The Folly of Wrong Thinking

Wrong thinking creates misunderstanding and misunderstanding creates suspicion and non-trust, and these create a lot of social conflict, not only within communities but also among nations—Samdhog Rinpoche

We are in a public hot tub/jacuzzi. For some reason this retiree African-American opened up to me for the first time. Hearing my accent, he asked where I was from.

AA: Is that where Amin is from?, he queried.

I am familiar and used to this kind of question.

Me: Yes, I said.

AA: Is he still alive?, he went on.

Me: No. The dude is gone to the other side, I replied with a hint of losing my temper.

Now I can see he looked animated.

AA: Is Uganda near Rwanda where all the killings are going on?

Me: Yes, Uganda sits on top of Rwanda .

I then gave him History 101 of Tutsi-Hutu chasm.

AA: There is a lot of trouble in Africa .

Me: There is trouble everywhere, and Africa has its unique versions.

AA: It is a custom in Africa for men to pour acid on the faces of women who disappoint them, isn’t it?

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I had to control myself.

Me: My friend that is wrong thinking. Hate and anger shows up in macabre ways all over the world. There are manifestations of hate and anger everyday in your country.

AA: But in Africa that is the custom of those people. They don’t have laws.

The dude was already getting to my nerves. I had to pull my arsenal in a controlled way.

Me: Tell me Willie, was what O. J. Simpson did to his wife and her friend the custom in America? Are hanging you guys on trees the American custom?

It was getting hot, and Willie decided to leave the hot tub to cool off in the swimming pool.

AA: Okay, okay.
He muttered as he climbed out.

This is the nature of wrong thinking. We begin to utter and do things that are stupid—causing divisions, bad blood, if not deaths. Unfortunately in Uganda wrong thinking is pervasive, and that maybe the root causes of all the problems that the country has faced since it was artificially cobbled together by the British.

Related to wrong thinking we will in the future tackle the issue of “guilt by association,” a phenomenon we may see it play out again and again if leaders and the led are not careful.