Horus wrote: ↑21 Jun 2023, 12:53
ያንማ ለ60 አመት አይተነዋል!![/b]
Horus,
I really do not wish to spend anybody's time commenting about Ethiopia's history. First and foremost, I am not a historian.
However, some observations are critical. I do not have an accumulated observation of Ethiopia's history for over sixty years.
In my limited reading, Ethiopia's quest more than a century ago was to retain its independence, at least symbolically. The ancient country that has a track record to become a righteous state with justice for all of its citizens was subjected to an appointment with history and achieved victory out of it even if it wasn't a full one. I am positive that you weren't born in that era.
I am also positive that you had come of age in 2005, the year when some Ethiopians were poised to herald its destabilization.
The hard facts that we all should have the courage to analyze critically is where the observations over sixty years fall in the span of Ethiopia's history between 1896 and 2005.
It appeared clearer to me on June 5, 2023, that there must have been a deliberate education in this time span for the ancient country to arrive from its victory in 1896 to the brink of destabilization in 2005. The fact that the latter was spearheaded by some Africans against an African state that remained independent, at least symbolically, is more likely than not the most misguided and self-destructive venture in the history of mankind. That was before the era of the recent pandemic.
It has taken some deliberate reeducation of Ethiopia's history starting in the ancient times to sway some Ethiopians from the self-destructive venture even though you got the audacity to call it years later untoward or unintended. It suffices to mention that when some Ethiopians made it a fashion to say they are not Ethiopians, as part of the deliberate reeducation they were told that there is no one more Ethiopian than an Oromo or Afan Oromo speaker.
I am sure that you love Ethiopia as much as your mom loved you. The hard question that you should ask yourself is where your audacious claim of having observed and known Ethiopia falls in the spectrum, if you will, from the 1896 victory to the brink of destabilization in 2005. This is the basic question that comes to mind after reading your above line.
This is also why I suggest that everyone interested to bring to fruition a righteous state with justice for all of its citizens have the courage to face hard facts without making it personal.
If there was a deliberate education in Ethiopia after 1896 against the stability of the state instead of making it a more righteous state for all of its citizens, what was the source of it? If an oral story that I heard once that twelve Ethiopian famers were anointed to become Pastors not long after 1896, what historical trajectory did it take in Ethiopia? I wouldn't judge our unsuspecting farmers to whom faith comes naturally for accepting it readily even if they had the choice to become the Ethiopian Fanos of their era or take anointment from those that came from a different continent.
In your sixty years of observation, you have witnessed the chaos of White Terror and Red Terror and the chaos of identity politics in Ethiopia in the present time. In the present chaos of identity politics, one can't help asking some basic but hard questions. Is Dembi Dollo an Agnuwak city or a Borana city? Similar questions can asked as more examples. Is Ambo a Gabaro city or a Borana city or Salale a Gabaro country or a Borana country.
Without answering these basic questions, the least Oromo city risks becoming the most vocal about Oromo identity. I am guessing that the same logic can be applied to other regions in Ethiopia.
So, what is your claimed observation for over sixty years worth. I give you it is necessary. However, is it sufficient?
The fact that new administrations are being formed from the ground up is encouraging and may be necessary to cultivate more of them where demands arise. If I remember correctly, you have written that one of those new administrations, the Southwest Ethiopia state, couldn't raise enough money for its own budget or something to that effect. I had to ask silently what viable alternative needs to be in your view.
I am sure that you are capable to envision better alternatives where you see deficiency. Presenting a better alternative where you see deficiency is teaching deliberately. Yes, your readers deserve ten Horuses and the consensus they can reach for a lasting impact. I have said this about Jawar when he was claiming that he invented a political calculator. I have said this about the late Dr. Senay Likke after coming across a while back a paper he authored around the unrest in Ethiopia.
So, I keep wondering about going beyond the necessary observation to sufficient solutions