Some folks have questioned the point of blogging, if bloggers like me are not going back to Tanzania to actively participate in causing a change. I can clearly understand such a point of view, for most folks really desire for true change in Tanzania. I can sense a strong desire for a true leadership in that country. My worry for the most part people who hold these sentiments tend to think that the only way to cause a change is for one to become a politician. The truth of the matter is this: not all major changes in societies around the globe have been caused by politicians. There writers, poets, artists, activists, regulars Joes that have really played their role well in transforming their societies. Besides, there are all sorts of leadership. I like to call my blogging a “thought leadership”. I have said this once: I could be the best thinker but the worst leader, for various reasons. I like the idea of being a thought leader and I will stick with it for now.
The reason I prefer “thought leadership” over everything else is because I recognize the power of the mind. I can be more influential if I challenge one’s thinking that stepping up on a podium to tell lies just to be elected. I understand that ideally political leaders work for the people, but we all know it very well that in a Tanzanian context, that is a Utopian notion. So I regard my calling as a noble one, and I wouldn’t want to belittle my role.
In my previous post, an esteemed reader left a comment. But what caught my attention was this line: “...there is nothing wrong with the way people think or do things in Africa”. My understanding of that comment is that the way African do things and think is just fine. Then I thought to myself, why are poor then? I mean, Tanzanian has been independent for over 40 years, and some folks have not seen a light bulb (literal bulbs) go on in their huts.
You know what? This reader has the right to the point of view. Besides, what I do here is just share my opinions. I can’t claim to be right and know it all. But this is my deepest conviction, in order for Africa to move forward, Tanzania in particular, there must be a major change in our thought process and mindset. That is simply because by keeping one’s mindset constant, the course of action is guaranteed to stay the same. And we all know it; you will get the same result by doing the same thing. The point is this: in order for us to get rid of poverty, we have to have a paradigm change.
It appears that some folks underestimate the power of the mind.
My spiritual orientation is that of a Judeo-Christian, so I will draw some of my references from the Bible, since that is a spiritual book I am well acquainted with. This is what the Bible says in Proverbs 23:7 “As a man thinketh so is he…” That is deep as deep could be. You could discredit that notion because it is coming from a religious book, but its core message will remain to be true. And that truth is that we are a perfect reflection of our thinking. You can’t go where you don’t think about, nor can you do what you don’t think about.
As Tanzanians, this concept shouldn’t be hard to grasp. That is because it is hard to argue that the Tanzanian experience post independence was and has pretty much been shaped by Nyerere’s thinking. Even across the globe, the power of the mind has brought about both negative and positive experiences. Ask Jews about the result of Hitler’s thinking. Ask Ugandans about Iddi Amin’s thinking. And the list is almost as long as human beings have existed. If a single individual's thinking can change lives, just try to imagine how the right thinking among the majority can change things around.
Given the fact that the mind or one’s mindset is the central point of one’s being, it is scary to imagine that some folks actually believe that there is nothing wrong with the way people think or do things in Africa. My belief is contrary to that. As Africans, our problems are magnified, for the most part, by our mode of thinking (which is of a victim and not a victor’s mentality).
The fact that a country like Malaysia was as poor as Tanzania in 1957, but changed made economic progress over time proves that fact that we truly need to change what we do and how we do it. I can understand the strong patriotic feeling that “borrowing” the Western thinking is some sort of a cultural or economic slavery. Nonetheless, the truth is that we have no way out. Our patriotism is nothing more than impractical, because the last time I checked, every African country is pretty much hawking their country for foreign investments. Guess what happens when foreigners bring their money? They also bring their cultural influence. So whether I say it or not, it is happening anyway.
Most Chinese and Indian kids are plenty in the American universities because they are there to borrow a leaf or two from the Americans playbook. The goal is very simple: learn as much as you can and take the knowledge back to their native countries. If folks still struggle with open and hardcore ideas that I publish in this blog, then I wonder if the Tanzanian society is truly ready for shakers and movers, who happened to be educated abroad.
So my message is this: as long as we keep on thinking and doing the same things in Africa, nothing will change. We need to change. Progress starts in the mind. Period.
Photo: Mroky
33 comments:
What a brilliant way of defending weak thoughts? Good try. You have improved a little bit due to my challenge. No one is actually struggling to understand your blog. Sometimes you forget the fact that, there are too many brilliant people in Africa who can anlayze things better than the way you can imagine. African thinkers do not stink, they know much about each and every topic you have tried to explore. All I`m saying is there is too much brain bpower in Africa and in the African`s minds whatever their status in the global economy. I`m against your view of critizing the intellingence of Africans. The issues are to begin to compete with others instead of following directions from the World Bnak and other institutions. Another problem you need to adress s the behavior of those who have brain power including yourself. No one wants you to become a politician in order to participate in building your village`s economy, I have insisted that you people like to talk but can not get involved in helping reducing poverty and employment starting from your villages. It does not take a politician to do that. You can continue blogging as your hobby but show an example by helping the opharns or the unemployed. After that you can claim the right to have a vision of writing about thought leadership for whichever audience of your interest.
