Sophist Posted June 9, 2005 Melancholy of the "Enlightened" Somalis- Patriotism; searching under the rubric of self-imposed bondage. "Neither Montaigne in writing his essays, nor Des Cartes in building new worlds, nor Burnet in framing an antediluvian earth, no, nor Newton in discovering and establishing the true laws of nature on experiment and a sublime geometry, felt more intellectual joys than he feels who is a real patriot, who bends all the force of his understanding, and directs all his thoughts and actions to the good of his country." — Bolingbroke, On the Spirit of Patriotism, p. 23. Gloom and despondency sets in amid the endeavour of searching for alight, the mind is driven to awaken itself from the hellish nightmare that has been the fixture of its quintessence; that is more than decade and half. Waking up in the middle of the night with impetuously vociferous words coming out of the mouth of the dreamer "yea thou country had yet begotten"! but such declaration comes without fruition. The mind wakes, the body takes the signals from the motor neurons that are fired from the central nervous system. The man becomes sober as he is hit on the face by the "Somali reality". What is this Somali reality? Such reality proclaims; Intellect, Integrity and Virtuosity if all are adverse to the interest of the clan; such high ideals should be done away. This my fellow reader is what had become the energy which drives hordes of men to decompose their noble ideas; that of; patriotism, communal interest and their intense sentiment of moral duty!!! isn't that an utter sadness? This melancholy of imperial magnitude is what is maintaining the horrid predicament Somalia finds itself in. Does the above quote resemble anything remotely in existence within the souls of our intellectual class? If any, it is indeed the apposite. One becomes utterly dizzied when one reads extremely well composed articles that flood in the cyber world where Somali pseudo-intellectuals wax lyrical about how dreadful it is that our country had gone to the dogs. They lament on the sub-human existence which many Somalis live ( a friend had just came back from Djibouti after doing some research on refugees in Djibouti. The picture she has painted is what led me to write these words) ; but confusedly between such seemingly noble words loiter the ominous venom which makes their words redundant; the ever conquering menace of tribalism holds them with a potent grip. After the laborious years spent in reading with intellectual rigour seems not to afford them to break the shackles of tribalism. It is as though they are inherently fiendish. They sport titles of professorial ship, they write long treatises on Somali politics dressing their nefarious corpses with silk robes; hoping many would not see the egregiousness and the stench of their ideas - with little success. The reader experiences moments of exalted excitement when reading their articles, thinking that they are in a good company; but such moments don't last long. Soon the corpse surfaces; and a commanding horror takes over the reader. Why is this the case you might ask? How come that men and women who have had the opportunity to get higher education (the whole idea of attending higher institution is to develop personality which will predispose the individual to think independently--- think outside the box is the habitual mantra or is perhaps these ideals are promulgated only in Oxbridge college halls) are in the tribal morass? My old man has an interesting theory about this. In those early years when modern education was brought to Somalia; the Somali Nomads never sent to school those who had the natural intellect; vitality and physical prowess; these boys were needed to tend to Camels. Instead the naturally obtuse who was not fit to be a good Geeljire were sent to school. So the story goes, says my dad, whenever the intellectually weak of any people dominate the political and civic institutions there is no other way that society can go but to the chasm of societal doom. We can easily trace the lassitude that has bewitched our intellectual 'class' it is from the complete lack of natural intellectual prowess; which I would like to call ‘Natural Aristocracy’. We need to create a class of natural aristocracy cultivating Nobelese Oblige. Only then we shall have men who will bend all the force of their understanding, and direct all their s thoughts and actions to the good of their country. The toil is long and hard, but the rewards are boundless. Make your mark today and join the revolution of the enlightened. Join the force which will elevate state sovereignty and subordinate clanism as political force. Shirwa Jama Secretary General Shandar International Shandar.org@gmail.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
xiinfaniin Posted June 12, 2005 I liked your old man’s theory. But (I am afraid) it overly simplifies the complexity of Somali clannish politics; the roots of our political illness. Other than that, I found this as a somber letter from a concerned nationalist full of pregnant words! "Create a class of natural aristocracy cultivating Nobles Oblige," you said? Only if I could possess that imaginative power! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
