Whatever the criticisms of the US, in no other country in the world would outsiders such as Vice-President Kamala Harris or former president Barack Obama or venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya rise to top, based on their talents, in such spectacular fashion.
The US remains a haven of opportunity for the talented, the thrifty and the entrepreneur. The US remains the country where sheer talent can rise, be recognised and be developed.
Harris’s father is Jamaican and her mother Indian. Obama’s father is Kenyan. Palihapitiya was born in Sri Lanka. The US is the one country where minorities, outsiders and mavericks can bloom.
Certainly, outsiders such as Harris, Obama and Palihapitiya would never rise in China, where minorities, outsiders and non-conformers have a difficult time. Rising through the ranks of the Chinese Communist Party now is increasingly based on being princelings linked to the first generation of party leaders who fought the Kuomintang for control of the Chinese dragon.
Even when entrepreneurs, such as Jack Ma, rise as outsiders through talent, grit and indefatigability, they must still ultimately know their place or they will disappear, be imprisoned, or the assets they sweat to build up will be taken by the state.
This restriction of the talent, ideas and leadership of outsiders will in the long term be a ceiling on Chinese economic growth, modernisation and renewal.
Neither a Harris, an Obama or a Palihapitiya could rise to such powerful positions in any African country, as they have in the US.
African countries, in spite of their diversity, are often run by one ethnic group, one religious group or one political faction, and others are excluded. Governing parties, governments and business in most African countries are reserved for one dominant group. Everyone else is pushed out and has to operate on the margins.
Not only that, many of these countries exclude women from leadership positions in society, the economy and culture, depriving these countries of dynamic leadership, ideas and innovation.
The exclusion of so much talent undermines any confidence those excluded might have had in their country. It breaks the entrepreneurial spirit and soaks the country in negative energy.
Take Uganda, which has just had one of the most one-sided elections ever conducted. The typical African psychopath strongman Yoweri Museveni confined his challenger, the opposition leader and outsider Bobi Wine, to his house, brutalised the opposition and closed down the internet.
Such dictatorships would never allow someone from a minority, a non-mainstream political group or a youthful outsider to become the country’s leader, to dominate local business or civil society.
Closer to home, in the ANC, certain positions in the party are out of reach for minorities, women and outsiders, even if they have more so-called struggle credentials than many others. The archaic rule that someone from a minority community cannot become ANC president is one of those.
The easy bringing in of outsiders, as in the case of the US, generates the continual renewal of ideas and innovation. It brings extraordinary dynamism, energy and vibrancy to the country’s politics, economy and society. It helps the US quickly rebound after seemingly deep-seated crises.
This is a lesson for SA and other African countries who are stagnating, backsliding and falling deeper into poverty because they exclude so much talent, so many new ideas and so much energy, solely based on ethnicity, gender and outsider status.
The closed nature of South African and African societies is one of the main reasons why they are so unproductive, dull and, in most cases, decaying.
It is also one of the reasons why in so many of these countries the most innovative, entrepreneurial and dynamic citizens emigrate to more open societies where their talents are more valued.
The environment needs to be fostered to allow the rise of our own outsiders, our Harrises, Obamas and Palihapitiyas, to bring new energy, new ideas, new dynamic leadership and entrepreneurial nous to society, politics and business — and so foster the economic growth, renewal and transformation SA so desperately needs.
• William Gumede is associate professor, School of Governance, University of the Witwatersrand, and author of "Restless Nation: Making Sense of Troubled Times" (Tafelberg)
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