Any one with real interst about the prosperity of Tanzania and tanzanians should be able to commit a siginificant investment in any sector to reduce poverty and unemployment. Those are the huge and critical issues to talk about than blaming Kikwete`s inefficiencies. Time will come and you will vote for the right leader. You should have written before putting him in the office, he is incharge but you can`t blame him for all the inefficiencies. We are collectively and practically responsible for helping to eliminate poverty and create wealthy among the majority who are very poor. There is nos single leader or group of people who can do that. Changing the way we think will not help to solve those problems. The way we think is not the cause of those problems. No matter how one thinks it is possible to make a plan and act on it. We understand our environment better than the foreigners, we understand tour problems better than the foreigners, there is no need to expect too much from changing how we think, we need to do something, we need to do good things to other people and behave unselfishly. That is all we need, we are very brillint people, we have many talented people, we have the brain power necessary to accomplish any goal that other human or species can. They are not gifted than we are, we are alll gifted by god to have the capacity to make the changes we need in our society and economies. Those things have no boundaries, even the Americans could come to Tanzania to study. Even the Germans and Chinese could come to Tanzania to study, Tanzanians professors are not that dumb. You can go get your PhD at UD or Makerere and you will be amazed by the brilliance of those African professors. I urge you to do more research so that you can be more equipped in blogging, and if that`s your joy you`ll enjoy more and be more accurate in your views and opinions. No one is struggling to understand, people want to hear what appears to be an accurate assessment of relaity. If you happen to miss direction or auntheticity, we must tell you to avoid insulting other people intelligencies by saying that they have problems in how they view things and therefore have to change their thinking. Social change and economic change that is relevant to Tanzania or African in general can be achieved in variety of ways, ia have not yet seen your proposal so that people can take actions. It is too vague to tell people to change their thinking, especially those born and raised in motherland. change thinking for what? Any brain can have brain power regardless of where it is, and any brain power can attrcat wealth wherever it is. We all have the capacity to think in unique ways and what we need is to utlize our thinking by competing with others in creating more capital and more capital comes by investing in ourselves and in others.
Yessir ! Preach !
I concur with you Bruh with you Critical role that you playing very well to the Leaders and able bodies across the Nyika Land
Some people will never change and that is a fact. Why ? They want to play safe wanting to be comfortable they are fearing to unknowns and a lot of what ifs.
While change remains constant phenomenal in life, every single one of us will have to encounter and confront albeit for others unwillingly so.
Change or be changed,the time will no doubt come .If you are resiting change you are dying and obviously would be affected by the force.
For a positive change thus we need to define (envision) it before we can claim it.
Something must give.
Keep on doing a good work !
Msemakweli
@Anonymous 12:55 PM
It appears you have failed to understand the context of my arguments. It appears you are struggling with an understanding of the difference between general and specific statements. If I come to you and say Chaggas love money, that would be an acceptable general statement in the Tanzanian setting. Nonetheless, that statement does not apply to every single Chagga.
I hope that helps you to understand the context in the general statement that African’s thinking stinks. By the way, if Africans’ thinking stinks, shouldn’t I be included too?
Metty, you are a smart guy no doubt about that, we are glad that many people like you exist. Keep in mind that there a lot of smarter people in Tanzania than you are who are better informed about things than you are. There are times when you don`t get things right, accept and don`t try to be too defensive about your brightness claiming that other people are struggling to understand your arguments. Be careful when making arguments concerning Tanzania and the economy of Tanzania. be careful when you talk about the minds of other people, calling them idots or stupid just because they live in Africa does not make good sense for an educated person. Avoid fallacious arguments about people for your arguments to prevail and make better sense Avoid abusing democracy of blogging. There are many very bright people who are natives of Tanzania looking for work and some are working extremely to find solutions to many real problems facing our people.
As an analyst, You have failed to propose a real solution to any crisis facing Tanzania. It is easy for any one to blame or criticize the inefficiencies of leaders or policies or systems. A real analyst is the one who speak with numbers not just an idealist who make up ideas and fallacious arguments about important issues and jump into conclusions.
After all the criticism what should be done to improve the lives of the people? What you think should be done about Electricity/Water/Poverty/Unemployement crisis? What should be done to improve economic performance of Tanzania? Nothing is taught at school, people with rela experience not theoritical experience about the real world of Tanzania need to come togther and work on those issues without blaming Kikwete or depending on Kikwete to turn things around. He is there and after 5 or 10 ten years he`ll be gone just like Mkapa, Mwinyi, and Nyerere. What are we gaining by blaming poor fellows, smart fellows should get involved and do something about the damn country. People show some real love for the country and for one another instead of just talking about issues without proposing solutions.
Ho ho hold your horses annonymous(the 1st and 3rd annonymous),
You've got some good points but once again your delivery is marred by trumped up accusations against Metty and overly exaggerated claims(for lack of a better description).
I find it rather strange that you had to stoop so low to the point of falsely accusing Metty of being some kind of a bigot, this is what YOU claim he said(wrote) but you conveniently didn't quote him. You said:
"be careful when you talk about the minds of other people, calling them idots or stupid just because they live in Africa does not make good sense for an educated person"
Now now... did Metty really say that? Did he really? Did he call people who live in Africa idiot or stupid just because they live in Africa? You are not serious, are you?!
You see if you want to spin someone's words try a bit of creativity not blantant distortions, you can do better than that...
