The Societal Jungle

"When did the future switch from being a promise to being a threat?" Chuck Palahniuk, is a quote that got me thinking..and thinking hard! We live in a society where most of us believe in the saying "Every man for himself and God for us all". It is absurd..I mean man (and by man I mean a human being) is a social being that cannot solely exist. We all need that one person who can assure us of their continuous support. We need that one guy who occasionally tells us "I am here for you..I will help you..I gat your back" even if they could be lying (sadly). 

It is unfortunate that the act of togetherness and collectivism is a notion that is quickly fading away. It is a jungle society. Chaos. Hullaballoos. Nobody really cares for anybody. Everybody is up and running to seal that deal, strike that agreement, climb that career ladder, make it to the top of that class, get your company named by Forbes as the fastest growing company in wherever you are..self, self, self!! It is always about self! I recently stumbled on one statement posted on one of the social media sites by a friend of mine saying, "If it's not about me then I am not interested". My eyebrows distanced themselves from my eye sockets. I mean I was shocked! We are no longer our brothers' keepers. We never care about the next person- as long as he/she is a threat to our survival. We all want to make it to the top even if it means stepping on others' shoulders and heads to reach there. 

Source: Mail Online (www.dailymail.co.uk)

Sometimes we even create little dynastical cocoons that make us believe that we gat it; that we need no help whatsoever, that no one can tell us nuthin'. Oh well. We get more and more "technological" and less and less social (am also speaking to myself here). We regularly put in some "eeh..by the way..haha lol..enyewe..waaah true..ooh" into face to face conversations just to make relevant interactions while we go about our "technological" businesses. We know how to follow others on Twitter yet we keep track of less or no real friends at all. Our Facebook friend lists are swelling up each day..the friends could even spill over to the 5k limit, yet the real friends that we keep in touch with, and talk to, face-to-face, are like just 2 or 3. Virtual realities! Implied meanings! Virtual relationships! Ironically, "Social" media has killed our social nature as human beings. We even press the like button, double tap and say "Wow, am happy for you bruh.." or "hehe, hii ni kali (this is awesome)" when in our hind-thoughts we are like"this guy is such a brag.." or "Damn it! the guy made it to the top".

I challenge the ideology of survival of/for the fittest. Yeah, yeah, it's the 21st century and processes or systems have changed. The Kenyan Nyumba Kumi Initiative has just been turned to an initiative of knowing your neighbour's door number and that's all. We don't even say hi to our neighbours. We do not succeed if some of us fail as a result. We do not make it in life by simply frustrating other people's lives. I always say one thing, success is a process, not just the end-result. So I attain my life goals, I get a few awards here and there, I get mentioned by a couple of media houses, websites and organisations as a champion/an expert in a certain field..then what? Will I have impacted on someone's life? Will I have changed the "system"? Will I have made someone smile..like a real smile, not this emoji :). Will I have helped someone in need..warmly greeted someone who has social issues and wanted to give up on life? Will I have made a positive difference in this life? Or will I have stepped on others..hurt them..made them feel worthless..made them hate men or women..made them give up on their dreams?

In this Society's jungle, are there proponents of humanity, love, compassion, hope, genuineness, integrity, and all other societal values? Or are we teaching the next generation to just value socialitism (I made that word up to mean the "art of being a socialite". Hahaa! That was a genuine laughter).