Not religious. It’s a political movement. own it!

So goes the saying: “if it looks like a duck and walks like a duck, it’s a duck.” What if it does not look like an eagle but it really is an eagle, seriously? Despite its peaceful and somewhat slow paced nature, what the Ethiopian Muslims are undertaking looks like revolution. Defiance and determination are crucially important revolutionary qualities, and there is no dearth of them in the undertakings of the Ethiopian Muslims. A peaceful, sustained and determined defiance of the TPLF led regime political intervention in religion. It’s a revolution in progress.

Yes, unlike most other revolutions in history, Ethiopian Muslims movement is free of spontaneous emotional actions. For instance, their march to Kaliti, the famous and infamous prison place in the outskirts of Addis Ababa, this week did not end up like the storming of Bastille –which was an important event in the famous French Revolution. Nevertheless, moderation did not overshadow the purpose it was intended for- which was visiting their arrested leaders. When hundreds of thousands of people march to prison to visit incarcerated leaders, it is not a social act. It is a political act. The way it unfolds itself is political. Its message is political too. In the process, it is shaping, I believe, consciousness in how to transform peaceful struggle into a revolutionary act.

Erstwhile strategies of domesticating and/or repressing peaceful demands are not working this time around and failed to outsmart the insight, bravery, subtlety and determination of the movement. What usually happens is that whenever there is peaceful struggle with a demand for justice or pursuit of political rights in a political way, TPLF led government swings to its habit of putting leaders of the movement behind bars apart from launching brutal atrocities, and then demands that caused the movement end up being relegated to demands of securing the release of leaders behind bars. In fact, that is not just it. Intensifying negative propaganda campaign, thanks to media monopoly of the government, putting activism for a cause in a bad light, framing it for “legal” attack and outright repression are norms for the governing TPLF dominated government. Movements in the past experienced all these entanglements and in most cases fell victim to it.

What distinguishes Ethiopian Muslim movement from all the previous movements is that it endured all the negative propaganda and atrocious attacks (attacks in Gerba ,Degan and Dessie comes to mind) and it is marching forward, as it should like a revolution. Of course, the movement has already achieved something extraordinary: it disempowered ethnic ideology and unified people from all language speaking groups and the bond looks strong. Far from being suspicious about the movement, on grounds of alleged “Islamist agenda” driven by expatriate extremists – as government did try to project it, majority of the non-Muslim Ethiopians are relishing it and are sympathetic about it. Apparently, the piquant glance emanates partly from the history of Islam in Ethiopia and partly from the strong social bond between Ethiopian Muslims and Ethiopian Christians. Clearly, many Ethiopians are convinced that the Ethiopian Muslims are not in the business of selling out their country and non-Muslim Ethiopians for expatriate Muslims - whatever their agenda is. Yet, it has to be admitted that there is still a significant number that is not at ease with and even suspicious about the movement.

We have to be clear about the demands. Although, the movement is being undertaken by Ethiopian Muslims, there is really nothing that is purely religious or even religious about the movement. What they are resisting (in fact now it is in a stage of defiance, which is revolutionary) is political intervention from TPLF dominated government which manifested itself in three forms: that government should not appoint, clandestinely, its own personnel to their Islamic council, that government should not orchestrate (in any form) infiltration of strange Islamic teachings (they refer to it- Al-Ahbash) to their congregation and that government should not interfere in the business of running their Islamic school.

These demands are, as Mesfin Negash expounded a few months back, related to, and in a fundamental way, assertion of (or defending) constitutional rights and there is nothing apolitical about it. When constitution and assertion of rights are involved (it does not matter whether the issues are related to religion or not), and when these assertion is pursued outside of the courts in a very political way due to the very political nature of the “justice system”, the movement is clearly not religious. In that case, the process through which the assertion of rights are pursued and what the process results in are inevitably political.

