We have many people on here who say they take pride in their Soomaalinimo, and then there are those who are self-hating and would switch teams in an instant if they could. I think both groups are misguided, here's why.
The dictionary definition of pride is: a feeling or deep pleasure or satisfaction derived from one's own achievements, the achievements of those with whom one is closely associated, or from qualities or possessions that are widely admired.
If we look at the current state of Somalis and Somali regions are there any achievements, qualities and possessions from which we can derive a feeling of deep pleasure or satisfaction? The answer is unfortunately no. So why then all this talk of pride in being a Somali? I think here Somalis fall, especially young ones, into either one of two 'pride' camps.
The first is truly proud of being a Somali but only due to a faulty and misguided system of appraisal caused by an overestimation of the achievements and qualities of Somalis in comparison to other groups. It's something like the dunning-kruger effect writ-large at a societal level. This overestimation is caused by a cognitive inability or a lack of sufficient information to truly arrive at an objective assessment of ones (or in this case ones' groups) standing in the hierarchy. Interestingly, Somalis have expressed the tendency for the uninformed and/or those with lower ability to exhibit undue confidence, in proverbs such as 'habar fadhida lagdin wax uga fudud' which translates to 'there's nothing easier for a seated old woman than a take-down (in a fight)' and 'libaax nin aan aqoon baa lax ka rita' which means 'a man who does not know the lion will (foolishly) attempt to save his sheep from one'.
These young Somalis read about Black Hawk Down and the pirates who hijack ships for multi-million dollar ransoms and hear stories about their brave clan, and they come away with this idea that Somalis are 'hard' and 'brave' and that no one can mess with them. Yes, Somali valor and courage in battle is well known, but without contextualizing our place in the hierarchy it is meaningless information and amounts to an infantile understanding. What does it matter if we are brave and good fighters if all we have are machine guns mounted on Toyota pickup trucks when our neighbours have standing armies and air forces, which they are currently using to colonize Somalia? What does it matter if we are 'brave' when the Ethiopian government can ask for my arrest if I say the wrong things in my own city of Hargaysa?
It's just like youth in the hip-hop/rap culture who think gangsters are so big and bad with their guns tucked in their sagging pants, despite the fact that these gangster run as fast as they can whenever they see police. Such youth also foolishly think whites are cowards or averse to violence just because they are for the most part law abiding. If there ever was a race-war in America the madows in the inner-cities would get picked off like sitting ducks by the cadaans, many of whom are heavily armed and have been hunting and going to shooting ranges with their dads and uncles since they were young.
The second group, unlike the previous one, can actually see the abysmal state of Somalis and Somalia, but they double-down on being proud as a coping mechanism to help them deal with the ugly reality. Admitting to themselves and to others that we've hit rock bottom and are in an existential crisis is much too psychologically painful for them to handle. They'd rather live in the past and talk about the Adal and Ajuuraan empires, the Dervishes, SYL and the accomplishments of the Kacaan. They also like to focus almost exclusively on foreign meddling to explain the current state of Somali, since looking inwards perturbs their coping narrative. Once again I'm reminded of African Americans, this time with their 'We Wuz Kangz' obsessions and their constant blaming of 'whitey' and refusal to take some responsibility for their own role in the mess their in.
Granted, our history is well-documented and is not characterized by the sometimes comical historical revisions and fabrications rife in the 'We Wuz Kangz' stuff, and granted both Somalis and African Americans have faced and continue to face, to varying degrees, considerable blows and set-backs at the hands of their enemies. But despite all of that, it doesn't change the fact that we have to focus on the present, and that we have to address our own demons before looking outward to face external ones. History should be used as a source of confidence (not the same thing as pride) and as a guide for the present, not as an alternate realm to escape from the present. And as for looking inward and fixing our own issues first, well it's common sense that a well built and fortified home can better withstand the elements.
Then we have the Somalis who suffer from self-hatred. They have made a mental break with Soomaalinimo, and sometimes a physical one too by marrying out. These people are no good and foolish for two reasons. Firstly, they are disloyal. An ethnic group can be thought of as an extended kinship group, or in other words an extremely large family. If someone was born into a family that was poor, had substance abuse issues and was on welfare, would they abandon that family due to the embarrassment of being associated with them or would they remain loyal to their blood? Most people would remain loyal to their immediate families no matter what. So think of Somalis as your family on the world stage of 7 billion people. Yea we're a dysfunctional family and it's quite embarrassing, but only a spineless weasel would abandon his kin.
Secondly, they confuse a bad situation with a hopeless one. Yeah, Somalis and Somalia are a total mess. But there is nothing immutable about the current political and social ills plaguing our society. They can be fixed, and insha'Allah will be fixed. This is an important point because there are issues that cause self-hate in certain groups that can never be addressed, such as the looks related self-hate of madows and indho-yars. Look at how successful the East Asian countries are, yet they still hate themselves because of how they look and there's nothing they can do about it short of cutting and snipping away their Asianess via cosmetic surgery or marrying a White person in order to have less Asian offspring.
My advise; Use our historical achievements for confidence (have a backbone, keep your head up), and use our historical failures as lessons. Look inward, because our biggest problems are from within. Be loyal to Soomaalinimo and be hopeful for our future as a people. But do not be prideful just yet, because we need to earn it first.
