INDIVIDUALISM

Individualism was completely unknown in my country of origin.   We had no consumer culture, no competitiveness and no individualism.

Not only was it unthought-of to go against the grain of what everybody else was doing, it usually wasn’t necessary.  There were so many rewards in just being part of the group.  It was an outdoors society and there were many ways to enjoy the environment and other people’s company in the outdoors, so one could get rid of any build up of anti-social emotion in that way, before it even erupted – at least normatively that was so.

The symbiotic relationship with the outdoors goes a long way to explain why people didn’t consider it necessary to develop individuality.  It wasn’t felt as something missing, because life was full to busting without anything lacking.  One certainly had no use for social recognition, because one already had belongingness without having to earn it.  Nor did one have a need to compete, because the tribe you were in took care of it’s own.  This was a pre-capitalist society and, for the most part, pre-industrial.

There was a certain amount of social censoriousness, but only foreigners seemed to catch our notice at times.   There were also those who behaved in a modern way, and they were not approved of by my parents.  Imagine being divorced?  imagine drinking too much and then using a swear word?  imagine trying to get your money out of the country by buying a posh car.  These were non-standard forms of behavior, and they seemed to speak of mental instability. 

I didn’t have my parents’ knowledge or beliefs as I was led to feel that whatever occurred in the adult world did not concern me.  As far as I was concerned, I was totally free.  I always had enough enjoyment, especially in the outdoor world.

Consumerism was very weak , because there were no shops that catered to the later fashions.  Many of the higher quality goods were made locally, but were not fashionable.  Items were occasionally imported from South Africa, but these were out of the price range of most of us.  Personal possessions were hand downs or rickety, but nobody seemed to mind.

There was a certain element of black and white political thinking that afflicted the adults, but not us.  Politics was for adults.  Children did not become adults until an indefinitely postponed date.

In general, though, keeping up with the Joneses was not painful, as they were not going far.   This must have been why a lot of people “forgot” to develop individuality.  It just wasn’t demanded.

It wasn’t exactly an issue of authoritarianism pervading our lives.  In many ways that authoritarianism was quite lax and muted.   Rather it was that there had been no alternative system available to contrast with this lax and lazy authoritarianism.   Nobody had brought one about – and that was partly because our borders had been closed.   Nothing much got in, in terms of foreign notions of ideas.  Until the early eighties, we were hermetically sealed.

The idea that self-development is one’s responsibility comes in at a later stage in history.   We hadn’t reached that stage yet when I was growing up.  Marechera was one of the first forerunners of this new, exciting individualism.

People simply didn’t feel morally responsible for themselves.   If I had a problem that was out of my control, I would speak to one of the adults, and they would sort it out that evening.

Everybody would comply if an adult pointed out that it had become necessary to do something differently.   Everybody trusted everybody else in their community, so guidance was acceptable and not deemed to be individual interference.

In all, the system worked and not just slightly: It was effective as a whole.

Now, what is not so effective is to move out of a system that was working into one where totally different principles of organization are imposed.   Also, if one already had a character structure that was suited to collectivism, operating with an individualistic character structure can be like becoming a toddler and learning to walk again.   As my father said, “It’s like you have to build up a whole pressure system inside of you just to keep others off your back.”

Then there is the other aspect of Western notions of moral responsibility.   If you find you don’t already have everything you need to operate within a society, especially after you have become adult, you are deemed to be morally negligent.   There is never the possibility that you were simply not present (in the literal, not figurative sense) when others were being taught their moral lessons and responsibilities. 

On the flipside, which concerns my apparent negligence in understanding and appropriate behavior, those brought up in contemporary Western societies also do not understand the works and demands of adulthood as they pertained to my original society.   Despite my not being aware of it, I had already incorporated a lot of the lessons about how to be an adult in Rhodesia or Zimbabwe.  I had learned, for instance, tremendous emotional self-reliance of the sort that I do not see when I look around me.

So when people have attacked me in the past, stating what they can see of me, but only from their narrow cultural perspective, they have not allowed that I can also see their weaknesses as they appear from my perspective.   For instance, they lack stamina and resolve.