Revisiting Frantz Fanon

“Sometimes people hold core belief that is very strong. When they are presented with evidence that works against that belief, the new evidence cannot be accepted. It would create a feeling that is extremely uncomfortable, called cognitive dissonance. And because it is so important to protect the core belief, they will rationalize, ignore and even deny anything that doesn’t fit with the core belief.” So wrote Frantz Fanon in his book, “Black Skin, White Mask”.

I was first introduced to Fanon in 1983 by my lecturer Mr. Rajah Rasiah (now Professor) as an undergraduate. Reading Fanons thought provoking book “Wretched of the Earth” totally changed the perspective as to how I perceived the western world and their agendas. It was truly an indepth critical analysis of the cause and effect of colonization by the western world. Colonization did not only hold a grip in a physical sense but its psychological overbearing had a much more damaging effect.

Suddenly I was forced to relook and reflect on my own presumptions about my existence. Though I must say that this revelation actually put me into further state of confusion and at times I really wanted to erase it from my mind because it was easier that way in moving on with life based on known preconditioned belief.

Today in recollecting Fanons thesis, its resonance seems not only louder but the impact has become more complex and sophisticated. 

In “Wretched of the Earth” Fanon goes on to say, “Each generation must discover its own mission, fulfill it, or betray it, in relative opacity”. This is a very strong assertion. He is not being apologetic, nor being an apologist. But looking at the socio-political development taking place from the Middle East to South East Asia and from Africa to South America one wonders who are the agent provocateur? Are the current conflicts self-induced with genuine struggle or is there a puppet master orchestrating an artificially induced cause.  Of course Fanon had justified the use of violence to end injustice. But history has proven time immemorial, violence do indeed breed violence.

Fanon when on to say, “The basic confrontation, which seemed to be colonialism versus anti colonialism, indeed capitalism versus socialism is already losing its importance. What matters today, the issue that blocks the horizon, is the need for redistribution of wealth. Humanity will have to address this question, no matter how devastating the consequences may be”. 

Though Fanon propounded this in 1959, but looking at the state of imbalance today his concerns are very much relevant. Sadly nothing much has changed since. I would believe it only got worse with the emergence of new breed called “resident colonialist”, an elite group with power and wealth within a particular society lording over their own people. Thus the vicious cycle continues only now the perpetrators are within.

Frantz Fanon’s famous quote, “What matters is not to know the world but to change it”, is something that I would hold close to my heart. If only everyone takes the initiative to do the right thing, the world would definitely be a better place to live. 

Changing The Mind set of a Conformist

Rights and wrongs - The Hindu

From the Arab spring uprising to the awakening of complacent minds of Malaysians and Singaporeans, we see a sea of new awareness  emerging. But questions often arises whether these developments are mere superficial reaction based on onsite emotion or has it a deep meaningful expectation.

Judging from the outcome as in the case of Egypt, their inability to move on after ousting President Hosni Mubarak speaks very little on the maturity of the people in managing their initial success. Even the youth uprising in the late 1970's in Iran against the Shah was very quickly hijacked by Muslim fundamentalist with their own agenda and eventually turned the country into a dictatorial rule under Ayatollah Komeini.

So why would a society jump from the frying pan into the fire below? This can be answered by looking at three entities ie. the motive, the motivated and the motivator. 

Very often the motive is always an independent variable in the equation. The motivated are naturally drawn to react because they would have been on the receiving end. But it would be the motivator that plays a greater role in fueling the cause. Ironically the motivated and the motivator have completely opposite agendas. However must be noted the motivators usually have a upper hand, whereas the motivated are merely used as a pawn in a selfish pursuit. 

The motivated, usually the masses who's emotions are easily manipulated to conform to a preordained outcome, sets the action in motion. Why does the masses succumb to such a predicament? Ultimately it is due to the ignorance on "rights" by these  people.

The basic rights and freedoms to which all humans are entitled, often held to include the right to life and liberty, freedom of thought and expression, and equality before the law. 

