Where Was Everybody?
It has become customary to condemn the current administration that should have not been where it is in the first place if there had been capable people in the country, especially among those who were in charge of governmental affairs before they were ousted. Because they did not have what it takes, they somehow allowed these hungry guerillas into office. Whether everyone wants to admit it or not, they have done a lot to the country to the point where it is difficult to imagine where the country would have been if these loathed individuals were not allowed to reconstruct the government. While they were doing so the previous ruling class did not have any idea of what they were doing for a long time. We can attribute their success to the kind of consulting they were getting since they were handpicked by nations such as the USA to replace the so called ruling class of the previous regime, which itself had removed and eliminated another government by another version of the same ruling class that seemed to be better equipped than both these regimes if it were not entangled in its own problems that it found difficult to untangle itself from in a timely fashion and ended up being fodder to an ill educated, prepared, and equipped military people.
Wherever we turn to we hear about the evil the people in office are doing to the people and the nation from sources that cannot accomplish a small portion of what these people have accomplished. In reality, someone who knew the secret of the nation and had some grudge on the earlier ruling class had really humiliated the people by putting them under the rule of an ethnic group that was despised in a sense, not to mention their small number, although the Tigreans individually had always been more than average achievers when compared to the other ethnic groups that were taking part in running the country, by always taking the backseat. In fact, they always knew that their chance of taking the driver’s seat in what is happening in the country was non-existent. That might be why they thought the best solution for their problems was to attain their independence so that they will get the driver’s seat in their own country that they would separate from the mainland Ethiopia.
That is what the Eritreans exactly did since they are the masters of their own house currently and they are another group that would have not attained the driver’s seat in Ethiopia despite the fact that they are not suffering from any ethnic clamp that interferes with their decision-making process. In spite of that their chance of getting the driver’s seat in Ethiopia would have been almost nil unless they encounter a chance similar to TPLF where everyone would agree that, considering the kind of about-face the nation needed at the time when the Derge went down the drain, they could have been willing to give a chance to any incumbent group that comes forward, is well-organized, and is willing to shoulder the responsibility. A situation like that could allow a laissez faire attitude to be entertained where if there is someone who is eager to take the helm when the nation was down and almost out, let them be given a chance and the rest of the judgement would be made as things started to unravel and in that contest TPLF had outdone EPLF because of reasons that have to do with the fact that they changed their course and decided to liberate the whole nation instead of packing up and leaving the rest of the union, whereas that was the top demand on the list for the Eritreans. The important point to make here is when things started to unravel the group that got access to the drive’s seat of the government had to have some method of doing things whether that method is popular or not, the only requirement being it has to be somehow effective and avail what the nation requires.
The other area that requires looking at is the fact that TPLF were not really welcome, although there was a consensus that they should be allowed to turn around things until other alternatives were available. The other fact that put the blimp behind them was the kind of loathe the earlier ruling class managed to whip up by the simple virtue of how they were doing things. The most important cause that gained them such a loathe was what they did to the members of the Imperial regime where they killed many prominent individuals with no due diligence or court appearance. It is difficult to say that they would deserve that kind of treatment or not, but if any nation does that kind of savagery on human beings, especially on individuals who were responsible for running the governmental machine that had a universal support, it is not difficult to imagine the kind of fallout they will be engulfed with. That regime got lucky because they were able to strike friendship with the other world power since there was a cold war we all know about that was the outcome of the coming into existence of two camps.
What this will show us is, it does not matter who, especially in Ethiopia, anyone that will get the driver’s seat, which is the responsibility of running the government will always be caught with their hand in the jar, because governments have a big number of sources that will send different kinds of financial packages their way. At some point, it will be difficult to say any group that is in charge of a government will do things at the similar level that we see in the Western countries mainly, because these leaders that attain power in most developing nations are not where they are by the will of the people. They are there because the nation needed some kind of an administration, without which it will become another Somalia. Everyone knows that. The problem is once they are at the helm they have some inherent way of doing things, as Western governments that are made in charge of the government by the people have also their own inherent way of doing things. If we look at the number of the educated people in a given nation such as Ethiopia and any given Western country the figures is a direct reverse of each other. This means that in the USA for example 90 percent of the people could be said to be educated where the remaining 10 percent could be functionally illiterate, but they still know what takes place and can form an opinion, whereby deceiving and manipulating even that 10 percent is not possible.
When we come to our country if 10 percent of the population is educated that will be a very high figure and for the rest of the population this group is responsible to do the right things on their behalf. While doing the right things everyone could have their own style of doing things. We have seen a few styles in our lifetime. We have seen how a monarchy works where the system emulates hard to create some kind of harmony in the nation and among numerous group with varied interests so that everyone could mind their own business and as head of state those in charge will be responsible for introducing changes and developments. Since they have unwavering acceptance by the majority of their subjects, because the kind of system they are running emulates to give everyone equal opportunity, what will take place was what we have seen where the nation was much better off economically, politically, and socially because there is not a highly pronounced and contested ethnic strife even if there are pockets of resistance.
