The Mind of The Global Nomad
I want to talk about a trend I’ve been noticing for the past few years and it is this phenomenon of people moving from country to country for various reasons. For many, it’s because they’re searching for better economic opportunities whilefor others, thereasons are more personal, i.e. they want to be closer to family members, to their cultural roots, etc, etc…
However, with all these physical movements, there is also another phenomenon occurring that I’ve been noticing for a while and it is that the world is just becoming a much smaller place, thanks to more sophisticated mediums of communication like mobile phones, the internet and even the frequency of flying. So, with these things in place, is physically moving all that important anymore? because what I’m beginning to notice is that unless you’re inheriting money or a business from your parents, physically moving won’t fundamentally alter your economic situation and why is this? It’s because when you move, you may be changing physical locations, but ultimately, you are moving with the same brain and knowledge that you had before and if that hasn’t changed, neither will your financial situation.
The second part comes (again) from the twitter people I follow and a lot of them just happen to be “tech” people (well…at least that’s what they call themselves) and quite a few bankers all of whom are based in Kenya and every time I read their tweets, it hits me that these people seem to be very confined (intellectually) to their physical environments and I can’t quite figure out why this is.
Why, if you have access to the internet, a mobile phone and everything else… would you confine a product you are making or developing just to the Kenyan market when, with the technology that exists today, you could literally sell it to anyone in the world (if it can be used by anyone in the world).
So, basically, the main point of this jingled article is this: In today’s modern era, physical location is becoming almost mute. What is more important is the location of your “mind” — i.e. where it is and what is stored in it (because if you have specific knowledge today, you can sell your services to anyone in the world. You no longer have to live in a particular country to do it).
Then, with this in mind, let’s look at a hypothetical scenario here:
You are a Kenyan living in either America or Europe and you decide to move back to Kenya. Now, America and Europe combined, have about 63% of the world’s wealth (see this post on global wealth distribution). Africa (the entire continent) has about 1% of the world’s wealth. Asia Pacific has about 22% of the world’s wealth. So, if your mind has the knowledge within it, why (if you have no inheritance and/or no political connections in Kenya) why would you chose to move to a place that has so much less of the world’s wealth? Could one reason be that you’re still thinking that physical location matters more than “mental” location?
On the opposite end, if you are based in Kenya, why confine your sales just to that country? The only reason you’d do that is because your “mind” doesn’t recognize that another world beyond your borders exists. Why is it that I’ve been able to hire software engineers from India, buy goods from a guy in Poland, but would find it difficult to do with someone from Kenya? Is it because their minds are confined only to the Kenyan market?
** On another note – I was listening to that midget MP Samuel Mbugua the other day and he epitomized everything about a confined mind that I’ve been trying to talk about here. As soon as this guy opens his mouth, you can tell that his entire world is Kamkunji and he’s a relatively young guy so this is shocking.
I can say the same thing about another relatively young guy — William Ruto. He thinks he speaks well, but if you look at the way he behaves, his mind is confined to his “village” in Eldoret. It’s a tribal mind and that’s why he’s gotten caught up in this ICC stuff. William Ruto does not have a “global” mind and it’s really too bad because he’s not an old guy from pre-colonial Kenya, but his outlook of the world is not “modern”.
****
In some ways it can be very scary to accept this idea because we all like to think that change can miraculously come from a one step change process when in many cases, it never does.
So, where is your mind? and what’s in it?
At least (from the outset), Kenyans want to expand into a global village, compared to the general view of Tanzanians which is all about protectionism.
I think it’s time to take a gonzo approach to creating brands and wealth. If moving to Kinshasha will build my business, why the hell not. I am not from Congo but it does not mean I can’t go there to achieve my goals if I so want.
i see. well, what i find in your examples are instances of decision making but i guess that doesnt stop the leap to concludions about the ‘size’ of minds–whatever that means concretely.
Hadassah:
Ruto’s mind is small. It’s stuck in a pre-colonial village and tribal era. People with a global outlook on the world don’t cook up plans to kill others with bows and arrows (because they’re living in tribal, ancestral land that doesn’t belong to them). Ruto is in his 40′s he should have a more modern outlook of the world!
Anyway, I don’t want to turn this post into an anti-ruto one (I already have a post on that on this blog) – I want to turn it into how people think about economic opportunities in this global era.
On one hand I am tempted to agree with you, on the other hand in analyzing how people make decisions, i get the sense that we need to take into account many factors, including risk thresholds, uncertainty and personal preferences. Perhaps Ruto’s “mind” is not that small afterall?
Ciiku:
I appreciate your comment.
Thanks
@KE – Like xoxo, the U.S. will never be home for some of us. Kenya (with all its problems) is where our hearts are. Nothing can compare to moving back to spend time with aging parents and other relatives.
xoxo:
Believe me, if you are reduced to selling chickens on the streets, you’ll be back in America in no time
And this is an interesting point you raised because I was having a discussion about this with one of my friends and she said look:
When I was at the university of Nairobi and I was 19, life was one big party. We drank, we partied, we laughed and we didn’t really think about money, but you get older and things change. You laugh less (not because you are in Kenya or America or England) but I think it’s because life is no longer one big party. You start thinking about money, bills, mortgages, kids, etc…and regardless of where you are geographically, you won’t be laughing as much as you used to when you were younger and had fewer obligations.
However, like I said, you’ll be moving with your “mind” and some people can make it wherever they are regardless of the situation (maybe you are in that camp).
Godfrey:
I’ll it say it again here, I think twitter is a great medium for understanding just how inter-connected the whole world is today because you can talk to people in real time wherever in the world they are. You can see when they’re getting up, going to bed, having lunch, etc…if they have products you’re interested in, you can find out about their businesses and buy their products. I did this with one guy I found on twitter. I kept seeing his tweets about how he roasted his own coffee. He had a link to his website. I went to it and viola! I ordered some coffee from him and now I’m ordering it almost every month because it’s great coffee. I think the guy is based in Europe, but who cares? He has a product I want, I tried it and liked it and now I’m a regular customer.
They’re over 100 million people on twitter. If you are a business why would you not be on there looking for customers? Why confine your advertising to Nairobi when with one click, you can get access to 100 million potential customers? Like the coffee guy I just mentioned.
Well said! With the world becoming a global village, I get saddened when I hear Kenyans retreating into tribal cocoons. The talk in the counties is all about not letting ‘foreigners’ run for governor, senator, etc. Even business is becoming tribal as people trade only with their kinsmen, shop in outlets owned by people from their tribe and employ their own relatives.
Its no wonder then that we seem insulated from the outside world. If Kenyans cannot think nationally in terms of business, how can you expect them – us – to think globally?
I’ve been in the States 9 years and cant wait to come home. I am not at home here, period. Every day is a mental struggle. I have neither an inheritance nor political connections. I just doubt that I have ever laughed here like I did there. I miss my family. What more is there to say?
I’ll leave behind a good job, relative comfort, security and so on. If I have to sell chickens in Nairobi to get by, so be it.
But really, people in Kenya do tend to be “closed” in their thinking. Doing bizna in Kenya from here is an impossibility.