Impact of the Globalisation of the Sensate Symbolic Universe on Africa

Africa today, continues to grapple with serious moral challenges such as corruption, oppression and exploitation of the vulnerable, and drug and human trafficking. This paper argues that the aforementioned social injustices are rooted in the growth of the sensate symbolic attitude– an attitude where human persons glorify their essential material nature and attempts to pursue values that satisfy this aspect at whatever cost. This sensate symbolic attitude has steadily supplanted the traditionally held normative ethic of the common good. Using a case of Uganda, and specifically the prevalent challenges of patronage politics and corruption, the paper demonstrates how such evils are grounded in the sensate symbolic universe where state management is purposely dedicated to extracting financial resources to meet the insatiable ends of state managers. To circumvent these moral challenges, this paper advances a normative ethical recommendation aimed at liberating human persons from the bondage of relentless amassing of material goods at the expense of others. The recommendation thus is adopting a life of voluntary simplicity– an attitude that can potentially free us from the glamour of consumerism, allowing us to open our eyes to the social injustices suffered by others which are largely a result of our unrestrained greed.