Nepotism: Are you a hypocrite?

This article doesn’t intend to discuss effects of nepotism but intends to discuss why is it hypocrisy to talk about nepotism without realizing the privileges one has against the not so privileged ones.

Definition of Nepotism.

Just for the nerds the bookish definition of nepotism is:

“The practice among those with power or influence of favoring relatives or friends, especially by giving them jobs”

“The act of using your power or influence to get good jobs or unfair advantages for members of your own family”

“Nepotism is the unfair use of power in order to get jobs or other benefits for your family or friends”

Historic roots of the word “Nepotism”

The word nepotism has its roots in the Italian word nepotismo which in turn is derived from Latin word nepos meaning Nephew. During the early ages of Christianity (5th to the late 15th century) and up to year 1692 the higher officials of the church like the pope had a practice of appointing multiple nephews on positions of power to pass on their dynasty.  In the year 1962 this practice of promoting nephews was curtailed by Pope Innocent XII who issued Romanum decet pontificem limiting the appointments and benefits given to nephews.

You are born as a Panda Twin in the Wild

The Giant Panda, one of the eight bear species of the family Ursidae is a south-central China native. Approximately 2000 wild Pandas exist in the world and hence they are an endangered species.

Panda spends 12-24 hours a day eating almost exclusively up to 15 kg of bamboo a day. Panda cubs are born blind weighing just around 100 grams and up to 6 months just depend on mother’s milk to grow and until they start eating bamboo, during these 6 months the cub is extensively cared by the mother Panda, without this care the cub will not survive the wild.

The mother panda almost starves while taking care of its cub leaving it unprotected only for few hours a day for food during which the cub is vulnerable to predators. Panda sometimes gives birth to twins and then this caring mother Panda displays an unusual behavior. The mother Panda selects the strongest of the cubs for her care and leaves the weak one to die. The left-out cub doesn’t survive as a blind 100-gram grub of meat in the wild. 

Imagine yourself as the toothless and blind left-out twin cub of Panda born in the winters of China who is not the chosen one and left out to die defenseless and without food in the wild. Probably you have rights to complaint about favoritism as your mother choose the other sibling to live over you.

Born as a Wildebeest amidst the great migration in the Serengeti

Every year a 30,00 sqkm of area known as Saregati National Park and Masai Mara Game Reserve witnesses one of the greatest shows of nature involving migration of 2 million grass grazers consisting of 1.5 million Wildebeest, 350,000 Thomson’s gazelles; 200,000 zebras; and thousands of eland and other ungulates (hoofed animals) in a never-ending circular pattern which keeps going throughout the year.

 Each year in the period January- February 600,000 calves are born. These new born calves stand up on their feet within minutes and within few days become part of the epic journey where predators like lion, hyena, African wild dog, cheetah, leopard, and crocodile are just waiting for an easy meal.

If you are born as a Wildebeest cub amidst the great migration and every minute of your life is uncertain you can think why does the domestic goat kid born in a safe environment and good care is given so that it becomes an adult peacefully.

Alright you are born as a human what now?

There are 7.8 billion people on planet earth. 680 million of them live under extreme poverty with no access to basic needs like food, water and shelter. Half of the world population can’t afford basic medical facilities.

There are 53 ongoing conflicts in 37 countries and 12 percent of the world’s population is living in an active conflict zone. Nearly 69 million people worldwide have been forcibly displaced by violence and conflict, the highest number since World War II.

In December 2016, UNICEF reported that an estimated 535 million children, a quarter of the world’s children, lived in countries affected by conflict or disasters. Nearly 50 million have been forcibly displaced from their homes, increasing their vulnerability to exploitation and violence. Some 27 million children are out of school in conflict zones.

One billion people, or 15% of the world’s population, experience some form of disability, and disability prevalence is higher for developing countries. One-fifth of the estimated global total, or between 110 million and 190 million people, experience significant disabilities.

Persons with disabilities are more likely to experience adverse socioeconomic outcomes such as less education, poorer health outcomes, lower levels of employment, and higher poverty rates.

If you were born as a human in a household which is not in a conflict zone, you had at least one adult to take care and protect you as a child, you had food when you were hungry, water to drink when thirsty, a bed to sleep, a roof above your head to protect you from elements, you had access to paracetamol when you were down with flu and fever, you went to a school or had some form of education and were born without disability what are you complaining about? Nepotism?

Are you a hypocrite complaining about Nepotism?

People complaining about nepotism don’t often realize how privileged they are, imagine if you were born as a Panda cub or a Wildebeest cub, your chances of even surviving few days is reduced by 50%. If you were lucky enough to be born a human with no disabilities you are already privileged than 1 billion people on this earth. If you have basic health care you are luckier than 3.5 billion people on earth, if you were not born in a conflict zone, chances are you had an opportunity to get education, if you were not born in extreme poverty you already had access to school, food, water and shelter. So yes, if you are still complaining of Nepotism it is hypocrisy because you were privileged than many more life forms and humans on this planet. So, every time you feel you were suppressed just compare yourself to people who don’t even have food to eat and access to clean drinking water, if you feel you are placed any better in life than those children born in conflict zones and dying out there due to lack of food and water, you are just being hypocritical and selfish. You just want more for yourself. You have received far more privileges than half of the human race. Those people who don’t even have 10 % of what you have, possess rights to complaint,” why are they not privileged like you?”.