And this is what makes the Ethiopian Muslims movement more of a “rights movement” rather than a religious one (as it is related to assertion of constitutional rights outside of the court) and this is why non-Muslim Ethiopians need to take up the issue aggressively and own it instead of disowning the movement on illusory religious grounds and on grounds of manufactured suspicion. Even if we assume that the alleged unEthiopian root of the movement is true and the “agenda” it seeks to promote is something “radical”- in which case it would be political again, disowning the movement does not render service to skepticism that is lingering among some Ethiopians. Yet, I want to be clear on this matter: as a person who grew up where religious difference did not matter in social interaction, where religious difference did not cause conflict, and where religious difference did not even matter in marriage (not because people were less pious about their faiths but because social harmony was so strong), there is no reason to buy the pessimist propaganda of “hidden agenda” and disown the political movement simply because Ethiopian Muslims took the initiative to be serious about their rights and happened to be harbingers of impending “rights revolution” (not to be confused with the US “rights revolution” in the 1960’s). The movement is not religious. It’s political movement.

A revolution is in the making. And it is in the interest of all Ethiopians to own the movement and even more Ethopianize it. Those of us who are simply relishing the movement need to do something more significant and meaningful. Those who are skeptical about the movement need to kill their skepticism and be able to see the very political nature of the movement, have a share, be part of it and own it. Opposition leaders, especially young leaders in the opposition, need to approach the movement and the leaders and discuss in how to make the “rights revolution” possible. I understand this is a risky business for the opposition. Yet, the moment is a moment of defiance. Seize it.

Tell it like it is: Chauvinism, in its worst form, is the real danger

The late Meles Zenawi made, it seems, more appearance in international print and electronic media and became a preferred topic for think thanks and researchers alike after his demise than he did in his 21 years of rule. Substances in discussions range from retrospective analysis of his personality to his contribution, from his “influential” presence in international politics to impending instability, which, for some, is inevitable.

Emerging accounts in most cases nearly tally, except differences in wording and presentations, with the official government account which paints Meles simply as exceptionally mystic (political and social) in the entire history of the country – even in the continent. Most that we read are rosy portrayals: “selfless”, “insightful leadership” and “influential in the world stage.” I have no doubt in my mind that most of the leadership of his circle of ex-guerrilla friends do not mean it.
The motive of mystification, so to speak, has a lot to do with crafting political legitimacy to help maintain their uneasy hold on power. Meles Zenawi is now like an ideology unto himself: he is like the “Chairman Mao” of Ethiopia. I get it, I hope any one would, why his friends in the leadership position are in the business of reformation and transformation of the image of the late Zenawi. What I don’t get is the sort of confirmation from international actors and politicians in the international stage. Among others, Susan Rice is exceptionally annoying in that. Some organizations seem to send similar message, subtly.

Recent analysis,actually they call it briefings, (here after the paper), from a UK based “non-governmental organization” that “aim to provide high level analysis of rapidly emerging and unexpected global events and their impact on global development policy and practice” is subtly rosy: “...without the steadying hand of a practised and seasoned global player, Ethiopia’s presence and capacity for global influence may well have diminished.” My question is: “how do we measure influence?” Could the size of financial aid from “The International Community” be an indicator as to how influential a leader is in the world stage? If so, how is Zenawi different from Nouri Almaliki of Iraq and/or Hamid Karazi of Afghanistan, or from the former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarek? The more international organizations are trying to transform an image of Meles Zenawi ( an image that never existed), the more clues they give about their real nature and where they stand on issues like justice, democracy and corruption, among other things. What would emerging young critical voices in Ethiopia, who are a living witnesses of the atrocities authorized by Zenawi, think about these organizations?

That is not just it. The paper discussed findings or observations rather in the areas of “politics of transition”, “geopolitics” and the economy as it relates to “development” of Ethiopia. Besides numerous inaccuracies of descriptions and statements throughout the paper, it ignores matters which would otherwise have been essential for the discussion in the creation of stability and democratic ambiance in the post Meles Ethiopia. I'll not do justice if I try to address them all. I’ll just focus on selected issues which I think are even more crucially important.

First of all, it seems that an implied assumption is made that political instability is not a thing of Meles Zenawi's administration. If that is the case, the truth is entirely different. May be how we view political stability/instability played into the making of the assumption. Whatever the case is, it is not disputable that Meles Zenawi presided over one of the most brutal regimes in Africa. And to transform Meles’ image in total disregard to his brutal aspect which caused agonies to thousands and thousands of people amounts to condoning injustice and human rights violation.

