Page 69 - Msingi Afrika Magazine Issue 22

Leadership

Abel Merawi

Abel Merawi is from Addis Ababa. He
is an English literature teacher, freelance
writer/reporter for Ezega.com and an Am-
haric-English translator and editor. He
also writes for www.msingiafrikamagazine. Change is possible if we deliberately make it happen.

com. You can reach him via: abelmerawi4@
gmail.com
menaces our existence. our collective institutions.
Unity precedes and predates human Unlike the natural harmony of
of insanity as repetitively doing the institutions, being an inherent ener- people, institutional unities tend
same thing with expectation of a gy for the survival and perpetuation to define themselves in contrast to
different result, humans are indeed of every life form. Unity is a natural others. When we institutionalize the
collectively insane. We still fail to force of life that humans, as well as natural, we replace fluidity with ri-
learn that parochialism engenders all organisms abide to, lest extinc- gidity. To institutionalize is to name
hostility, and still fail to create grand tion visits the deviant species. and expect consistency from what
notions that embrace the whole of we define. There are certain types of
humanity. To offer some truisms: if human names which possess a domineer-
Time after time, we have altered the beings had to wait for the institution ing power. When such overbearing
size and criteria of grouping, yet we of marriage before they reproduced, names are uttered, those who are
have not seriously examined the un- we would have been extinct; if we named are expected to live a future
derlying form. This form or shape had refrained from communal life that maintains the integrity of the
of unity is separatist, since it defines until national sovereignty was de- name. For instance, the name of
itself in contrast to others. termined, we would have remained tribes, ethnic groups, nations, reli-
detached; and if we had to wait for gions, or ideological entities define
The tribal tendencies which fostered educational institutions in order to a people with future expectations
hostility towards ‘others’ is evident acquire knowledge, we would have of adherence to the name. Yet the
in ethnic, national and continental remained ignorant. In other words, greatest danger of names is in their
alliances. Our borders concentrate it is natural for humans to seek power to isolate the named group
more on keeping others out rather each other and unite; but the act of from other groups. In other words,
than maintaining the wellbeing of defining, contrasting and institution- the natural togetherness of people,
members within the confines of alizing this natural harmony ends up once institutionalized, is assigned
boundaries. Just like our political confining further expansion. True, unique features that contrast and
organizations, our religious and our rationality can be employed to separate. As to be one thing is not
social institutions too are isolation- strengthen this instinctive energy, to be all else, a name not only shows
ist. We have truncated humanity by but too often, our cognition back- what is but all what is not.
limiting its scope to group identity. fires and ends up creating divisions
Our kindness has remained parochi- in the pursuit of unity. Our history Being social is the most natural
ally concrete but universally abstract. is evidence to our constant struggle and commonest aspect amongst
If we allow ourselves to scrutinize in remodeling institutionalized hu- human beings. True, other animals
this pervasive form of organization, man groups, and a constant neglect also form groups, yet their sets do
we will find the common folly that towards the deeply flawed tenets of not exceed a certain number – for

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