KWANZAA
Day #4: December 29
Nguzo Saba
Kwanzaa Principle #4
Ujamaa (oo-JAH-mah)
Cooperative Economics
"To build our own
businesses, control the economics of our own community and share
in all its work and wealth."
The Fourth Principle is Ujamaa and is essentially a commitment to
the practice of shared social wealth and the work necessary to
achieve it. It grows out of the fundamental communal concept that
social wealth belongs to the masses of people who created it and
that no one should have such an unequal amount of wealth that it
gives him/her the capacity to impose unequal, exploitative or
oppressive relations on others (41). Sharing wealth is another
form of communitarian exchange, i.e., sharing and cooperating in
general. But it is essential because without the principle and
practice of shared wealth, the social conditions for exploitation,
oppression and inequality as well as deprivation and suffering are
increased.
Thus, as President Julius Nyerere of Tanzania in his discussion of
Ujamaa says, Ujamaa is "based on the assumption of human equality,
on the belief that it is wrong for one [person] to dominate or
exploit another, and on the knowledge that every individual hopes
to live in a society as a free [person] able to lead a decent
life, in conditions of peace with his [her] neighbor" (42). Ujamaa,
Nyerere tells us, is above all human centered - concerned foremost
with the well-being, happiness and development of the human
person. And the assumption is that the conditions for such
well-being, happiness and development is best achieved in a
context of shared social wealth.
Thus, President Nyerere states, Ujamaa rejects the idea of wealth
for wealth's sake as opposed to well-being for all. And he notes
that Ujamaa is "a commitment to the belief that there are more
important things in life than the amassing of riches, and that if
the pursuit of wealth clashes with things like human dignity and
social equality, then the latter will be given priority." In the
context of improving and insuring the well-being of the people,
"the creation of wealth is a good thing and something we shall
have to increase." But he concludes that "it will cease to be good
the moment wealth ceases to serve (humans) and begins to be served
by (humans)".
Ujamaa also stresses self-reliance in the building strengthening
and controlling of the economics of our own community. President
Nyerere has said self-reliance in Ujamaa means "first and
foremost... that for our development we have to depend upon
ourselves and our own resources" (43). The assumption here is that
we must seize and maintain the initiative in all that is ours, and
that we must harness our resources and put them to the best
possible use in the service of the community. This, he says does
not mean denying all assistance from or work with others but of
controlling policy and shouldering the essential responsibility
for our own future.
Closely related to this concept of self-reliance and the
responsibility it requires is the respect for the dignity and
obligation of work. To respect work is to appreciate its value,
reject its exploitation and engage in it cooperatively for the
common good of the community. Also, inherent in Ujamaa is the
stress and obligation of generosity especially to the poor and
vulnerable. In the Book of Ani, we are taught that generosity is
its own reciprocal reward. "Small gifts return greater and what is
replaced brings abundance" (44). And in the book of Ptah-Hotep we
are taught "Be generous as long as you live. What goes into the
storehouse should come out. For the bread is made to be shared."
Moreover, Ptah-Hotep informs us, "Generosity is a memorial for
those who show it, long after they have departed" (45). This of
course, is the ancient African ethic of care and responsibility
which informs the concepts of generosity and shared social wealth.
Such an ethic is expressed in one of its earliest forms in the
Book of Coming Forth by Day which defines the righteous on one
level as one who has "given bread to the hungry, water to the
thirsty, clothes to the naked and a boat to those without one"
(46). In fact, throughout the sacred teachings of ancient Egypt in
particular and Africa in general, the ethic of care and
responsibility is expressed in the concept of shared social wealth
and service to the most disadvantaged. This of course, finds its
modern philosophical expression in our social thought and
struggles, as a people, around and for social justice. And this
struggle is not simply to be generous to the poor and vulnerable
but ultimately to end their poverty and vulnerability, so that
they too can live a decent, undeprived and meaningful life. For
only in such a context will they be able to pursue the truly human
without the limitation imposed by poverty, deprivation or the
debilitating struggle for just life's basic necessities. To share
we lath and work, then, is to share concern, care and
responsibility for a new, more human and fulfilling future.
Practice
Ujamaa
every day!
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