Finding Optimism Through Ubuntu

Applying this South African concept to combat late stage capitalist isolation

Late Stage Capitalism

Does anyone else look around lately and feel like we’ve crossed a line in this late stage capitalism game? Like we’ve gone too far…

I overheard some 6 year old kids being asked what they want to be when they grow up recently. “Make a lot of money,” they said. No more astronauts, actors, or ball players - just money. They seem so lonely to me as they are saying this. Abe Greenwald recently wrote a piece that showcases how the recent riots in Paris, “are a sign of our late stage capitalist despair.” Day by day people are going on, pretending like they have it all together, but internally many are struggling to the point of insanity.

Then a riot happens or a murder or a suicide. It gets reported and then that’s it, back to business as usual. The frequency of these occurrences are symptoms of a much larger issue.

One of the recent pieces of data that I’m most obsessed over right now is coming from PEW:

In 2019, 50% of men reported that they are not looking for long or short term relationships. Today, that number has risen by 11%. 61% of men in 2023 report they are not looking for long or short term relationships.

That is insanity. Almost 2 in 3 men are not interested in pursuing women, not even for the short term. 50 years ago if you were to share that with a group of young men, they would laugh thinking you were out of your mind completely.

This worries me a lot, something is definitely awry.

It’s almost hard to put our finger on because we’re so enmeshed in it, but when we take a bird’s eye view for a moment we can easily see how the thing that was supposed to be a tool has become more like a drug for many.

Technology has enhanced our isolation, our fomo, our comparisons, and our low self esteem. Because of the way our societies are structured, we don’t have strong communities to combat this isolation. I got served this ad below, it’s literally selling isolation in nice wrapping paper.

‘Just because something is easier doesn’t mean it’s better’ has been something I’ve been noodling on for a while now. Owning a bed like this may be easy, but doing manual labor in a field is much better for us (or at least putting away devices two hours before bed).

Understanding Ubuntu

Along these lines of community and doing what’s right versus what’s easy, I started thinking about the South African concept of Ubuntu and a story I heard a while back.

The translation of Ubuntu directly is ‘I am, because you are,’ or ‘we are one.’ It’s an African concept of personhood that emphasizes depending on others to be whom they are to form society.

This is beautiful to me and the concept encapsulates how Nelson Mandela led his people. He recognized that:

“we are all bound together in ways that are invisible to the eye; that there is a oneness to humanity; that we achieve ourselves by sharing ourselves with others, and caring for those around us.”

I’ve heard that in certain regions of South Africa, when someone does something wrong, he is taken to the center of the village and surrounded by his tribe for two days while they speak of all the good he has done.

Crazy, right? The exact opposite of Western society. Can you imagine experiencing this? In my experience most people have a hard time even accepting one compliment. Why do you think that is?

In my view it’s because in the west we live in an economy-centric society where we’re taught to behave in the way that’s most efficient for productivity, not in a way that’s actually good for our souls.

These South African tribes live based on a community-centric ethos where humanity is first, not production.

They believe each person is good, yet sometimes we make mistakes - which is really a cry for help. They unite in this ritual to encourage the person to reconnect with his true nature.

The belief is that unity and affirmation have more power to change behavior than shame and punishment. They understand that criticism without positive affirmation (especially for small children) does not work, it only perpetuates negative behavior.

Applying Ubuntu to our Lives

Since our societies in the west are so huge and disparate thinking about how to apply Ubuntu at a large scale is beyond me, but thinking about the family unit makes sense. The issues I talked about earlier get bigger when families are weak or nonexistent but they get smaller when families are strong and intact.

What would an example of Ubuntu be within the context of family?

When a child does something wrong, the parents call the family into the living room and for the next hour or two proceed to LOVE on the child. As the structure of the home, this would be especially powerful for dads to orchestrate.

The truth is when kids get criticized over and over again they begin to think less of themselves (not less of their parents) but when they get acknowledged their hearts break open, tears stream down their faces, and connect to love. First for themselves, and then to others. Because if they can be shown love in the midst of their mistakes, then they can do the same for others.

Indigenous cultures have so much wisdom beyond our western experience and listening to them and adopting their practices is one way to combat this late stage capitalism insanity we are all in. Even on a small scale, every bit counts.

I actually love this line from David Brooks (political and cultural commentator):

“While social repair does not happen at scale, it happens in rooms one by one and those things build up and slowly change norms and norms do scale.”

It’s slow and steady but I find my optimism through this quote that every little step we take towards more humanity is a step in the right direction and before long if enough people take similar steps reality will start to change direction.