The military regime took power because of grievances that everyone became aware of and what the majority of the people wanted was to see those grievances addressed. The military junta that took power, struggled to justify what it is doing while it was on power, and it was the worst performer of the regimes, when we include the current regime. It is difficult to speculate where it would have made it if its demise was not expedited, where other than rectifying some of the grievances that brought communism into the country it is difficult to pinpoint anything it had accomplished in the nation when compared with the two regimes.
The current regime is feasting on a kill that it snatched from another ruling class as we know it considering that the Tigreans for the most part were enjoying whatever opportunity was available for them, even if some of them, because of being badly dissatisfied with the system had gone into the woods and were guerilla fighters. This means that they were dissidents of a high order who found the former regime dragging its foot, got help by the world powers who were at the scene, and their taking power was facilitated by them. Once they were at the helm we do not have to forget that they are surrounded by a sea of people who do not want them there if they can afford it, but they could not, and once they are ushered into office it was too late. The reason for that was they were able to cover some distance quickly and came a long way thanks to what they were able to surround themselves. Because of that bickering might not be the best way to go since that is not the main concern here. The main concerns are there is law and order in the country, there is a functioning economy, there is a civil society that goes after its own interest and the only time anyone will encounter problem is if they become politically active with an intent to put themselves in the shoes of these people and in the business world there could always be a turf war as it is common anywhere else and it should not spill over into the media.
What this reveals is what the country now needs is a peaceful power transfer. But such effort is in a limbo because the country is not yet ready. The nation has to continue swallowing the bitter pill because it is not ready; it is not because TPLF is super tough or super intelligent. The truth is still there is not a coordinated group that will fill their shoes in spite of the talk that there used to be a more able ruling class in the country, in fact there were not. If there were they had been good at falling out of bed with very crucial partners and they did not have the tact to make it back to formal relationships with key partners the reason why they have to languish like everyone else, because to be honest, they did not have what it takes. If they become in charge there is no reason why they would not go back to bone picking and that will bring to a halt the small achievement the nation has realized so far. It does not mean the TPLF group has what it takes either, although the level they are at is much better than before where there are a big number of developmental projects that had been started or are being started and it is these kinds of projects that will take the nation forward in the long run as they will create economic activity, employment, wealth, etc. This means that people cannot live by bickering alone, they have to be dealers and wheelers where they have to strive to get acceptance by others, especially by those who have the means. TPLF had restored the relation the nation had with the outside world to the same level where the topnotch diplomat Emperor Haile Selase had raised it and the number of friends the nation has is reaching its epic. Looking the PM himself hobnobbing with the world top leaders is enough signal for the Ethiopians that the nation is already back on the right track.
Amid all this success, we do not have to forget that there are others who are eyeing the possibilities that had been created in the county are ripe for exploitation and could be plotting to put their hands on this lucrative opportunity, the reason why they are besmirching the current government that undeniably could be rewarding itself for saving the country from the verge of collapse. People cannot forget who the earlier ruling class for the last 100 years were and what kind of advantage they had at their disposal, while the rest of the nation was languishing, and it seems that they might not have a small fraction of decency the TPLF has because they were blinded with confidence that emanated from a small accomplishment they managed to attain by turning around a backward nation to look toward the developed word, nothing more than that and for doing that what they were appropriating for themselves was too high compared to TPLF who are trying to make a difficult situation workable. At the same time it is only natural when there is animosity, or it is much preferable if it is looked at as competing interests especially in a democracy, it is not possible to lineup the key posts with those that have a direct competing interest although that could change in a democracy.
The problem is the kind of democracy where only around 10 percent of the population know exactly what the nation needs would mean that this 10 percent should make a lot of sacrifice in order to see this figure climb. When that happens all factors such as the productivity level of the people and their awareness will also rise enabling everyone to focus on the economic well being of the people instead of aspiring to repeat what every third world country is trying to eliminate, which is replacing one elite group by another so that it will be the turn of a new group to line up its pocket. It will continue to do so until another elite group manages to topple it and it will continue to line up its pocket and the spiral or cycle cannot be broken easily, even if the effort is exactly that. That is why everyone is praising South Africa and other few African countries who managed to practice what democracy is preaching, although, for the most part, it is the same elite group that will be in charge under a different leader and the fact that they will be doing the right thing will always be in doubt.
