including centralization, the domestication of both humans and other organisms, specialization of labour, culturally ingrained ideologies of progress and supremacism, monumental architecture, taxation, societal dependence upon farming as an agricultural practice, and expansionism.

Western Civilisation (Layman's) Defination

According to me therefore, Western Civilisation is the way of life in those countries that lie to the West of Israel. It is also important and interesting to note that all those countries are also all located to the North of the Tropic of Cancer. It is therefore safe to assume that to all of us here in Africa, western civilisation is a foreign concept. It has therefore come to introduce things to us that are alien to us. (Before I continue, I would like to state that, I appreciate the fact that Africa is not one big homogenous society. Rather, it is a collection of many distinct societies but which have major similarities. It is those similarities that I focus on here.)

Every Man for Himself

A popular adage today says, ‘every man for himself and God for us all’. This was never the case in Africa. Anybody who understands African history will tell you that Africans were a communal society. Blessings and challenges were never taken by any one person. They were shared equitably by all. This has become increasingly less the case in Africa. We have adapted the western way where everybody handles his or her issues and takes all the profit, or loss whatever the case might be. It is what is fondly referred to as capitalism.

Money

Inasmuch as it is said that money was actually invented in Africa, it would seem that it has now evolved into what the inventors never envisioned. I assume that money was made to ease the problems associated with barter trade where the person who has what you want does not need what you have. In the west however, money has evolved into a commodity that everyone wants even if they have all that they need.

Education

The importance attached to paper qualifications is enough to tell you that few people are pursuing education for the purpose of acquiring knowledge. It is no longer important for people to acquire useful skills as long as they can prove they are more qualified than the next person. That old African system where skills, knowledge and wisdom were efficiently passed down through the generations is long gone. The knowledge itself is fast disappearing with those who possessed it dying off one by one without imparting it to anyone.

Morals and Ethics

Africans lived on the simple principle of absolute truth. They saw things in black and white with no in-between. To them, something was either right or wrong whichever way you looked at it. Those from the west however, believe in the concept of several different truths for the same thing. They consider how something is explained to determine whether somebody is guilty of it or not. It is for this reason that corruption is not put on the same classification as theft because it can easily be explained away. With western civilisation, one can successfully clear himself of any accusation provided he can afford the right lawyer. A crime is not a crime if it can be proved to be otherwise.

Family

While it is the west that came up with sweet words in marriage, of commitment to togetherness till death, it is the same west that has perfected divorce. Divorce was virtually non-existent in African society until the west convinced us that it is good to change one’s mind in choice of life partner. The family unit is therefore under threat. Even financially stable men cannot openly marry the number of wives that they are perfectly capable of taking care of. There is now the very western concept of mpango wa kando (concubine) to compensate for the need to marry more than one wife.  As for the future, none can tell. Let’s wait and see.

P.S. Egypt gave birth to what later would become known as 'Western Civilization,' long before the greatness of Greece and Rome. – John Henrik Clarke