Rwanda ‘ s Liberation transmit these values – the education system – is reflected in the perception and attitudes that community members have towards the value system . In other words , the inability for some to internalize the values of liberation is the gap between the present society and the much-desired-but-yet-to-materialize virtuous society .
If the ideals of liberation were to be internalized , everyone ’ s instincts towards the greater good for society would be evident . However , the struggle for accountability demonstrates that still existing confrontation where individual success is the dominant aspiration in the minds of some in leadership and , if truth be told , even in those of the ordinary citizens . Otherwise , it would be far easier to mobilise resources for the greater good that requires sacrifice on the part of individuals , which is the value system that transcends the liberation beyond an armed victory . If this basic understanding were to be internalized , then everyone would perceive the call of the value system as duty rather than subordinate oneself to it due to fear of punishment . Indeed , sustainability of accountability is only possible when a natural inclination to the greater good and the shame that comes to its violation replace the fear of punishment that is identified to a particular enforcer .
As Confucius , the famous Chinese philosopher , put it : “ if the people be led by laws , and uniformity sought to be given to them by punishments , they will try to avoid the punishment , but have no sense of shame . If they be led by virtue , and uniformity sought to be given them by the rules of propriety , they will have the sense of shame – and will become good .”
This sense of shame is internalized duty , where punishment precedes the violation of the greater good instead of following it in the form of legalese ( laws ) and enforcement .
Therefore , the challenge for the liberation movement in its quest to create a virtuous society – absent of the desired education system – is to find more effective methods that render the transmission of its core values a priority that subsequently leads to this internalized duty .
Where the education system won ’ t shape the value system of society , the actions and behaviors of leaders model society . It is from them that the ordinary person internalizes what is important and what should form the vision of their aspirations . Elsewhere , in addition to the education system , the arts , the media , the sports and entertainment industry , among others , are used for the transmission and consolidation of core values shared in common .
In Africa , each of these tools – even the education system – is dominated by a value system that promotes individual success . They operate against the ancestral value system of the Ubuntu philosophy which subordinates individual interests to collective interests and according to which a person exists only in relation to others . It is , therefore , not surprising that these tools produce individuals who do not accept to subordinate their interests to those of the community . When they do , it is not because of a natural inclination to the greater good ; it is to avoid punishment .
At best , most of the individuals produced by the individualism now promoted in our societies will not be able to extend their vision of the community beyond close family and friends , if at all . At worst , their concerns and deeds will end with themselves . Further , their guidelines for individual choices will render them fundamentally incapable of espousing a vision of society that promotes a sense of sacrifice and deep respect for the greater good . Indeed , every functioning society subordinates individual aspirations to the greater good and demands that sacrifices are made in this quest .
Rwanda ’ s liberation movement is significant because it dedicated itself to confronting the colonial patterns of thought and practice in the institutions of the state . It could achieve much more if it had the support of the education system to consolidate and transmit memory . However , for its value system to get transmitted from one generation to another , the process of decolonization it started must be completed . For how long it will circumvent the education system to find solutions outside of it remains an open debate . What the next stage of the struggle entails is clear : how to get society – with leaders leading from the front and by example – to uphold the greater good as a natural instinct and call of duty rather than turning to the right thing due to the promptness of punishment . This is the least that society – young and old – can do to render the sacrifice of the known and unknown heroes , the giants on whose shoulders Rwanda stands arisen from the ashes of destruction . Only then will these heroes live eternally through collective memory so that the society they birthed stands on a firm ground – the value system they fought for ._
29