The opposite of civic ignorance is a society in which citizens are genuinely empowered to...
Why do we need constructive critique and a call for accountability? Because the authenticity of patriotism is revealed through the genuine concerns and questions people raise about the affairs of their nations.
To be straightforward, numerous African countries at the moment have sham democratic politics camouflaging authoritarian oligarchy regimes, wherein those in political power do not accept being challenged in any way. Critiques, questions, investigations, follow-ups, queries, and any form of accountability under the rule of law are all considered serious threats and can result in unimaginable, extreme actions.
The result of this is a society fractured by fear and distressed by wounds and grief of oppression, as oppression becomes the very flesh and blood of the governing infrastructure. This happens in the mysterious chaos of many African states and their governments at the moment, where a basic outsider’s view reveals a lack of logic and cogency in political conversations and in the actions taken by political inner circles.
The society thus develops multiple faces. On the outside, or in its openly expressed opinions, it may appear like a society that approves and conforms to those in authority, regardless of whether people genuinely appreciate them or whether those in authority are actually doing the right thing; even though deep within, the society nurses deep wounds. It really costs nothing for people to just praise and pretend nothing is wrong, but it is concerning, as it is this same attitude that has caused sub-Saharan Africa, in particular, so many problems. The resulting chaos when things get out of hand has made many countries appear ungovernable, and if governable, impossible to progress.
Freedom should ideally be the biggest flex of any promisingly progressive country, meaning not only freedom to do things, but also to think, and to express those thoughts, however critical they are. It is, first of all, a fundamental human right, protected by laws both internationally and locally; and most importantly, it is a basic prerequisite for a democratic nation.
Why do we need constructive critique and a call for accountability? It is because the authenticity of patriotism is made visible in the genuine concerns and questions that people raise on the affairs of their nations. Critique should be complemented by genuine effort to address such matters. Suppressing freedom of expression, in whatever ways, however clever those ways can be defended, is pushing the state and its ‘would-be’ future into the mud, as it blocks the flow of ideas and growth.
Civic ignorance in its diversity is manufactured. Think of information ignorance where citizens do not get sufficient, timely, detailed and reliable information about government decisions, public expenditure, and accountability in cases of corruption and other abuses. There is also historical ignorance as information is filtered and moulded, meaning that facts may not be recorded for historical purposes, especially in cases of grave injustice.
There is also electoral ignorance, where the electoral process is made complex just to create chaos. There is also legal ignorance, where citizens are not informed about their constitutional rights and boundaries, and they end up being oppressed or on the wrong side of the law. Many citizens also do not really know, for example, which prohibitions are from the law and which are from the government, as they are not always the same.
In most countries today, discursive ignorance is engineered as well, with new prohibitions introduced on what people can and cannot talk about. Voices that ask questions and call for change are suppressed and silenced, while media houses are constrained and dictated to about how they should operate.
While verbally many can say they are patriots, the deeper conviction in them often dies when they see that they are not included in the affairs of the state, and even worse when they feel their lives are disposable, should they proceed in that course. Many people choose to stay quiet, regardless of how knowledgeable they actually are, in order to remain safe. While ignorance is already a problem, and misinformation, an even bigger problem, manufactured ignorance is the worst of them all, as it deliberately destroys and weakens the very conditions under which the citizens could have known the truth.
The opposite of civic ignorance is a situation where citizens are genuinely empowered to participate freely, knowledgeably and safely in the life of their country through just and fair politics, a cultivated spirit of hospitality and inclusiveness, and a system where the law is indeed above everyone and its machinery is reliable and non-partisan. Many African countries are practically far from this ideal.
Where suppression of activism eventually works, by whatever means, the societal think-tank is harmed because what is actually being suppressed is the knowledge and courage to express it. The suppression itself is likely to take deep root and become the very legacy that younger generations inherit. As such, it penetrates their social learning of political life. Children learn the values that they are exposed to. In the long term, civic ignorance of facts, rights and duties flourishes at the expense of truth, justice, accountability and progress.
Deprived of knowledge and the freedom to share ideas and question realities, young people may become either unconcerned with politics and civic life or victims of systematic misinformation. Both extremes can hinder their development.
Shimbo Pastory is an advocate for positive social transformation. He studies theology at the Loyola School of Theology in Manila, Philippines.
