The Four that has Transformed the World Economy and Spirituality
We have the term “the world is a global market” from wherever we are. When it comes to economies of the world, spirituality, and other social concerns, the Africa countries have always found themselves victims of the situations. I am reminded during the time of the early missionaries in Kenya. They arrived in style from the coastal towns as they had traveled by sea around the world, and on arrival at the coastal cities, they found the British colonial government had built a railway line to the mainland. It took them several months to travel. It also took a long time to communicate back to their people in the countries they had come from, especially the United States. When going through the Church achieves at Earlham College library in the USA, I found copies of letters sent from Kenya to the head office in the States that took several months before it arrived. Making decisions was very hard, and communicating back what they have agreed took its time. But they were patients, and nobody felt oppressed or agitated over the delay in communication. They later started using telegram, which was a bit faster but only found at the post offices. This helped the developing countries build up a sense of development towards modernization or civilization as they called it at a steady level.
Now comes what Galloway calls “The Four: The Hidden DNA of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google.” They are responsible for an array of products and services that are entwined into the daily lives of billions of people. They’ve put a supercomputer in your pocket, are bringing the internet into the developing countries, and are mapping the earth’s landmass and oceans.[1] It is very sad the way the African countries are growing in such a competitive environment where they are caught in a web that they have to compete in on an equal level. This is causing a lot of brain damage than developing them well. We had poor landline services at fast, and before that was corrected, the market was flooded with cell phones, and that abandoned the landline telephones. Before long smart phones came in with internet access, mobile banking, and all the one needs to access every part of the world. This has made many of the religiously converted African countries to start connecting what is written in the scripture “But you, Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book, until the time of the end. Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.” [2] It is interesting how many religious leaders are using this verse and others in the bible to point this four to the end time as it is described by Daniel. All this is attributed to the fast growth in technology where African countries are forced to adopt while they missed a stage the developing countries have gone through to reach where they are. The brains for the African people are running fast to catch up with the process, but it is hard.
Galloway has attributed to this by saying that the four have reshaped the economy of the world. They’ve made it harder for middle-or-the-road companies to succeed or for any consumer-facing tech start-up to compete and survive.[3] This is where African countries fall into this tech environment. It is now apparent that Google is now called as the second God in providing answers to questions nobody would answer immediately. As we all know, none is comparable to God, but google is now at that level, as Galloway describes. But Galloway goes further to warn and advise that we should stay loyal to people not to organizations as we are trying to be with the four. Many of us in our churches, countries, and even private firms have been touting loyalty to abstract organizations for centuries, usually as a ploy to convince people committee to them. He calls them “Bull-shit” and argues us to be loyal to people, not corporations. People transcend corporations, and people, unlike corporations, value loyalty. Good leaders are known; they are only as good as the team standing behind them.[4] Galloway challenged me when he said, “Follow your talent, not your passion.” We have always been telling young people to follow their passion in life. He brings up another scenario that those people who ask you to follow your passion are already rich. Determine what you are good at and commit to becoming great at it. You don’t have to love it, don’t hate it. He further challenges me if you do not enjoy it, just make good money and then go follow your passion. It reminds me of when I resigned from the bank; I had worked in for 20 years and taking up the work for the Church with less pay. I had followed my talent and later left to follow my passion.
[1] (Galloway 2018)
[2] Daniel 12:4 (ESV)
[3] (Galloway 2018, Loc 218 of the Kindle edition)
[4] (Galloway 2018, Loc 233 Kindle edition)
About the Author
John Muhanji
I am the Director Africa Ministries Office of Friends United Meeting. I coordinate all Quaker activities and programs in the Quaker churches and school mostly in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. The focus of my work is more on leadership development and church planting in the region especially in Tanzania.. Am married with three children all grown up now. I love playing golf as my exercise hobby. I also love reading.3 responses to “The Four that has Transformed the World Economy and Spirituality”
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Great point John about the unjust reality of African nations striving to compete in a global economy. Your connection to Daniel is moving.
Hi John. Thanks for sharing your enlightening blog. I truly enjoy your reflections, as I know very little about Kenya. I appreciate how you said that Galloway challenged you when he said, “Follow your talent, not your passion.” I think that’s such an interesting perspective, as we’re often taught to follow our passions. Yet, I believe our talents are God-given, so it is scripturally sound to follow our talents. Thanks for sharing, John.
Thank you, Nancy, for connecting with the statement of follow your talent and not your passion. It is repeated here more and more to the young people pursuing careers that they should follow their passion.