However it is sad to know that in most developing and under developed countries, political patronage dictates the boundaries of "rights". Thus an entire generation and subsequent ones are made to believe that the bubble that surrounds them is real. But when the bubble bursts, these very same people would start to seek a new bubble, because they believe that it is natural to live within a bubble, not realizing that the sky is actually the limit. 

Until such time when society comes out of this "bubble mentality" it won't matter, even a revolution is not going to change the lives of the ordinary.

"From Poverty to Power: How Active Citizens and Effective States can Change the World": by Duncan Green is truly inspiring in educating people to have an enriched perspective before they embark on any any revolutionary journey.

Wretched Oppression

Many faces of oppression - The Hindu

From the founding of the Americas to the rape of the tropical rainforest today, natives of respective region had endured not only marginalization but total annihilation in certain boundaries. Who would be responsible or who should be responsible for this calamity?

Blaming the powers that be seems to be the most convenient way of transferring the accountability. But many fail to see the that the root cause of this degradation is a culmination of reckless actions by various stakeholders including the insatiable and often hedonistic consumers.

The Doctrine of Discovery (Romanus Pontifex) a decree awarded by Pope Nicholas V to King Alfonso V of Portugal paved the way for Columbus later, a passport, to "take possession" of land, its people and resources on behalf of the King and Queen of Spain. Thus this led the way to modern day raiding as we know. The reason has always been the same but the perpetrators used different reasons at different times, the conquistadors used God as a motive, and today "development and progress" seem the obvious excuse. 

Jumo Kenyatta the founding father of Kenya once said "When the missionaries came to Africa we had land; they had the Bible. They asked us to pray with our eyes closed. When we opened them they had our land; we had the Bible."

The name of GOD yet once again has been used by mortals to serve his own agenda.

At least the Bible gave hope, and through hope attempts were made to regain what was lost hundreds of years later. But today coercion and aggression is used instead, for non compliance it may mean extermination leading to extinction. 

 

Regardless of the cause, the consequential damage has inflicted the same since time immemorial. We were thought to believe that society had progressed, where championing of humanity was a prime focus. But if that were to be so than the current predicament should not happen. Over the years the injustice done to indigenous people around the world has grown at  catastrophic proportion. Does this mean that society has actually regressed? 

Maybe society has become so self immersed that anything that happens outside their own comfort boundary is not recognized as their own concerns. Thus the self fulfilling prophecy that "I do no wrong" absolve the society from taking responsibility to the maligning of this unfortunate people who are the actual "son of the soil" where the rest of us are actually contemptuous migrants. 

   

Law of Morality

Manava Dharma Shastra or Law of Manu written by Sage Manu (circa500BC), was one of the first known proponent of Ethics and Morality that governs not only an individual but it also comprehensively covers governance itself. Sage Manu prescribes 10 essential rules for the observance of dharma (path of righteousness ): Patience (dhriti), forgiveness (kshama), piety or self- control  (dama), honesty (asteya), sanctity (shauch), control of senses (indraiya-nigrah), reason (dhi), knowledge or learning (vidya), truthfulness (satya) and absence of anger (krodha).

Manu further writes, "Non-violence, truth, non-coveting, purity of body and mind, control of senses are the essence of dharma". Therefore dharmic laws govern not only the individual but all in society.

Socrates (469-399BC) on the other hand says “A system of morality which is based on relative emotional value is a mere illusion, a thoroughly vulgar conception which has nothing sound in it and nothing true.” 

Socrates ethical wisdom stems from the principles of Platonism (teleological character), hedonism (happiness), cynicism (action) and stoicism (EQ and self- knowledge). Socrates believed the best way for people to live was to focus on self-development rather than the pursuit of material wealth. 

So the concept of morality it seems is as old as civilization itself.  What have we learned?…..Not much….Man continuously make mistake, and they justify  that they have the right to make mistakes  and it is the moral duty of the society to allow for such mistakes, and  eventually making the society to be apologist for this ill. 

