Sunday Reflection: the Problem in Ethiopia is Not Politics but Politics Itself
Posted: 04 Aug 2019, 12:06
The wisest of men once said that one can’t serve two masters. Whatever one wolf feeds is what one becomes. This could not be any truer in Ethiopia, where we are undergoing a crisis of identity and too many have given their hands to the spirits of retribution and zeregnenet (tribalism). While a large sector of society have opted out of politics due to frustration, there is a vocal minority who insist on fighting for “justice” through the narrow prisms of selfishness and clan fidelity.
In this paradigm, too many Ethiopians have been convinced that the way to redemption is through tribal democracy. After 27 years of being conditioned to view self-determination vis-à-vis “ethnic federalism”, which is nothing more than apartheid rebranded for the 21st century, the current zeitgeist in Ethiopia is one of grievance sans empathy. Everyone wants their pains to be heard yet few are willing to listen to the suffering of their neighbors.
In this age of hyper partisanship and supersized egos, it is easy to believe that the way to mend what ails us is through politics. But if we step back and assess the situation that is unfolding back home and among Ethiopians living abroad, it become evident that the problem is politics itself. We have lost our way as a people; in the chase to seize modernity, we have forgotten what kept us united as a nation. Me has trumped community, greed has...continued...
Read full article at: https://ethiopians4cm.org/sunday-reflec ... cs-itself/
In this paradigm, too many Ethiopians have been convinced that the way to redemption is through tribal democracy. After 27 years of being conditioned to view self-determination vis-à-vis “ethnic federalism”, which is nothing more than apartheid rebranded for the 21st century, the current zeitgeist in Ethiopia is one of grievance sans empathy. Everyone wants their pains to be heard yet few are willing to listen to the suffering of their neighbors.
In this age of hyper partisanship and supersized egos, it is easy to believe that the way to mend what ails us is through politics. But if we step back and assess the situation that is unfolding back home and among Ethiopians living abroad, it become evident that the problem is politics itself. We have lost our way as a people; in the chase to seize modernity, we have forgotten what kept us united as a nation. Me has trumped community, greed has...continued...
Read full article at: https://ethiopians4cm.org/sunday-reflec ... cs-itself/