Pride, Self-hate, Loyalty and Hope

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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.
 
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YoungFarah

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Another great thread bro. I'm guilty of the first two types you mentioned where I may have a heroic version of black hawk down or pirate activities in my head or I fantasise about the greatness of Somalia in the past during the Kacaan and previous empires. However I mostly pride myself in the vision of what Somalia can be. I look beyond qabyaalad and other negative things that burden a lot of Somalis. My pride comes from helping out my people and the connection I have with my fellow Somalis over all other races. My pride comes from my culture and how I was raised. I see Somalia as an injured superstar waiting to return from an ACL tear and become the MVP. My pride is hope.

The worst type of Somali is the third type that shuns Somalis and I'm afraid that there are tons of them where I live. Sometimes I feel like beating the Somalinimo into these whitewashed or Madow washed xoolos. All I can say is Somalia ha noolato and do my best to help both Somalia and its people in the near future. God bless.
 
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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.

This hit me hard

giphy.gif
 
Another great thread bro. I'm guilty of the first two types you mentioned where I may have a heroic version of black hawk down or pirate activities in my head or I fantasise about the greatness of Somalia in the past during the Kacaan and previous empires. However I mostly pride myself in the vision of what Somalia can be. I look beyond qabyaalad and other negative things that burden a lot of Somalis. My pride comes from helping out my people and the connection I have with my fellow Somalis over all other races. My pride comes from my culture and how I was raised. I see Somalia as an injured superstar waiting to return from an ACL tear and win the MVP. My pride is hope.

The worst type of Somali is the third type that shuns Somalis and I'm afraid that there are tons of them where I live. Sometimes I feel like beating the Somalinimo into these whitewashed or Madow washed xoolos. All I can say is Somalia ha noolato and do my best to help both Somalia and its people in the near future. God bless.

Awesome, that's what I love to hear sxb.
 
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?

So according to you one should not seek pride in his past achievements, qualities possessions?

Let me ask you this if today you were to be a doctor and 25 years down the line you somehow lost your job, ended up down the hill, will you not seek pride in Your degree, qualities and what you have achieved as a doctor all those years?

Every nation seeks pride in their past whether is was good or bad, the British seek pride in the British empire even when there is a lot of negativity surrounding it. The Turks seek pride in Ottoman Empire even when it is long gone.

As a Somalia what gives me pride is my heritage, background and the history of my people even if we are not at our best today still it doesn't mean I have to look down and not see what I was before the last 26 years.

Your mindset is that of a defeatist person and very misleading to a lot of youth who don't really know who they are.
 

YoungFarah

:)
VIP
So according to you one should not seek pride in his past achievements, qualities possessions?

Let me ask you this if today you were to be a doctor and 25 years down the line you somehow lost your job, ended up down the hill, will you not seek pride in Your degree, qualities and what you have achieved as a doctor all those years?

Every nation seeks pride in their past whether is was good or bad, the British seek pride in the British empire even when there is a lot of negativity surrounding it. The Turks seek pride in Ottoman Empire even when it is long gone.

As a Somalia what gives me pride is my heritage, background and the history of my people even if we are not at our best today still it doesn't mean I have to look down and not see what I was before the last 26 years.

Your mindset is that of a defeatist person and very misleading to a lot of youth who don't really know who they are.
Actually the issue is your ilk who are stuck in the 1800s still arguing about qabyaalad when you can't see the bigger picture that we are all somali bro and it is our job to fix up. We're only 20+million max in this planet and no one will help us. No Turk, no Arab, No white man. Only is the Somali people can make Somalia great. If you are pride in being Somali then amen to that but if you divide up Somalis based on qabil then nacalaa to that and that mentality. f*ck qabyaalad.

The main thing I want to ask is when you talk about your pride coming from the heritage, background and history of your people to you refer to your qabil or to all Somalis?
 
So according to you one should not seek pride in his past achievements, qualities possessions?

Let me ask you this if today you were to be a doctor and 25 years down the line you somehow lost your job, ended up down the hill, will you not seek pride in Your degree, qualities and what you have achieved as a doctor all those years?

Every nation seeks pride in their past whether is was good or bad, the British seek pride in the British empire even when there is a lot of negativity surrounding it. The Turks seek pride in Ottoman Empire even when it is long gone.

As a Somalia what gives me pride is my heritage, background and the history of my people even if we are not at our best today still it doesn't mean I have to look down and not see what I was before the last 26 years.

Your mindset is that of a defeatist person and very misleading to a lot of youth who don't really know who they are.

Read it again. He clearly made a distinction b/w delusional pride and using our history as a source of confidence and lessons.
 
