Book Review #1: Something of Value by Robert Ruark

Telescope Peak Death Valley - photo by JoAnn Sturman

Scott Sturman
fliesinyoureyes.com

"If a man does away with his traditional way of living and throws away his good customs, he had better first make certain that he has something of value to replace them." Basuto proverb

Something of Value, a historical novel set during Kenya's Mau Mau Revolution in the 1950's, describes the consequences of violating this proverb. The British stripped the ruling Kikuyu people of their traditional ways of governance and imposed their own rule of law which was in stark contrast with the native lifestyle. As a consequence the freedoms and customs of the Kenyan people were severely restricted to the point they became slaves in their own land. In desperation and under the leadership of Jomo Kenyatta, they struck back against their oppressors with a savage and bloody insurrection – the Mau Mau Revolution.

From the British point of view their benevolent rule would civilize the Africans by eliminating the capricious justice meted out by tribal councils and replace it by written laws enforced by paid magistrates. To the European mind it was as simple as exchanging a horse and buggy for a high powered roadster. How could any reasonable person quarrel about the trade?

Kenyans were accustomed and accepted harsh punishments enforced by village elders who generally had personal knowledge of the accused. It was quite a different matter to be judged by a stranger whose basis of decision lacked context and who did not understand which punishments served as deterrents to crime in the Kenyan culture. The British considered incarceration a severe punishment which could be applied to most crimes; the length of confinement and seriousness of the crime were roughly proportional. But to the Kikuyu who was used to deprivation and likely not to know when or where the next meal would be available, jail was an enticement to crime. Dry, safe from wild animals, and providing three meals a day, the Europeans could not have conceived of a more effective system to undermine civic order.

The disconnect between the values which catapulted our own country from a defiant British colony to world leadership in the span of 150 years to the ones being foisted upon us now could not be more apparent. These values were incorporated into the Constitution by far sighted men who understood the delicate balance between freedom and government.

Emphasis on individual freedom provided the individual takes responsibility for this freedom

Opportunity to take risks and depending on the outcome either reap great rewards or suffer the consequences

Limited power of the national government balanced by the individual and the states

Public ethos based on Judeo-Christian ethics

A republic, not a democracy, where a non professional political class serve the voters they represent

Society based on thrift where taxation is appropriate to pay for only the requirements specified by the Constitution

System conducive to the assimilation of many cultures by the use of one common language and the deemphasis of primary loyalty to one's native land

Yet despite their brilliance, perhaps the founders assumed too much. Being scholarly men reared in a primarily rural society with a traditional sectarian basis, they drafted a constitution for a polity with a religious heritage and imbued with a self reliant outlook. As the attitudes of America changed, the Constitution was bent to conform to new ideals, some of which made it impossible to sustain our form of government over long periods of time. The document became unable to protect its citizens from a government it was intended to limit. Once this momentum was attained, it was difficult to reverse since a majority of the voters became complacent with having their lives directed. There are finite limits to this arrangement. At some point the government becomes too large, too inefficient, and too corrupt to provide for the ever increasing demand for services.

Something of Value opens our eyes to a part of the world in a time that most of us know little. It is a violent story which portrays the lengths to which people will resort once they perceive the system holds no future for them. The Kikuyu leaders and their people were willing to go to their deaths to restore their freedom and cultural traditions. Their actions set the stage for independence from Great Britain and the establishment of their own nation. Are we as apt to do as much for ours, or should we accept the insidious decline of a once great nation?