Here is one of your many outlandish and unsubstantiated claims:
"All I`m saying is there is too much brain bpower in Africa and in the African`s minds whatever their status in the global economy."
Now how did you measure and arrive at the conclusion that there is TOO MUCH brain power in Africa? Is there really? Or better yet, point me in the direction of the research journal that published those findings, if there is any.
Now don't get carried away and twist my words, I never said there aren't any intellectual powerhouses in Africa, I am just questioning the "too much" part, I've never heard of anyplace on earth with too much brain power, get my drift?
You might counter by claiming that was just a generalization, and that is precisely my point. See why is it so wrong for Metty to generalize stuff to get his point across but it is OK for you to do the same? Ever heard of double standards?
The bottomline is, we all in here want the best for Africa starting with Tanzania, of course and we know it is possible, it is achievable, it is doable, if others have done it, why not us?
And that's the crux of the matter.
The Problem with Wabongos and their Culture is that they are too Darn sensitive, easily offended and not want to face the truth.?
Yeah i said the IT !The Truth shall set you free ! We are the way we are ! (undeveloped and suffering)for a reason ! Accept and change Call a spade a Spade ! Ebo ! Now you want to kill the messenger of truth .
"He who rejects change is the architect of decay. The only human institution which rejects progress is the cemetery." -- Harold Wilso
peace Msemakweli
You patrick and Metty are patting each other`s back, well, no problem, if you were both leaders, our country would be at a much riskier position than it is at the moment. We don`t need to hear arrogant comments, I don`t need to impress anybody. What I know for sure is there are a lot of intelligent people who are natives of Tanzania and they can do better things by getting organized. If you have no clue of what you want to say try to spend sometime reseaching the subject matter before jumping into writing fallacious arguments with no proposal of the solutions to the problems we have here in Tanzania.
Honesty shall prevail, hypocrisy will not win. Therefore, I prevail and Patrick you are losing it by not analyzing yourself before you talk.
mr patrick we are not here to prove each other wrong, explain why you think you any balls to help your country in any way while feasible. And what can your thinking do to solve critical problems facing our very poor country. What caused those problems and hwo they could be solved and how you can help and what do you need to be able to help. Stop jumping into what is between me and what the owner of the blog posted, let him ask me to prove my point and not you. This behavior indicates how you want to create conflicts between people. Metty is a smart guy,and he has no taken things personal, has he told you to respond to me. Focus on the burning issues and avoid intruding people, this is not a chat room.
You said you know it is possible, what is possible, how? I think you have no agenda for your country even for this blog. You have an hopeless and helpless hand and mind. Now try to prove me wrong if you have what it takes to help Tanzania`s economic performance. what is doable, and what do you mean by that,stop giving empty proposals and and say it is achievable, what is achievable? We are not learning English, people have freaking serious problems and burning issues that need to be solved. Stop on depending on the president and copying ways of politics of the Western countries. We are a unique country in our own way.
Delivery to impress who? to try to impress you is not an important point to me, as different people have their own style of delivery, and any style is a personal preference of the author.
Yes, there is too many brain power in Africa, it is an obvious fact I don`t need to convince you. Just go there talk to people and see it for yourself, I have done that myself, I have met those people, and have read and seen thier work.
It is absurd if you don`t that by now and consider yourself a smart guy. There are too many people smarter than you back in Africa who could have done better if they had your opportunity.
@Msemakweli
Thank you.
@Anonymous 11:20AM
I have no reason to doubt that you are a very smart individual. As such, I would refrain from name calling and bringing an intellectual discussion to a personal level.
Patrick has a right to his opinion, whether that opinion supports my position or not. You have the right to your opinion, which we should all respect.
You have decided, either deliberately or for lack of understanding, to take my articles out of context. That is fine, but that will not change the fact that
Africans need to change their thinking. I have provided my case and as a gentleman or lady, please present your case, without attacking anyone.
I can't understand why you are making an assumption that anyone in the Diaspora who challenges what we do in Africa does that because they feel superior. Well, what would you say about HakiElimu who are doing the same while in Tanzania?
Stupid is as stupid does. Period. If anyone, whether in Africa or in Asia does stupid things, I will call that out. Given that my interest and focus is Tanzania, I will call stupid things that are done in Tanzania. I am sorry if you feel offended, but at some point, we have to call spade a spade my friend.
Would I go out here and defend a government that would rather spend billions of shillings on expensive cars, while school children are sitting on dirt? Absolutely not! If by calling such a spending priority stupid you get offended, please be my guest.
Being a true African does not mean defending stupidity. I am a African as you are. As Msemakweli pointed out, the problem with the Tanzanian culture is we would rather sing praises to even things that don't work out, than point fingers and call for accountability.
And for the record, if I was the president, Tanzania would have been in a much better position that it is right now.
President Jakaya Kikwete yesterday lashed out at the Western press for portraying Africa negatively.
``The only unfortunate thing is that Africa has had bad press in the developed world,``President Kikwete yesterday told over 200 participants from Asia and Africa who are attending the Fourth Africa Asia Business Forum in Dar es Salaam.
He said the press in the developed world had a tendency of giving big coverage of only negative news items about Africa.
``A crisis in part of one African nation is portrayed as a crisis in all the 54 African countries. As a result, every country is condemned,`` he said.
President Kikwete said Africans deserved to be treated better.
