Professor Brook Senbeta is a renowned retired Ethiopian economist who wrote the world –famous book titled: “The power of Genius”. While he was a lecturer at the former Haileselassie University (now Addis Ababa University) he was recommended for and offered ministerial positions on several occasions but refused all of them on the ground that unless he was made Prime Minister under a constitutional monarchy, he could not implement what he advocates in his magnum opus which is still a best-seller.
What he advocates in his great work is simple enough but rather difficult to put into practice. His fundamental principles are almost incontrovertible. He says human civilization was first spearheaded by geniuses, and has since been sustained by geniuses. Originally, in nation-building, military geniuses played the leading role supported by political geniuses. Then, in consolidating the nation-building and state–formation process, political geniuses were in the driver’s seat. All the while exceptionally talented and intelligent business persons, economists, scientists and engineers have been building and strengthening the economic, scientific, technological and engineering foundation of modern human civilization.
Prof. Brook provides a common- sense definition of genius. He defines genius as the ability and power to think of and do things that those who we consider to be normal, ordinary people cannot think of or do. He would often say: “It is a matter of everyday observation that not everybody can do physics and mathematics like Einstein did; Likewise, not every artist can paint like Michelangelo or Picasso; Nor can anybody perform nearly so well as Adam- Smith, Karl Marx, Aristotle, Gauss, Michael Faraday, Charles Darwin, Issac Newton, etc. in their chosen fields of investigation and study. The phenomenon and existence of genius is as obvious as this, but it is still a mystery what exactly is its source and determinant.
So, genius is revealed through its performance but its precise origin, other than the fact that it springs from the human brain, is not fully understood. Even then, a crude measure of its mass and intensity has been devised in the shape of what is known as the intelligence quotient (IQ). On this issue, Prof. Brook would often say: “IQ is better than nothing, but the best measure of genius is its concrete performance in reality on the ground. For example, in economic theory no ordinary economist can achieve what Adam Smith, Karl Marx, Keynes, Schumpeter, Marshall, Walras, Ricardo, etc. achieved. So, by their concrete intellectual performance we can safely conclude that their IQ was high without having to measure their respective IQ’s.
Surprisingly, Ethiopia’s Prime Minister asked Prof. Brook to come out of retirement and lead the country’s Economy Ministry. “Thank you Mr. Prime Minister, but I will accept your offer only on condition that you appreciate that the primary objective of politicians is to initiate and sustain the process of rapid economic development in Ethiopia and that neither this appreciation itself nor the process of rapid economic progress can be attained without both politicians and economists in positions of power happening to be in the cohort of geniuses of Ethiopia’s population”, said Prof. Brook Senbeta.
The Prime Minister was a bit confused and asked: “How do I know that I am a genius? Even if I know I am a genius, how can I boast I am one in public?”
“How did you dare to be Prime Minister unless you have some pretty concrete inkling that you are indeed a genius. As for me, I just suspect that I may be a genius because of the book I wrote, which has, to my surprise, attained international fame and is still on the best –sellers list despite the fact that it was written five years ago,” Prof. Book responded without fear of being branded conceited or arrogant.
“Doesn’t the fact that I am appointing you, a potential genius, to be my economy minister indicate that I may be a genius, too?” said the Prime Minister.
“No, Mr. Prime Minister. It is the Prime Minister that needs to be a genius. It does not hurt for other ministers to be geniuses, except that they may emerge as competitors and give rise to an internal power struggle. So, other ministers need only be of average intelligence and more or less obedient to the mastermind, who is the Prime Minister,” Prof. Brook replied.
“How then can I prove to you that I am a genius?” asked the Prime Minister.
“Simple! Sack all officials of the old regime who are still in positions of executive or advisory power. Confiscate and nationalize all their ill-gotten gains. Compose the top brass of the military of well- educated and patriotic officers. Change the constitution. Drastically reform the land policy. Radically change the leadership of the state banking system, including that of the National Bank of Ethiopia. Appoint officials in the education and training sector who are fully committed to implementing the new education policy. Root out corruption not only in the government sector but also in the private sector. That’s about all you need to do before you appoint me as your economy minister,” Prof. Brook said. Then, as an afterthought, he added: “It might be a good idea to take an IQ test.”
