Of Mice and Men?

I sometimes think of myself as a wise guy. I think I am wise because I feel I take time to thnk about things before I talk and before I act. Of course this is not always the case. I have also come across many wise people in my interesting life. One knowledgeable source defines wisdom as "...a deep understanding of people, things, events or situations, resulting in the ability to choose or act to consistently produce the optimum results with a minimum of time and energy."

So I believe I would be right to say wisdom is the ability to produce maximum output given a particular situation based on one's quickness to understand what is needed. Another wise guy also said that if you don't have a plan, then you are planning to fail.

As I sit and look at everything that's happening around me, particularly in this country of all possibilities called Kenya, I cant help but realize that Kenya is one country that is full of wise guys. Everyone knows everything about everything. Am sure you must be wondering why. Here's my argumentative proof. I am a wise guy after-all!

Am sure all of us have at least a friend or a relative who has gotten married recently. Have you ever noticed that once one gets married they are suddenly wise? They can give you advice on relationships, marriage, having a family, how to plan for one? All this might be coming from a guy who dated for only 3 months before getting married. Do the question is, Do wedding rings have mystical powers that bestow wisdom and knowledge? I want one, now! No offense to those who are there with the third ring of life and marriage....suffering! This cuts across every event in our lives. Once you go through it, you become the undisputed authority in the field.

So looking at the bigger picture now, I see the managers of our country. Our government structure as it is. It consists of the wisest minds in the land. After-all, most of them have been "in leadership" since before Obama was born. I wonder why the American president doesn't come to get some leadership skills from his Kenyan heritage.

So our wise leaders decided that caning students was a bad idea. Not that I agree or disagree, but banning caning outright and not providing a workable substitute? How are the teachers expected to punish them truants? I was a good boy in my student days, but I still landed my fair share of the cane, and look at where I am, I am a wise guy! So caning is illegal, kids do all they want and how do they get punished?.... why the silence? I thought you knew, they dont. So of course they too will end up as wise kids, knowing that the best way to vent their anger is to burn up a school or two. Isn't that a great ideology? We are creating future wise leaders of tomorrow!
Philosophical wisdom entails the best use of knowledge. So I wonder, if your wisdom is not based on knowledge, what is it based on?

Our great and wise government spokesman decided in all his wisdom that he wanted to go on a beautification spree on a section of the city. This involved cutting down the beautiful greenery and replacing them with colored stones. I know a group of people who were happy with that move, all the Kenyans who have protests in mind. They have more than enough stones to throw!
The anti riot police must not be happy to know that the people now are more "stoned" than them. In my meager wisdom I wonder, where does the beautification of the city fall in the government spokesman's docket? Recreation? Stress relief? Does that mean the government prefer stones to trees? Aren't we supposed to be planing more trees to save the environment? And where are the wise Green Belt Movement people. They seem to have one hundred million reasons to keep mum.

I drive using Thika Road on my way to school. I do appreciate the fantastic and expedited roadworks that are taking place all over the town. I do however wonder what wisdom is in place when a road gets diverted in the middle of the night and there are no markers to show how the new road goes. Maybe the wise Chinese engineers know that Kenyans are too wise and with just one glance will know that the road that used to turn sharply left, now turns sharply right and theres a huge bump after-wards followed by massive potholes. We Kenyans love learning things the hard way.

Now once the superhighways are finished and commissioned, I hope the wise engineers put provisions for fiber as well as all other cables and pipes the other wise Kenyan engineers love yo put all over. In 3 weeks after commissioning the road, some internet provider will dig up the road to supply fiber. After wisely filling it up hastily, some water company will also dig up another section to supply water. Its wise to supply water as water is life. We, in a bid to enrich our wisdom cant avoid but need these things, so dig away!

As I contemplate the digging, I think of all the planning that is going into all these roads. Indeed if you lack a plan you plan to fail, what if you have too many plans and planners? Will you over-succeed? Which is the better of the two options?

We have a Ministry of Roads, A Ministry of Urban Planning, A ministry of Industrialization, A Metropolitan Ministry...so who is in charge of planning for these roads? Who is accountable? Whose plan are we following? Im sure you are a wise person and you already figured it out. I may just not be wise enough to understand these things yet.

In a world of mice and men, it is the good results that distinguish the mice from the men(and women).It is only a matter of time. Wise people are patient. Let's wait and see.