African socialism is a belief in sharing economic resources in a "traditional" African way, as distinct from classical socialism. Many African politicians of the 1950s and 1960s professed their support for African socialism, although definitions and interpretations of this term varied considerably. This is because African socialism has not been the product of one single thinker. One example of a definition of African socialism was phrased as a metaphor by de Graft Johnson, from the University of Ghana in 1962. His definition of African socialism was that “the principle of the State as a father, which is the basis of socialism, is what we have here in our clans or tribes which are in fact extended families. In our society, the collective wealth of the extended family is used for the welfare of the family as a whole. The extended families take on the functions of social insurance, and if a member of the family falls into debt, all the others help him to pay it; if he is ill, they look after him; if there is a bright boy in the family whom the immediate parents cannot afford to educate, the others help in educating him. Property, especially land, often belongs to the whole extended family. There are abuses in the extended family system, but its basic pattern, when enlarged to embrace the state, is virtually what is meant by socialism.”
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