HIGHLANDERS NOT FIT TO RUN A NATION STATE, WE'LL BE READY AFTER 100 YEARS:
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| PROUD HIGHLANDER |
Speaking as a central Highlander, we are a hardy bunch no doubt molded by our harsh environment and climate. I leave the Eastern Highlanders out of the argument as they are linguistically and culturally more related to coastal tribes. The tribes occupying the central Highlands Cordillera from the now 6 Highlands Region provinces starting from Simbu, Jiwaka, Western Highlands and Southern Highlands, Enga and Hela provinces can be accurately classified as a single race because of their similar languages, customs and their common aggressive character traits. Our people and society is dark, scary and culturally complex to the outside observer.
Ours is a society in which the "big man" rules supreme. Where women are second class citizens that are a man's properties. Where warriors kill at will and take land and property at will. AND ULTIMATELY, WHERE A MAN IS MEASURED BY THE AMOUNT OF WEALTH THAT HE HAS, AND THE AMOUNT OF GUILE HE USES TO DESTROY HIS COMPETITION AND STAY AHEAD OF THE WEALTH ACCUMULATION GAME. This is our major blunder because by this reasoning we see the whole machinery of the State as a cow to be milked at all costs to get ahead in the wealth accumulation game.
As narrow as it may sound, it is our current mindset. And it will take a century to change. A Highlands leader is not a keeper of sacred customary laws like the kukurais of Momase, the powerful Papuan sorcerer chiefs, or the matrilineally descended Maimai hereditary chiefs of the Islands. A Highlands leader is usually the worst tyrant in his own tribe or clan who has trampled on his competitors by hook or by crook using all means possible.
In the Highlands society there was no political stability to speak of in the absence of a hereditary chieftaincy system and every leader had numerous wives bearing many sons who each had his eye on the throne. The absence of lethal sorcery in a densely populated region with finite resources easily gave way to a very aggressively competitive society where each man looked with envy at his brother's land, each family looked at their neighbours land, each clan looked enviously at their neighbors human and land resources, and each tribe or nation regularly conquered the neighbouring tribe and took over its land and resources leaving nill survivors. Just look at ourselves, nill Highlanders sit on the National or Supreme court benches as judges to administer the law freely as public service, the Chief Justice Injia is an exception to the rule.
Every Highlands lawyer sees the legal profession, that most noble of all professions, as a tool to get ahead in the wealth accumulation game, the worst being non other than Paraka himself who literally robbed the national coffers with his like minded Highlands brother PM O'Neill. Compare the last Highlands PM Wingti and the similarities in the level of greed to rob the State machinery to get ahead in the wealth accumulation game is remarkably startling. Wingti is still the richest man in the South Pacific, a remarkable feat for a university drop out who never ran a business and is and was a politician his entire adult life.
Just look at ourselves, before I start saying more unpleasant things lets prove to our fellow Papua New Guineans that we are mentally and culturally mature enough to run a modern nation state in the 21st century. Not yet am sure but let's try our best. O'Neill, no matter how many racial slurs we want to throw at him, is still the same little boy who was pushed to the corner when my fathers killed countless pigs and made moka exchanges and gave grand speeches glorifying themselves to the status of gods and castigating their enemies.
He grew being resentful, typical of every ambitious Highlands son. He succeeded in his education, his professional career, his business ventures and became a multi millionaire in his early 30s, and clearly was ahead of the wealth accumulation game. But to top it all off, the boy who was pushed to the corner came back to take centre stage in his native Pangia by contesting the local seat and winning. He was a millionaire, he had the money and could have contested any of the urban seats in NCD or Lae and easily win.
But like every true Highlands son, he wanted to have the once in a lifetime pleasure of dominating his own hamlet and be the moka leader at the very helm of the tribe. He has already achieved his life wish and will die a happy man to be buried in the most ornate grave in his own hamlet in Pangia of course. Every Highlands man will agree with what I am saying. But all will not agree with this-I SAY WE HIGHLANDERS ARE NOT MENTALLY AND CULTURALLY MATURE TO LEAD A NATION STATE NOW, BUT WE SHOULD BE READY AFTER 100 YEARS. I base this argument on the statements made above. If you wish to correct me, I am game