Among other evidences, records in the hands of reputable international human rights organizations like the Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International vindicate repeated mass killings in the capital, south central, south eastern and south western parts of the country among others. Civil society is virtually non-existent. The attack on free press was and is exceptionally brutal to the extent that vocal critics of the political system could simply be implicated in trumped up charges of “terrorism” and the best journalists in the country are thrown to prison. The justice system is simply serving a distinct form of totalitarian regime –one that espoused ethnic chauvinism as an ideology. Opposition leaders are thrown to jail with manufactured false allegations. Opposition parties are pushed to the point of irrelevance not just because of organizational weakness and lack of vision, as indicated in the paper, but because “legal”, political, security and economic muscle of the government is being flexed regularly to make the idea of peaceful and democratic political opposition nearly impossible and creation of a single party state, like China, possible. When institutions are non-functional and repression is considered as a norm and political virtue, they do not tell stories of political stability. It is more like political instability. Regular invitation and attendance at the G-20 and other international gatherings should not blind analysts from seeing the fact that political instability was part and parcel of 21 years of Meles rule, and in fact he engineered it.

In regards to political transition, while the paper captured, rightly, the insignificance of “political transition”, and uselessness of assumption of the premiership position by Hailemariam Dessalegne, it tends to employ a reductionist approach on the explanations of it. And what that does is that it camouflages the real sources of political instability. The paper simply tries to explain the obvious that TPLF (Tigray People’s Liberation Front) is more powerful –militarily, economically and in terms of controlling security apparatus – than other members of the ruling coalition. Had the problem been that simple, not that it really is simple from the point of view of democratization process but relatively speaking, anticipated challenges would have been less worrisome. They need to tell it like it is: The problem is manifested aspiration to chauvinism and ethnic supremacy and that is the true ideology of TPLF. Yes, this is one the most ridiculed subjects in Ethiopian comedy but needs to be a point of political discussion, not just a matter to laugh at. Not just it represents a malaise for the democratization process (by the way there is no aspiration for democratization on the part of the government. The trend is Sinification ), it may bring about total chaos as well.

Look at the political transition itself. It generated tension within the ruling coalition not because, apparently, other members of the coalition have qualms, political doubt or bitter feelings about the nominated premier but because of the ideology of TPLF. Leaked information suggests that there was acrimonious conflict within TPLF over the idea of prime minister from other members of the coalition. There was meetings after meetings before confirming Hailemariam Desalege to the position of premiership. With all its legal ambiguities, chapter 8 article 75, No. 1. section “B” of the constitution stipulates that the Deputy Premier “Act on behalf of the Prime Minister in his absence.” Hailemariam Desalege was the Deputy Primer when Meles passed away, and of course death is an irreversible absence. It took months after the death of Meles for Hailemariam Desalege to be confirmed as Prime Minister. The hurdle standing on the way of Hailemariam Dessalege was mainly TPLF’s ethnic chauvinism ideology. In the swearing ceremony, the incoming prime minister vowed religiously, allegiance and unquestionable commitment to the visions of Meles Zenawi. Even more laughable, after taking over the position, he was not living in state house and had to live in a government owned apartment and drive (well someone did it for him) to work only because the Widow refused vacate state house. What is the vision of Meles Zenawi after all? Anything that is not in line with the interest of TPLF supremacy agenda cannot be a vision.

The real political issue which is either ignored or overlooked but that which beefs up the likelihood of political instability is aspiration to chauvinism and ethnic supremacy of the “mightiest” political entity in the coalition which in fact seems to have tendency to take form of extremism at some point in the future if legitimate questions of proportional power allocation and putting legal limits to its power are pursued passionately.

Albeit not known or ignored by the donor community, “international community” and key state actors in the international forum, ethnic chauvinism was significant component, both as a means and an end, in Meles Zenawi’s power politics in the country. Ample evidence could be drawn from the policy agenda of TPLF and the power structure in the military and security apparatus. In a recent interview with a radio station owned by TPLF, Meles’ widow, Azeb Mesfin, unveiled that Zenawi had already designed a plan to exceptionally industrialize his ethnic base region (Tigray) which is already exceptionally industrialized, in the Ethiopian context. And his ethnic party has everything it takes to materialise the plan.

