SOCIAL STRATIFICATION
There seems to be titles and accolades epidemic in Uganda.
The tendency to unnecessarily stratify society into classes based on titles,
accolades and celebrity stature among Africans has reached a new crescendo.
The command and demand for titles in Uganda needs to be
examined. Titles are earned and well deserved, alright. However, when titles and
accolades begin to define us and who we should hang out with, then it becomes socially
problematic. A sudden exuberance for meeting acquaintances could easily descend
into a title race of sort. People lavish in their professions, office positions,
or association memberships as a sign of class accomplishment, or achievement.
The excessive prominence accorded titles and status
may be telling us something more about us than we know already. The desire to
climb to prominence, and to shun the stark ugliness of failure have generated a
society of duplicitous generation studded with often trust-deficit relations.
Perhaps, only Libyans under Gadhafi might have had the humility to present
themselves as Libyans, and not a distort identities derived from membership in
trades, social club, academic and other advantages that confer upon us power
and privileges.
I recently realised that interpersonal relationships
have generally declined substantially among Ugandans, both in value and
practice. There is low level of social capital’s basic elements of trust and
reciprocity. Everyone seems to be in a competition for an invisible crown. At
least some Americans chased that illusion and decidedly called it a dream – The
American Dream!
Naturally, we should be conscious of our privileges or
even the power that we hold and how these may harm others. Titles and
superimposition come with certain prices. More of our peers have become
materialistic to show accomplishment, others bullish and yet many have turned
rogues and predatorily callous.
Naturally, a society deprived of trust also project
distrust and suspicion. Everyone in Uganda seemed to be a suspect. There are many
types of suspects, political double dealers, money-bags and scallywags, carpetbaggers
and then the everyday guy who is the object of scorn. Each has a title and name
of fame which affords them a membership in certain social classes.
Then the overly priced and insecure celebrity status
that undeserved individuals confer upon themselves. There are very famous guys
called Gearbox, Small-pin, Vunja-Migumba, etc!
Outside the spheres of the unwashed, a typical
socialization moment is more of an interprofessional meeting. Everyone smiles
gleefully and is introduced by their professions, academic qualifications, job
titles, political connections, filial prestige or those dangerous things they
do for the connected. Ironically, once the titles are mentioned, no serious exploration
of what these titles mean, actually take place. The silence that follows is the
definitive sign of approval into the social circle.
These titles and command of social situatedness have
taken over the names, esteem, pedigree and identities of the real people that
we once knew. This must concern us because people are no longer afraid to hunt
for glory, either by faking it or perpetuating class divisions to be
accommodated. The real victim is social inclusion here. The criteria for social
inclusion has increased in value while social capital has depreciated.
Often such stratification
has a profound exclusory effect on women and other vulnerable groups who are
left at the bottom of social rungs for a fault not of their own. If women must
belong to such groups, they are accepted for their attachment to an acceptable titled
or privileged member of such a group or are there as sex toys for their
polished flawless skins and contours.
Uganda has become an extremely stratified and
indifferent society. There are those who have done extremely well for
themselves – acquiring education locally and abroad, set in good jobs and
connected to the right people in the right spheres of power. These are not afraid
to swing their power at you. Then there
are those who have grassed as providence deemed – mostly for belonging to a
wrong ethnic group, age category, history of conflict and you know, lack of
titled background. To overcome the class divisions, one must lie, pretend, or
project self above their real means.
At the bottom of it all, you begin to uncover a bunch
of insecure, uninformed and self-absorbed social class seekers. Most appear
clueless about the health impact of social stratification and the value or
oversight of the powers that they hold by the virtue of these titles. Titles
and social stratification are as dangerous as disease causing organisms - bacteria,
viruses and fungi. Social stratification is unnecessary, avoidable, and
remediable irrespective of one’s social class or location. The World Health
Organization warns that societal stratification causes social inequities that
kills more people than disease.
End.
