Reflecting on the Sarkozy excerpt

*UPDATED* Reflecting on the excerpt, seen in the last entry, from Mr. Sarkozy’s speech in Dakar, I must comment that I believe that to the extent that Mr. Sarkozy is right about the African peasant, I believe that the factors that created the African peasant’s mentality are nearly completely geographic in nature. Could today’s Africa be merely a story of geographical imperatives or is that too deterministic? Where is free will in all that?

Secondly, I would comment that though Sarkozy was no doubt referring to some historical African peasant, I know many an African peasant and I believe there is just as much room for “the human adventure and the idea of progress” as the African peasant may decide. What I mean to say is that wherever you roam, openness to new ideas and the ability to assimilate new ways of existing are strengths. Take two villages in my county: I sent two students from one village, we’ll call it village number one, to Camp UNITE this year where they were exposed to many new and carefully selected ideas to help them be successful. Once the two students arrived back in their village, where they were to transmit the ideas to the population, it was as if they themselves knew that the culture of their villagers would hear none of it. The two students just don't know how to confront that cultural rigidity. From village number two I sent one student to Camp UNITE. Once back in village, the student related to me, as did his father, how fascinated he was by the talks about sexual harassment and gender equality at Camp UNITE. The student and his father already have planned out how they are going to transmit the new ideas to their community that they know will listen. They know their community will listen because it is part of the culture of their community to be open to outsiders and new ideas.

So I would say to Mr. Sarkozy that every inch of Africa presents a different situation. Just as in Europe or the States there are open-minded folks and closed minded folks, there are good listeners and other folks too distracted by their culture to listen. What I mean to say is that the keys to success are universal. Some Americans have the keys and some do not, some Africans have the keys and some do not. One's mentality must be a free will piece of the puzzle, and then there is determinism: we all exist in different contexts where we encounter things that are hard to change and that try to shape us, like geography, upbringing, or being born in a market economy or subsistence situation etc...