Self-reflection amongst Africa's smoke and mirrors

Why does the world remain ignorant to Africa's sinister secrets?

There's a lot going on beneath the surface in our everyday lives. Most of us accept this as a fact; that we only perceive a small sliver of reality as it is. However, it's rare that we align our actions with the uncomfortable reality that lies beyond immediate perception. Authentic people do align themselves in this way, and they’re often threatening to those who don’t because they hold a mirror to their own incongruities.

We may be aware of the truth that lies beyond our immediate field of view, which is exactly the excuse we use to allow ourselves to not be authentic. Truth? Sure, I'll accept the truth of which you speak, as long as you can "prove" it. If it's there, why don't you point to it?

Just because you can't see it, doesn't mean it's not there.

We look around to observe the crowd moving in unison. We may know we're all aware of some heretofore unspeakable truth, but the mass misdirected momentum of the crowd acts as an all-too-easy justification to excuse ourselves from being less than we can be; to shy from the consequences of living in truth.

They say the shepherd is there to protect the flock, lest they be preyed on by the wolf. Little do the sheep know that it is the shepherd who controls their fate, and ultimately feasts on their flesh.

If I were a sheep, I would much rather live a short life dying a brutal death at the jaws of a wolf. At least I would have been unbounded in my life; free of the ignorance imposed by a faux protector; blind to the reality of my domestication for the purposes of his own prolongation.

Jesus was a shepherd, was he not? All too many Africans I've spoken to know Christianity was used as a tool to supplant their own traditional practices as a means to unhinge their pride and autonomy…

"I'm sorry you lost everything: your land, your family, your livelihood, your dignity. Have you heard of Jesus? He can provide everything you'll ever need. You never needed all this land, culture, and sovereignty anyway. You don't need to carry the burden of being your own person, thinking for yourself, living for your people and culture, living for the right to determine your own destiny. Jesus can handle all that for you. Trust me, your life will be better now"

It is beyond saddening to remember the conversations I've had with "Christians" in Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Namibia, and South Africa. They're entirely aware of how most of their culture has been lost, and how the majority of Africans remain enslaved in their minds to this day. Jesus and Western ideals are the broken records they were raised with, and these are what they all claim to be the answer to life's woes. To think differently is to be cast away. To think differently is suicide. When all hope has been lost, dare not face reality as it is, apparently.

Religion: the opiate of the masses, as they say.

Religion (Christianity in the South) is rampant in Africa, and my observed reality is that it's not practised with integrity. Don't get me wrong, it can be beautiful to see people come together for shared belonging, but there's no sense in lying to ourselves and each other in the process.

The vast majority of what I witnessed and heard from people was a bastardisation of Jesus and the Bible so they can justify their wrong doings without being judged by others, or worse, to coerce others in the effort to claim moral superiority.

Perhaps the most painful irony is that Jesus would have never stood for any of this crap. Taken at face value, there is a lot to learn from the life of Jesus; lessons that should not be ignored. However, Jesus would have never proposed religion as it exists today, or whatever the group-think, known as "church", has become. After all, Jesus did not follow the crowd. Jesus followed the beat of his own drum. He didn't live to teach that we live blindly. He was his own shepherd. Why is this so hard for people grasp? I wouldn't be surprised if Jesus was crucified all over again were there to be a proverbial "second coming".

I swear, being a missionary, or any evangelist, should be held in contempt the world over. For people to assume they carry another man's truth is beyond hubris, and only proves they lay victim to the same fallacious and cowardly thought that allows us to fall in step with the crowd despite our better judgement - to vilify the wolf and befriend the shepherd despite the truth.

Africa’s Truths

Africa is a land of hard truths. It's brutal and raw. It reminds me of traveling through India more than ten years ago. India confronted me with my own nature, forcing me to witness suffering and hardship that was otherwise hidden in the Western world where I was raised. Africa is India at a larger geographic scale. After more than 30,000 km by motorcycle through much of Southern Africa, I've seen enough child labour, corruption, and artificial hardship to feel deep pains reflected within myself.

