The Attitude Lounge with Kodwo Brumpon: Beyond the voice

“Examine what is said, not who is speaking.” – African proverb

We live in an age where people follow personalities, not principles. We mistake noise for wisdom, repetition for truth, and popularity for intelligence.

This attitude of admiring the speaker and ignoring the message is how societies sleepwalk into decline. We need to appreciate that the first act of liberation is simple, hear with your head, not with your emotions. Only then can we confront the spectre shaping our era.

One of the crises haunting our generation is the slow death of long-term thinking. Everything is judged, packaged, and rewarded in weeks and months. We can no longer wait for years, much more decades.

Our politics, our careers and even our friendships. We have tied our lives to the ticking clock of instant results. This is not progress; this is panic masquerading as modernity. And unless we break free, we will spend our lives chasing moments instead of building futures.

Short-termism is the new glamour drug. It is sweet, addictive, and ultimately destructive. It promises joy without effort, results without sacrifice, success without character. We indulge in it fully aware of its emptiness because it tastes good now. Convenience has replaced discipline; indulgence has replaced intention. When leadership itself gorges on excess, why would the people choose patience? We imitate what we see, not what we know.

The average person understands long-term value. But when leaders preach patience while practicing gluttony, the message rings hollow. You cannot demand restraint from others while you feast openly.

You cannot expect citizens to plant trees while you pluck the fruits prematurely. Hypocrisy breeds cynicism. Cynicism breeds short-termism. And once society normalizes the rush for immediate rewards, the future becomes nobody’s responsibility.

One of the reasons for the flourishing of short-termism is because many amongst us believe we are clever enough to outsmart the slow, steady discipline that built every civilization. We want the harvest without the planting, the applause without the mastery, and the position without the preparation. But every shortcut widens into a dangerous road that others will follow. That is why what began as impatience is unfolding into a cultural epidemic.

The short-term attitude will not send us to the emergency ward, but it sends our character to the grave. When we chase only what gratifies the present moment, we sabotage the brilliance of the future.

A society that worships “now” sacrifices the very values that make progress possible. When everything must happen instantly, patience becomes an antique. Without patience, attention dies. Without attention, quality dies. And without quality, motivation collapses.

This is why political life feels hollow. We judge candidates on immediate results, not long-term transformation. We blame politicians for failed promises when we ourselves demand miracles overnight. We have become impatient consumers of democracy, forgetting that real change grows like a tree, not like a tweet. We all know that not everything that glitters is gold, yet we get excited with everything that glitters.

We might not like the sound of it, but we need to be weary of short-termism that arrives dressed like prosperity. It sparkles, it dazzles, and it seduces. And like moths, many of us fly willingly into its flames. We fall for scams, fads, and fantasies that even children would question.

The modern world convinces us that every shine is a diamond; and when life refuses to sparkle on demand, we rage at the darkness instead of questioning the illusion. This is the tragedy of our time: we polish empty things and wonder why they refuse to shine.

This is the reason we are being challenged to rise with clear eyes. We must break the spell of the immediate; and we must choose depth over spectacle, discipline over comfort, and legacy over appetite.

This is because the future belongs to those who plant seeds, and not those who consume the harvest prematurely. Planting trees symbolises investing in the future, nurturing growth and leaving a lasting legacy for ourselves and those who will come after us…

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