Human natures--Zimbabwe and the world

Also the issue of "human nature" has come to have a particularly negative meaning, along with justifying the status quo in "Western" cultures. Once gain, English speakers whom I have encountered on the Internet (I cannot say what is the case for non-English speakers) tend to be very quick to wring out their hands after hearing mention of any kind of abuse. They sigh and say, "Ah.... human nature. Nothing we can do about it."

I have to say that one of the things that shocked me most about Zimbabwe, and made me think that this was a place where I needed to be, was that this attitude has not grown roots over there.

Actually nobody has that attitude over there at all (none that I met). People are still capable of being shocked over there about abuses. And they still think there is something they ought to do about them individually. Which is why I say that, despite my sense that Christianity seems to have permeated everything over there, the underlying system of values is nonetheless humanistic. People are still keen to make reasonable (non-political) distinctions about right and wrong.

When I reflect upon my associations with people in the contemporary world, however -- I refer to online acquaintances as well as those I have met in Perth, in everyday life -- I cannot think of one person who sees ethics as being a primary issue, rather than politics. This relates to a different sense of ordering, a different sense of what has priority, between the two cultures. In Zimbabwean culture, ethics (loyalty, etc) are more fundamental than political affiliation. In "Western" culture, it is the reverse. For instance, somebody here (let us say in Perth) will evaluate the legitimacy of a claim to have experienced something NOT on the basis of the content of the claim, but rather on the basis of whether they feel any affiliation with you on the basis of identity. If you are viewed as being the wrong category of person, then justice is not for you. Rather, you will be peered at very skeptically, as if you engaging in political rhetoric, rather than simply communicating.

Levels of cynicism here are deeper than words can tell.