The irony of science and The reversed wisdom!

There was a time I posted an article on the NYC and YPK google network arguing that modernity had desperately failed us and hence my article sought to suggest that we were better off leading our African traditional way of life than struggling with modernity. I said this because looking back then I could not imagine why for example with the scientific revolution in the agrarian and food production industries millions of people the world over were still dying from hunger pangs. I could not imagine why with the establishment of highly sophisticated governance structures and democratic institutions almost in all parts of the world, corruption and abuse of office and power had intensified and made things worse than ever before. How for example with the improvement of justice instruments both at the local levels in various countries and the international justice system given impetus by the institutionalization of the Rome Statute which established the International Criminal Court (ICC), impunity has intensified four fold! Why, if democracy was working across the world would mankind all over the world be talking of secession in Timor, in Sudan, in West Sahara, in Chad, Taiwan, Niger Delta, the Amazon, Spain, Somalia and now Kenya?

In my most recent article on impunity I asked myself why with the formation of the Kenya Anti Corruption Commission (KACC), corruption had intensified more than ever before. Why with the formation of the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) actions of gross violation of human rights had gained momentum and the situation in the Kibaki/Raila era seemed to be worse than the Kenyatta and Moi regimes! Why for example with the increased levels of education with tens of thousands of Kenyans graduating from colleges and Universities every year, the levels of unemployment are skyrocketing, abject poverty conquering new spheres, social insecurity extensifying and intensifying and generally with improved education comes a general feeling of hopelessness. And here I will give you an example. I attended an interview with B.A.T (K) immediately I left the University for a temporary job which was paying about kshs.20,000 per month. Out of the more than 200 people who did the interview, about 15 of us were graduates. They wanted 35 people for the job. I was given the shock of my life when the company manager told us after the written and oral interview that the first elimination formula was to have all university graduates out! What appeared to be a joke came to pass. I asked myself several questions on this issue and to date I have never found the reason why someone would eliminate me from an interview because of having superior qualifications. This must be the theory of reversed wisdom at best which reminds me of the true argument that our society is known to reward vices and punish virtues.

A few days ago, I had a discussion with my boss in office and the topic was on insecurity. I asked her these same questions. You see! I always wonder why for every success in modernism, Kenyans as well as millions of men, women and children the world over are pushed miles deeper into the abyss of despondence and the quagmire of mire. Everytime there is a scientific breakthrough poor people must brace themselves for the worst. So the question is, should we then strive to achieve modernism at its best? I remember one scholar named James Bakerman said religion is thriving on the ignorance of science! I will confess that I have been a follower of this scholar for sometime but now I think it is time to ask myself this crucial question. What then would the world be like if science were to rule supreme? Is it not better then that science should not be given a chance to rule supreme?

In the discussion we had with my boss, I asked her why Mungiki had better structures than our government in terms of collecting intelligence, collecting and submitting taxes, delivering justice and why essentially people feared Mungiki more than the government. I informed her that I was involved in a research on insecurity and one of the interviewees said, if summoned by Mungiki and the High Court at the same time, he would run to Mungiki first before thinking of the High Court! I told her that in Kuria where I come from, it is Sungu Sungu (otherwise called chati) which ended the cases of insecurity between 1998 to 2003. Our modern government had been defeated hands down!

My argument is that for us to solve pertinent issues which we grapple with daily such as hunger, insecurity, joblessness and poverty we must engage a reverse gear or at best stop our vehicle to modernity and ask ourselves whether we are headed for the right direction. We must ask ourselves who it is that modern scientific discoveries and order of governance is benefiting. Is it to our interest that more people should suffer with hunger with the discovery of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs)? Or intensified secessionist movements with the intensification of democratic institutions? Or gross violation of human rights with the establishment of human rights institutions all over the world? Or worsening of insecurity with the modern explosion in the science of intelligence service through scientific revolution? I submit that the world is better off in its traditional set up than it is now in the so called modernity!