ninehillsRAMBLE in the JUNGLE
How to Govern? What?
By Wanaku Verdzekov · · Africa & the Gulf of Guinea
Date note: Undated Facebook post, estimated to about 2021.
Tags: government, etymology, metaphor, systems
Government by the people is simply "do it yourself" (DIY). And it's not rocket science. Like that.
TM
The word "government" comes from the Greek verb κυβερνάω (kubernáo), which means "to steer" (like steering a car, or in this case a SHIP, like Plato's "Ship of State"). Ships are steered with a RUDDER (gubernaculum in Latin).
Kubernáo, to steer, with a gubernaculum, a rudder?
PS: METAPHORS have SCOPE, and some are limited by CULTURAL boundaries.
Question: does the indigenous African, not used to steering rudders, actually understand what kubernáo with a gubernaculum means? Does s/he need to? Why, or why not?
What's the point? How do you get to the root of a problem?
You tell me.
TM
Land & resources (including humans)
The responsibility of a kommunity, tribe, clan, state, nation or local government is to conceive, create, design and implement SYSTEMS that make the management of land and resources work for everyone.
Without systems, it's like sitting in the shell of a locomotive: no engine, no fuel system, no exhaust system, no wheels… just a skeleton of an idea that really ISN'T.
TM
— Wanaku Verdzekov
Reading & grammar
Reading level: Gr 9–11
Understand
- Where does the word "government" come from?
- Why might the ship metaphor be hard for some indigenous Africans to relate to?
- What does the author say communities must build to manage land and resources?
Grammar focus: etymology. Etymology is the history of a word: government comes from Greek kubernáo, "to steer". Knowing a word's origin can reveal the picture behind it.
Try it: Look up the etymology of "democracy" and "politics". What picture does each word carry?
Discuss: Invent a metaphor for government that fits your own culture better than "steering a ship". Explain it.