We've a generation that fallaciously claim that we don't owe anyone anything. We owe success to people that have invested and believe in us. We owe people common courtesy and decency. We owe people respect. We owe people apologies and explanations. Accountability is a honourable virtue.
Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu, you are who you are because of how you relate with those around you. We exist in shared space; we can't have absolute positions on many things. Therefore, it is illogical to act like you live alone on an island when you live with and among other people and other things. It is this kind of individualistic thinking that is causing all the ills in the world like environmental degradation, poverty, wars and disease.
We owe each other what is dictated by our shared existence. Our humanity is contingent on the humanity of others.
In Chichewa, we say kali kokha nkanyama, tili awiri ntiwanthu. This essentially mean that when you are on your own, you are as good as an animal of the wild. But when there are two of us, we form a community. We're formidable!
There is a word – Ubuntu – recognition 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. - Former US President, Barack Obama, at the 2018 Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture in Johannesburg.
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