Human beings are marvellous. Even without zoologist and scientists explaining differences between humans and animals, any sane person can easily see the superiority of humans over other creatures. A mere look at innovation and developments humans brought about and other feats achieved, shows the greatness of humans above other creatures.

Despite this greatness, human beings seem unable to resolve age-old problems whose remedies are known and documented. By Nimroth Gwetsa, 31 May 2016.

Our Shortfalls

South Africans have shown their greatness, more so when considering the resolve by many progressive people in fighting against the evil system of apartheid. We seem unable to resolve today’s ills of poverty and high unemployment.

Without questioning the authenticity of efforts made thus far in trying to solve these problems, it seems:

• we have dissipating knowledge of proven solutions, or
• we are lazy to work harder, or
• we are apathetic to finding real solutions to solve known problems, or
• we are unaware of what the solutions are to our problems, or
• we attribute all our ills to someone else and take no responsibility at all to having contributed individually to our woes and therefore expect those who wronged us to find solutions, or
• we abdicate on our responsibilities, externalising the development of solutions by making it someone else’s concern to resolve them for us, or
• we are focusing on specific solutions taking them out of context and applying them as the panacea to all other problems, or
• we cling on lies told and believed and still expect the lie to be the truth from which our solutions lie, or
• we are gripped by fear and are too risk-averse to try new things, refusing to take the lead in solving our problems but waiting for others to first us show the way.

Whatever the reason, I cannot understand why many people would give up on doing anything for themselves, but find it easier to expect government, or donors or employers to solve their problems.

The Inner Answer

Our biggest problem is refusing to take personal responsibility for our problems. I do not underestimate the significant role played by government, employers and donors in easing the plight of people. But their efforts and contributions should be regarded more as “bonuses” augmenting our efforts instead of seeing them as our primary resources. Our priorities seem wrong way around. We treat external support as primary and our efforts as secondary sources of solutions to our problems. This explains why poverty and unemployment in particular would be difficult to resolve, not soon at least.

For example, if corruption in private-sector is to blame for our ills, we should actively campaign for those charged with political and administrative oversight of such entities to hold leaders in those entities accountable. Those found guilty should pay reparations for wrongdoing. Likewise, if we attribute our problems to public-sector corruption, as voters, we must take personal responsibility for allowing the rot to prevail in the name of our vote. We can achieve great progress when we take personal responsibility to solving problems affecting our lives. And our collaboration in solving common ills will result in no problem being too big for us to solve effectively.

The momentum of overcoming apartheid was not only left to few activists to sustain. Despite detractors, there was groundswell tacit agreement and understanding among communities that unless we take personal responsibility, the evil system would not be overcome.

A Curse and A Blessing

No human being can ever live without going through difficult, if not, life threatening problems. Problems are simultaneously a blessing and a curse. The outcome depends on the decision and action one respectively makes and takes. A blessing and a curse go together like night and day. We traverse along and fall on either side depending on our decisions and actions taken. We note then that our welfare is highly dependent on the outcomes of our decisions and actions.

Why then do we seem helpless and without hope in solving our problems? Why do people expect answers to miraculously emerge without doing anything good?

Despite our ability to discern compared with other creatures, we don’t like confronting our problems head on. That’s because human nature wants to indulge self and not endure problems. We dislike denying self from luxuries.

Problems are painful and that explains our reluctance to confront problems head on.

Convenience and Vanity Factor

On South Africa’s high poverty and unemployment levels, how is it possible university graduates who passed some most difficult degree courses can still feel hopeless about their situation? Do we blame quality levels of their education? Could it be their qualifications are to universities, what high school leaving certification is to basic education? Could it be that our efforts fall short in resolving our problems?

How far are shortfalls discussed earlier applicable in the unemployment situation affecting university graduates?

The point of receiving tertiary qualifications is to set one apart from those without such qualifications and knowledge. Higher knowledge broadens the mind and should enable enlightened ones to try different ideas in solving problems they experience.

