All the Wise Men Died: Wisdom, existed in the past but not anymore in South Sudan
“If you see behind the mountains then why did you allow John Garang to die there” Cattle keeper in Equatoria
By Malith Alier, Perth, Australia
Monday, May 7, 2018 (PW) — It is not uncommon to hear people praising rulers that they made wise decisions here or there. Wisdom, existed in the past but not anymore. This is more so in the area of politics.
King Solomon of Israel was considered a wise ruler during his time. This was evidenced by the judgment involving two women claiming ownership and custody of a certain child.
In the case, one of the contestants chose a zero-sum game when she requested the king to cut the child into two halves. This prompted the king to decide that she was a pretender and passed the verdict in the other woman’s favour.
King Solomon acquired his wisdom to govern the kingdom of Israel directly from God when God appeared to him in a dream and ask him to choose between wisdom and wealth. The king chose the former. God gave him both.
Do we still have wise rulers today? Not anymore. Lots of things have change since the time of Solomon. One reason for this is that the world has become knowledgeable and some people want to have everything for themselves; power, wealth and wisdom without asking God, the provider.
In the West, the word “excellency” is defunct for the same reason. People use honourable or your first name (Mr. so and so) instead of the meaningless fancy words and subjective titles that add no value to what one took an oath to strive for in the first place.
The past reliance on wisdom has been superseded by rules, regulations and policies. We’re no longer guided by wisdom. Theoretically wisdom is the experience, knowledge and good judgement but if allowed for discretion of man, it fails us big time.
Experience, knowledge and good judgement propelled mankind to develop permanently written rules for good governance. This is what being Homo Sapiens means.
To respect rules, regulations and policies, the nations of the world have been searching for the best form of government over the years. Hundreds of those nations now believe that democracy is the best form of government under which to govern humankind. A constitutional democracy where nobody is above the law is considered fit for the purpose.
Nobody actually knows what is in a man’s heart. Even under democracy, those in power still want to get away with it. Some leaders in office for many years may still be unsatisfied and may continue to be after unending incentives. The checks and balances embedded in the constitution can curtail that. Also, the constitution should be monitored by independent institutions.
Constitutional provisions should limit power allocation to groups. Giving one man too much power can lead to abuse of that power in the absence of effective checks and balances.
Where the institutions of governance fail to do their jobs, that nation momentarily fail to function or keep law and order.
God is no longer ditching out wisdom on the streets of the capital cities of the world. Instead, people who are seeking experience, knowledge and good judgement go to schools to experience and learn new things.
The companies or higher institutions of learning conduct research and development. The law courts rely on precedents from the higher courts because of the limitation of wisdom.
Many nations still rule by kings or queens no long rely on the king’s wisdom. This is so because all the wise men died. Solomon, Mohamad, Buddha and Jesus are the wise man. Not to forget our John Garang was also a wise man who died without bestowing his wisdom to anyone in South Sudan.
You can reach the author via his email: Aljok Deng <alierjokdeng@gmail.com>
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