Analysing the essence of care in our society
Windhoek, our capital city, has long had the goal of becoming a caring city by a certain year.
This mission is still on the City’s key strategy documents, according to inside sources. But I doubt if the City has ever explained what is entailed in 'caring' and how they will achieve this. Those engaged in quantitative research would ask this question: How does one measure care? What are the elements of care? Is caring understood the same way in Kongola and in Windhoek? Is care an ideological, ethical or cultural thing?
Does the context matter? Another question: Is it the responsibility of the individual or the state? Over the past three years, former presidential economic adviser Dr John Steytler has been writing and promoting a conversation about mental health.
He would sign off on these articles with a disclaimer that they were written in his personal capacity. He is not a psychologist or a social worker. He was recently appointed as the chief executive officer of the Development Bank of Namibia. During his recent meeting with the bank’s employees, he spoke about the importance of mental health.
Why is an economist concerned about mental health in our society? It might appear that we can find case studies that address the issue within an individual context. Moreover, on a state level, we have witnessed countries like Bhutan altering their constitution to incorporate the pursuit of population happiness as a fundamental state objective. There is an argument being made that states should shift away from relying solely on gross domestic product (GDP) as the only measure of development and should include factors such as happiness. In fact, a new metric called gross national happiness (GNH) has been introduced to challenge GDP's dominance.
The Bhutanese argue that “if the government cannot create happiness for its people, then there is no purpose for the government to exist”.
Does our government, including the City of Windhoek, ever consider care as one of its key performance areas? Are mental health and happiness operational elements that form part of government's conceptual framework? How are we to assess our government's performance on this score, regardless of whether they have it as a formal performance indicator?
Our society today requires this analysis. Considering the number of Namibians who choose to take their own lives through suicide, it is telling.
The fact that an economist and banking executive chooses to promote mental health, even in the workplace, should serve as a sign of the current state of affairs in this sphere. We are, of course, aware that there might be reasons why he focuses on this issue. Anyone who takes a closer look at the levels of unemployment, destitution, and corruption will be able to gain a sense of the national mood and the level of happiness.
The question of care is not the only one that arises from this suggested analysis. It is one that is heard during public meetings whenever ordinary citizens encounter state and government officials. “You don’t care about us. You only come during election times”.
In some instances, vulgarities are directed at members of Cabinet (especially ministers) and parliamentarians. Our question for today concerns how a caring society is fostered. Is it a result of design or cultivation?
For many Africans, physical discipline through beating is important in raising children.
Children could be disciplined by a caring adult in the community when he or she sees this child go astray. When they started implementing these ethos and practices in urban centres, non-black parents went to court and got corporal punishment declared unconstitutional.
Teachers now helplessly watch learners sow chaos in schools.
Care, in one context, includes corporal punishment to ensure that the behaviour and/or tendency is discouraged and never repeated. To others, corporal punishment is not part of care. What is care, then? Is it designed or cultivated? Answering this question will assist in not only doing an assessment of our society but also determining what we must do.
*Muthoni waKongola is a native of Kongola in the Zambezi Region primarily concerned with analysing society and offering ideas for a better Namibia. She is reachable at [email protected] or @wakongola on Twitter.
This mission is still on the City’s key strategy documents, according to inside sources. But I doubt if the City has ever explained what is entailed in 'caring' and how they will achieve this. Those engaged in quantitative research would ask this question: How does one measure care? What are the elements of care? Is caring understood the same way in Kongola and in Windhoek? Is care an ideological, ethical or cultural thing?
Does the context matter? Another question: Is it the responsibility of the individual or the state? Over the past three years, former presidential economic adviser Dr John Steytler has been writing and promoting a conversation about mental health.
He would sign off on these articles with a disclaimer that they were written in his personal capacity. He is not a psychologist or a social worker. He was recently appointed as the chief executive officer of the Development Bank of Namibia. During his recent meeting with the bank’s employees, he spoke about the importance of mental health.
Why is an economist concerned about mental health in our society? It might appear that we can find case studies that address the issue within an individual context. Moreover, on a state level, we have witnessed countries like Bhutan altering their constitution to incorporate the pursuit of population happiness as a fundamental state objective. There is an argument being made that states should shift away from relying solely on gross domestic product (GDP) as the only measure of development and should include factors such as happiness. In fact, a new metric called gross national happiness (GNH) has been introduced to challenge GDP's dominance.
The Bhutanese argue that “if the government cannot create happiness for its people, then there is no purpose for the government to exist”.
Does our government, including the City of Windhoek, ever consider care as one of its key performance areas? Are mental health and happiness operational elements that form part of government's conceptual framework? How are we to assess our government's performance on this score, regardless of whether they have it as a formal performance indicator?
Our society today requires this analysis. Considering the number of Namibians who choose to take their own lives through suicide, it is telling.
The fact that an economist and banking executive chooses to promote mental health, even in the workplace, should serve as a sign of the current state of affairs in this sphere. We are, of course, aware that there might be reasons why he focuses on this issue. Anyone who takes a closer look at the levels of unemployment, destitution, and corruption will be able to gain a sense of the national mood and the level of happiness.
The question of care is not the only one that arises from this suggested analysis. It is one that is heard during public meetings whenever ordinary citizens encounter state and government officials. “You don’t care about us. You only come during election times”.
In some instances, vulgarities are directed at members of Cabinet (especially ministers) and parliamentarians. Our question for today concerns how a caring society is fostered. Is it a result of design or cultivation?
For many Africans, physical discipline through beating is important in raising children.
Children could be disciplined by a caring adult in the community when he or she sees this child go astray. When they started implementing these ethos and practices in urban centres, non-black parents went to court and got corporal punishment declared unconstitutional.
Teachers now helplessly watch learners sow chaos in schools.
Care, in one context, includes corporal punishment to ensure that the behaviour and/or tendency is discouraged and never repeated. To others, corporal punishment is not part of care. What is care, then? Is it designed or cultivated? Answering this question will assist in not only doing an assessment of our society but also determining what we must do.
*Muthoni waKongola is a native of Kongola in the Zambezi Region primarily concerned with analysing society and offering ideas for a better Namibia. She is reachable at [email protected] or @wakongola on Twitter.
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