INFERIORITY COMPLEX: MY STANDPOINT

Growing up as a child, I suffered from inferiority complex for a better part of my childhood. I think it came about as a result of the way I was brought up. You were either scolded or beaten for every wrong done. Do not mistake this for the fact that correction is wrong. You could not speak when "authority" spoke for fear of being branded "disrespectful". It made me unable to engage in discussions even with my peers even though I knew deep down that I had the brains to do so. It took a while for me to break out of that shell of inferior feeling to be able to better relate with people in society. Inferiority complex seems to be a huge word but the effects it tends to have on us are even much greater. It is a fact that people still suffer from this "disease" for various reasons including my reason. Some ladies tend to feel inferior because they feel they are not pretty enough. They forget that beauty is objective. Disability makes other people feel inferior to others. I always had the notion that most disabled people ended up on the streets to beg till I entered the university where I had to sit in the same class to compete with visually impaired mates. I can tell you for a fact that none of them ever felt inferior and truth be told, they beat us well in the field of academics. Disability is not the end of a man's life, believe me when I say this. There are a thousand and one things that can make one feel inferior. Inferiority complex is a canker in Africa. I have come to realize that my mates who believed that the Whiteman was a "deity" suffered heavily from inferiority complex ( See my piece: System Malfunction, Help! http://randomafricanthoughts.blogspot.com/2015/03/system-malfunction-help.html?m=1). I guess they felt that their only place was below the Whiteman. They think it would be suicidal to compete with people of other colour. Sometimes I blame this on the effects colonisation and slavery had on us and what we were made to believe. Other times too, our "strict" upbringing causes inferiority complex to be an automatic ingrained tendency. To demystify its hold on us would  only take the hand of God. Inferiority complex has caused many talents to be untapped, many inventions uncreated, many poems unwritten, justice not being served, exploitation, suicide, the fear of demanding accountability, many great ideas stolen, prospective life partners lost and the list goes on. I had a friend who once had a brilliant business proposal but due to inferiority complex he could not find the courage to share it. The idea has been stolen and now another person is making millions out of it. Inferiority complex is a mental illness. It is one of the world's leading cause of stagnation and underdevelopment. I also realized that some of the evil that was done the world by certain people was a result of their inferiority complex. Coups, genocides, religious conflicts and racism take some root from inferiority complex. Inferiority complex can cause lack of self worth and can equally stoke sentimental flames with disastrous end-results. In the midst of all this chaos, life has taught me that, there is nothing more prudent than having at least some fair amount of self-worth and feeling good about what and who you are. I believe that if we are able to know how worthy we are, people will respect us and not treat us anyhow. Self-worth as a country would change our stand point with other countries. Self-worth as a people would lead to the drastic curb in exploitation of others. Many people would feel better and would be able to contribute meaningfully to the progress of our society and the world at large. Beauty is objective so under no circumstance should you allow anyone degrade you for your looks. Feeling good about yourself is one sure way of reflecting the way other people will see you. Again people should be taught to be tolerant of other people's views, ideologies, ideas and identity. This will go a long way in breaching the gap between inferiority and a feeling of worthiness which would also go a long way in promoting general unity for consensus building. Inferiority complex must be dealt with once and for all. We all have great capabilities and ideas. It is about time we broke out of this "psychological prison" and let the world know us as we are. My name is Edwin Oko Lamptey and this is another R.A.T. (RANDOM AFRICAN THOUGHT) More at randomafricanthoughts.blogspot.com