Timur Posted August 13, 2012 I was always of the opinion that Somalia was poor because of the visible issues, with the conflict of the last twenty years at its core. But looking beyond the superficial causes of poverty, such as war and war-driven famines, Somalia is poor for reasons deeply engrained in its people. In a recent conversation with a colleague from out of town he said to me, “Somalis have accepted poverty, that’s where the problem lies. It’s like a cancer victim who has accepted the ailment as part of their permanent identity, rather than to see it as a temporary condition of their being.” And he was absolutely right. The Somali people have accepted their destitute position and the meager conditions that surround them. Looking beyond the conflict, which is very limited in its scope and by no means should serve as an excuse for the poverty of an entire nation, ordinary Somalis are simply not demanding enough in terms of life quality. By no means is Somalia alone. This open acceptance of poverty and helplessness is a common theme in South Asia and all over Africa. The poor in these societies don’t believe they can do much better, and in the extreme case of South Asia, the poor often believe it is their rightful position in society to live in the margins. Somalia is poor because few Somali leaders let their people know that they deserve better. Few still will ever attempt to make that elusive dream come true. This is just a microcosm of the wider poverty-acceptance problem in Africa. What was it that made the oil-rich ‘sheikhs’ of Arabia dole out benefits to their people at the first sight of oil, yet equally rich African states like Nigeria, Angola, and Equatorial Guinea make no attempts to share this public wealth? What instinctive behavioral pattern compels an emir in Dubai or a sultan in Oman willing to secure healthcare, education, and wealth for all citizens of his country but is completely missing in these aforementioned African societies? Some say it is pride. There is a common saying among Arabs; that you will never find a Saudi or Libyan woman working in a foreigner’s home. This was born out of the perception that a Saudi or Libyan would never be compelled to leave their own country for work because the incentives were too good at home. Pride is a major factor in Arabian cultures, and the hit to a self-titled emir’s ego to see his countrymen slaving abroad is enough to make him pull all the stops to prevent such things from happening. But prideful leadership alone is not enough to explain the massive public treasuries in Arab oil-producing states that go towards human development. Unlike those in India, or Somalia, or Nigeria, the ordinary Emirati or Qatari expects to live just as comfortably as his or her monarch. Not just he, but his entire tribe demands to live like the king or emir. And if the people of a neighboring kingdom enjoy refrigerators and modern schools, he too will demand it in his own kingdom. This culture of demanding wealth distribution (‘social change’ by another name) rather than simply pondering over it, is completely missing in African societies and most South Asian societies. Equatorial Guinea has the same reserves of oil as the remaining quantities of Oman, but with less than half of Oman’s population. And yet while the Omani state can equitably deliver quality public services throughout all of its 119,500 square miles, Equatorial Guinea cannot penetrate even a small portion of its population within the confines of its modest and easily accessible 10,830 miles of territory. It is not through the kindness of the sultan’s heart that Omanis enjoy the wealth of their nation, it is a mix of Omani pride at all levels and a non-negotiable expectation of better living by the ordinary Omani. There are obvious micro-management explanations for why the aforementioned problem exists among African oil-producing nations and not among their Arab counterparts, but they are superseded by the social reality behind these patterns. Back on the topic of Somalia and its struggle with poverty, it can be argued that Somalis don’t demand anything because there is nothing yet to demand. However, what a society demands doesn’t have to be what it sees in its vicinity, it can be the things that Somalis may see among their neighbors and in the world around them. Somalis obviously know from experience the kind of wealth that exists in the nearby Persian Gulf states. Thousands of Somalis live in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, and Kuwait. But those Somalis and the ones back home equate the prevalence of Arab wealth distribution to birthright rather than the actual reforms that created those conditions. While it is true that birthright is what gives the average Kuwaiti or Saudi citizen a high standard of living, the ancestors of those Arab individuals demanded a better life for themselves and their future generations. In that same manner, it is up to today’s Somalis to demand food, shelter, clean water, and even late model cars and glass penthouses. Why not, especially if the funding is possible. Some may argue that such luxuries are a privilege and not a right, but if the state’s budget comes from the resources of a land that the collective Somali people worked to occupy together, citizens deserve fully what profits come out of the soil. I believe that is the lesson that our Arab neighbors took to their emirs and sultans when demanding equitable distribution of their respective nations’ resources. Just as water is treated as a collective public resource, anything else that comes out of unclaimed ground belongs to the public. Oil, natural gas, and all minerals belong to all of the people of the land, not just the private outfit that claims it, and most certainly not the state alone. The same colleague of mine who started this conversation also told me this: “I have never desired to fight for ideas, nor do I believe in nationalism. But as a citizen of Somalia, I am entitled to fair access to that country’s water and its oil. If any declared leader of mine does not give me and my family our share of this wealth I will take up arms and finally fight for something. I believe that’s a just war that everyone should fight.” Somalis must understand fully that their future depends on what they are willing to settle for. They don’t have to fight or die for any of the comforts or luxuries that await them. The Somali people should do as the Emiratis and Omanis did before them. Somalia’s people must simply reject poverty. They have to show a bit of arrogance, and they need to pout their lips and crinkle their noses at any offenses to their prideful senses. When the government offers a new fleet of used Toyotas for the local police force, the Somali people should assess the wealth around them and demand new Land Rovers instead. And when their government says that they can only provide schooling for half of the children in the country, the Somali people should demand that all of their children go to school and that the government throw in free healthcare and a sewage plant to that package in rebuttal. Only when you expect the best can you get the best. Anything less you get is entirely telling of what you’ve settling for. Egypt’s people recently protested their way into a revolution, Somalis can do much less and get so much more if they so choose to give themselves the respect that dignified people carry. 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