He made the comments while assuring friends and partners from Asia that beside African having a huge resource potential, the climate for partnership and doing business in Africa was right.
He said Africa was ready to do business with the world since there had been greater political stability, democracy was on the march and steadily taking root and good governance had been entrenched.
``The macro-economic environment has improved considerably. GDP growth in Africa has been very promising, at around five per cent for quite some time now,`` he noted.
President Kikwete said there were a number of countries, which had registered even higher growth rates and were among the fastest growing economies in the world.
``Africa is no longer the hopeless case. The story of Africa is different. Africa is a hopeful case.
Africa is on the move, it is the emerging market of the future in this globe,`` he insisted.
Addressing the participants, the Executive President, African Business Roundtable and Chairman of Nepad Business group at the forum, Dr Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, said Nepad laid strong emphasis on partnership as a mechanism for sustainable development.
``It was only logical that a platform for increased partnership and cooperation between Asian and African business be created, the outcome of which is the Africa-Asia Business Forum,`` he said.
He said Asia has brought first hand experience of fast development that is very much attuned to the conditions of African countries.
``Asian Countries have taken risks where other developed countries have hesitated, such as in war-torn Angola, where China offered a USD 2bn oil-backed credit at a time when western banks and multilateral institutions have been skeptical,`` he said.
For his side, the Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, Masayoshi Hamada said there would never be stability and prosperity in the world unless the issues of Africa were resolved.
He said his government had initiated the Tokyo international conference on African Development (TICAD) in 1993 which appealed to international community for the continued support for Africa when aid fatigue was casting dark shadows on aid support for Africa.
I have heard from you guys, Thanks, what are your proposals? Stop bitting around the bush. To be helpful or not? To call a spade a spade is a normal thing that any ordinary citizen would do. A very smart person wouldn`t do just that.Calling a stupid, a stupid is something even little babies do.
Calling an idiot, an idiot is not a contribution to any kind of progress. A complete way of showing some`s stupidity is to give clear proposals of solutions to the burning issues. No one is sensitive for no reason, yes I am very sensitive about sensitive issues and fallacious arguments about those issues that concern many people. What issues are we looking at, can`t everybody focus on some issue instead of jumping around topics which, no one has a clue about. Say I`m partick and my focus is poverty, I want to show Tanzania how I can be of help and hope to them and this is what I need. Or I`m Metty, my focus is poor economic performance and thought leadership, here is how I can help this president na d these people then focus on that issue for about a year or more before jumping into very many issues which you can not analyze or write about. If you are doing just to entertain yourselves and support each other,say so that we can understand your category of analysis. So far, people are claiming to be who they are not in the name of showing understanding about matters which they can not even volunteer to help for one week. Talking about Social change or whatever kind of change, say how why and what should be changed. Stop criticizing people`s mentality, start at small level. If you know that people are sitting on dirt while billions of money are wasted it is not enough to call those people stupid and continue to enjoy your personal life. How canyou personally help those who are suffering, they don`t have to suffer for you to help. How can you help in reducing poverty and unemployment. Or how can you make Tanzania an industrial country, focus on that until you can show people how deep is love for them istead of jumping into very many unfinished businesses. Or mind your own businesses and leave Tanzania and Tanzanians alone. Too much talk is harmful, we need to see numbers and not words alone.
Well, anonymous (not Msemakweli, as you two are using the same moniker)
Frying you with your own lard at this opportune moment is a temptation I shall refrain from, I prefer to stick to your arguments and not your person.
You see all this cheap name calling is a sign of immaturity at best. It certainly doesn't help in advancing civil discourse.
"And what can your thinking do to solve critical problems facing our very poor country. What caused those problems and hwo they could be solved and how you can help and what do you need to be able to help"
Let me once again indulge you,
You know that most conscious actions originate from thought processes. Now if one is thinking right(in the context of socio-economic issues) chances are they will do the right thing. I know it sounds too general and even elementary but that's where the rubber meets the road.
For instance if you are thinking right, then instead of buying an overpriced radar that we don't need or a high-end gulf stream presidential jet that isn't really necessary(I am not even touching the mining sector and privatisation "irregularities" that have happened in the recent past), you might endeavour to provide better health services to rural areas. This can be done by allocating more funds for training of Medical personnel (RMAs, MAs, and MDs), more funds for bettering services at rural medical facilities and even for establishing new ones.
Similar decisions and undertakings are in order in other sectors, in education, in industry and what-have-you. It all originates from having the right thought processes.
How did we get to where we are, let's see, there are quite a number of factors(both from within and without) and I am sure you are well acquianted with them, but our poor and/or ill-advised decisions at times haven't helped either.
Now, you don't need me to walk you through the mess we've dug ourselves into, do you?
It is not rocket science to "know" what needs to be done in Tanzania, but getting it done is another story altogether. For instance, this rampant "tafuna mali ya umma" selfishness mentality has got to go before we can make meaningful progress. Now, how would do you successfully bring about this behaviour modification without first affecting and effecting one's thinking?
It shouldn't be too hard to see that, unless of course one has something to gain from the current sorry state of affairs.
