Evolutionary Steps for nationhood

[Positive]

I was preparing myself for a quiet solitary evening when I heard someone knocking the door; when I opened it standing there was my respectful friend Warhaye and from the look of his body language I noticed agitation and sense of urgency. Shoving me aside he came in and by sitting on my coach began to demand my attention.

 

“May I know what is going on” I asked trying to calm my voice.

 

Taking deep breath he commanded me to take a pen and paper and write down what he had to say.

 

“Pen and paper ! Come on” I said with a voice full of irritation, “you can’t be serious! A Saturday evening?”.

 

“I want to bring a subject to your attention. Please write down my dictation and share it with the others” he said with a voice full of determination.

 

After reflecting upon the fact that this may be an important message hopefully full of inspiration I dragged my feet to a table, took a paper and pen and sitting on a desk chair jokingly said “ what should I write down Sire?”

 

“I’m not your Sire” he began, “ but let me say this that a nation has five function units or hierarchies; it is the individual, the family, the group consciousness (clan/ ethnic group/ religious group) , organization and action teams. The individual is primary unit in a society and as matter of fact it is the most genuine unit. Next a favorable condition for a family life is set up when two individuals, a man and woman come together in a sacred matrimony . Consequently families with their offspring grow in numbers and thus a group consciousness is firmly consolidated but as time goes by the group consciousness inherently branches off into many diverse groups with different preferences. This brings friction and discord or fighting for supremacy but eventually some groups reach critical mass and a nation is born after competing groups realize their best interest is served by uniting.

 

" In our age those groups who do not make to the top either wither way along the path to nationhood or they become overtaken by predatory entities who exploit weaknesses of those groups; but the successful ones are those who mend their difference through peaceful means as this gives them chance for better survival . In effect the later groups formulate common national laws, norms and common national decision making apparatus hence government. Ultimately action teams are born after thoughts and feeling of belonging together really takes hold on the psyche of the people and group interest is abandoned. This last social unit can be of elders, doctors, engineers or politicians but their preoccupation in this regard aims to freely contribute to the emancipation and betterment of the nation ”.

 

“This was a road map to a nationhood” I found myself saying, “ but could you go back and elaborate each of the five evolutionary steps and tell us what one should look for ?”

 

( more is coming )

 

 

TheAwakener2

[Somalia]

, you old people of SOL are quite funny.

[Positive]

Good that you have a sense of humor.

 

The Awakener2

[SayidSomal]

soo daa anagaa naqaane - waa shantii shafka shanlaystay.

 

Haye - shanta sheeg-sheeg - balse ogow - ngonge baa waxa laga haya; "Shir naagood oo shan dhaafay waa shar"

[Positive]

sayidka, haye, wixii xunba Xaawaa leh. Ngonge hadduu sidaas ku maahmaahay meel buu ka dhacay adiguna in aad u jiibiso ma aha. Hablaha ha la daayo hana la xushmeeyo.

 

Toosiye2

[sharma-arke451]

the awakener2 soo dhaadhac sxb, waa intaaso eeynu ku aflaxnaa qoralkee

[Positive]

Thanks Sharmarke.

 

( this is continuation of Warhayes dictation ).

 

”OK before I answer let me recap what I said so far by elaborating little bit” He said.

 

A nation has five function units: The individual, family, group, organization and action teams.

 

Two individuals, a male and female, set up a family and children are born.

 

Many families form a community and develop their distinctive way of life and thus a group consciousness or community of like minded families is born.

 

Communities grow and eventually diversify by developing preferential ways of thinking. In that process there comes a time the communal empathy and their blood bond is weakened and thus communities living side by side begin to compete for resources, group status or preferred ways of thinking etc. In a consequential group dynamics this causes open conflict and fighting between many times otherwise ethnically homogeneous people. Such conflicts further consolidate group consciousnesses, breeds mistrust between groups and in effect evil acts are committed and justified by all sides.

 

Many consciousness groups whether social or religious art may not recover from such conflicts and thus do not make to their next step of social evolution. Instead they wither away or come under better organized groups.

 

Others decide to find solution to their peril after ages of war and fighting. They choose peace and empathy over cruel acts and in the process move consciously to their next step in their social evolution by assuming nationhood which has always been there waiting to be recognized.

