the Humanist view

“A popular government without popular information or the means of acquiring it is but a prologue to a FARCE or a TRAGEDY, or perhaps both. KNOWLEDGE will forever govern IGNORANCE; and a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives.”

I just bumped into these words of wisdom, typed on a piece of paper, which has a handwritten note on it by Tori K. I presume Tori was connected to Canadian Physicians for Aid and Relief in Uganda in the early 1990s.

Tori, attributed the quote to “U.S. President James Madison. I did a Google search to triangulate and confirm its veracity. Search results confirm it is fact.

“This powerful statement was written by James Madison, the fourth U.S. President and “Father of the Constitution,” in an 1822 letter to W.T. Barry. Madison knew that the ability to read, to understand what one reads and to intelligently act upon what one has read is fundamental to democracy.” (Source “FREEDOM“)

Certainly, this is food for thought for us in Uganda in the context of the Sovereignty Bill Debt.

You may wonder, what does this have to do with today’s daily writing prompt which asks: “If you had to describe your ideal life, what would it look like?”

My ideal life

The Good Life, as it is defined by Aristotle:

“Human flourishing, happiness or living well … Achieved through a lifelong practice of virtue, utilizing reason, and cultivating excellent character ,” my ideal life.

Truth be told

I am not flourishing as I used to and I would love to.

I speak of the prohibitions I feel choking me and restraining me from “utilizing reason.”

I find myself biting my tongue.

I don’t say the first thing that comes to mind.

I self-check. I engage in self-censorship.

I don’t say the second thing that comes to mind.

I worry.

I am lucky if I say it.

I will say the third thing that comes to mind, if I do.

I choose to keep my mouth shut more often than I would.

I long for the days when those who had achieved excellent character were the ones the more revered. And majority looked up to them as who to aspire to be.

I long for the days when I felt free to engage.

I long for the days that I felt freely engaging with others with access to unfettered engagement, freely sharing in-depth opinions and analyses with each other and with respectfully.

I am disappointed.

I am the generation who came of age when the belief of the “Africa Rising dream” coming to reality was it.

I remember when the euphoria of the “new breed of African leaders” was high.

“What has become of the ‘new breed’ of leaders?” A screaming headline of an in-depth analysis first published in 2016 in Monitor e-paper jolts us to reality.

The “Africa Rising Dream” remains that. A dream.

I dream still though for an Aristotelian Good Life.