Apart from tight ethnic based control over military and security apparatus, the wealthiest and the not so wealthiest economic structures owned by TPLF are pursued as means to maintain dominance. TPLF runs the biggest business empire, perhaps in the entire continent. There are many reasons as to why people in Ethiopia shrug off to the alleged story of economic growth -the least of which is not exclusion from the benefit of economic growth. Most of the beneficiaries of the growth are TPLF party members, its former guerrilla fighters and their families but we do not see that in the growth data. What makes this political and military dominance born affluence in Ethiopia different from that of Chinese leadership is the fact that the one that exists in Ethiopia is essentially a making of ethnic chauvinism ideology and a means to maintain ethnic supremacy. And this is what makes it dangerous and this is what is missing from discussions.

Geopolitical analysis is problematic too, to say the least. Among other things, it foresees that “Mohammed Morsi will adopt a more Islamist approach; aligning interests in Sudan, Somalia and Egypt with Muslim communities in Ethiopia.There are many in the Ethiopian establishment who fear a Muslim Brotherhood-led Egypt is capable of exploiting simmering tensions between Ethiopia’s government and its large Muslim population (officially about 30 per cent of the population).” Whether Mursi has such a plan or not is not something I can tell. What I can tell is that “many” do not fear “Mursi agenda.” Ethiopian Muslims are simply in the business of pursuing their constitutional rights to loud their voice in opposition to government interference in their religious affairs which in fact has support from non-Muslim Ethiopians. There is no reasonable ground to believe that Ethiopian Muslim would exchange their fellow non- Muslim Ethiopians to the “Islamic approach” of Mursi in the region, if there is one. The Christian-Muslim relation in Ethiopia is exceptionally unique and is based on recognition and respect. I do not dare to say no extremist element could be found among Ethiopian Muslims. But I can tell that if they exist they could not influence the majority.

Let us get it again,the real danger, if not arrested in time, that would trigger perhaps an irreversible political instability is TPLF’s aspiration and pursuit of ethnic chauvinism and ethnic supremacy agenda, and its determination to maintain political supremacy at the expense of coalition members or drag the country into political instability of exceptional magnitude.

ለ"ወጣት ሴት የመሆን ጣጣ" የተሰጠ አስተያየት

"ወጣት ሴት የመሆን ጣጣ" በሚል ርዕስ ሶልያና ሽመልስ አና ማህሌት ፋንታሁን ላስነበቡን ግሩም መጣጥፍ የተሰጠ መልስ ነው። ልክ ጽሁፉን አንብቤ አንደጨረስኩ የተሰማኝን ሳልነካካው አንደወረደ ያነበብኩበት ፌስ ቡክ ገጽ ላይ የሰጠሁትን አስተያየት ነው ትንሽ ማስተካከያ አድርጌ አዚህ ላይ አምጥቼ የለጠፍኩት። ሌላ ጊዜ የራሴንም የነሱንም ጽሁፍ ደግሜ አይቼ የምጨምረውም የምቀንሰውም ነገር ሊኖር ይችላል። ለዛሬ ግን አዛው ላይ የሰጠሁትን ሃሳብ ላካፍል።

