Forrest in Forest

My dream when I “stopped working” in 2014 was not to do nothing. I just wanted to not have to think about how what I would do would make money. I also did not like my fate being in other people’s hands. In a pure meritocracy, everyone would line up on a theoretical starting line and the gun would go. In reality, there are plenty of gate keepers to opportunity. There is not a path you choose and then knuckle down and crack on. So washing your hands of that rubbish, and saying “I am done” had incredible appeal. Front loading the effort, then constraining expenses going forward. The problem with that idea is I do see myself as part of others. It does not help if I am not stressed, if others are stressed. Like the scene in Forrest Gump where he runs back into the forest (with one r) to rescue people. The idea of financial independence is an illusion. I celebrated stopping working for money as “Independence Days”, but the problem is we aren’t independent. We are interdependent. So even though I talk of financial security and stilling the waves of money anxiety, the reality is it is a process of practice. The struggle to still the waves will continue. Part of stilling is acceptance and perception. Stillness where you are, not where you are aiming for. Stillness within the chaos, not after the chaos.

 

Signs of Rot

Double Standards are a sign of rot. When those in charge are not held to the same level of accountability as those to whom they delegate responsibility but not authority. Responsibility without authority is meaningless. With every degree of separation from where the impacts of a decision are felt, information is lost. This is the heart of the reason why empowerment beats Central Decision Making. Why “Boardrooms” should be where obstacles are removed, not where decisions are made. And certainly not where accountability disappears. We talk of not giving hand-outs to those without money because of Entitlement and Dependency. We want to add conditions. We forget the bosses and talking heads higher up the chain who don’t roll up their sleeves. Who don’t get their hands dirty. Who don’t fall on their swords when their decisions don’t work out. Who do so well in the good times when “interests are aligned”, that they have a bottomless buffer to ride out the bad times. There is no Solution. There are only decentralised Solutions. Make more decision makers.

Wooden beam with significant fungal growth

Dependency and Entitlement

Most people are honest. Most people act honestly. The data collected by “Bagel Man” Paul Feldman suggests that the most “Dependency and Entitlement” (not his words, but what we normally attribute to the poor) comes from people with more. Feldman left bagels and honesty boxes in multiple offices in Washington. Some people took without paying, but not enough to make the project not worthwhile. Interestingly, honesty decreased higher up the chain. A criticism of just giving people money is that it creates dependency. This forgets just how dependent even the wealthy are on their communities. On their ability to rely on each other when they stumble. To retreat to their homes. Feldman found the honesty on the Executive floors to be lower than on the Sales and Administration floors. Except we are blind to our own dependencies. Our own entitlements. We forget the job we got through friends. The bank of Mom and Dad. We shouldn’t design systems around our fears. We should design them around trust and honesty. Most people are good.

See what the Bagel Man saw

Vanuatu

As the world globalised, those seeking to convert locals or make money looked homewards for legal protection. People wanted to do business or religion without being subject to local laws and customs. In Vanuatu, the mix of French and British interests brought petitions for the big powers to annexe the territories. In 1906, France and Britain agreed to administer the islands jointly. A Condominium is an area in which different sovereign powers agree to exercise their rights jointly, without dividing up into geographical zones. The difficulty comes in ensuring co-operation, when there isn't a 'higher power' to resolve disputes. Independence movements came in the 70s, and the Republic gained independence from Britain and France in 1980. It has a population of about 270,000 people.

Anglo-French Condominium

Philippines

About 10 million Filipinos live outside the country, making one of the world's largest diasporas. It sneaks into the 13 countries strong 100-million club, by population. Consisting of 7,641 islands, various competing maritime states have been set up there over time. With over 300 years of Spanish colonization, Catholicism became the dominant religion. After Spain lost the American-Spanish war, The First Philippine Republic was declared. In the peace treaty, Spain sold the country to America. The locals had successfully fought off the Spanish, but America asserted its colonial status in the Philippine-American war, which it won. The Catholic Church was disestablished as the state religion and English was introduced as the language of government, education, and business. World War I was an Empire slayer. 1916 brought the Philippine Autonomy Act which was the first formal declaration of the United States' intention to grant independence. World War II delivered the knockout punch. In 1946, The USA relinquished sovereignty and recognised the independence of The Philippines. The wave of independence and decolonization also started in Africa.