Because of that, anyone who calls himself/herself genuine Ethiopian should be concerned about is how could it be possible to replace this administration with another administration that is equipped with what it takes to prevent the system from being hijacked by those who would not hesitate to line up their pockets as it had been and is still endemic to third world country elite, although it is changing in many places. What will bring about the needed change in our country might be two things. The first one is the few elite in the country have to be ready and willing to sacrifice their own interest and work for the nation and the people, and if that is coupled with a well educated and informed public that knows what it wants and knows who to put in office, knows how to organize itself to take advantage of its democratic rights we could say, not only in Ethiopia, but in most third world countries that might be exploited by similar usurpers that they are taking steps in the direct direction.
Wherever we turn to we hear about the evil the people in office are doing to the people and the nation from sources that cannot accomplish a small portion of what these people have accomplished. In reality, someone who knew the secret of the nation and had some grudge on the earlier ruling class had really humiliated the people by putting them under the rule of an ethnic group that was despised in a sense, not to mention their small number, although the Tigreans individually had always been more than average achievers when compared to the other ethnic groups that were taking part in running the country, by always taking the backseat. In fact, they always knew that their chance of taking the driver’s seat in what is happening in the country was non-existent. That might be why they thought the best solution for their problems was to attain their independence so that they will get the driver’s seat in their own country that they would separate from the mainland Ethiopia.
That is what the Eritreans exactly did since they are the masters of their own house currently and they are another group that would have not attained the driver’s seat in Ethiopia despite the fact that they are not suffering from any ethnic clamp that interferes with their decision-making process. In spite of that their chance of getting the driver’s seat in Ethiopia would have been almost nil unless they encounter a chance similar to TPLF where everyone would agree that, considering the kind of about-face the nation needed at the time when the Derge went down the drain, they could have been willing to give a chance to any incumbent group that comes forward, is well-organized, and is willing to shoulder the responsibility. A situation like that could allow a laissez faire attitude to be entertained where if there is someone who is eager to take the helm when the nation was down and almost out, let them be given a chance and the rest of the judgement would be made as things started to unravel and in that contest TPLF had outdone EPLF because of reasons that have to do with the fact that they changed their course and decided to liberate the whole nation instead of packing up and leaving the rest of the union, whereas that was the top demand on the list for the Eritreans. The important point to make here is when things started to unravel the group that got access to the drive’s seat of the government had to have some method of doing things whether that method is popular or not, the only requirement being it has to be somehow effective and avail what the nation requires.
The other area that requires looking at is the fact that TPLF were not really welcome, although there was a consensus that they should be allowed to turn around things until other alternatives were available. The other fact that put the blimp behind them was the kind of loathe the earlier ruling class managed to whip up by the simple virtue of how they were doing things. The most important cause that gained them such a loathe was what they did to the members of the Imperial regime where they killed many prominent individuals with no due diligence or court appearance. It is difficult to say that they would deserve that kind of treatment or not, but if any nation does that kind of savagery on human beings, especially on individuals who were responsible for running the governmental machine that had a universal support, it is not difficult to imagine the kind of fallout they will be engulfed with. That regime got lucky because they were able to strike friendship with the other world power since there was a cold war we all know about that was the outcome of the coming into existence of two camps.
What this will show us is, it does not matter who, especially in Ethiopia, anyone that will get the driver’s seat, which is the responsibility of running the government will always be caught with their hand in the jar, because governments have a big number of sources that will send different kinds of financial packages their way. At some point, it will be difficult to say any group that is in charge of a government will do things at the similar level that we see in the Western countries mainly, because these leaders that attain power in most developing nations are not where they are by the will of the people. They are there because the nation needed some kind of an administration, without which it will become another Somalia. Everyone knows that. The problem is once they are at the helm they have some inherent way of doing things, as Western governments that are made in charge of the government by the people have also their own inherent way of doing things. If we look at the number of the educated people in a given nation such as Ethiopia and any given Western country the figures is a direct reverse of each other. This means that in the USA for example 90 percent of the people could be said to be educated where the remaining 10 percent could be functionally illiterate, but they still know what takes place and can form an opinion, whereby deceiving and manipulating even that 10 percent is not possible.
When we come to our country if 10 percent of the population is educated that will be a very high figure and for the rest of the population this group is responsible to do the right things on their behalf. While doing the right things everyone could have their own style of doing things. We have seen a few styles in our lifetime. We have seen how a monarchy works where the system emulates hard to create some kind of harmony in the nation and among numerous group with varied interests so that everyone could mind their own business and as head of state those in charge will be responsible for introducing changes and developments. Since they have unwavering acceptance by the majority of their subjects, because the kind of system they are running emulates to give everyone equal opportunity, what will take place was what we have seen where the nation was much better off economically, politically, and socially because there is not a highly pronounced and contested ethnic strife even if there are pockets of resistance.
The military regime took power because of grievances that everyone became aware of and what the majority of the people wanted was to see those grievances addressed. The military junta that took power, struggled to justify what it is doing while it was on power, and it was the worst performer of the regimes, when we include the current regime. It is difficult to speculate where it would have made it if its demise was not expedited, where other than rectifying some of the grievances that brought communism into the country it is difficult to pinpoint anything it had accomplished in the nation when compared with the two regimes.
