Years ago, I read Leon Uris’ book The Haj. It covered a lot about the conflict in the middle east in the story of a man who had made the trip to Mecca – on his return, he was the Haj. In the book, Uris described the tribal perspective that dominates the region: “Before I was nine I had learned the basic canon of Arab life. It was me against my brother; me and my brother against our father; my family against my cousins and the clan; the clan against the tribe; and the tribe against the world and all of us against the infidel.”
I have seen this quote online, supposedly describing the Somali culture. I imagine that the inclusion of the word ‘infidel’ assures that the description covers Muslims and Arabs – yet I suspect the sentence does a more universal job in describing tribalism . . . or perhaps any pirate state. I can see how Israelis, with the holocaust still in memory, and the many years of warfare since 1948, might tend to believe they are a tribe against the world. I can find in our local history incidents that suggest families working to exploit a small government, town or district.
I watch the spots where government doesn’t work – often in simple things. With flooding in south county, my wife showed a Facebook post from the Sheriff’s office, warning against travel in Lincoln County – yet the problem areas didn’t include our roads between Trego and Eureka. Comments show that our new residents are concerned. I think about the problems our county health department has created through ignorance and a lack of honesty. And I see spots where soaking a district of one sort or another has became a family industry. Somalis may have refined the grift – but I’ve seen spots where family first grifts occur with American born folks padding things for their families.
Mark Twain is credited with the observation that “In the first place, God created idiots. That was for practice. Then he created school boards.” It’s a thankless job – and because of that, school boards are short of volunteers. Because few people want the thankless job, those who get it aren’t always super board members. Same argument goes for town councils and a lot of unpaid district positions.
Looking out for the community, for the public’s interest, isn’t the easiest course to follow – so we find people in public positions who get involved for the benefits they can get from controlling a public utility.
Perhaps graft isn’t just a Somali thing.
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