Capitalism 15

I am, because we are; and since we are therefore I am.

John Mbiti (1969): African Religions and Philosophy. Nairobi: East African Educational Publishers, p. 106

John Mbiti (1931-2019) was a Kenyan theologian. This quote is based on Ubuntu philosophy which has spread across many parts of Africa, e.g. in Zulu: ‘Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu’ (A man is a man through other men).

Ubuntu gets applied to many fields that include philosophy, a freely available computer operating system, and as an inspiration for an economic system beyond capitalism. In contrast to Descartes' cogito ergo sum (I think, therefore I am), this attitude of mind shows that unlike in the Enlightenment’s individualistic world view, people’s well-being is interlinked. It follows that success is therefore not the accumulation of material wealth by individuals, but the ‘restoration of vitality, the living spirit that permeates our existence and the world of which we are a part’ (Naudé 2010: 113). Naudé, a professor at Nelson Mandela University in South Africa, suggests that African Ubuntu philosophy could be the basis for a new trading system.

*Abeba Birhane (2017): Descartes was wrong: ‘a person is a person through other persons’. * Piet J. Naudé (2010): Fair Global Trade: A Perspective from Africa. In: Geoff Moore: Fairness in International Trade. Durham: Springer‘s.

1969