“By the way, speaking of IQ tests, I did take an IQ test and the result wasn’t that bad at 140,” said the PM.
“It is pretty good. You are in the genius cohort, but the problem is that geniuses come in all sorts of types and varieties. There are at least three types of geniuses: Benevolent/ democratic geniuses, benevolent/ undemocratic geniuses and malevolent/evil geniuses. Ruling out the malevolent/ evil geniuses off hand, the choice is between the first two. As may be expected, the benevolent/ democratic type of genius is largely for relatively well –educated and developed countries. On the other hand, the benevolent /undemocratic type of genius is recommended for relatively uneducated and economically backward countries like Ethiopia,” Prof. expounded his perspective on the matter.
“ I hope I am not in the malevolent/ evil category,” said the PM.
“That is definitely out of the question! But what I fear is that you may be in the benevolent/democratic cohort, which is not particularly suitable for a polity like that of Ethiopia, which has suffered, and continues to suffer from ignorance, political oppression and economic deprivation,” said Prof. Brook.
“Prof. Brook, you are filling my mind with all sorts of doubts. First, I am not sure whether I am a genius or not. Second, I do not know what type of genius I am if indeed I am a genius at all. Third, I dread being classified in the malevolent/ evil category!” the PM responded with a bit of a shudder at his last statement.
“Mr. Prime Minister, there is one sure way to find that out, and that is consulting the world – renowned psychoanalyst, Prof. Amanuel. We can go together to his consultancy clinic here in Addis Ababa,” Prof. Brook remarked with a comforting tone.
“Let us do that immediately,” said the PM and signaled his aid to get his limousine ready for the trip to Prof. Amanuel’s clinic. The limo was readied absent the national flag on the bonnet to avoid unnecessary publicity. Any other person would have plunged himself into a funk at the sight of the country’s Prime Minister standing on his doorstep, but Prof. Amanuel, being the consummate neo- Freudian that he is, and emboldened by the presence of his long-time friend Prof. Brook, calmly nodded to the PM, saying, “Welcome Mr. Prime
Minister. I am honored by a visit from the most loved Prime Minister in recent Ethiopian history.!”
“Thank you, Professor. How do you do?” the PM greeted Prof. Amanuel.
“Well, without much ado, Prof. Mr. Prime Minister has an IQ of 140 and is therefore classified in the genius category, but he does not know which category of geniuses he is in”, Prof. Brook said.
“Mr. Prime Minister, please he seated,” Prof. Amanuel beckoned the PM to his guest sofa.
“Okay ! This is a pretty common query. As you probably know, genius is a mental power generated from the sex drive in various forms. The sex drive consummated by orgastic mutual love transforms exceptional human intelligence into benevolent/ democratic genius. On the other hand, when the sex drive fails to be consummated by orgastic mutual love, it turns exceptional human intelligence into malevolent/ evil genius, i.e. if the sublimation process is somehow aborted. By contrast, the sex drive that is not consummated by orgastic mutual love, but which has undergone a successful
sublimation process, transforms exceptional human intelligence into benevolent/ undemocratic genius,” Prof. Amanuel’s theoretical explanation was very much in the mould of mainstream neo- Freudianism or so it seemed.
Prof. Amanuel continued: “Mr. Prime Minister, my own evaluation of your personality is that you have experienced consummated love, which means your exceptional intelligence has been directly transformed into benevolent/democratic genius which unfortunately is not suitable for the Ethiopian polity which has been subjected to unremitting political oppression, economic deprivation and ignorance. I would suggest, with all due respect, Mr. Prime Minister, that you join ranks with my friend Prof. Brook who has successfully sublimated his unrequited love into benevolent/ authoritarian genius. If you two manage to fuse your respective types of genius, the outcome is likely to be even better than that produced by either Deng of China or Lee of Singapore, and my friend Prof. Brook will have a chance to practically demonstrate the power of genius as elaborated in his world –famous book!”
The Ethiopia Herald May10,2020
BY TEKLEBIRHAN GEBREMICHAEL
