Opinion
Part 1: Are We Intellectualizing and Rationalizing Ourselves into Oblivion?
By Ryan Elcock
If someone asked me whether we were intellectualizing and rationalizing ourselves into oblivion, I’d have to say ‘Yes We Are!’ In our quest to attain knowledge, we also appear to be opening ourselves to being duped as we but lack the wisdom to understand how to use knowledge we attain. Similar to the emperor in the famous story, The Emperor’s New Clothes, we no longer admit the obvious in all its simplicity, but accept the obscure and the complex because after all, like that old Microsoft commercial jingle used to say, “Nobody wants to look dumb.”
If you look at the current financial crisis, you can see that many “smart” people, countries and institutions were duped by the swindlers, also known as Wall Street Bankers, who sold many of the exotic financial products that led to the recession. Interestingly enough, if you asked the same banker how these products worked, you will receive an answer full of financial jargon and fancy finance speak. But the question is, will you bother to question or ask for clarification on what he is talking about? Probably not, because after all, you would be too afraid to risk looking foolish so you happily go along with what you were told because after all you are smart and the banker is smart. Therefore, if you do not understand what the banker is talking about, then you must be stupid and since you know you are not stupid, then you obviously know what he is talking about; or so it seems.
Similarly, when it comes to trying to address the issues plaguing the world, all the academics come out with their own theories and ideas along with some fanciful charts and graphs. For example, ask an economist at the World Bank on how to address poverty in Africa or the Caribbean, I am sure you will hear about the use of trade liberalization, privatization of everything under the sun and don’t forget to focus on tourism as the main revenue generator for these areas. Mind you, that same economist that makes these suggestions has never set foot in Africa or the Caribbean but as he or she studied economics at Harvard, Cambridge, or University of Chicago, why bother to question whether or not their ideas might actually work?
Now you may ask why I posed this question to you in the first place and I will gladly tell you. I posed this question because I believe that our intellectualizing and rationalizing has led to continuous swindling and hoodwinking of minorities worldwide, more importantly blacks in Africa and the Diaspora which will be explained in Part II of Are We Intellectualizing and Rationalizing Ourselves into Oblivion? Furthermore I will explain how even our own academics and politicians, who are supposed to be coming up with solutions to help improve our communities, may be actually part of the problem as they strive to promote their own agendas and ideologies. Until then, for the matter of simplicity; the reason why the chicken crossed the road was just to get to the other side. No more, no less!
