Real Danger Of Globalisation Is Mindless Copying

The effects of globalisation on the economies of developing countries have been recognised, and many organisations have called for the containment of those which impede real progress.

What is not generally appreciated is that many in the developing world are being robbed of minds of their own.

There is a tendency to consider our cultures and social practices as uncivilised behaviour.

Thus when forms of bringing up the young are promoted or established in Europe and America, we adopt them in the name of progress, without very serious reflection.

It is time we stop to think and observe what is happening to the youth in the West who are deprived of the discipline and real love common in Ghana.

The matter was brought home to me when I was outside the country recently. The first news item I heard on the radio, as I motored to my final destination was a story about two young men who pushed a middle-aged lady onto the electrified rail at a train station.

And why did they do that? They were smoking at the station and the lady reminded them that it was against the law to smoke at the station.

The next news item was the 22nd killing of a London youth this year. It was claimed that the number of these killings, mostly stabbings of youths by their peers could exceed the 27 deaths recorded in London last year. And why were the youth senselessly stabbing each other to death?

At my destination, the first paper I read was the New African magazine in which a Ghanaian author, Kwaku, writing on the killings observed:

“the sad fact is that the majority of the perpetrators and victims are of African descent”.

He mentioned the many and complex reasons given for the senseless murders and commented on the decline in parental guidance.

He was of the view that “perhaps part of the problem might be that some African parents seem to have either abandoned the positive values and traditions from 'back home' or have a lack of confidence, which prevents them from adhering to those values.

This had led to their imbibing negative Western values - the 'this is how things are done in Britain syndrome' as their yard stick.”

Kwaku recalled the story of two Ghanaian women and a girl in a bus in London. One of the Ghanaian women who had recently arrived saw an elderly lady standing in the bus.

She gestured to the young girl to give up her seat to the old lady. But her colleague who lived in Britain chided her saying,

 “This is London, children don't have to give up their seats.” Graceful behaviour by the young is considered old fashioned or backward African practice, and a “child can make unfounded allegations to the Social Services Department or child agencies and be taken into care or given a flat”.

We in Ghana should stand firm against the so-called enlightened way of bringing up children.

The behaviour of quite a few African youths in Britain shows what would happen in this country if we abandon our values and way of life, which determine the discipline we give to our children.

We should certainly adapt and progress, but not copy blindly. In my youth at Achimota College, we were taught to adapt what was true and lasting of the Western way of life to the best African traditions.

That is the way to survive and prosper in the global village. We should scrutinise global village conventions before we ratify them.

Those who engage in child trafficking for example, should be punished. But we should know what we mean by child labour before we legislate on the practice.

What does the farmer's son do if he does not help on the farm? Is there enough to occupy him? Can we blame children who play truant because they have nothing to do?

Or worse still, do we want them to engage in anti-social behaviour as some in Britain, and blame their behaviour on the fact that they have nothing to do and are bored?

We should not forget that not all children have the means to play video games. Traditional 'child labour' occupies children profitably.

What is important is that this labour should not interfere with schooling.

There are many Ghanaians who helped their parents to sell bread and other produce and thereby contributed to their upkeep and schooling.

Many went on to occupy useful positions in government, business and the professions.

There is nothing shameful or backward about this. It demonstrates the resilience of our culture and practices.

We should examine what we change or abandon in the global village. Globalisation may expose some of our weaknesses.

But that is no reason why we should develop complexes and lose confidence in ourselves. The real danger of globalisation is acquiescence in what we do not understand or believe.

The real danger is doing it because it is done over there. We should have in-depth knowledge of our culture and traditional practices so that we may maintain that which is of value and abandon the obsolete.

We should have minds of our own, otherwise we become merely the hewers of depleting wood and drawers of scarce water in the global village.

By K. B. Asante

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