መሰረታዊ አና ውይይት የሚያስፈልገው ጉዳይ ወደ አደባባይ ይዛችሁ በመውጣታቸው አድናቆቴን አንገልጻለሁ። በጹሁፉ የተዳሰሱ ጉዳዮች ሰፋ ያለ ውይይትን የሚጋብዙ አንደሆኑ አንድና ሁለት የለውም። ከሴት ልጂ ወይንም ከወንድ ልጂ የህይወት ፍልስፍና አና የአኗኗር ዘየ ጋር ብቻ የተያየዘ ሳይሆን በማህበራዊ ፋይዳውም --ህብረተሰብን ወደ ፊት ለማራመድ ወይ ወደ ኋላ ለመጎተት ሊያሳድር የሚችለውን ተጽዕኖ ግምት ውስጥ በማስገባት መወያያት ያስፈልጋል። ሰፋ አድርገን ስናይ አንደኔ አንደኔ የጽሁፉ ጭብጥ በባህል አና ማህበራዊ አስተሳሰብ ባንድ በኩል አና ፤ በሌላ በኩል ተተኪ የሚባለው ትውልድ ራሱ ከሚፈጥረውም ይሁን ከሌሎች ማህበረሰቦች በፊልም ይሁን በሌሎች የመገኛና ዘዴዎች በሚያገኛቸው አስተሳሰቦች መካከል የሚነሳ ቅራኔን ወይ አለመጣጣምን በወጣት ሴቶች አንጻር የሚያሳየን ጽሁፍ ነው ባይ ነኝ። ጉዳዮ ወደ ርዕዮተ-ዓለማዊ እይታ አይወስድም አይባልም- ሊወስድ ይችላል። በነገራችን ላይ ብሎግ የጀመርኩ ሰሞን ላነሳቸው ከሞከርኳቸው ርዕሶች አንዱ ይሄ ነበር-ምንም አንኳን አዚህ ስላለው ማህበረሰብ ላይ ያተኮረ ቢሆንም። አንድ ጊዜ አንደ ክርክር ምሽት ቢጤም ለማዘጋጀት ሞክረን ነበር በጉዳዮ ላይ።

የዘረዘራችኋቸው ችግሮች መልካቸው ለየት ቢልም አዚህ ሰልጥኗል የሚባለው ማህበረሰብም ውስጥ አሉ። ከሌላ ከሌላው የዕድሜ አና የትዳር ነገር አዚህም አነጋጋሪ ጉዳይ ነው። በሰሜን አሜሪካ በትዳር መረበሽ ምክንያት "ሲንግል ፋሚሊ" የሚሉት ነገር ይበዛል። ዕድሜያቸው ከሰላሳ በላይ ሆኖ ያለትዳር የሚኖሩ ነጠላዎችም ቁጥራቸው የዋዛ አይደለም። በነገራችን ላይ አዚህ ሃገር አንደመጣሁ "quick divorce" የሚል በየቦታው የተለጠፈ ማስታወቂያ ግራ ያጋባኝ ነበር። የጠበቆች ዋነኛ ገበያ ከሚባሉት ውስጥ አንዱ ሰው ማፋታት መሆኑ ነው አንግዲህ። በሌላውም ጉዳይ ይሄ ማህበረሰብ "ሊቲጋንት" የሚባል አይነት ማህበረሰብ ነው። መካሰስ የሚወድ ይመስላል። የ"ህግ የበላይነት" ከመኖሩ ጋር የተያያዘ ነው ወይንስ በሌላ ምክንያት የሚለው "ሶጂዎሎጂካል" ጥናት አና ምርምር የሚያስፈልገው ይመስለኛል። የተጻፉ ብዙ ነገሮች ሊኖሩ አንደሚችሉ ግን እገምታለሁ።

የፍቺ ቁጥር መብዛቱ የገረመኝን ያህል ከዛም የከፋ ነገር አለ። ከሁሉም የማልረሳው ነብሰጡር የነበረች ባለቤቱን ባሰቃቂ ሁኔታ የገደለም አለ-አዎ አዚ የ"ባህል ተፅዕኖ" በሌለበት ሰልጥኖአል በሚባለው ዓለም። ጉዳዮ ግን የጋዜጣው የፊት ገጽ ዜና ("ፍሮንም ፔጂ ኒውስ") አንደሚሉት አንኳን ለመሆን አልበቃም። አንግዳ ወይም ተከስቶ የማያውቅ ነገር ባለውመሆኑ ይሆን ከርዕሰ ዜናነት የተቀነሰው? ውስጠኛው ገጽ ላይ አንዳነበብኩት ነው የማስታውሰው። 'ቶሮንቶ ስታር' ወይንም 'ቶሮንቶ ሰን' ጋዜጣ ላይ። (አሁንም ጉዳዮ ባይያያዝም ትላንት አንግሊዝ ሃገር ሁለት ልጆቾን ያረደች አናት ሰምተናል።)

