'UBUNTU'

"I am because we are"
^{[think about that]}

An anthropologist proposed a game to the kids in an African tribe.
He put a basket full of fruit near a tree.
He told the kids that it would be a race;
Who ever got there first won the sweet fruits.
When he told them to run,
They all took each others hands and ran together,
Then sat together enjoying their treats.
When he asked them why they had run like that,
When one could have had all the fruits for himself they said:
''UBUNTU,
How can one of us be happy if all the other ones are sad?''
'UBUNTU' in the Xhosa culture means:
"I am because we are"
^{< there seems to be a lot of evidence that the specifics of this story are false>}

Desmond Tutu explains Ubuntu with these words:
^{“One of the sayings in our country is Ubuntu – the essence of being human.
Ubuntu speaks particularly about the fact that you can’t exist as a human being in isolation.
It speaks about our interconnectedness.
You can’t be human all by yourself, and when you have this quality
– Ubuntu- you are known for your generosity.
We think of ourselves far too frequently as just individuals,
Separated from one another,
whereas you are connected and what you do affects the whole World.
A person with ubuntu is open and available to others, affirming of others,
Does not feel threatened that others are able and good, for he or she has a
Proper self-assurance that comes from knowing that he or she
Belongs in a greater whole and is diminished when others are
Humiliated or diminished, when others are tortured or oppressed.”}

How very sad that such a spirit of community, of communal
Brotherhood
Had to be overtaken and spoiled by our Western Ideal
Of Capitalism, where it is
"Every man for himself, to each his own, mine is mine and not yours"
Where we have this idea of Ownership of the
Air, the Rain, the Water, the Earth
The Land and all the minerals and animals, as if
They were all nothing more than resources to be

EXPLOITED!!!

~
I know, I know, the Western "White Man" didn't
Invent these concepts, we didn't start
Slavery nor racial exploitation, nor raping of the
Earth, but we sure have taken the ball and
RUN with it, have we not?
The rest of the world's cultures, having been enslaved,
Browbeaten and bulldozed by us, have forgotten their
Previous links to the spiritual world, and learned
Our lessons, so that now
There is not one corner of the earth left where
War and competition isn't pitting brother
Against brother, son against father.

What a horrible legacy.

Can we bring back
UBUNTU
Please?

"Ubuntu"
by
Jerry E Smith
©3/18/2018

^{These .gifs were created for me by @coquiunlimited; many thanks}