The late Mwalimu J.K. Nyerere had this idea of uniting the country, and you know what, he succeeded at that, we all speak Swahili in addition to our mother tongues, today we can boast of being one of the few (if not the only) African countries that haven't gone through a civil war on account of tribalism. Now if Mwalimu was thinking of himself and his immeadiate family the picture would have been different I believe.
To paraphrase the good book, "as one thinks so is he" and that my friend, is where it all starts, in the mind.
To be honest with you all, Africa problems are caused by Africans. Either you are living in UGAIBUNI or Kijitonyama with me. Stop and think for a moment, instead of attacking the problem/s we are attacking each other. I am telling you, kama wote nyie munge kuwa mapresident wanchi majirani, sasa hivi munge kuwa muna twangana kama Wahutu na Watusi.
Finally, I would like to say we all have ideas on how we should transform our country; however, an idea is nothing until we have the courage to make it happen. We can do it.
Thank you Metty for the opportunity.
Well-said Metty. I think most of the countries in Africa are changing direction. I’m enthusiast for people going back home (Metty - might diverge, but that is my own opinion and I stand for it) and employ their education to build countries- If we have new generation who are well educated, I believe the country like Tanzania will progress very well. It is true we have some PhD’s and smart people back home, but it is hardly to see how they use for the benefit of their own countries.
Hiza
Very good points Hiza, simple and clear.
Mashala, I have not seen your agenda. Keep in mind This is not a chat room, whoever comes in here must have a burning issue, what is yours?
Whatever you said represent your level of knowledge and capacity of undertsanding about important matters. Sometimes it is better to be quiet than to try to interefere a meaningful discussion without having a better point of view.
Qualitatively or quantitatively, explain why are you here? or why you was here today?
Your view: "Africa problems are caused by Africans" is kind of vague and helpless to anybody trying to think about issues. You have to say which problems, be specific, and what caused what, you can not simply put a statement like that and think you have said something. Which Africans caused which problems and how and when where those causes discovered? You need to be responsible for yourself and thanks for stopping by wih your comments, that Africa problems are caused by African themselves with an example of ideological battles going on here, whereby you related the discussion with civil wars in Africa.
You have to think a little harder before throwing your lines in here. Why are you saying what you are saying shows how you care about Tanzania and deep is your love for the people who are suffering, it is not tjust the people who are suffering, it is the poor countries and its people who are suffering and have to stuggle to get out of that sinking ship. Masahala what is your opinion about the sinking ship?
Your vision tells you that watu watakuwa wanatwangana kwa mitutu kwa kuwa wameshindwa kufikia muafaka? I am sorry,nothing in here goes down like like that,it is a different calibre and atmosphere whereby you speak your mind and get noticed,challenged, or supported. Nothing is too emotional. People want to see real positive changes in Africa, especially in Tanzania, not by just talking about them. People want to show how they can influence in that process with their visions, imaginations, and actions. People are challenged to show their capability in influencing the economic process or political process in Tanzania. Why people are doing that or interested in doing that? Our country has never had a better system of governance or leadership that would at least position our country in better situation economically, socially , and politically. It is a beautiful country but since independence everything has been too slow. Neither fiscal policy or monetary policy has functioned they way it should have functioned to give people a better life. There is too much poverty and unemployemnt, and the productivity is very low, growth rate is very unstable. Very few people have income or know what it means to have a stable income. How can we claim we are independent and free country? How can claim we have democracy at personal level and at the national level? What can we do? What should we do? How? and Why? What has failed Why and how? What should be the proposal for each burning issue? Those are kinds of dialogues that smart people need to have wherever they are. At the same time, smart people need to relaize that there are way too smart people sitting idle and need a job in Tanzania to keep the economy rolling. That is not right. We can not depend on presidents or leadership which for decades have proved to be weak. The ministers are weak, the MP`s are weak,the media is weak.
In this era of internet how are the people themsleves going to have influence in their countries without even involving the weak president. As we all know, a president does not own the country, it is the people who own the country. Presidents come and go, you don`t need to give them too much shit or give a shit about them. You can continue to do your things peacefully and not take the peace for granted. They can screw up everything and everybody if you let them have such an influence on you and your people. Take the influence in your own hands, plan what to do, what to support, how to do, how to support, and increase your influence by doing positive things about your country and your people.Why? he ain`t gonna do shit for anybody.
We shouldn`t care much who is in office, let`s concentrate on important issues and do them, if he becomes a really obstacle then any force, military or vote could be imposed to kick him out of the office. We can say all we need to say about corruption but we won`t be able to stop it completely, if a president is corrupt is corrupt. Look at Suharto, Mobutu, Kaunda,Saddam. People have to keep doing thier things no matter what the poor president is doing. One day he`ll be out of the office and if you are poor you`ll contnue to be poor. Their actions are important for the country, but don`t let their inefficiencies ruin and screw everything and everybody for good. Taking actions means starting from right now to influence in the process of reducing poverty, unempolyment, and other things. Corruption can be reduced but you can not see the impact easily because others will remain corrupt for ever and that has a huge negative effetct in the whole system. Poverty and unemployment are very visible, you can see them with your naked eyes when you are at the airport or in the village, or in the streets. Lack of clean water, lack of Electricity, poor productivity, poor health, poor education, all those things you can see them with your eyes. How should you help? How can you help? How can you give people hope?