At last the center of social gravity moves from the group consciousness to a consciousness of a Nation-state and citizens through their individual capacities contribute their talents to the emancipation of their nation. Selfless pioneer action teams take form and Maandeeq oo mayracanaysa in plentiful meadows becomes a symbol for a nation.

” This is a waste of my time. There is nothing new in this” I began to complain. ” You are just repeating what I already knew”.

 

” The aim is for you to think. My discourse is just to swing your thoughts into motion” he said in reassuring voice and added| ”but it is also meant to take you beyond the wrangling of your group consciousness which you are probable immersed in and let you explore the dept of your thoughts”.

 

|” Of course, of course” I found myself saying meekly.

 

( another installment is on the way )

 

The Awakener2

[Positive]

Then Warhaye began the main body of his course which I summarize as following.

 

A) The Individual

 

The Individual is the first component of a social structure; he or she is the primal person who is the seed out of which the human family grows from; in fact society has no independent existence but is a function of the individuals who make it up; no tongue can be spoken, no good song sang, nor can a beautiful sunset be experienced except by an individual; no ideology can be believed, no good thinking can be thought or an ideal be realized except by an individual. These, and many others, are exclusive domains for the individual and consequently in order to function and exist society needs individuals.

 

In fact the position the person occupies in a community or nation cannot be over exaggerated as he or she is the most precious resource it has; more valuable than gold and money. Whatever progress it makes is limited until a deep conviction dawns on the minds of a society that the individual is not a commodity to be used or traded but a resource with unimaginable potentials. Just putting the individual in the center of attention could many times prevent or cure many social and family ills.

 

If and when maladies become rampant in the affairs of a nation or a family it is important to realize that what you are seeing are symptoms for root causes which could be found on the level of individuals that makeup that society or family. By rule the problems or challenges have to exist first in the individual before they infect the others and hence become a social phenomena.

 

The remedy is positive actions like, caring for the individual, compassion and forgiveness, avoiding to harm one another etc.

which revibrate more positive actions in the community or the nation. Positive actions are what we should look for!

 

( The next installment is coming)

 

The Awakener2

[Positive]

(This is one more summary of Warhayes dictation).

 

B) The Family

 

The family is the second unit of the hierarchy of social structures, and it has function for reproduction; acts as a coaching ground for the children to learn and develop social skills and also functions as a space where children learn culture and social norms; as such it is a important social institution which in a optimal and positive state nurtures and nourishes structures above.

 

That is why all cultures universally put emphasis on the importance of family values

 

Constructive family values are paramount for a peaceful and prosperous society and vice-verse.

For example if children are trained by their parents to divide their community along sectarian lines, for example along clan and tribal lines, those children learn to hate; when they are trained that there are superior and inferior social groups in their community they learn discrimination. If they are trained to give their loyalty to their tribe they do so in their adult life without question and qualms.

 

Once bad habits are learned and internalized in childhood or even later in life there is no easy way for the person to change them. One even doesn’t realize that prevalent problems are due to his bad habits but instead blames his misfortune to others. It is easy to become disconnected from deep reflective states where solutions for problems are accessible when one is in emotional turmoil hence bad social habits breed more of their kind.

 

Luckily there comes a time when society or the family realizes that their problem have nothing to do with outside agents but has to do with their way of thinking and acting!

 

At last the society decides that it can benefit from families ruled by positive values of kindness, compassion and forgiveness, and this would bring peace and prosperity for all; it realizes also that sectarianism has to be abolished and positive social values has to be reintroduced for the good of all.

 

A constructive social role for the family is what we should look for!

 

(Another installment is coming)

 

The Awakener2

[Carafaat]

Interesting. I am waiting anxiously for the next parts on the Group Concioousness and Organizations.

[Positive]

Here it is Carafaat.

 

(continuation of warhayes dictation)

 

C) Group consciousness

 

The group consciousness which is the third leg of mans evolution to nationhood can be classified as a social or a religious in nature; in the beginning when families multiply they form social communities of tribes then clans and eventually ethnic groups; in time these communities become artificially divided into groups each with its unique way of living; for example some may recognize the existence of supernatural forces while others develop advanced belief systems; others may not form concepts of religious or spiritual understanding but become rather opposed to proliferation of new ideas which contradict their old ways.

 

Thus ideological and social diversification takes root and seeds for disagreements are sown.

 

Today you can find people in this stage of social development in all over the world organized mainly as tribes and clans but also as ideological groups of religious, spiritual or materialistic arts.

