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Are Things Falling Apart?
How optimistic or pessimistic are you about life in Ghana now?

If you were to interview people in Ghana chances are you would not find more than one in hundred who would tell you that he or she was happy with life as a citizen of a land that otherwise should have been of flourished life and hope. Each would describe his or her financial burdens, the spate of insecurity that has engulfed the country. Particularly, you will hear soaring unemployment rate, unprecedented magnitude of armed- robbery with modus operandi that is quite alien to the Ghanaian society, constant power interruptions--thank Onyakropon- Twedeampon, for sending down the rains to fill our dried barrels at Akosombo and Kpong---and the stories of rising prices, gross economic mismanagement and non-existence of official regret for ineptitude by elected men and women who have disappointed their electorates.

The lazy ones who do not want to get their foreheads lit with sweat expect mother Ghana and its systems to cater for them. They are so quick to get angry when the system and mother Ghana do not recognize their existence.

You can also find those with gross arrogance and zero amount of humility. These ones are those with the view that their positions are so indispensable. They are so obsessed with this wrong thinking until they find out one day that no position is after all permanent.

Those who work for the government think their years on the job should translate to wage increase or wealth. They want more money, more wealth, but they're not willing to do anything to deliver more value to their employer, customers or clients.

Even the rich and famous among us have their share of Ghana's complex ever growing problems. This category of Ghanaians, in fact their wealth notwithstanding, neither enjoy life nor freedom. The encumbrance of their wealth added to the obsessive fears that they are about losing their wealth destroys the joy that ought to be part of their lives. These people also sometimes complain that the next generation will be worse off than the current one. The rich in Ghana also have little hope in the future for their children.

Despite the stable government we have and all its political trimmings, most Ghanaians today are more pessimistic about the country's leaders' ability to solve problems than they were years ago. Majority of Ghanaians cannot see nor feel the so-called the “wind of freedom and opportunities” blowing across the country.

The only very small group which is relatively happy is made up of Shakers and Movers. By their very nature, they move faster, taking more risks literally and figuratively and investing more in their world than their less active counterparts. They are very shrewd.

WHY PEOPLE FEEL SO HAPLESS AND HOPELESS:
First of all, there are three main reasons why only very few people see the changes taken place in Ghana. I agree that some are politically motivated.

1) Interestingly, most of us (this writer included) suffer from the “Quietism syndrome.” Quietism is the far-out way of viewing the universe. In a more specific term, it is the belief that the past, present and future are all illusions of our consciousness, and that, in reality; the past, present and the future are one if not the same. The adherences of this belief are of the view that nothing can be changed by God or humankind. With Quietism mind-set there is no reason to try to better one's existence because there is no future----I wonder why! Can you blame them?

2) To be economically and emotionally successful in today's real world, one needs to be part of “the game”. The reason is that wealth is a game. To be part of that game one needs a good communication and reliable information. Unfortunately, the institutions which control the flow of information to the people—be it in churches, mosques, electronic and print media, schools and colleges or bureaucracy — give wrong information about events around the world and in our own backyards. With this misinformation Ghana has bred a society which constantly is restless and wants more, regardless of the fact that no means are made available for the acquisition of such sudden change and taste. Strangely enough, no one is teaching how to generate the money to meet that change. Lack of proper knowledge also creates fear, uncertainties, anger, hopelessness and haplessness.

3) Our culture and belief systems in Ghana have contributed to our perception of freedom and opportunities. Our culture and belief systems sometimes impair our ability to make a head way in life. Look at our chieftaincy institution and its associated disputes and its inability to choose qualified candidates for the various vacant thrones. There is also a relationship between our religiosity and economic status. The poorer we are, the more likely we become religious. Or is it the more religious we're the poorer we become?

On the social front, how many perfect - healthy friends and family members do you know in Ghana who have done absolutely nothing since they left (JSS) junior secondary school? Their mind-set is so low that they have no expectations in life, let alone to make the effort. A good number of them have given up on life so soon that trying to help them is as difficult as trying to revive a dead body at the Korle- Bu Mortuary. If you think I am exaggerating just talk to a fellow Ghanaian you meet-- be it inside or outside Ghana, and you will get closer to this view of mine.

Yes, things are hard, but there are people who against all odds were able to recover and pick themselves up. Being responsible and working hard are not things that come naturally to anyone. One has to work for it.

I am sure you know quite a few successful people in Ghana---I do not mean cocaine dealers or “connection men and women” or “419 agents.” I am talking about the old –fashioned success--which was gotten through hard work in dignity. These Successful men and women in our society in the past---and present--- were not coned men and women. They never traded in illicit drugs nor were they “cheaters”. Most of them never had any special talent or education, but whatever they turned their hands on became gold.

Some Asantes had to migrate to Western Ghana to engage in cocoa cultivating. You would find some Akwapims and Ewes in Central and Western Regions seriously engaged in the cultivation of cocoa and other cash crops. Those who inherited rich forest lands like Brongs and Sefwis, Akyems and rich gold sand like Wassaws, Denkyiras and Adansis produced very prominent rich men and women. The sweat of these men and women built our leading universities and countless number of schools, the sea ports that we have failed to expand, many factories that collapsed in our time and perhaps the best roads that we have in the country, to mention only these few. The answer lays not so much in what they do or did, but so much in what they feel or felt and think or thought, of themselves and their potentials.

Unfortunately, we are taught to be victims of fate. This has been a self-fulfilling prophecy, which does no one any good except the politicians who enjoy the status quo so as to take our minds off from the real issues. I will like to advise that under no circumstance should the Ghanaian look up to the politician as a savior.

They cannot provide better schools because they can afford to pay for private schools or send their children abroad to colleges.

They cannot give you security but they can engage very active guards to protect them while they sleep. The sad side of this greediness is that Policemen and women who police these politicians 24/7 were trained by the tax payer, clothed by the tax payer and paid by the same tax payer. The security demand of these politicians have put an unprecedented pressure on the Police High Command such that the Ghana Police is unable to get the number for other essential police services needed by Ghanaian people.

Even the “East -Legonites” are no exception to this discontent and apprehension. The evident is that the happiness gap is waning very fast among these people. They are very scared at the high level of insecurity that has engulfed the city. In fact one is not very sure of who will be the next victim of this violent and deadly crime. Continued    Source: myjoyonline - Myjoyonline.com

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