Though I am somewhat passing judgement, each unemployment case should be treated on its merits. Thus, we shouldn’t trivialise underlying reasons for problems and peculiarities of difficulties unemployed graduates experience.

We don’t have high unemployment levels because of a lack of job opportunities. We have high unemployment levels because of our high discretion levels. There are many “jobs” available, but not many unemployed people are willing to do them. Those with certification pursue mainly higher level jobs often associated with experienced or highly skilled people, than they are prepared to take up jobs they consider beneath their qualifications.

I heard of stories I thought were fiction many years ago. They were about American graduates getting jobs as street sweepers as they could not find suitable jobs matching their qualifications. Some attributed the phenomenon to having many “colleges” offering paper-only weighty tertiary qualifications, but valueless in quality in the real economy. Others explained the situation as owing to increasing levels of specialisation and sophistication of the market, that even ordinary degrees were insufficient in meeting highly specialised needs of the job industry. I have heard similar stories about engineers in India doing menial jobs.

Furthermore, we have heard of fellow Africans from countries north of our border with higher qualifications employed as waiters in some of our city’s restaurants. Though their situation could be largely attributed to political instabilities in their countries ravaging their economy, we know about those highly qualified people settling for menial jobs.

Foreigners are more willing to stoop that low because, unlike many South Africans, they do not regard their first job as defining who they are. Some South Africans regard a job as their destination, not a stopover and interim step towards their other destinations. This explains why people are content with their jobs and want to hide behind laws and other regulatory controls to stay put in their jobs rather than use it as developmental step towards their objectives. Perhaps we have inculcated too much of the spirit of entitlement in our psyche.

Unlike fellow Africans from countries without Social Security provisions, who know that without doing anything for themselves, their lives would be a mess, some South Africans seem content waiting for manna to fall from heaven. That’s why unemployed graduates would not consider being Uber drivers for instance, as the stepping-stone to their destined greatness. The vane consideration of becoming a graduate driving a taxi is too much to bear.

What if becoming an Uber driver could set one up on a path to becoming a fleet manager or owner, or an established regional and multinational importer and exporter?

Without a vision, we perish. Wisdom is having the vision about what you foresee yourself becoming and seeing the path to that greatness starting from low-level steps, including embarrassing ones.

Being Vision Driven

Let those who promised manna to the masses do provide the manna promised. But even if that manna was to be provided, nothing beats the reward, marketability and mobility of those who treated such manna as a bonus, but took the mettle upon themselves and carved a path to their success based on their abilities and whatever little they had.

Not all people can own, administer and manage a business. But we can be enterprising if we so desire. We need to become more aware of opportunities around us and be bolder in pursuing them.

We cannot be worse off than the generation that emerged from world wars whose homes, livelihood and economies were ravaged by such conflicts. Though we have conflicts here and there, it is nothing compared with that older generation’s situation. Despite the worldwide devastation and destruction of their economies, they could rebuild and become profitable. Their success is still noticeable.

How then, from nothing, could such generation prosper when all was lost? How is it we do not have the same challenges but cannot emerge quickly from our woes?

Perhaps I am too naïve to understand issues holistically. But I cannot dismiss the notion that we are what we think and believe of ourselves. We do and follow things of our convictions.

Isn’t it time we begin to challenge our convictions and start looking inwardly for solutions? This ensures that when manna – seen as government, political system, donor and other interventions – fall from heaven, it finds us having already started taking personal responsibility in implementing corrective measures.

Taking our problems head on won’t be easy. And if anyone thinks tackling problems would be easy and pleasant or at worst be a mild experience, we would become disillusioned, thereby giving up, to our peril, on solving problems afflicting us.

I pray that rich and poor, able and disabled, employed and unemployed, employee and employer, investor and consumer and others between could be convicted in acknowledging that our solutions lie in us before any other external interventions could be pursued and considered. And when we are enabled, that we have a moral and social responsibility and additional duty to uplift those unable to do it for themselves.