Philip II of Spain

Jamaica

The 1820 Settlers were poor English people encouraged to settle in South Africa following Britain's unemployment problems after the Napoleonic Wars. The Dutch had colonised the area first, but lost their power in that continental squabble. Jamaica had first been colonised by the Spanish, but Spain attempted to invade England in the Catholic-Protestant wars in 1588, and lost most of their Naval strength. England became a naval power, and in 1655 took control of Jamaica. Not in the King's name. At that time Cromwell was in charge and Britain was a Commonwealth.  Under British colonial rule, Jamaica became a leading sugar exporter with plantations worked by slaves forcibly removed from West Africa. These slaves were emancipated, in 1838, at about the same time as those settlers were setting up in South Africa. Jamaica gained independence in 1962 as Britain gradually released its colonial grip following another European squabble - World War II. Jamaica and Sri Lanka's are the only flags in the world that don't feature any of the colours red, white or blue.

Costa Rica

Costa Rica has a population roughly the same size as Ireland. It was a peripheral Spanish colony before becoming part of the short-lived 1821-1823 Mexican Empire, and then part of the United Provinces of Central America, until it declared independence in 1847. It permanently abolished its army in 1949, becoming one of about 15 Sovereign nations without armed forces. One argument given for Costa Rica as a colony remaining underdeveloped was the lack of sizable indigenous population to use for forced labour. This meant the settlers had to work their own land! They never had to fight Spain for independence. After the defeat of Spain in 1821 in the Mexican War of Independence, the authorities in Guatemala declared the independence of all of Central America. The Age of Enlightenment, French Revolutionary Wars, and economic crisis had led native-born Creole elites to a wave of new nation-building.

Americas Independence Map

Three Engines

I believe in building engines (to power the things that matter) and buffers (to protect the things that matter). A friend of mine who works with business owners has a similar philosophy which he calls the 3 Fs (Financial Security, Freedom and Fulfilment). Not all good ideas are good business ideas. Some times we do what we want to do, but first we do what we have to do. First we deal with scarcity, and then we work within abundance. The order of the 3 Fs matters.

I am working on three key engines. The first was my own. I 'declared independence' almost three years ago when I felt I had sufficient marshmallows. I had delayed gratification sufficiently to shift focus from engine building to living. If you have control of your ins and outs, and have shifted from a relative to an absolute enough, then you can live sustainably as a custodian.

The problem is independence is an illusion. We are interdependent. 'Problem' is the wrong word, because this link is where the beauty comes in. I believe we are the connections we have to each other and to the world we engage with. Conversation. Touch. Action. How we listen. Who we love. What we build. The way we empower each other.

'Umphakathi' is the Zulu word a friend used to describe what it is I would like to create. He says it is 'a very evocative word, gives the image of innerness, of people sitting around a communal fire and being part of "each other".'

The engines I want to be a part of building are those fires. Not much fun sitting at a campfire by yourself.

First, you need to look after yourself to be of use to anyone else. Second, you need to be an active part of your local community to exist beyond yourself. Third, you are deeply connected to the world as a global citizen. Freedom and Fulfilment need three engines.

Unravelling Apartheid

I am a privileged South African. The nature of the connected world means the comparisons 'my bubble' make is not only to other South Africans. The sports I grew up caring about were Cricket and Rugby. This connects me to the other colonial scatterlings in Australia, New Zealand, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh etc. I heard a British comedian joke about the 'World Cup' of Rugby, 'The problem with Rugby is that half the teams are us'.

Global Income Inequality

South Africa is one of the wealthier African countries. Depending on the methodology, somewhere in the Top 5 (behind Mauritius, Seychelles and Equatorial Guinea). It tops the global list of income inequality though, along with Namibia and the Comoros. That means that poverty lives right alongside places that feel very much like Melbourne, Vancouver or London. Unemployment levels are structurally at the levels of the Great Depression.

National Income Inequality

One of the easiest ways to irritate a South African is to refer to Africa as a country. When you say you are from SA and someone responds, 'I love Africa, I was recently in Kenya.' Cape Town is 4104 km from Nairobi.  That is about the same as London to Baghdad. London, Baghdad, you know... same, same.

Inequality doesn't vanish when you hop on a plane, whether your destination is Cape Town, Nairobi, Baghdad or London. Global Apartheid does make it easier to ignore Cape Town though. Out of sight, out of mind. As a Soutie, I don't have that luxury. I will always consider bits of the world that are very far apart home. The contrasts will always be vivid. As someone who grew up in Apartheid South Africa, I viscerally feel the importance of awareness.

The challenge becomes balancing treating people the same with the broad brush of 'Global Citizen', 'African', 'Londoner' or 'Capetonian', and being aware of local issues. I can walk down a street in Cape Town, London or Chicago feeling completely out of my depth because of local Apartheid. I can arrive in a city in a foreign country and feel at home.