Ofcourse, not by only telling people that your president is stupid or corrupt. He can be stupid, he can be corrupt, What the heck? He access to all the things you have given him through your vote! You have to vote right and know that your vote may impact your chilren`s future. You have the burden of proof that you`ll be able to survive and help others to survive. It is the survival of the fittest and the bravest struggle. Is it fair to leave those who do not have access to any income alone? Is it fair to be considered a very poor country while we all have eyes and brains and ears and hands. We don`t need to be a super power,it would take us a long time to become a supa power, but as individuals we can have the supa power that other individuals have.
You have to do the right thing and focus on an issue instead of focusing on too many issues without a resolve or clear analysis and viable solution.
Hehehe...Jaduong Metty! I love this debate......indeed you nail it on the head..."As a man thinketh, so he is." I just came from class a few hours ago - today I learned about the reasons why people resist change. This was interesting because I have been keenly following this debate and I can tie some of what I learned herein. I have concluded that we have a very big problem - RIGIDITY! People are rigid, any talk about change, will stir a huge commotion. Could it be that Wabongo are faced with the fear of change? Let us reason together:
We are a social species. We become and like to remain connected to those we know, those who have taught us, those with whom we are familiar – even at times to our own DETRIMENT. Loyalty certainly helped our ancestors hunt antelopes and defend against the aggressions of hostile tribes, and so we are hard wired, I believe, to form emotional bonds of loyalty, generally speaking. If you ask people in an organization to do things in a new way, as rational as that new way may seem to you, you will be setting yourself up against all that hard wiring, all those emotional connections to those who taught your audience the old way - and that’s not trivial.
Making a change requires a kind of leap of faith: you decide to move in the direction of the unknown on the promise that something will be better for you. But you have no proof. Taking that leap of faith is risky, and people will only take active steps toward the unknown if they genuinely believe – and perhaps more importantly, feel – that the risks of standing still are greater than those of moving forward in a new direction. Making a change is all about managing risk. The power of the human fight-or-flight response can be activated to fight for change, but that begins with the perception of risk.
Real change reshuffles the deck a bit. Reshuffling the deck can bring winners . . . and losers. Some people, most likely, will gain in status, job security, quality of life, etc. with the proposed change, and some will likely lose a bit. Here lies the problem - We need the courage to get out of the comfort zone. We need to understand that our DESTINY will be determined by our THINKING period. "When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I felt as a child, I THOUGHT as a child. Now that I have become a man, I have put away childish things." Grow up Tanzania!!!!
Tanzania in Focus:
You have to focus on an issue or a couple of issues. It is impractical to be able to have an eye or a mind which would efficiently analyze many issues facing Tanzania. You can not master any topic or issue, and you can not acquire any expertise in them. You don`t need to reflex on too many things without a resolve or proposal.
In order to be helpful and bring hope, avoid jumping into many unpredictable topics. The are too many popular issues to analyze in Tanzania. You can not focus on Tanzania issues without being specific, You can not be a historian,political analyst, economic analyst, financial analyst, and political economy scientist at the same time.
If you have a couple of PhD`s in Economics or Political Science, it would still take you centuries to be accurate on issues of the world. You need a real world experinece as well, lots and lots of variety of experiences in different fields and organizations and in different capacities. PhD`s alone would not sufficiently equip you to have such a capacity.
Whenever you are challenged, do some more research before you get back to the person who challenged you.
Leave alone how people think, focus on specific issues and provide a resolve or a viable solution. Take actions yourself to implement the solution and ask for support or help. you don`t need to chnage how people think, it is a very complex experiment, and a waste of time. You can not completely stop corruption or corrupted minds, it a waste of efforts. You can stop giving or receiving corruption but you can not change other people who are hard core corrupts. You can preach at church about the evil things, few will stop the behavior of corrupting others, and many will remain as they are. It is a crazy world that we live in. You can not say that you are waiting for people to change their behavior so that you can start doing things that would bring progress. That is BS. What is it that you want to do about bringing progress and what are your obstacles? What sort of corruption prevented you from doing it? Mr Patrick GK, do you have an answer?
Stinking President
Stinking Thinking
Beggars Mentality
Snoozing Folks
Are We Cursed
Mr.President Please
What exactly is the issue here?
go over what you guys said, get together, and organize your ideas. It seems like you need the opportunity to sit with the president and tell him a lot of stuff about how he stinks and what he can do better to help our country. I think it is very easy to do that. If you are in Tanzania you ask for a chance to sit and talk with him to explain how stupid or careless he is and what moves he should take to save a poor country. If you live and work abroad, just make an appointment and travel with your brief cases full of papers to show him and his team. If he will refuse to talk with you, you have the right to go to an opposition party or the ruling party leaders, CCM MP`s, CHADEMA MP`s, CUF`S MP`s or whatever party that has been registered and process your thoughts,ideas, proposals about what Tanzania and Tanzanians should do to become a successful African Nation.
You can sell your policies to any political party. You can sell your business plan to any body in Tanzania, or you can go do it yourself. You have unlimited opportunity to do what you can do. You can choose to share your ideas with Think Tanks on the web. If you have the drive and vision you can do anything and not worry about sleeping 11 hours a night or 3 hours a night because you care a lot about other people`s problems. Why do you go to bed with unfinished missions that have no resolve.What are your obstacles? Funding? Have you tried Fund Raising for any Cause? How many fund raising have you people in the diaspora tried to do help others back home? can you really individually help anyone back home other than your relatives? I doubt, I have not yet seen your actions but too much talk. how much money have you tried to raise?
