Time to Cry Wolf Again

For those of us who are outside of the country it is time to get down to business again, because it is not only that the election time is approaching, but we had started out by crying wolf and we will continue to do so until the wolves in sheep’s clothing are exposed. Is it a good role to play? It is difficult to answer that, as it is time that will tell. People sometimes say it is better to let things take shape by their own. That seems to be a misguided outlook because if we were in a position to prevent the takeover of the military junta by satisfying everyone’s demand that includes forcing the unrelenting Imperial regime to bend some of its rules and respond to demands, the possibility might have been the nation might have not made it where it is today. Nevertheless, it does not mean all the effort should go down the drain since what exasperated the nation’s problem is the explosion of the population. Yet, once that became a reality finding the right solution had been in short supply.

There is no reason why that would not change because people are talking now much better than the earlier days, although the regrouping and identifying is still made based on ethnic line. Other than that those that are trying to tackle the nation’s problem seem to be made aware that there are many people from within or without watching what they are doing and they cannot get away by making their own shallow interest the reason for whatever they are doing. In a nation where there are distinct ethnic groups that are trying to live together, any bad apple could cause a serious problem unless some solution is found. One basic solution is to isolate the bad apples, but the better and effective solution could be to work on a method that will prevent apples from going bad in the first place. The outcome would be people would avoid engaging in misguided activities while everyone is watching.

Whether the measure involved to solve such problems is scientific or not (social science in this case) the weeding out of bad customs or habits in a given nation’s culture requires some hard work. The reason for that is not only to be respectful to fellow citizens, but to avoid grave consequences. Because the recalcitrant nature of some members of the nation could still be sending roots although change seems to be hovering on the horizon. If we look at it positively people can become sensitive once they know what they have to sacrifice. Unless there is some kind of a sacrifice for the sake of everyone, it could be everybody that will lose, including those of us who are in the disaspora and are struggling to make ends meet. It is not really true that we are having it great or we are living in heaven, because we are not, as life outside of one’s country of birth is always demanding. It does not mean at the same time that we are sitting at some sideline and shading tear for the homeland that someday we will claim as our own. There has to be a reconciliation between the two outlooks and for that to be a reality we have no choice other than fighting because the folks at home had been shooting themselves in the foot and that is drowning everyone ever deeper. For anyone who wants to go back there and start a living, he or she has to join the folks back home down deep under the problems they have dug themselves in. That is not to anyone’s liking. We do not want our fellow citizens to drawn much deeper than they are already in national problems because of traditional stubbornness since they are going to take everyone down with them.

If we choose to turn a blind eye and see what laissez faire would bring around, it will be repeating the same mistake done while letting the military junta take power, because they were learners on the job at best. The government in office is much better because they were doing their homework for many years as guerrilla fighters who had nothing else to do except to prepare themselves to snatch power and along the way how to run a country should have crossed their mind. That has made them better prepared and that is why they are struggling to show good result at such a difficult time. In spite of that, there are areas that are lingering; facts such as the 70-80 million people had failed to administer themselves, a very small minority group has sat on everything, and could be busy advancing its own cause and region at the expense of others, as they are from a particular region that had been left behind in the previous regimes. True or false that does not lend a good feeling for the rest of the nation that has to take charge of its own affair by any means possible.


How are they going to do that? One thing for sure is it is not going to be by allowing another ethnic group dominated government to take charge. If everyone agrees on that there is no reason why they cannot come together and find ways to run the government jointly without being dominated by one ethnic group, because there is a fear of seeing the country going back to where it was. If that would have solved the existing problem that would have been what it means to allow the laissez faire do the job, especially if it is the choice of the majority of the people. If there is such a fear that there will be a mistake committed again, why not try a neutral ethnic group such as the Oromos to run things because they are the next of kin for the struggling nation. The reason why that would be a better choice is they might not have a deadly ax to grind when compared with groups that had bad track record. The advantage might also be a much larger base and widely accepted government that would interact with the public in the open instead of living like the current government in hiding and fear. Their existence resembles a forced occupation where the occupier has to use harsh force in order to control its subjects.

Historically, all such administrations were dismantled because of a movement that originated from the people or the indigenous people and there is no reason why that would not happen in our country. The reality is there is no need for any ethnic group to play a leading role when everyone can share power and run the country. That would resemble what the rest of the world would call democracy. And that would mean a lot for everybody, because how many times have we heard the diaspora say we wish if there were some place we can call home that has the feeling of the hearth, is lively, hospitable and economically and socially reasonably well-off. Our country used to be like that although it was nipped in the bud because of reasons that are too deep to talk about here, except that everyone is saying that the nation needed change and change took place. However, because of certain unexpected happenings (such as the fall of the Soviet) we had to take unexpected turn that we are finding it difficult to come out of.

The good thing is, no one is throwing up their hands and saying, what the heck, if it is going to be like this, we do not have to fight. Instead, many people know exactly what is needed, but they just cannot be done away with their being from the old school where unless one particular group gets the upper hand, we are going to drawn together. That is similar to a hostage taking situation and the main reason why we are crying wolf is, because it is affecting everyone. This kind of outlook would mean that time is standing still and does not move or advance, whereas the reality indicates time has changed drastically to the point where recognizing and sorting out the changes that occurred is becoming difficult. In a reality like this sticking to old thinking has to be put to its final rest and the way to go is to start anew. It is not going to choke anyone out of a sudden like some kind of a plague and the thought of quarantining someone because of utter failure to conform should not cross our mind. Because of that people have to talk more so that everyone knows what everyone wants. Those of us (if there are others) who are engaged in exposing the wrongs of our society will have to continue to do so at least until the bad elements are contained to an acceptable level. Therefore, the reality is the exposing has not even started, as far as this blog is concerned and we will only take a breath when next year’s election is over and some kind of good result is attained. From our reading of the tea leaf from where we are, promising things are happening to the point