How do we get the balance right between focusing on our own issues, and not losing touch with reality? Our comparisons tend to be relative, and aspirational. We compare up. Knowledge also tends to be local, so that is where our actions are most powerful. But we are interdependent, and if we pull our focus in too tightly, reality will bite. Hard. When we look 'down', it will be because we are all falling. 

We rise together or not at all.

Montenegro

The Independence Referendum in Montenegro in 2006 had a hurdle for recognition of 55%, which it narrowly beat (55.5%). Before that, it had been part of a state union of Serbia and Montenegro, which until 1992 had been part of Yugoslavia. Montenegro had previously been a Kingdom before the formation of Yugoslavia in 1918. Before becoming a Kingdom, it had been a 'Prince-Bishopric'. As the Roman empire fell to Barbarian invaders, Imperial power fell too, and Bishops would take the place of Roman Commanders. In the Byzantine Empire, the Emperors also gave Bishops secular rights. Caesaropapism was a principle of reversing theocracy and making the church a tool of the state. Various family rulers gained independence from Constantinople, but in 1496 it was one of the last Balkan monarchies to fall to Ottoman rule. The current strategic goal is to join the European Union.

Independence Celebrations

Latvia

Some in South Africa, where I come from, suffer from the 'Mud Hut Fallacy'. The idea that before civilisation was brought from Europe, all there was was Mud Huts. Another fallacy is that Europeans are a homogeneous group, because those of European ancestry come from a fairly limited section. Yet, the struggles in Africa and Europe share lots of common themes. Latvian and Lithuanian are two surviving Baltic languages. Despite foreign rule from the 13th to 20th century, the Latvian nation kept its identity alive through language and music. Like Estonia and Finland, they were often swept up in other people's wars. The 'Barbarians' who conquered Rome (and were 'civilised by it') were the ancestors of those who came to the south of Africa. Romans in turn were Barbarians who conquered the Greeks. The wave of Nationalism and Self-Determination led to Apartheid in Europe too, with population swaps as countries were born around the same time as South Africa. Latvia was founded in 1918, before forcibly becoming a part of the Soviet Union in 1940, with genuine independence coming in 1991. Three years before the birth of a free South Africa in 1994. Not a coincidence.

Red Army troops enter Riga, Latvia (1940)

Zero-Sum Status

Status is Zero-Sum. If the goal is doing well, it can only be relative to something else. To someone else. That someone else may be our past selves. Internal competition. It requires a sense of progress. A story line. Accumulation of skills, assets, knowledge or some sense of being more. Kahneman talks of an Experiencing Self and a Remembering Self. E lives in the moment but is like a Gold Fish. R summarises our experiences into highs, lows and end points. R is a story teller, and new stories need to fit in to the cast of characters we already have. The heroes and villains we know. The scenery we understand. The world we are comfortable with. To let go of the need for status that raises us above others, those others have to be a part of this world. Part of our story. Common ingredients that allow us all to be interdependently well rather than do individually well.  

No point being a competitive Gold Fish

Eritrea

Most nations are a bigger coming together of formerly warring subgroups. This is true of Saudi Arabia, the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, China and smaller countries like Eritrea. Italian Eritrea was formed in 1890, just eight years after the first Italian settlements in the area, and five years after the Berlin Conference. The first lands were bought from Sultans for commercial interests before the Italian government took control. 

Most smaller groups on the west coast of the Red Sea were under the Egyptian Control. They were notionally under control of the Ottoman Empire, but acted more and more independently. The big powers of the area were thrown into chaos with the Ethiopia-Egypt war and the rise of the Mahdi in Sudan. The Italians swooped in incorporating various Kingdoms and Sultanates into a colony. That lasted 62 years.

Ethiopia was the one African country which completely resisted the Scramble for Africa. It also had imperial ambitions of its own and annex Eritrea and Italian Somaliland. In 1950, Eritrea was federated with Ethiopia. Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie then annexed the area in 1962 leading to a 30 year war. A 1993 referendum resulted in independence. The country has a population of 6.4 million with no official language, a number of ethnic groups and a roughly 50/50 split between Muslims and Christians. The working languages are Tigrinya, Arabic and English. 

St. Joseph's Cathedral

Sheikh Hanafi Mosque

Djibouti

Initially colonialism in most of Africa was colonies - not control. More forcing your way into a bedroom than taking over the house like New World colonies. Settlements and trading cities grew and treaty areas of control were formed/forced. In Djibouti, France signed treaties with the Somali and Afar Sultans to gain a foothold. Railroads were built to Dire Dawe and Addis Ababa making the area an important Red Sea port. In 1958, 1967, and 1977 referendums were held regarding independence from France. The last one brought independence. In 1960 the population of Djibouti was 83,636 and is now around 850,000. Over 90% of the women and girls have undergone female genital mutilation. In 2016, UNICEF estimated some 200 million women in 30 countries had undergone this procedure. 