አዚህም ያለው የኢትዮጵያውያን ማህበረሰብም አንደሌላው ማህበረሰብ በጾታ ግንኙነትም ሆነ በትዳር ላይ የሚከሰቱ ውጥንቅጦች ተጠቂ ነው። በማደግ ላይ ባሉ ሃገሮች ነጠላ ቤተሰብ (ልጂን ያለ አባት ወይ ያለ አናት የሚያሳድጉ ) አየበዙ አንደሆነ የሚጠቁም ንባብ አንዳነበብኩም አስታውሳለሁ። በተለይ መንግስታዊ ባልሆኑ የውጭ ድርጂቶች ተቀጥረው የሚሰሩ አናቶች ከቅርብ ጊዜ ወዲህ ልጆቻቸውን ያላባት ማሳደግ አየተለመደ መጥቶአል የሚል ነገርም ይሰማል። የሚሰሩበት የውጭ ድርጂት ውስጥ አብረዋቸው ከሚሰሯቸው የውጭ ሃገር ሰዎች ( ብዙ ጊዜ አለቆቻቸው ናቸው) አና የንባብ ተጽዕኖ ነው ወይንስ ተወልደው ያደጉበት ማህበረሰብ "የባህል ጫና" ነው ችግሩ የሚለው በርግጥ ጥናት አና ትንታኔ የሚጠይቅ ነገር ነው። ወይንስ ሁለቱም?

ከሌላ ከሌላው ግን የባህልን ተጽዕኖ ስናነሳ በግንኙነት ላይ ችግር የሚፈጥረው ባህላዊ አስተሳሰብ ብቻ ነው ብሎ ማለት የነገሩን ክብደት ማሳነስም ፤ የችግሮቹን ምንጮች በሙሉ አለማየትንም ያስከትላል። ከዚህ ከጽሁፋቸሁ የተረዳሁት ከባህል ጋር በተያያዘ የእኛ ባህል የአብዛኞቹ ችግሮች ፈጣሪ አንደሆነ ተደርጎ የታየ ይመስላል። ለምሳሌ ከታች ኮት ያደረኩኣቸው ግልጽ አይደሉም-

"...በዚህ ላይ የማኅበረሰቡ ግልጽነት ያጣ ጫና እና ማስፈራሪያ ለአንዲት ወጣት ሴት የመረጃ ምንጯ ጓደኞችዋ ብቻ፣ ትክክል የሚሆነውም ብዙዎቹ ጓደኞችዋ ያደረጉት ነገር ይሆናል፡፡ ..."

".... እነዚህ ጠንካራ እሴቶች በመካከለኛ የወጣትነት ዘመን ላይ ሲደረስ በከፍተኛ ተግዳሮቶች እና በተለመዱ ትዳርን የመጨረሻ የሴት ልጅ ስኬት አድርጎ በሚያይ ማኅበረሰባዊ እሴቶች ውስጥ ይዋጣሉ፡፡ ..."

"...እነዚህ ጠንካራ እሴቶች በመካከለኛ የወጣትነት ዘመን ላይ ሲደረስ በከፍተኛ ተግዳሮቶች እና በተለመዱ ትዳርን የመጨረሻ የሴት ልጅ ስኬት አድርጎ በሚያይ ማኅበረሰባዊ እሴቶች ውስጥ ይዋጣሉ፡፡ ጥናቶች እንደሚያሳዩት ከሆነ በሀገራችን ሴት ልጅ በተማረች እና በበቃች ቁጥር ስኬታማ የቤተሰብ እና የትዳር ሕይወት የመመስረት እድሏ ይቀንሳል፡፡... "

