<font size="4"><font face="times new roman,serif">Not a lot prevents us from building a Kenyan car, although, last I heard, Railways had been unable to provide parts engineered to the the requisite precision. The point, rather, is that the worth of Africans doesn't depend on whether we can build stuff. The value of <i>people</i> does not depend on the <i>things</i> they can make.</font></font><div>
<font face="'times new roman', serif" size="4"><br></font></div><div><font face="'times new roman', serif" size="4">Second, concentrating on <i>things</i> is a distraction, especially for Africans. We ought to be as interested in the terms of production as in the production itself. Let me give you an example from the safely distant past. In the 19th century, there was a debate between Booker T Washington and WEB DuBois. Washington proposed an accommodation with White supremacy: Black folks would give up any attempt to secure their civil rights, in return for being allowed to keep some property, and the right to work. As DuBois pointed out, selling your rights for the dollar was a terrible bargain, because you had no guarantee that you would even get to keep the dollar. And so it proved. Since Blacks had no rights, they couldn't effectively protect their property. The </font><span style="font-family:'times new roman',serif;font-size:large">fruits of their labour were plucked</span><font face="'times new roman', serif" size="4"> and eaten with complete impunity. You can read the horror stories in <a href="http://www.slaverybyanothername.com/">http://www.slaverybyanothername.com/</a></font></div>
<div><font face="'times new roman', serif" size="4"><br></font></div><div><font face="'times new roman', serif" size="4">Africans, of all people, should know better than to listen to this nonsense.<br></font><div>
<font size="4"><font face="times new roman,serif"><br clear="all"></font></font>Daniel Waweru<br><a href="http://www.kenyaimagine.com">www.kenyaimagine.com</a><br>Art and analysis; debate and opinion.<br>
<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On 22 January 2012 21:36, Mugo Kibati <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:mugo@vision2030.go.ke">mugo@vision2030.go.ke</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
I am with Francis.<br>
<br>
Let's look beyond the pointed tone and test the validity of the arguments made. As we go into yet another election season, is anyone (the so called "elites" and we are to be found on this list!) asking the right questions? What prevents us from developing a Kenyan tractor, then car by 2015, a Kenyan airplane by 2025? What prevents us from manufacturing locally, all that we import from China by 2020?<br>
<br>
As we debate who should or should not be allowed to run for office, are we demanding a leader or party with a platform and execution strategy to take us to the next level? Are we in the private realm entertaining big ideas and actively working towards their realisation? Could it be that it is because we actually don't plan big in our own personal spheres that we don't seem bothered with the dearth of transformative leadership platforms? Do we really test the premises and organising principles of the leaders we tout and when we don't find what we need, do we actively help work out the appropriate platforms (um... It is hard work - no pun intended)?<br>
<br>
My take away from this annoying but stimulating article is the question: Do a people who are engaged (determinedly) in transformative endeavours in their own personal realms (whether career, business or family) entertain mediocre systems, institutions or leaders?<br>
<br>
Mugo<br>
<br>
Sent from my iPad<br>
<div><div class="h5"><br>
On 22 Jan 2012, at 22:13, Francis Hook <<a href="mailto:francis.hook@gmail.com">francis.hook@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br>
<br>
> If we look beyond the effrontery there are very valid arguements<br>
> there. Look at India - they manufacture many things - and yes they<br>
> still have poverty but they are slowly clawing their way out of an<br>
> abyss.<br>
><br>
> I hear we have a bullet factory in eldoret - why can we not make<br>
> bicycles? We had the nyayo pioneer car and I would like to hear a<br>
> valid arguement why that could not have taken off and why we have<br>
> become a nation of ex-Japan cars. We used to have a good textile<br>
> industry but someone saw fit to allow containers of used clothes into<br>
> the country - now we have decently dressed, hungry and jobless people.<br>
><br>
> I think the tone is harsh but sometimes we need to take bitter pills.<br>
> There is a generation growing up in Kenya who will start asking these<br>
> same questions - and we cannot wish away the problem and either have<br>
> to find credible answers or bring about some change.<br>
><br>
><br>
><br>
><br>
><br>
><br>
> On 22/01/2012, Daniel Waweru <<a href="mailto:daniel.waweru@gmail.com">daniel.waweru@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br>
>> Astonishingly stupid piece. I wouldn't have been surprised had it turned<br>
>> out that Ewart Grogan had written it. This part, in particular, is<br>
>> exceptionally stupid:<br>
>><br>
>> Knowing well that King Cobra will not embody innovation at Walter’s level<br>
>>> let’s begin to look for a technologically active-positive leader who can<br>
>>> succeed him after a term or two. That way we can make our own stone<br>
>>> crushers, water filters, water pumps, razor blades, and harvesters. Let’s<br>
>>> dream big and make tractors, cars, and planes, or, like Walter said,<br>
>>> forever remain inferior.<br>
>><br>
>><br>
>> since it *fully* accepts the colonial premiss that the human value of<br>
>> people depends on their level of technological advancement. The author<br>
>> proves his point about African intellectuals, if not in quite the way he<br>
>> expects.<br>
>><br>
>><br>
>> Daniel Waweru<br>
>> <a href="http://www.kenyaimagine.com" target="_blank">www.kenyaimagine.com</a><br>
>> Art and analysis; debate and opinion.<br>
>><br>
>><br>
>> On 22 January 2012 17:30, Agosta Liko <<a href="mailto:agostal@gmail.com">agostal@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br>
>><br>
>>><br>
>>> <a href="http://mindofmalaka.wordpress.com/2012/01/18/you-lazy-intellectual-african-scum/" target="_blank">http://mindofmalaka.wordpress.com/2012/01/18/you-lazy-intellectual-african-scum/</a><br>
>>><br>
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> --<br>
> Francis Hook<br>
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><br>
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