Many times, I can’t help but acknowledge the fact that one of the major problems many of us have is the fact that we’re untested. For many people, we’ve been unbroken, and we don’t really understand some things as others do. For many people, as long as they’re not the ones going through something, as long as they have no family members who have been in that situation, they would never be able to imagine themselves in it.
And so, what do we have? We get people speaking out of turn, making wild claims, and talking about all the things they don’t know that they can do. The truth is, when all you do is talk about something, failing to think of all the ways you could be involved in it, you’re basically nothing but an empty drum making really loud noises. And most of the time, people can see you for who you are; full of nothing but air.
Many times, we complain about how bad the government is and how its corruption is crippling the country. But then, we fail to realize that the government didn’t just fall from the sky. It’s also made up by people like us. And sadly, it’s only made up by people who just have the power and access to fulfil their proclivities. We live in a society where people will complain about the government, but won’t hesitate to spend money that isn’t theirs.
One of the worst things you can do is to mistakenly send money to the wrong bank account, or even worse, send more than you’re meant to. Like, if you were planning to send 50,000, but mistakenly added an extra zero and sent in 500,000, then you’re cooked. Because you’ll find that many people will find it difficult to send the extra money back. If they’re willing to do it, they’d even want to keep some for themselves.
When you go to most government institutions, run by civil servants, ordinary people like you, they’d basically want you to roll on the ground and beg them before they do the job they’re being paid salaries for. Imagine just to book an appointment with a boss, or submit a file, or get a signature or stamp, clerks and secretaries would be extorting you. And if you don’t pay, they’ll frustrate you. They can even make it so that you don’t even get what you’re after. When you eventually get past them, their bosses will be even worse. Many times, what you need could be just a signature, but they will stress you and still extort you on top of that.
Yet, these are the people who join you to complain about the bad governance we’re being plagued with. Then you ask yourself, if these people find themselves in the corridors of real power tomorrow, won’t they do worse? Because just the little power many people have, they’ve turned it into money-making schemes. Lecturers extort students, police extort civilians, and regulatory agencies keep extorting those in business. Everyone is just looking to collect that last 2k from you.
So, I say again, are these the people who will lead us? Are we really surprised when we get the kind of leaders that we get? Are many of us pained because of the corruption itself? Or are we simply pained that we’re just not benefiting from it? Because if we want to fight bad governance, we have to first of all fight that part of ourselves that’s willing to let everyone else burn as long as we get what we want.
It’s that mentality that we’re seeing in full regalia today. That’s why even when people are being massacred all over the country, there are those who are decrying it and trying to water it down, because they’re looking out for their own interests.
And this brings me back to what I said in the beginning; many of us are just untested and unbroken, that’s why we say the things we say. Many people who once supported this movement immediately switched sides when the violence touched those close to them. Then, they’ve seen that evil doesn’t really care about whose side you’re on. Once it comes your way, it takes whatever is standing down.
We need to start thinking of ourselves as a people, and for our collective good. Because if we keep being individualistic, the virus keeps spreading, and more of us keep dying. It’s time to be wiser.
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