Forgiveness

Should man be judged for his past or should he be judged according to his present circumstances. Upon the appointment of Pope Francis I, many controversies regarding his past from a “love affair” to “political tryst” has surfaced. I wonder if this is the fate of all public figures. Interestingly Cardinal Bergoglio was already holding a supreme position in Argentina but during his tenure there, even gossips of his past were not heard. But today ironically the loudest resentment is from the Argentinians themselves. Is this a curse that follows such elevation?

King Ashoka (273-232BC) the Mauryan Prince who became King after the mysterious death of his 100 brothers, and who had equal rights to the throne, will be a good analogy to explain this phenomenon. Historians had speculated that Ashoka had a hand in the conspiracy. His reign began with much bloodshed and mayhem. He was known to be a violent King who led the Kalinga war in 260BC. But today Ashoka is a revered figure both spiritually and for his governance. Spiritually, Ashoka was instrumental in propagating Buddhism, and governance, because of his excellent practice of good governance in his kingdom. After pursuing a violent path, Ashoka turned over a new leaf via self-realization. Today the Kalinga war is a mere mention in history but his good deeds had surpassed and overwhelmed the torment that he had inflicted.

Similarly there are many characters in history that personify this pathway. Hence it gives rise to a dilemma of perception. Should men/women thus be judged for their present or past? Both the institutions of divinity as well as secular thinking prescribe to the concept of forgiveness. If so why such anger and aggression towards the beholder? Sometimes it raises questions on the motives of such actions. Why not then, why now?

Even in an organizational context in managing performance, a tardy performer is given an opportunity to improve, and he/she is not denied of future undertakings in the event he/she excels later.

"Forgiveness is the fragrance that the Violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it" - Mark Twain once wrote. I have faith in humanity, and so do many. The sustainability of the future depends on how we construct the present with the wisdom of the past.

Life and Stupidity

Somebody wrote an email describing a predicament faced by his own society, “Life is tough, but tougher when you are stupid.” 

But I am going a little further, “Life is tough, tougher when you are stupid but even tougher when you are stupid and you don’t know you are.”

This is a malaise faced by various societies in the world. For political reasons, a particular strata of the population are kept ignorant of their own weaknesses. Instead an imagined utopian ideal is descended upon their minds, making them believe they are superior. Sadly, with years of indoctrination, this particular strata loses sight of reality, living in a comfort zone void of externalities. Slowly but surely realities do catch up, and when that happens it may implode, crumbling their very existence.

An education system plays a very important role in nation building. But when the education philosophy is tampered for political gains it loses its virtue.  “Thinking” suffers. But for powers that be “a thinking society is deemed to be a dangerous society.”

Ever since divinity was institutionalized,  programmed behavior was deemed to be superior because it conforms to a prescribed behavior adhering to its own code of conduct. Any stragglers are ostracized as witches and devil worshippers. Da Vinci and Galileo to name a few were people who suffered during their times because their thoughts and actions did not conform to the expected conduct of their times. Interestingly, Galileo, for his orientation towards heliocentricism, was banished for heresy and upon his death, was buried in an unmarked grave. Three hundred and fifty years after his death, Pope John II acknowledged in 1992, that there was an error of judgment but stopped short of any admission of guilt by the institution of wrongful conviction of Galileo.

Thus we can see what an institution, political or otherwise can do in stifling human thinking. The progress of a society hinges on the “knowledge of knowing what one does not know.”  When one does not know what they do not know, their life would be somewhat like a dream. And once the society wakes up from this state they would be staring at the naked reality. At that juncture that society would realize that they are ill equipped to handle the said realities which eventually could lead to social revolution. 

So if one is stupid and does not know that he is one, the harm is not only to him but life would become tougher to everyone around him as well.

An intellectual society is also a cultured society.  But how do you create an intellectually endowed society? There must be an inner realization to constantly hunger for excellence in knowledge. Ironically there is a race but the quest seems directed at material excellence. That is fine but not at the expense of negating the virtues of humanity. With the creation of a more open networked society across the globe, it is inevitable any social conditioning currently in place or any future attempts would be futile. However if the society itself refuses to step out of this comfort zone it only prolongs its eventual misery at the cost of others as well.