 

Examples of some of the characteristics of group consciousnesses of social types are:

 

1) They are group-centered.

2) They are territorial.

3) Each group has low empathy for other groups.

 

First in a group centered community precedence is given to the group survival and group interest over the individual. Therefore members of a group belong and are owned by the group.By not being aware of his individuality the member obeys the dictates of the group consciousness which he feels is his obligation. On the other hand members enjoy preferential rights of material and emotional types within their group of consciousness and it is those rights that cement the group together; moreover fear of the member to become lonely pushes him to the group.

 

Second social groups of clans and tribes, due to their mindset or survival instinct, demarcate their habitat and jealously guard it. They see it as the land of their ancestors and thus believe it is theirs by right but problems arise for example when the population of the group grows and they seek to expand their habitat or in a time of drought when the group seeks to move their animals to for example water holes belonging to another group; land is hence a source of friction for those groups and in fact intermittent wars and fighting are social norm for them.

 

Third lack of empathy across the groups is usually pandemic in people in that stage of social development as they see everyone except their group as enemy or undeserving member of another group; this lack of empathy is many times carried over to inside the group which divides itself into sub-groups,sub- tribes and sub-clans and this causes destructive fighting internally in the group.

 

A positive side of the group consciousness is that the individual gets succor and solace in the group in a time he has forgotten who he is, where he came from and what he is doing here. Due to his amnesia he can no longer "care" for himself but has to be cared for by others. In his dark night of Soul he sells his conscience to a group consciousness or others who make decisions for him which many times are detrimental to his well being both spiritually and materially. In his dire situation he gets support from his group which is a positive act I may claim.

 

The group consciousness has other positive aspects which there are no space or time in here. In the bigger scheme of life this stage of development has to be useful and necessary otherwise it wouldn’t have been here. But if one overstays he may experience unnecessary suffering!

 

A group consciousness which embraces nurtures and nourishes other group consciousnesses is what we should look for!

 

(wait for another installment)

 

The Awakener2

[Carafaat]

Positive,

 

Can one say that Somali's are now in this (the group conscious) stage of nation building after the last 20 or 30 years were dominated by thinking along family lines and now slowly political or ideologist groups are beginning to be formed without the organisational structure needed to make it lasting and sustainable?

[kingofkings]

dictated but not read

[Positive]

Carafaat;762517 wrote:

Positive,

 

Can one say that Somali's are now in this (the group conscious) stage of nation building after the last 20 or 30 years were dominated by thinking along family lines and now slowly political or ideologist groups are beginning to be formed without the organisational structure needed to make it lasting and sustainable?

Somalia is a nation state! We have gone through creating organizational structures and national governance system and in our heydays proofed that we were capable to govern ourselves as a nation; it is only now that our national governing body has become weakened by our prevalent social structure which is dominated by group consciousnesses who do not act as national entities.

 

But yes it seems that we have regressed, especially after the collapse of the central government in 1991, more to a lower social evolution in which groups of political, ideological and social arts are competing to take the national power through violent means.

 

There is no other way but to talk and instantly after an agreement all necessary governance structures will be shortly in place because we are qualified to do so.

 

The Awakener2

[Carafaat]

Positive;762623 wrote:

Somalia is a nation state! We have gone through creating organizational structures and national governance system and in our heydays proofed that we were capable to govern ourselves as a nation; it is only now that our national governing body has become weakened by our prevalent social structure which is dominated by group consciousnesses who do not act as national entities.

 

But yes it seems that we have regressed, especially after the collapse of the central government in 1991, more to a lower social evolution in which groups of political, ideological and social arts are competing to take the national power through violent means.

 

There is no other way but to talk and instantly after an agreement all necessary governance structures will be shortly in place because we are qualified to do so.

 

The Awakener2

Positive, I disagree with your statement and it completely contradicts with your theory abowe. That people progress through certain phases in order to create a nation state(individual, family, group, etc). Well the old structures were top-down organized and Somali's never progressed nor went throught the diffrent stages, we thought we could pass those stages and tried to enforce structure and governance upon the people. This collapsed because the process was not organised through a bottem-up approach like your theory here suggest, we were individuals with family linkages who though we could create group consciousness, structure and governance from above.

 

So we did not regress, because there was no progression in the first place. I would say a correction took place and we are back to square one and now we can learn from our mistakes and do it right this time.