Principle of Limited Good

In Anthropology, there is a concept called the Principle of Limited Good. It means there is only so much luck/success/money to go around and if someone is getting too much of it, there is that much less left for everyone else. If someone is trying to get ahead, say, by having a successful business, others will try to bring him down. The operation of this Principle is a cultural thing and its daily operation, I’m sure, is mostly subconscious. It often prevents people from even trying.

I had a discussion with one of the faculty members and it seems that the Principle is happening here, occasionally with deadly consequences. Sometimes other faculty will scheme to try to keep another from getting ahead. Sometimes budgets will be cut so that a research program is hurt. Sometimes it can get deadly. One faculty that I met during one of my past visits here was a highly talented chemist who was testing local plants for medicinal properties. He was getting funding from abroad and had a well-equipped lab and a number of students. He was advancing rapidly and was working his way up the administrative ladder (more money and prestige). When I was preparing for this trip, I asked about him only to learn he died in a car accident. There is some suspicion that this was no accident. The driver of his car came through without a scratch (apparently he swerved the car so that the passenger side was demolished) and he was also suspected of causing a similar accident. In any case, it was not investigated since it was “just an accident.”

I have had personal experience with this in the past – not yet on this trip. I have had dealings with no fewer than three people who seemed to go out of their way to try to make me fail. On my first trip, one suggested several “detours” when I was investigating how to get the project started. On the second trip, one advised me to take a particular trail to get to the forest that caused a five hour hike for nothing – there was a MUCH shorter and easier way. One particularly egregious example was when I went to the other end of Cameroon where another person was to arrange a demonstration of tree harvest (harvest is forbidden on Mount Oku, where I was working) and to arrange some interviews. After four days of frustration, I finally understood that what I was seeking was impossible (for various reasons) but he knew it all along and let me flounder around anyway. I left without accomplishing anything. I have to wonder what is in store for me on this trip. My defense is knowing what to look for and to expect the “detours.”