We can influence things by organizing ourselves and act. You don`t have to come to Tanzania to give your contribution. You can stay where you are and support different things here. Start several Bank accounts with some goals and missiions, select your own leaders and teams with speacial purposes, send people over to look at things and meet with the people including the president if you give a shit about him/her. In your groups you can include people of different colors with interest about Africa. It could be your church or anything, or the people you work with. tell them about how feel about the problems in your country and that you feel you have an obligation to give an immediate assistance. Write a propoal give them read loud at your church, see how much money you`ll be bale to collect and send it home to help something. take some money from your savngs account, pay for your own tickect just to go there and help and then come back to your job, contninue with your life. there is no problem if you don`t want to go to Africa for good. But show that you care and you have some kind of influence in making positive changes. If just 1000 people would do that in this year, chances are that many people would understand your importance and you would make a big difference in other people`s lives. It is not a thing that requires too much thought. If you have a church or a community that you belong to why don`t you start to talk about it and make changes. After that kind of volunteer work, you can now see why you need to become richer and help more people. You`ll see ways and meet people who would help you get the money you need to build factories, and employ qualified people to produce more. That would increase our country productivity. How? If the number of people who would do those things become higher then definately, we`ll have more people wealthier then the few people weh have right now whom you can count by hand. IPP being one them, they employ people and help to reduce poverty rates in Tanzania. There are so many industries to venture in and make money and become rich. We need to have very many rich people who would be able to create employment and income sources for others.
Don`t be shy if you don`t have money just ask for help and you`ll get the help you need as long as you are true to yourself and you want to help other people in disadvantaged locations.
People want to go back to Africa nad hold big jobs. You don`t need that, do a volunteer work first. I shouldn`t matter, just have the guts to do some work about Africa with no pay. If you can afford for one week, that`s fine. One month or six months that is great. One year with no pay, you would be placed in a record of high achievers for setting such an extra ordinary record. People, we are all people but we can help each other through showing love for one another. How many of you are willing and able to do volunteer work in Africa, especially Tanzania? How many of you are able and willing to give a $100 away just to help other people and without expecting any returns from it? Have you ever given away just a $100 bill? Why not? you got bills to pay, right? You`ll keep paying bills for the rest of your lives without knowing why, you are working for other people`s profits and influence.
What is your profit and infulence?
Until you start helping Africa with your own hands to stand with its own two legs you`ll never realize why you are driven by the capitalists everyday and have no time to pursue freedom and real happiness.
@All,
Thanks for your contributions. Man, this is great.
@Anonymous
I greatly appreciate your contributions.
It is very wrong to work on the assumption that folks who contribute their ideas in this blog are not doing anything to change the situation in Tanzania. That is because you don’t know them personally. I don’t have to list all the things I do in Tanzania to impress you. Likewise, you don’t have to disclose that to impress me.
If I have to be honest with you, I think reducing blogging to wastage of time is plain shortsightedness. That is equivalent to calling Daily News, Uhuru, The Guardian, Mwananchi etc as a waste. If you can’t really grasp the contribution of media, then you can’t understand the role that I play or anyone who writes plays.
This is what came from you: “Leave alone how people think, focus on specific issues and provide a resolve or a viable solution”. Well, I tell you what? I can’t really help you if you can’t see the interconnectedness between one’s mindset and their success or failure in life.
I would greatly appreciate your response to the following question: What do you think Tanzanian problem really is ?
What an impressive discussion, I love it. Folks have many positive ideas about what need to be done in Tanzania. “What do you think Tanzanian problem really is?”, Well, The problem of Tanzania is leadership. WE still don’t have good leadership who can stand up and leading the country to achievement. How can you implement KASI MPYA, NGUVU MPYA if viongozi wa serikali za mitaa na mameya wamelala. If the elected leadership are doing their job from top to bottom most of the issue Tanzanian are distress should have been solved. There are many bad decision have been done by current or previous government that are very costly to a Tax Payer—Radar Saga, Privatization, Minerals Company- that do not pay enough Tax. How could it happen? It is all bad leadership/judgment.
@Hiza
Thanks for responding. Nonetheless, I really wanted Anonymous to respond to this question, since he/she apparently has a different idea.
But back to you, you pointed out the issue of leadership and bad judgment. Well, in my understanding, bad judgment is a question of the mind. Which supports what we have been saying, the basic and fundamental change that we need to do, before we embark on policy and strategy changes, is the transformation of our minds and attitudes, which thus far is not impressive compared to the rest of the developed world. The few cases you have provided supports my arguments.
But as I said, I would like to hear from Anonymous what he/she thinks the core issue is.
"You don`t need to change how people think, it is a very complex experiment, and a waste of time. You can not completely stop corruption or corrupted minds, it a waste of efforts."
