Are you one of Kenya’s new slaves?

If you are ever in Dakar, Senegal, please make the emotional visit to Goree Island, where slaves were shipped to the new world in the Caribbean, South America and North America. Echoes of that bygone era still reverberate in Mississippi, where slavery once thrived. Today, this US state has the highest proportion of African-Americans as a percentage of state population.

That old form of slavery is long gone — though periodic reports appear to suggest it is still alive.

I recall a meeting addressed by Rev Al Sharpton, where he suggested that slavery never ended, it just changed format. He argued, quite persuasively, that under the old form of slavery, slaves laboured without pay but were fed and housed. Today, most employees’ wages can only cover food and housing.

Have fun

The slavery that keeps me awake at night is far removed from its traditional form. It is about parents who have been enslaved by their children. They do everything for them. They go to secondary schools to clear for them after KCSE; even university students are brought to school by their parents, who also follow them up to ensure they go to class.

Children have made their parents the new slaves. Even after getting jobs, they still want to stay home, not to save and buy land, but to have fun. I am told that when Generation Y is negotiating for benefits with prospective employers, they do not want to hear of deductions for things like medical cover or a pension. They want their money now.

These new enslavers keep away from you until they have a problem, and once you sort it out, they are gone.

Parents, surprisingly, are not complaining about the new slavery.

A parent recently came to check why his son had a missing grade in one of the university courses. On asking the father why his son did not come to settle the issue himself, he said his child was busy, while he had the time as he is retired!

The tragedy is that after taking care of your child’s problems, from taking him to school to housing him even when he has his own money, you run the risk of taking care of your grandchildren. And I saw that in Mississippi. With time, this becomes institutionalised.

Where did all this slavery come from?

Traditionally, growing up meant taking up responsibilities from your parents. But nowadays, children run away from responsibilities. They know someone will pick up the tab. We cannot blame children — parents have decided to be slaves. They do not want to annoy their kids, and this starts early. The number of times I see children ordering their parents on what to buy in a supermarket are countless.

Secure jobs

As children grow up, they realise they can get away with anything. And parents find themselves helpless. I found that in America’s Deep South, where my students drove better cars than I did. When I questioned them about it, I was told their parents had to buy them such cars if they were to continue with school. These students had jobs.

It seems parenting — with its firmness and intergenerational outlook — has been traded in for short-termism and a preoccupation with making youngsters happy.

The law has made matters worse. Children quickly learn they can look up to it to avoid discipline. Teachers soon realise they are helpless, and watch from a distance to secure their jobs.

Yet, in child rearing and marriage, being old fashioned can be an asset. Why else do teachers’ children become so successful? Teachers are usually firm in bringing up their children. A study by the late Prof George Eshiwani years ago found that teachers’ children constituted about 14 per cent of university students, yet teachers make up a much smaller percentage of parents.

The emerging democracy in child rearing, which many interpret as modernisation, has brought and entrenched new slavery.

What we forget is that reality will soon catch up with the youngsters, often much later in life. I found that in the Deep South where lots of students of African-American descent are relatively older. They had the freedom to drop out of school and got into low-paying jobs, only to realise later that they could have earned more had they gone on to graduate.

It also meant becoming a parent earlier. My most memorable time in an American school was finding babies in cots at the back of the classroom. When I enquired, I was told there was no one to take care of the babies at home or at baby care. Except the babies appeared only around exam time ....

Parental slavery ends up making the children slaves because they never learn to become responsible, to compete or take initiative — key ingredients for upward mobility and entrepreneurship. Ever wondered why most youngsters want to be musicians and actors?

Parental slavery ensures children end up in jobs that make it hard to break the vicious cycle of poverty. If you are affluent, chances are they will squander your hard-earned wealth.

Bigger threat

This new type of slavery is a bigger threat to our economy than high interest rates because of its intergenerational effect.

It is time we ended this slavery like we did the old one, which we are told was ended by gunboats.

Less talked about is that the industrial revolution played a great role in ending slavery. It was easy to replace human slaves with new slaves — machines, which worked harder and were more reliable. The new slavery based on machinery led to the greatest prosperity in human history. It has now been extended from brawn to brains, with computers doing plenty for us.

Parental slavery has emotional roots and is hard to end. But if we have to move our economy to the next level, we must make the next generation more responsible.

Yet, when we write our strategic plans, including Vision 2030, we often forget to include soft misses like parental responsibility, which might become the fifth factor of production.

The writer is senior lecturer, University of Nairobi School of Business. [email protected]