Witoubou Newmai
We often talk of ‘development’, ‘growth’ and ‘success’, with regard to our society. However, we seldom question the banality of our discourses on the theme. We need to ask whether we are able to discern or identify the thin line between ‘self-destructive growth’ and otherwise.
To begin with, it may not be inappropriate to pick holes on our society’s obsession with the so-called ‘government job’. This exercise is to create a new and refreshing dimension towards genuine growth.
Piercing critiques on our society’s obsession with the ‘government job’ has become extremely important today. The ‘government job’, and the heightening aura around it, on the flip side, seems to be also one of the factors that discourage people from venturing into ‘other’ areas. With this backdrop, it is time to advance cogent debates to find out where this ballooning of aura around the ‘government job’ is leading us all.
When our society’s so-called growth or development trajectory is revealing all signs of senile decay, our society can no longer afford to ignore these startling symptoms. To put it simply, under-utilisation of our potential is numbing our creativity, which in turn is stimulating our dependency urge to a higher degree. Doing away with this virulent urge is a pre-requisite to ‘freedom’ in several aspects.
As urgent as it should be, our society must start poking at wherever things can be stimulated so that our shelled potentials are cracked. This is also to indicate that, our general idea of ‘success’ or ‘progress’, which has triumphed in our society, needs to be redefined.
There is not an iota of doubt that our society is in a full-blown era where end justifies means. This, perhaps, is also encouraging the short-cut ‘mantras’. This, again, is also another reason, from a distance, as to why there is little or no appreciation for fair labour in our society. Unless we start making the issue, such as this, a fireplace or dining table discourse, things are going to become incorrigible.
To start with, our society should encourage people, who are doing well in their respective fields, but not into the ‘government job’, to cut ribbons in community events or offer them bigger space. This is how we begin reshaping the general attitudinal health of our society. Once in play, such exercise addresses and inspires our collective psyche. This culture will also edify many damages of our follies and weaknesses.