Another great thread bro. I'm guilty of the first two types you mentioned where I may have a heroic version of black hawk down or pirate activities in my head or I fantasise about the greatness of Somalia in the past during the Kacaan and previous empires. However I mostly pride myself in the vision of what Somalia can be. I look beyond qabyaalad and other negative things that burden a lot of Somalis. My pride comes from helping out my people and the connection I have with my fellow Somalis over all other races. My pride comes from my culture and how I was raised. I see Somalia as an injured superstar waiting to return from an ACL tear and win the MVP. My pride is hope.

The worst type of Somali is the third type that shuns Somalis and I'm afraid that there are tons of them where I live. Sometimes I feel like beating the Somalinimo into these whitewashed or Madow washed xoolos. All I can say is Somalia ha noolato and do my best to help both Somalia and its people in the near future. God bless.

fucking A sxb :qri8gs7:

this is my outlook as well. There's no way we would be in the gutters for eternity. Already I see the stars are aligning for Somalia with our arch nemesis Ethiopia on the backfoot dealing with protests and forced to shift their attention away from us if their situation worsens. 2018 onwards will be our make or break moment for Somalia if we can get our house in order. Once we have proper governance free of foreign meddling we will once again prosper and become the powerhouse of the horn.
 

Nightline Kid

Hippo Crate
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

Exactly! Why take credit for the actions of other people? It's so annoying when people go "muh ancestors" when it comes to a particular hardship, you had nothing to do with their accomplishments
:camby:
 
So according to you one should not seek pride in his past achievements, qualities possessions?

Let me ask you this if today you were to be a doctor and 25 years down the line you somehow lost your job, ended up down the hill, will you not seek pride in Your degree, qualities and what you have achieved as a doctor all those years?

Every nation seeks pride in their past whether is was good or bad, the British seek pride in the British empire even when there is a lot of negativity surrounding it. The Turks seek pride in Ottoman Empire even when it is long gone.

As a Somalia what gives me pride is my heritage, background and the history of my people even if we are not at our best today still it doesn't mean I have to look down and not see what I was before the last 26 years.

Your mindset is that of a defeatist person and very misleading to a lot of youth who don't really know who they are.
m_JWqS.gif
goaway.gif
 

YoungFarah

:)
VIP
fucking A sxb :qri8gs7:

this is my outlook as well. There's no way we would be in the gutters for eternity. Already I see the stars are aligning for Somalia with our arch nemesis Ethiopia on the backfoot dealing with protests and forced to shift their attention away from us if their situation worsens. 2018 onwards will be our make or break moment for Somalia if we can get our house in order. Once we have proper governance free of foreign meddling we will once again prosper and become the powerhouse of the horn.
Wallahi beesha TQ has some blessed people in it Wallahi. Seeing all Somalis as walaalo is the way forward and the quicker we do that the quicker we climb the ladder of greatness.
 
So according to you one should not seek in his past achievements, qualities possessions?

Let me ask you this if today you were to be a doctor and 25 years down the line you somehow lost your job, ended up down the hill, will you not seek pride in Your degree, qualities and what you have achieved as a doctor all those years?

Every nation seeks pride in their past whether is was good or bad, the British seek pride in the British empire even when there is a lot of negativity surrounding it. The Turks seek pride in Ottoman Empire even when it is long gone.

As a Somalia what gives me pride is my heritage, background and the history of my people even if we are not at our best today still it doesn't mean I have to look down and not see what I was before the last 26 years.

Your mindset is that of a defeatist person and very misleading to a lot of youth who don't really know who they are.

I think of it like this. Let's say I was a high-flying stock market wiz, who made millions of dollars on my trades. But then let's say I became a alcoholic to cope with all the stress of trading. The alcohol then made me abusive to my wife, and then she asked for a divorce. I ended up losing half my wealth to her in the settlement, and I ended up going into a deep depression as a result. I ended up making desperate trades, more like gambles, to make back the money I lost in the divorce and I just ended up losing all of my wealth. I became a drunk, penniless, depressed and broken man.

Now lets say I saw my high-flying millionaire trader friends after 10 years of living like this. Can I feel prideful when I see them? I don't think so.
But what I can feel is confidence. Confidence that I have what it takes to fix my life and make back the money, because I've done it before in the past. This confidence would allow me to keep my head up while I work to rebuild my life.

Somalis, at the current time, should have confidence, not pride. We need to fix up before we can have real and true pride again.
 

YoungFarah

:)
VIP
Exactly! Why take credit for the actions of other people? It's so annoying when people go "muh ancestors" when it comes to a particular hardship, you had nothing to do with their accomplishments
:camby:
Indeed. Saying my qabiil is the richest most landheer the most powerful etc is so dumb to me. Why not focus on getting your own maal and putting your own positive mark on this Earth while you're alive. Muh ancestors and muh qabil is so idiotic it amazes me how people are staunch qabilistes.
 
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