By Dr Charles Leyman Kachitsa
The story from a few years ago of a goat being arrested for armed robbery goes to explain the extremes that sometimes human beings go into when trying to solve problems. of interest would be how the goat faired in court and whether it went through all the legal procedures from being detained, interrogated and then charged. In fact also hopefully there was a recording by the arresting officer about the moment a pronouncement was made to the goat during its arrest which would be fascinating to watch and hear, ‘Goat, I arrest you for being suspected of robbery, you do not have to say anything, but anything you would say will be used as evidence against you in a court of law.’
The one arresting the goat, presumably a police officer would have said the words above in assuming that perhaps the goat may suddenly speak up hence warning it that anything it may say will later be used as evidence. Some people may be asking whether the officer in question would also be assumed to have experience and expertise in arresting goats. This we can not tell, the story went cold and for except for the initial pronouncement, there is no follow up report on what happened after the goat spent days in custody. It may be concluded that after losing patience with the goat for not uttering any words in the interrogation room, a senior officer could have signed of its release on bail.
Human beings go to extremes in trying to make meaning of that which they do not understand. It was sometimes be in such moments when frustration kicks in for things not being comprehended and as a result short cuts are made, with a confused mind conclusions are drawn without meaning. Yet it is in these moments that we most need to apply wisdom and the dominating attitude that was given by the creator. Domineering not to destroy but to care and take control of all things. God declared, He created man to be dominant of all things including animals.
The quotes this week are a continuation from the book that help explain how interesting life is in appreciation of people’s differences based on their culture. I am sure the selected quotations below from this book will enlighten you to one or two life lessons, read and enjoy:
CULTURES AND ORGANIZATIONS by Geert Hofstede
“….. There is inequality in any society. Even in the most simple hunter-gatherer band, some people are bigger, stronger, or smarter than others. The next thing is that some people have more power than others: they are more able to determine the behaviour of others than vice versa. Some people acquire more wealth than others. Some people are given more status and respect that others. —— Physical and intellectual capacities, power, wealth, and status may or may not go together. Successful athletes, artists, or scientists usually enjoy status, but only in some societies do they enjoy wealth as well, and rarely do they have political power. Politicians in some countries can enjoy status and power without wealth; businessmen, wealth and power without status. Such inconsistencies between the various areas of inequality are often felt to be problematic. In some societies, people try to resolve them by making the areas more consistent. Sportsmen become professionals to become wealthy; politicians may exploit their power in order to do the same; successful businessmen enter public office in order to acquire status. This trend obviously increases the overall inequalities in those societies.”
“….. Individualism pertains to societies in which the ties between individuals are loose: everyone is expected to look after himself or herself and his or her immediate family. Collectivism as its opposite pertains to societies in which people from birth onwards are integrated into strong, cohesive ingroups, which throughout people’s lifetime continue to protect them in exchange for unquestionable loyalty.”
“Male achievement reinforces masculine assertiveness and competition; female care reinforces feminine nurturance, a concern for relationships and for the living environment. Men, taller, stronger, and free to get out, tend to dominate in social life outside the home: inside the home a variety of role distributions between the genders is possible. The role pattern demonstrated by the father and mother (and possibly other family members) has a profound impact on the mental software of the small child who is programmed with it for life. Therefore it is not surprising that one of the dimensions of national value systems is related to gender role models offered by parents.”
“Most people start their working lives as young adults, after having gone through learning experiences in the family and at school. The role pairs parent-child and teacher-student are now complimented with the role pair boss-subordinate, and it should not surprise anybody when attitudes towards parents, especially fathers, and towards teachers, which are part of our mental programming, are transferred towards bosses.”