KB Asante: Voice From Afar column
Is the heart deceitful and desperately wicked?
We read at Chapter 17 verse 9 of Jeremiah that: “The Heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked”.
Advertisement
I am not going to preach. We have enough of it. So do please stay with me to explore and think together.
I do not believe that human nature is fundamentally evil and I reject the arguments of my conservative friends at college that socialism ignored the fundamental greedy and selfish nature of man (and woman). In the Ghana of today, politics has been prostituted and we explain lies about governance as politics. But politics is serious business. I took a lot of time from dry mathematics to discuss and learn from some of the great exponents of the subject including leading western theologians and eastern philosophers.
At the heart of conservative, capitalism, or laisser-faire political philosophy, is the belief that man is by nature evil, selfish and greedy. Economic and social development should therefore exploit these aspects of man’s nature for the good of society while ensuring that excessive indulgence in these aspects of human nature is curbed by law especially where it is detrimental to the well-being and progress of the majority.
The fall of communism revealed that some 70 years of socialist philosophy, indoctrination, and practice did not much change the human nature of many former communists. A few citizens of the former Soviet Union including Russians greedily grabbed huge sums of money by dubious means to enrich themselves. They ignored the plight of their fellow citizens and invested their loot in enterprises to increase their wealth and in foreign football clubs to enhance their image.
I am therefore constrained to believe that socialism expected too much of man. But I do not believe that man (and woman) is eternally wicked and evil. Such a belief would go against the Christian teaching that we have been redeemed from the power of evil. But we have to fight against the remnants of evil and promote that which is good. Society must enact rules to promote righteous conduct and punish the evildoer.
But what if society, though generally against evil, believes that it is clever to employ it to enhance self? The character of the Ghanaian in this regard is revealed in its “Ananse” stories. Generally countries reveal the character of the society they want to build, maintain and promote in the stories told to children and in epic poems. Evildoers do not succeed in these stories and the idea is implanted that crime or bad behaviour does not pay. Society is made to accept the inconvenience of fighting evil. Not so in Ghana. In Ghana, our “Ananse” and nursery stories on the whole glorify deceit and achievement by “clever” manoevres. Ananse stories seem to glorify skills at getting what the individual wants using “clever” and dishonest methods. Do these stories depict the kind of society we have or do they help promote an inner satisfaction with success through selfish practices which ignore social well-being and morality?
We should seriously interrogate our selves, our values, mind-sets and our notions of evil. Do we really feel incensed by “judgement debts” or feel that the one who has been caught was not clever enough? Why do we not talk much about the judgement debts of the past and question the lackadaisical way in which we approach current issues – state attorneys and other officials ignoring summons; documents not being available and the like. Are we deeply incensed or believe it a pity that the present judgement debts were not cleverly executed?
And how do we react to rampant robbery and abuse of the court process? Anumle village which was part of Achimota College when I was there is now being built upon by lawless encroachers with money. When taken to court they filed an injunction to cause the Achimota authorities to refrain from obstructing them!
A more flagrant abuse of the legal and court process cannot be imagined. Another example: when I was at school a businessman imported fake currency notes in a mattress. He was caught, tried and jailed. Those who did not like him were glad. Many were in sympathy and explained how he could have packed the fake notes without being caught. He was not clever enough!! Moral values take back seat when individual wealth and pleasure are at stake.
Judgment debts and other corrupt and illicit dealings are part of our NYANSA KRONO character portrayed by Ananse stories.
Life is more than self. The brain is not to assist us to escape the consequences of our evil deeds. It does well to help us exploit greed and selfish interest to create wealth which we unfortunately find difficult to distribute to enhance the quality of life for all. It should do better to help us to promote a higher purpose in life where each contributes happily according to ability and receives according to needs. Society and indeed our political parties must be informed by such high purpose and endeavour to banish deceit to its native darkness.