The dictionary definition of pride is: a feeling or deep pleasure or satisfaction derived from one's own achievements, the achievements of those with whom one is closely associated, or from qualities or possessions that are widely admired.
If we look at the current state of Somalis and Somali regions are there any achievements, qualities and possessions from which we can derive a feeling of deep pleasure or satisfaction? The answer is unfortunately no. So why then all this talk of pride in being a Somali? I think here Somalis fall, especially young ones, into either one of two 'pride' camps.
The first is truly proud of being a Somali but only due to a faulty and misguided system of appraisal caused by an overestimation of the achievements and qualities of Somalis in comparison to other groups. It's something like the dunning-kruger effect writ-large at a societal level. This overestimation is caused by a cognitive inability or a lack of sufficient information to truly arrive at an objective assessment of ones (or in this case ones' groups) standing in the hierarchy. Interestingly, Somalis have expressed the tendency for the uninformed and/or those with lower ability to exhibit undue confidence, in proverbs such as 'habar fadhida lagdin wax uga fudud' which translates to 'there's nothing easier for a seated old woman than a take-down (in a fight)' and 'libaax nin aan aqoon baa lax ka rita' which means 'a man who does not know the lion will (foolishly) attempt to save his sheep from one'.
These young Somalis read about Black Hawk Down and the pirates who hijack ships for multi-million dollar ransoms and hear stories about their brave clan, and they come away with this idea that Somalis are 'hard' and 'brave' and that no one can mess with them. Yes, Somali valor and courage in battle is well known, but without contextualizing our place in the hierarchy it is meaningless information and amounts to an infantile understanding. What does it matter if we are brave and good fighters if all we have are machine guns mounted on Toyota pickup trucks when our neighbours have standing armies and air forces, which they are currently using to colonize Somalia? What does it matter if we are 'brave' when the Ethiopian government can ask for my arrest if I say the wrong things in my own city of Hargaysa?
It's just like youth in the hip-hop/rap culture who think gangsters are so big and bad with their guns tucked in their sagging pants, despite the fact that these gangster run as fast as they can whenever they see police. Such youth also foolishly think whites are cowards or averse to violence just because they are for the most part law abiding. If there ever was a race-war in America the madows in the inner-cities would get picked off like sitting ducks by the cadaans, many of whom are heavily armed and have been hunting and going to shooting ranges with their dads and uncles since they were young.
The second group, unlike the previous one, can actually see the abysmal state of Somalis and Somalia, but they double-down on being proud as a coping mechanism to help them deal with the ugly reality. Admitting to themselves and to others that we've hit rock bottom and are in an existential crisis is much too psychologically painful for them to handle. They'd rather live in the past and talk about the Adal and Ajuuraan empires, the Dervishes, SYL and the accomplishments of the Kacaan. They also like to focus almost exclusively on foreign meddling to explain the current state of Somali, since looking inwards perturbs their coping narrative. Once again I'm reminded of African Americans, this time with their 'We Wuz Kangz' obsessions and their constant blaming of 'whitey' and refusal to take some responsibility for their own role in the mess their in.
Granted, our history is well-documented and is not characterized by the sometimes comical historical revisions and fabrications rife in the 'We Wuz Kangz' stuff, and granted both Somalis and African Americans have faced and continue to face, to varying degrees, considerable blows and set-backs at the hands of their enemies. But despite all of that, it doesn't change the fact that we have to focus on the present, and that we have to address our own demons before looking outward to face external ones. History should be used as a source of confidence (not the same thing as pride) and as a guide for the present, not as an alternate realm to escape from the present. And as for looking inward and fixing our own issues first, well it's common sense that a well built and fortified home can better withstand the elements.
Then we have the Somalis who suffer from self-hatred. They have made a mental break with Soomaalinimo, and sometimes a physical one too by marrying out. These people are no good and foolish for two reasons. Firstly, they are disloyal. An ethnic group can be thought of as an extended kinship group, or in other words an extremely large family. If someone was born into a family that was poor, had substance abuse issues and was on welfare, would they abandon that family due to the embarrassment of being associated with them or would they remain loyal to their blood? Most people would remain loyal to their immediate families no matter what. So think of Somalis as your family on the world stage of 7 billion people. Yea we're a dysfunctional family and it's quite embarrassing, but only a spineless weasel would abandon his kin.
Secondly, they confuse a bad situation with a hopeless one. Yeah, Somalis and Somalia are a total mess. But there is nothing immutable about the current political and social ills plaguing our society. They can be fixed, and insha'Allah will be fixed. This is an important point because there are issues that cause self-hate in certain groups that can never be addressed, such as the looks related self-hate of madows and indho-yars. Look at how successful the East Asian countries are, yet they still hate themselves because of how they look and there's nothing they can do about it short of cutting and snipping away their Asianess via cosmetic surgery or marrying a White person in order to have less Asian offspring.
My advise; Use our historical achievements for confidence (have a backbone, keep your head up), and use our historical failures as lessons. Look inward, because our biggest problems are from within. Be loyal to Soomaalinimo and be hopeful for our future as a people. But do not be prideful just yet, because we need to earn it first.
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