Crises on Cosmos

By Theo Addo M.D.

In Crises on Cosmos, Dr. Theo Addo emphasizes a common theme: most people who are discounted by society as no good are simply individuals or populations who have not been exposed to valuable knowledge, or have failed by their own doing to keep focused and capitalize on their opportunities.

The book examines the value of knowledge and asserts that knowledge is so priceless that without it life itself is unsustainable. It further describes how certain longstanding societal practices deemed as norms tend to disenfranchise huge sectors of populations based on race and poverty.

Dr. Addo brings a different perspective to our many crises and affirms that the repercussions of our wrong decisions, teachings, and policies, and sometimes our denial of obvious inferences and truths hardly ever favor us. Those repercussions often live on to fight another day in completely different and more militant forms. Yet if we are able to muster hope we can overcome adversity.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Aug 20, 2015
• ISBN: 9781512706352

Theo Addo M.D.

Dr. Theo Addo is a practicing physician who lives in the United States with his wife and two children. Growing up in Africa, in a school with limited resources, he barely made it to high school. He worked tirelessly to reverse the course such a beginning is expected to take. From his own experiences and those of many others, Dr. Addo has concluded that, contrary to popular belief, little of ones accomplishments depend on inborn characteristics. He maintains that unexceptional knowledge that is given opportunity can accomplish much more than exceptional talents that are choked by a lack of opportunity. Dr. Addo is also the author of Tug of War: Dilemma of the Contemporary Slave, Servant and Master.

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Copyright © 2015 Theo Addo, M.D..

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Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide. Used by permission. NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION® and NIV® are registered trademarks of Biblica, Inc. Use of either trademark for the offering of goods or services requires the prior written consent of Biblica US, Inc.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

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ISBN: 978-1-5127-0634-5 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5127-0636-9 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-5127-0635-2 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015912426

WestBow Press rev. date: 08/10/2015

CONTENTS

Dedication

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Chapter 1.1   Knowledge Valuation Crisis: Whose Knowledge Is Worth More?

Chapter 1.2   Survival Crisis: Knowledge And Mentorship Are Central To Survival

Chapter 2   Childhood Crisis: The Battle For Control Of The Tender Mind

Chapter 3   Superiority Crisis: The Myth Of Inherent Superiority

Chapter 4.1   Opportunity Crisis—Ways Of The Subtle Wall Of Segregation Of Knowledge

Chapter 4.2   Opportunity Crisis: Taking The Mystery Out Of Knowledge

Chapter 5   The Rainmaker Crisis: Two Views Of Climate Change

Chapter 6   The Color Crisis: The Workings Of The Canker Of Racism

Chapter 7   Poverty Crisis: How Poverty Is Festering In Society

•   Causes Of Poverty

•   The Poverty Gap

•   Effectively Addressing Poverty

Chapter 8   Conclusion: Hope In Crisis

References

DEDICATION

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T o those who lack knowledge because they were denied a fair exposure to knowledge and those who missed out on knowledge because they were made to believe that knowledge is owed to them, even without any effort on their part.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

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M y sincerest appreciation to Andrea Murray, Nana Amankwah, and Amy Addo for their help in editing this book—also to my dear family, whose generous support made it possible for me to examine and organize my thoughts.

Unless otherwise indicated, Bible quotations are taken from The Holy Bible New International Version ®, © 1989 Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA.

INTRODUCTION

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T he protesters have long been out in the cold, camping in tents in New York’s Financial District for days, decrying economic inequality and demanding equity in return. This is their attempt to fight and outlaw poverty. Other protesters picket the streets for justice on behalf of a teenager, shot and killed for walking in a neighborhood with his head covered, or for another, killed for merely playing loud music. Even the streets on which the protesters march for their various causes perceive a new era; unable to stop pondering these new sights and sounds, they twist and turn as they wonder what on earth is happening upon them.

In other areas of the nation, the prominent voices of society are demanding the abolition of small tokens of appeasement made decades earlier to help disenfranchised groups get educated and pick themselves up.

Across the ocean a relatively new breed of protesters unseats a government with wavering communist ties. However, before they can sit down and examine the challenges incurred, another group is up in arms, protesting the legitimacy of the newfound leadership and seeking to have it a different way. Worldwide, so much is at stake that the ensuing fight completely dwarfs an ongoing conflict that has been raging for many months in the Arabian desert with no end in sight.

