attitude is different than other cultures, especially rich countries.
It is collectivism (the fact that people work in groups) and sharing
ideas that shapes our attitudes.
To make it clear, I will explain collectivism, some proverbs and some examples.
What is collectivism and the sharing of ideas?
Collectivism is the fact that people work in a group to have a group
benefit. This means that people never do things by themselves but
always do it together because they believe that working together will
create success. Sharing ideas is the concept of sharing your ideas
to your friends, family and to elders. These factors, or values, of
Malagasy people affect the way we go about action—or doing.
"Tondro tokany tsy mahazo hao," means One finger can't touch things.
This means that working by your self will leave you far away from
success. So, we must work together to have success because each
person has his own way to make life better. "Hevitry ny maro
mahataka-davitra," means More people's ideas make great success. We
also have the saying, "Asa vadi-drano tsy vita raha tsy hifanakonana,"
which means Work in the field doesn't matter without help. Our
attitude towards doing, or action, is greatly influenced by our
collectivism and our desire to share ideas with each other.
As an example, Malagasy people work in the fields and plant rice.
This is always done in groups. Additionally, when making a decision
people talk to others (friends, family, and elders) to get advisement.
Issues related to divorce and marriage for example are made with the
advisement of others. If the others agree then s/he will do it and if
the others disagree than s/he will not. Also, when we have
celebrations for special occasions or special events like birthday
parties, weddings and funerals we always invite a lot of people to
assist us.
To conclude, the collectivism of the Malagasy people impacts the way
we take action—which is acting as a group. This is one of the main
ways you can understand Malagasy culture.
3 comments:
Hi! Great blog and it's really helping me understand your system. Thank you. Sorry if I ask many questions, I just really would like a better understanding not coming from your background. How big is your "group" in the context of work? In the context of work is the benefit kept within your group or is it decided by a larger group or government? Are benenfits distributed "from each according to his ability, to each according to his need"? It seems like you really enjoy this system and I think that's great. Sorry for so many questions. Thank you again for the blog and your time.
Respectfully, Maggie
I enjoyed hearing about your oollectivist community. It seems to promote respect for other people which is absent in many families, cultures, and countries. The world might be a more peaceful place if we all worked for the common good, if we all worked together!In the United States there is a saying, "Two heads are better than one!" meaning that if two or more people work together or think about something together that they will accomplish more than if only one person works on something". I enjoyed your comments.
Jeanne R., United States
just stopping by to say hi
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