Success in anything, particularly in life ventures, is the gain of support from others. The outcome of success is expendable in the form of a sacrifice paid to achieve some goal for the benefit of oneself and for society at large. Alone ranger can accomplish little for his own benefit, let alone for others. To play a lone hand, doing something without the help or support of others, amounts to nothing. No matter how hard a lonesome energy is exerted, no concrete outcome can be substantiated. ‘One hand cannot clap’ goes Ethiopian proverb; there has to be another hand to help perform the act of clapping.
What one does in a given circumstance and environment, one way or the other, triggers the interplay of different actors. Members of the community considered as one entity, are active co-players in an individual’s life for good or for bad. The effect of the operation underway on the people in the area and in turn, the operation on the people, triggers the endeavor for a holistic growth. It clearly shows that what is being done helps not only the person involved in the activities but also those who have direct link to the outcome through buying the products and or using the services. The activities take place in view of the benefits to be gained eventually. In terms of business, what one produces is not solely for one’s own consumption. In whatever the person does, he always has in mind those who make use of his products. A book writer, for instance, writes addressing his imaginary audiences, their interest, views and all the rest.
A common ground for the producers and consumers needs to be prepared, to make what is performed or produced be juxtaposed to the accessibility for the consumers. The mutual understanding between the two, signals the necessity of cooperation for the mutual benefits. Co-operation emanates from the spirit of the selflessness in which one thinks only of the interests and welfare of others. Self-indulgence is more of self-absorbed in which one has one’s attention taken up by one’s own interests, thoughts, etc., disregarding the interests of others; here is where self-seeking greed steps in. ‘Accumulate more than enough!’ becomes the motto of a greedy person. He, under no circumstance, is thoughtful of others and shows no sympathy and has no empathy whatsoever. He has no capacity for sharing the feelings of others. A man who shows great sympathy for others is least regarded by him.
There is no leftover of kindness, charity, compassion etc. with the greedy person. He hardly finds himself in charitable institutions to enhance the efforts of reaching out to the needy since he has no heart for helping the poor or the suffering. Kindness, which is giving help to the poor, is a thought of an alien nature to such person. He is never willing to reach out to others with kindness and has no neighborly love whatsoever. He is all to himself by himself and for himself. A friendly living that is expected of a member neighborhood is what he abhors. He is the real lone ranger, seeks no assistance and does not offer help at any cost. He might possibly bar others from getting assistance in which he has no contribution at all. The success of others strikes in him the fire of jealousy. When someone succeeds, he shows fear or ill will because of possible loss of pride that he hangs on to save one’s face. He does all in his capacity to evade the situation that makes him appear inferior to others even though he is. Love is alien to him and he virtually has no concept about it. Mother Teresa puts love as follows: “Love is not patronizing and charity isn’t about love. Charity and love are the same – with charity you give love, so don’t just give money, but reach out your hand instead.”
He designs all kinds of evil schemes to make others remain where they are, always below him. Their ascension to a higher economic plane, he think, is a threat to his existence; a difficult moral height he cannot rise to. It is not easy venture which is difficulty to surmount as he has no support from others. Thus, he flexes his money muscles, his only option, to make sure his schemes work more effectively to subdue his contenders. Thus, he thinks, to a certain degree, they are his rivals. He keeps a close watch on them. He craves for superiority; his fantasy during the day and a nightmare during the night in his dreams. His joy in life is to place himself on higher position than people around him. He aspires to be easily recognized, attracting attention of all. He wants to remain conspicuous in spite of anything. How others look and how they suffer is not at all his concern. He enjoys looking down upon them. Tyrannical attitude or unjust use of power, because of the enormity of the money he possesses, is all he imposes on others. The ideas that others generate for the common goal of development of the country does not ring bell in his mind. In his belief, all the genuine people, who hold up such truth, have to be discouraged and be forced to abandon their noble virtue. They should be pushed out of the way and thus give way for him to freely gallop his horse of ambitious corruption.
Many people do not yield to noble thoughts of supporting one another in times of crisis – the time when all should gather together for the rescue of one another. A joint venture to overcome the existing problems is of paramount importance as the country needs such bold steps to be taken by vigilant compatriots. Yet, it is evident that the anti unity individual incline to individualism: it is a theory that favors free action and complete liberty of the negative individual. In this respect, therefore, no social agreement can bind him. He endeavors to cut the pro development elements short of the objectives they deserve. In such a bold stride, he proves nothing other than being a stumbling block. Perhaps everything he puts along the path, he can definitely get tripped up and fall down never to rise again.
Akin to this fact, our Prime Minister Dr. Abiy Ahmed, once in his exhortation said, Rather than pulling down those who climb up the ladder to the top or high station in life, let us try to push them up to reach the apex of their desire. There is a joke that was cracked among Ethiopians that goes as follows: once prisoners of war from different countries were kept in holes and guards were posted to keep watch each hole. The prisoners of other countries were closely and vigilantly watched since they were helping one another to escape. But the guard of Ethiopian captives was relaxing away from the hole. A certain guy asked him why he was not watching the prisoners. The guard said ‘Ethiopians watch one another; when one tries to escape, the others pull him down. So there is no need of watching them’. The lesson behind the joke is that most people are not happy with the success of their friend. So they do anything to stop him from achieving his objective. Wherever the individual moves they lay a snare, with a slip-knot, which sooner or later traps him.
Actually, there is nothing they gain from such viscous act except fattening their viciousness. The individual falling down from his height to their level and sharing the misery that they brought upon themselves might please them. This is not human, it is bestial. Behaving like a beast, is the savagery that depicts their hidden animal behavior; fierce, cruel out of temper and bent on attacking. Animals, when they gather around the carcass, they have no regards for one another and no decency while eating; each tries to take the biggest chunk than the rest. At its worst case, they turn against one another other leaving their prey lying on the ground and the fight could be so fierce that they end up killing one another.
It should be an earnest prayer of all, ‘God save us from falling below human standard and turn against one another like animals.’ Let us maintain our God-given noble character and support one another to share the blessings blissfully.
The Ethiopian Herald Sunday Edition 14 /2020
BY JOSEPH SOBOKA