In the interim, landmasses quake violently and storms rage, causing unparalleled destruction. The frequency of such untold damage is so high that sometimes there aren’t enough breaks to take a breath, let alone to dream about recovery. Even if anyone had a preplanned solution, such a barrage of trouble would reduce it to nothing. Where there are no storms, dry conditions threaten economies, causing anxieties to mount and sparking dire climate-related declarations by many leaders.

Situations are extreme. Unsurprisingly, some have arisen to right the wrongs of destruction from storms, floods, famines, earthquakes, poverty, and racism. The fallout has made social crises visible in every corner. Surely, where social crises abound, individual crises are never in short supply. In all the drama, man has relied on his knowledge to respond to these unfamiliar challenges. Undoubtedly, the knowledge he acquires determines not only what he is capable of doing with his potential, but also how he responds to his surroundings and to the other inhabitants of this mysterious planet.

Therefore, two powerhouses, one with a purely materialistic outlook and the other with a material and spiritual worldview, both very much aware of the power of knowledge, will not sleep. They keep vigil and wrestle each other so they can control the very knowledge that defines the one caught in the center of all these crises.

Knowledge is not just power; it also determines opportunity and defines reward. This reality about knowledge has long been known to the powerhouses. Any setup, therefore, that promotes the idea that knowledge is determined by inborn characteristics will also automatically assign opportunity and reward, based on those inborn characteristics. Effectively, that setup will draw sharp lines of poverty between one group and another. Long before some babies are weaned, they will be destined for poverty by this idea that knowledge is determined by inborn characteristics. Poverty will then appear familial, racial, sometimes genetic, and people will wonder why and how such abject poverty overtakes any society, even where the poor are surrounded by abundance.

In most of these present-day crises, underlying currents in the areas of knowledge, poverty, and racism surface repeatedly. Unless our knowledge brings us insight into how we became who we are as individuals, how we came to be where we are as a society, and why socioeconomic trends run the way they do, we could work very hard trying to avert crises and yet attain little because the very knowledge we rely on may be a setback.

CHAPTER 1.1

KNOWLEDGE VALUATION CRISIS: WHOSE KNOWLEDGE IS WORTH MORE?

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I n front of neighbors at Point Zip, Gizmo was arguing with his mother, saying to her face that she, whom he considered illiterate, had no business suggesting what he, the college graduate, should do.

Madame Gizmo was aware that her son was educated, yet she knew there was something wrong with young Gizmo’s position that her knowledge was outdated and of no value. In frustration, she blurted out, I was here before you were born!

Gizmo took offense at the statement, for he thought knowledge had nothing to do with age, so he walked away in anger, determined not to return. He was sure his youthful knowledge supported his action. But it only created an impasse between their two generations because his mother also believed her knowledge justified her response.

This short story demonstrates the misunderstanding that surrounds two broad kinds of knowledge: experiential knowledge and imparted knowledge. These categories of knowledge are both subject to time and aging. Together they form the basis of almost all the decisions we make, yet they have a tendency to split generations apart.

For the most part, experiential knowledge is gained by living through life’s circumstances. It’s knowledge that is passively acquired through no dedicated effort on the part of the individual or anyone else.

As people age, where they have been and what has happened around them or directly to them significantly determines the depth of their experiential knowledge. This knowledge tends to increase with age, all other factors being equal. Therefore it’s almost impossible for the young to amass more experiential knowledge than older people. Experiential knowledge is often misconstrued as all knowledge, causing many to conclude erroneously that an older person is always more knowledgeable than a younger individual on all counts.

Imparted knowledge is what one deliberately acquires from others, typically through formal or informal schooling. It’s often focused, subject-specific, and disproportionate to one’s age. A young person can acquire more imparted knowledge than an older individual, though this knowledge acquisition depends on how much time the young person dedicates to learning. For instance, a younger person can become more skilled in computer technology than an elderly one. Yet it’s almost impossible for that young person to achieve the same level of experiential knowledge by devoting more time.

If it were ever calculated, most of a person’s lifetime knowledge would be experiential. Therefore, for the young person to gain a lead over the elderly one in total knowledge, he or she has to work overtime and in overdrive to acquire imparted knowledge. Though someone may work hard while accruing imparted knowledge, such knowledge remains a small fraction of total knowledge.

The good news for the young person, though, is that it’s possible for knowledge to be both experiential and imparted. That