Of handshake and the depressing culture of political correctness – Standard Digital

Two years after the much-acclaimed handshake between President Uhuru Kenyatta and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, is Kenya going up or coming down? To avoid the embarrassment of being seen as pro-handshake or anti-handshake, I will answer: Maybe, maybe not.Even as we celebrate that BBI has quieted things down, one cannot fail to notice the overpowering sense of seeing things as either black or white, depending on which side one takes.This could also explain the rise of not in my backyard syndrome where what happens on the other side of the fence does not matter so long as all is well in your corner. The equivalent for Kiswahili speakers is the saying:Pilipili usiyoila yakuwashiani?Support or opposition to ideas is fashioned along tribe and political affiliation.Why should we worry?Nimbyism risks denying the country better alternatives as loyalty and principled opposition gets undermined. There is more focus on being politically correct. Never has it ever been so right to conform even while breaking away from the group and taking a stand seems to be the right and sensible thing to do.The debilitating herd mentality holding sway currently negates the steps we have taken as a democracy. Democracy essentially centres on the contest of ideas. When a majority of the people begin to see things as either black or white - because none of them wants to step out of the common line - then we are treading on dangerous grounds. It should worry that Opposition MPs line up to defend, rather than kick the stool from underneath the government, while those supposedly in government are fighting government from within.

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Of handshake and the depressing culture of political correctness - Standard Digital