The current regime is feasting on a kill that it snatched from another ruling class as we know it considering that the Tigreans for the most part were enjoying whatever opportunity was available for them, even if some of them, because of being badly dissatisfied with the system had gone into the woods and were guerilla fighters. This means that they were dissidents of a high order who found the former regime dragging its foot, got help by the world powers who were at the scene, and their taking power was facilitated by them. Once they were at the helm we do not have to forget that they are surrounded by a sea of people who do not want them there if they can afford it, but they could not, and once they are ushered into office it was too late. The reason for that was they were able to cover some distance quickly and came a long way thanks to what they were able to surround themselves. Because of that bickering might not be the best way to go since that is not the main concern here. The main concerns are there is law and order in the country, there is a functioning economy, there is a civil society that goes after its own interest and the only time anyone will encounter problem is if they become politically active with an intent to put themselves in the shoes of these people and in the business world there could always be a turf war as it is common anywhere else and it should not spill over into the media.
What this reveals is what the country now needs is a peaceful power transfer. But such effort is in a limbo because the country is not yet ready. The nation has to continue swallowing the bitter pill because it is not ready; it is not because TPLF is super tough or super intelligent. The truth is still there is not a coordinated group that will fill their shoes in spite of the talk that there used to be a more able ruling class in the country, in fact there were not. If there were they had been good at falling out of bed with very crucial partners and they did not have the tact to make it back to formal relationships with key partners the reason why they have to languish like everyone else, because to be honest, they did not have what it takes. If they become in charge there is no reason why they would not go back to bone picking and that will bring to a halt the small achievement the nation has realized so far. It does not mean the TPLF group has what it takes either, although the level they are at is much better than before where there are a big number of developmental projects that had been started or are being started and it is these kinds of projects that will take the nation forward in the long run as they will create economic activity, employment, wealth, etc. This means that people cannot live by bickering alone, they have to be dealers and wheelers where they have to strive to get acceptance by others, especially by those who have the means. TPLF had restored the relation the nation had with the outside world to the same level where the topnotch diplomat Emperor Haile Selase had raised it and the number of friends the nation has is reaching its epic. Looking the PM himself hobnobbing with the world top leaders is enough signal for the Ethiopians that the nation is already back on the right track.
Amid all this success, we do not have to forget that there are others who are eyeing the possibilities that had been created in the county are ripe for exploitation and could be plotting to put their hands on this lucrative opportunity, the reason why they are besmirching the current government that undeniably could be rewarding itself for saving the country from the verge of collapse. People cannot forget who the earlier ruling class for the last 100 years were and what kind of advantage they had at their disposal, while the rest of the nation was languishing, and it seems that they might not have a small fraction of decency the TPLF has because they were blinded with confidence that emanated from a small accomplishment they managed to attain by turning around a backward nation to look toward the developed word, nothing more than that and for doing that what they were appropriating for themselves was too high compared to TPLF who are trying to make a difficult situation workable. At the same time it is only natural when there is animosity, or it is much preferable if it is looked at as competing interests especially in a democracy, it is not possible to lineup the key posts with those that have a direct competing interest although that could change in a democracy.
The problem is the kind of democracy where only around 10 percent of the population know exactly what the nation needs would mean that this 10 percent should make a lot of sacrifice in order to see this figure climb. When that happens all factors such as the productivity level of the people and their awareness will also rise enabling everyone to focus on the economic well being of the people instead of aspiring to repeat what every third world country is trying to eliminate, which is replacing one elite group by another so that it will be the turn of a new group to line up its pocket. It will continue to do so until another elite group manages to topple it and it will continue to line up its pocket and the spiral or cycle cannot be broken easily, even if the effort is exactly that. That is why everyone is praising South Africa and other few African countries who managed to practice what democracy is preaching, although, for the most part, it is the same elite group that will be in charge under a different leader and the fact that they will be doing the right thing will always be in doubt.
Because of that, anyone who calls himself/herself genuine Ethiopian should be concerned about is how could it be possible to replace this administration with another administration that is equipped with what it takes to prevent the system from being hijacked by those who would not hesitate to line up their pockets as it had been and is still endemic to third world country elite, although it is changing in many places. What will bring about the needed change in our country might be two things. The first one is the few elite in the country have to be ready and willing to sacrifice their own interest and work for the nation and the people, and if that is coupled with a well educated and informed public that knows what it wants and knows who to put in office, knows how to organize itself to take advantage of its democratic rights we could say, not only in Ethiopia, but in most third world countries that might be exploited by similar usurpers that they are taking steps in the direct direction.
posted by Ethio-Probe @ 6:43 AM
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