French Somaliland -1922

Comoros

In 1960, South Africa had it's SAxit Referendum. 3 of 4 provinces favoured dropping Queen Elizabeth as the Head of State and becoming a republic (56% leave). In 1974, the four islands of the Comoros had a referendum on independence from France. Three voted to leave. The dissenting areas faced different outcomes. Natal, in South Africa with 76% remain was forced to leave. Mayotte, in the Comoros, with 63% remain held out. The Comoros has repeatedly pressed its claim with the United Nations General Assembly citing 'territorial integrity' on decolonisation. Scotland, in the recent EU Brexit referendum, was 62% Remain.

For the Comoros, Independence came for the three island nation in 1975, but it is a land defined by a mixture of arriving societies. Bantu Speaking explorers from the left, Arab explorers from above, Austronesian explorers from the right, and eventually, European explorers from below. With about 800,000 people, it is as densely populated as the Netherlands. 98% of the population are Sunni Islam with Arabic a widely spoken second language, French the administrative language, and Comorian, related to Swahili, the most common tongue.

Comorian Independence Referendum - 1974

South Africa Referendum - 1960

UK EU Referendum - 2016

Belgium

Belgium was the first Continental European country to participate in the Industrial Revolution. 98% of it population is now Urbanised. Belgium is about 1/3rd of the size of the province of South Africa I grew up in - Kwa-Zulu Natal. Both have a population of around 11 million. Belgium's independence from the Netherlands was recognised in 1839. The Dutch Republic of Natalia declared independence in the same year, although Britain took control (as a colony) in 1843, adding the annexed Zulu Kingdom in 1897. The Zulu Kingdom was roughly the size Belgium is. Belgium's own colonial history in Africa is incredibly dark. About 10 million Congolese died, halving the population, under King Leopold in the Belgian Congo (76 times larger than Belgium). Belgium is one of the six founding members states of the European Union, hosting the European Parliament in its capital, Brussels.

King Leopold

Cabo Verde

Uninhabited until 1456, the 10 volcanic islands of Cabo Verde prospered during the 16-17th centuries attracting merchants, pirates and privateers. Privateers were private ships or people, permitted by governments to engage in acts of maritime war. The Atlantic Slave Trade was the engine of growth for the area, and it went into economic decline after the 19th century end of slavery. After being an overseas department of Portugal, independence came in 1975. As a trading post, there has been centuries of mixing and 71% of the population of half a million people are descendants of both Africa and Europe. While the official language is Portuguese, the Creole language is a mixture of Portuguese and West African words. The International Airport is named after Nelson Mandela.

Nelson Mandela International Airport (Praia)

Mexico

The American Revolution (1765-83), French Revolution (1789-99) and Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815) shook up the old Monarchy based order, ushering in an age of Nationalism and 'Independence'. To be independent, you have to be able to define where you end and where something else begins. The elites of the old world wanted to rule everybody. If the body are ruling, that needs a separation from the every. 

As Spain's global power fell, Mexico declared independence in 1810. As with most places, independence led to years of internal conflict as sub-identities asserted themselves. Unable to convince many Tejano to move to Texas, soon they were outnumbered by immigrating Anglos. In 1836, the Republic of Texas declared independence. The government has actively encouraged the Mexican identity (a synthesis of European and Indigenous) over racial or ethnic groups not asking for information from 1921-2010. 22% of the population self-identifies as indigenous based on speaking one of 62 indigenous languages. 83% of the population give Roman Catholicism as their religion and 99% speak Spanish.

Evolution of Territorial Independence

Senegal

I find the concept of Sovereignty and Independence strange. At the smallest non-individual level sits the family. Despite almost as close a foundation as you can get my brothers, and my parents do not view the world in the same way as I do. It rhymes, but we push each others buttons. A friend of mine says, 'your family push your buttons because they are the ones who installed them'. 

The French Colonies of Senegal and French Sudan merged in 1959. 

In 1960, they got independence as the Mali Federation.

The union broke up a few months later.

In 1982, Senegal and The Gambia merged to form Senegambia.

The union dissolved in 1989.

Separatists in the Southern Region (Casamance) have clashed with Government since.

I am more convinced that Independence has less to do with Empowerment, and more to do with power. Nation building is the process of creating power bases by building walls. We need to learn the lesson of respecting differences taught by heavy footed imperialism, and the lesson of not over-valuing differences taught by heavy handed nationalism.

African Renaissance Monument

Dakar