Seek ye first social and economic inclusion

Towards the end of his life, from 1966 until his death in 1968, Dr Martin Luther King Jr came to the realisation that while political inclusion would be progressively attained by the passage of the civil rights laws passed in the early to mid 1960s, what mattered even more was economic inclusion and social justice for not only the black Americans but all working and middle class Americans.

In his last year, he spent most of his time advocating worker’s rights and economic inclusion to enable every American have an equal opportunity towards living the American Dream, and died while attending a workers’ rights meeting.

With hindsight, Dr King was spot on. Today, nearly 50 years later, America has had a black President since 2009, and African-Americans are an influential political bloc with elected and appointed officials at all levels of government in the US.

However, African-Americans have yet to attain the fullness of social justice and economic inclusion he dreamed about. In other words, while political inclusion has worked quite well, the social justice and economic inclusion are still a long way from the 1963 “I have a dream” vision painted by Dr King.

That is why it is disappointing to see so many in the Kenyan elite seek political inclusion in the mistaken notion that somehow that will lead to greater social and economic inclusion.

No number of high appointments in elected and appointive office can change an ethnic group’s economic and social fortunes, unless the fundamentals that achieve the latter are addressed.

These fundamentals are largely cultural and inward to the groups or communities. Highly entrepreneurial communities the world over are able to achieve outstanding economic success, and then use this over time, to achieve social and political inclusion because of their higher economic status.

Communities that prize learning and scholastic achievement have also been able to turn their outstanding human capital formation into economic power, a higher social status, and eventually bargain their way into political inclusion.

Very rarely has any community or group started from political inclusion, and then achieved economic and social inclusion. Raising a community’s economic and social status typically leads to greater social capital for its members, but political inclusion rarely, if ever, builds social capital.

POLITICAL INCLUSION

In short, by starting from political inclusion, and then hoping to achieve social and economic inclusion, we are getting the order wrong. It has not worked anywhere in the world for previously excluded groups that fought and earned their way to the political table. It will not work in Kenya either.

The reality for new arrivals at the political table is that after attaining political inclusion, they find the enormous task of building their societies’ and communities’ economic and social status too tough, because it cannot be built politically, it can only be built culturally.

Because it is politically incorrect to acknowledge this reality, a lot of money and political capital is wasted on a task that can only be achieved through self-initiated and implemented cultural changes by the affected peoples and groups.

To attain social and economic status, the previously excluded communities and groups have to fundamentally shift their cultures towards the norms, values and behaviours that enable economic and social achievement for individuals, families and their local towns and villages.

This is usually difficult because it is hard to acknowledge that one’s culture has deficiencies that impede its peoples’ ability to enjoy greater prosperity. It further means accepting that our cultures and behaviour need change if they are to promote greater economic and social success.

The reality is that our leadership, be it political, religious, business, academia, and civil society in communities across the nation, must have the courage to grasp the nettle of cultural and behavioural change needed to create a nationwide attainment of economic and social success.

The elements of such success are known – hard work, delayed gratification, honesty, respect, educating the girl-child as well as keeping the boy-child in school, strong families, tolerance, social harmony, civic mindedness, preference for saving over consumption, and building successful businesses and farms, among others.

Economic and social inclusion is more important than political inclusion in building lasting prosperity.

Sam Mwale is a social and public policy commentator