Africa and India remain crucially different. Effectively, Africa is still colonised, whereas India is largely independent. The USA, France, China, and Russia (among others) are not free to exercise their interests in India. In Africa, the USA, France, China, and Russia's interests (among others) are the only interests that carry weight. Confessions of an Economic Hit Man (by John Perkins), anyone?

Africa isn't some drought-ridden continent devoid of resources to support the people who live there. The majority of the raw materials that fuel the "modern" lifestyles of the Western world come from Africa, for Christ's sake (pun intended).

How does it make sense for a Canadian company to mine in Namibia where only 5% of the profits go to the Namibian government? How much of this inevitably filters through Namibia’s corrupt elite to the Namibian people?

Africans' living standards should be no less than on par with that of the rest of the world, but the "success" of the West (and the East, increasingly) hinge too crucially on the controlled flow of artificially suppressed prices on commodities that make up the comforts of the "developed" world.

Africa is where the world sweeps their problems underneath the rug. Africa is the closet where the world's skeletons collect dust. By all means, go on your happy little safari, but don't dare learn about how none of that safari money tangibly benefits the African people.

My “success” is a reflection of Africa’s suffering

Africa is where I realised how I allow myself to live out of alignment with known truths.

I haven't posted anything to this newsletter in over a year. I've asked myself "why?" over the months and came up with various answers. I wanted to write about those answers, but they didn't suffice.

The best answer I can give you now is out of shame and pride. My pride wouldn't allow me to continue writing because I didn't want to advertise my lifestyle. My shame wouldn't allow me because I feel like an impostor.

I've felt like an impostor for a very long time. In that time I have somehow cultivated an image of being a traveler. People seem to know me as one. I even have a little mantra I learned while living in China that I seem to cling to as part of my identity: 我是一个旅行者 (Wo shi yi ge lu xin zhe) - "I am a traveler".

However, I don't think I'm purely a traveler. I think I'm a traveler because it has been the path of least resistance. It has been a convenient alibi.

I, like all of us, held dreams as a young human about what I wanted to do with my life. As I matured, I faced opposition in the opinions of society, family, and friends as to the "practicality" of my dreams. I didn't have to listen to them, but I did. I internalised those thoughts and chose to stick to what I know, traveling.

I grew up traveling a lot as a kid. I always loved it, and learned over the years that I'd like to travel in my own way as an independent. I'm happy to say that I've done so, but I've learned that my sacrifices to reach this lifestyle needn't be as severe as they've become.

I wanted to live outside. I wanted to study animals and the laws of nature, and I never thought it would be practical to do so in tandem with my traveling life. I felt guilty in college. I didn't know how to support myself while in my studies, and couldn't bear accepting financial support from someone I didn't align with. I felt like a politician corrupted by the vested interests of their donors.

This led to me dropping out of college, abandoning my childhood dreams to settle for a "life of integrity". I vowed I would one day come back to make good on my dreams. Traveling has been the life I choose to live while I find a way to honour a core responsibility to myself. I'm proud of myself for not being coerced by outside interests, but I now know I'm not being entirely authentic.

Thank you, Africa. I’m sorry, Africa.

Thank you, Africa. I'm sorry, Africa. I'm sorry that I've lived a life of privilege that stems largely from your plunder. Thank you for keeping me safe while I learn your truths. Thank you for reflecting my own core truths.

My heart continues to break when I think of the world’s ignorance over Africa, and I think my gap in writing has been necessary to process this reality.

Frankly, I'm enraged along with a sense of peace that Africa's time will come. I'm confident in Africa's future; I just wish the rest of the world wasn’t working so hard to keep its head below water.

I'm responsible for Africa's fate, and so are you. We are all complicit in this crime. I hope this article resurfaces an awareness in readers a truth that seems to lay dormant in the public awareness.

I don't know why more of us don't stand up for Africa (and not by crying to our governments - f*ck them), because I think our individual efforts are more than enough. Even indirectly, I think we can slowly push the wave of change that is necessary to do right by Africa. I think we all have the incentive to do so, for Africa is the foundation of humanity in multiple sensibilities, meaning Africa’s prosperity translates into everyone’s prosperity.

All thoughts and comments are welcome.

G