Anonymous @ 2:22 A.M....Mhhh surely, you can do better than that! However, allow me to educate you - the debate is about the fact that we can achieve more in Tanzania if we pursue a positive mentality! Positive thinking is a mental attitude that admits into the mind thoughts, words and images that are conductive to growth, expansion and success. It is a mental attitude that expects good and favorable results. A positive mind anticipates happiness, joy, health and a successful outcome of every situation and action. Negative thoughts, words and attitude bring up negative and unhappy moods and actions, failure. Positive and negative thinking are both contagious. All of us affect, in one way or another, the people we meet. This happens instinctively and on a subconscious level, through thoughts and feelings transference and through body language. People sense our aura and are affected by our thoughts. Is it any wonder that we want to be around positive persons and shun negative ones? People are more disposed to help us if we are positive. They dislike and avoid anyone broadcasting negativity.
I understand your frustrations about corruption and I am glad that you pointed it out! See.. you are not too far from getting the point..corrupt minds do corrupt things, and corrupt minds can change! Yes, change is a process and inorder for change to occur it takes a deliberate action or actions to the contrary.
There's a mental crisis in our country.....didn't someone just say "Let us call a spade a spade..it's not a big spoon!"
Sounds like everybody is a genius here!
I disagree with many of your assessments Mr. Metty. Others have supported your views and analysis. If I were to rank you as an analyst, out of five stars, I would give you a one star, which is not bad for a starter. I have read many high quality reports from analysts from across the globe. What is important is what ordinary people can do. Extra ordinary people are too busy for themselves and other issues.
Tanzanian Problem:
There are so many ways of answering this simple question.
There are over 1,000,000 of problems in Tanzania depending on how you will choose to classify them. The issues of extreme poverty, unemployement, and low output are the ones deserving immediate attention because their solutions would help to raise the standard of living, quality of life, and level of democracy.
Have you answered many of my questions? Can anybody help Metty?
It appears that we have some geniuses here who can help Metty do a better analysis of over 1,000,000 issues facing Tanzanians.
For each problem or issues, there has to be a plan, a solution, a strategy that would resolve. None of those plans and strategies would require mind therepies or mental tranformations. It a matter of utilizing the available skilled and unskilled labor.
Governments will never be very helpful in solving those problems. Leaders will never be very helpful in solving those problems. We still need better systems of governance, a much smaller government, and political leaders should reduce their involvement in deciding for the people by over 40%.
All Bloggers have simply failed to analyze very important issues, not even once. Many claim to have analytical skills but all I have seen is only journalistical skills. Any misunderstanding of government and basic economics could lead to many fallacious arguments or jokes about the economy and people of Tanzania. For sure we are not comedians or preachers.
Maiki sounds like a comedian!
@anonymous(at 2:22am),
You said (wrote):
"You can not say that you are waiting for people to change their behavior so that you can start doing things that would bring progress. That is BS."
Nice try, nobody said(wrote) that, I certainly didn't, if you are insinuating something then maybe spinning 101 might come in handy. But you know what, I am glad you realize it's BS.
What is it that you want to do about bringing progress and what are your obstacles? What sort of corruption prevented you from doing it? Mr Patrick GK, do you have an answer?
Stick to the essence of the discussion at hand(it's all in the mind...remember?).
Thoughts, decisions followed by actions form and shape destinies, it all starts in the mind.
You don't really need to know what I personally want to do or what I've faced to see the obvious so in this case you will have to do without my indulgence.
Great debate...
I would like to drop a line or two for Mr or Miss "anonymous." You certainly seem to possess the wit to juggle words, but it is ironic you don't seem to be getting the blogger's point. Let me point this out if it may help you. Skimming through the thread of your contributions, it is apparent that your bias is getting in the way of your contribution. I will explain...
Your proclivity toward the current President or government of Tanzania is preventing you from looking at ideas given in the blog objectively. As such, you seem to be taking more of a defensive/attacking than analytical stance in the discussion.
It may help to remind you that when you are in leadership, you bear great responsibility. A mess that manifests itself under your leadership may not have been caused by you directly, but when a finger is pointed at the mess it ultimately points to you.
Tanzania's socio-economic condition could be better than what it is right now given all her resources. We all agree to that fact, and I think that is what Metty is trying to put across. Well, Kikwete has certainly not caused the socio-economic ills facing our beloved Bongoland, but he is the man behind the steering wheel right now for the direction of the nation. From the viewpoint of leadership responsibility, it would not be surprising therefore that all the criticism may ultimately point to his government. That does not mean that an attack on him personally is intended. Please, don't allow your rightful bias to cloud your objectivity in this regard.
Also, you tend to think that for one to make meaningful contribution to solving Tanzania's problems, he or she has to be resident within Tanzania's borders. Granted, you tend to exhibit a rather negative attitude toward Tanzanians in the Diaspora and their ideas on Tanzania issues. Tanzanians living abroad are no "lesser" Tanzanian than those living in Tanzania. They are equally concerned about the plight of Tanzania. Their ideas could be just as constructive. Please treat their ideas just as those of any other Tanzania-loving citizen.
Mr/Ms "anonymous" I think you are a brilliant person, and your ideas could prove very helpful in a plethora of discussions in this blog pertinent to the issues facing our country, if only you could try to hone those ideas by removing the biases pointed out above -- your apparent disposition for the government and against Bongolanders abroad.
As you may have noticed, I did not intent to contribute to the issue in discussion, but to offer my unsolicited bit of advice(?) to you because I would love to keep on reading your wonderful contributions in a non-militant tone.
Mtanzania.
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