የአናንተን ጽሁፍ ተከትሎ ከተሰጠው አስተያየት አንዱ በማህበረሰባችን "ሴት ልጂ ምንም ቫልዮ" አንደሌላት የሚያስመስል ነገርም ተሰንዝሮአል። ታሪካችንም ማህበራዊ ግንኙነታችንም ሙሉ በሙሉ አንደዛ የሚያሳይ አመስለኝም። ተወዳጂ ሚስት፣ተወዳጂ እህት፣ተወዳጂ አናት አና ተወዳጂ ልጂም ጭምር ከሴትነት ውጭ ካየናቸው ሚዛናዊነትን ልናጣ አንችላለን። የሴቶች ተሳትፎንም በተመለከተ በምዕራቡ ዓለም በሚታወቀው መጠን እና ልክ ባይሆንም (በነገራችን ላይ የነሱም ታርክ የግማሽ ምዕት ዓመት ታሪክ ነው) ለሃገራችን ታሪክ አንግዳ ነገር አይደለም። በአኛ ማህበረሰብ ውስጥ "የሴት ወንድ ናት!" የክብር ልብስ ነው። ሴትነቱንም ወንድነቱንም አስተባብረው የያዙ ነበሩ በታሪክም። ርግጥ ነው በ"ፌሚኒስት ፐርስፔክቲቭ" ይሄ ራሱ የሚተች ነገር ሊሆን ይችላል። ትንሽ ወጣ ማለት አንዳይሆንብኝ አንጂ "ሚሊታንት" የሚባለው አይነት "ፌሚኒዝም" ጭራሽ አናትነትን ሁሉ የማይቀበል ነው። ተፈጥሮኣዊነቱን አየሞገተ ልጆች መፈጠር ያለባቸው ከሁለቱም የዘር ፍሬ ተወስዶ በ "ቴስት ቲዮብ" ነው ብሎ አስከማመን አና ለዛም አስከመታገል የሚደርሱ አሉ። ባደኩበትም ማህበረሰብ ውስጥ ቁጥራቸው ባይበዛም የሴት ወንድ የሚባሉ ሴቶችን አውቃለሁ። ከአመራርም ጋር በተያያዘ የዛሬን አያድርገው አና ብርቱካንን አይተናል...የኦብኮ አመራር አባል የነበረችውን አልማዝ አይተናል( ህወሃቶች በጣም ግፍ ፈጸሙባት የሚባል ነገር ብንሰማም)። ስድስት ኪሎ በነበርኩበትም ኪዜ ከወንዶች አመራሮች ጋር አኩል በትጋት ይሰሩ የነበሩ ልጆችን አይተናል። አና ራዕይ ያለው እና ፖለቲካ አንባቢ ላይ የባህል ተፅዕኖ አለ የሚለው ትንሽ ማብራሪያ ያስፈልገዋል ይመስለኛል።

የፖለቲካ አስተሳሰብ ከህብረተሰቡ እምነት አና ባህል ጋር በሚጋጭ ጊዜ የሚፈጠር ተቃውሞ ከሴትነት ጋር ተደርቦ መታየት ያለበት አይመስለኝም። በግሌ ለመናገር ያህል ባባህላዊ አንጻር ለሴቶች የሚገባውን ክብር መስጠት ያስደስተኛል። ልክ ለእናቴ አና ለእህቴ አንደምሰጠው ያለ። ለሴትነት የሚሰጠው አክብሮት በባህላችን መሰረትም አለው። ከ"ፌሚኒዝም" አንጻር ነገሩ ሲነሳ ግን ነገሩን በፖለቲካ መነጸር አንጂ በባህል አንጻር አላየውም። አንደ አሰተሳሰብ አውቅና ከምሰጠው በስተቀር አንዲህ ያለ አስተሳሰብ ለሚያቀነቅኑ የሃገሬ ልጆች የምሰጠው አውነተኛ ክብር የለኝም። የማላከብረው ራስን ከመሆን ጋር የተያያዘ ጉዳይ ስለማይመስለኝ (ሰለማይመስለኝ!) ነው። ራስ የሚለው ጉዳይ አከራካሪ ሊሆን ይችላል። ከፊልም አና መስል ነገሮች ለሌላ ጉዳይ የተፈጠሩ የካፒታሊስት የፖለቲካ አስተሳሰቦችን እየያዙ "አኔ ይሄ ነኝ" ማህበራዊ አና ባህላዊ አክብሮት ይሰጠው ማለት ያስቸግራል። "እመቤቴ ማርያም" አያለ የሚያምን ማህበረስብ ለሴት አክብሮት የለውም ማለት ድፍን ያለ ነገር አንዳይሆን!

ትንሽ የተነዛበት ፕሮፓጋንዳ ጠንከር ባለ ሚዛናዊነት ስላልተመረመረ አንጂ የአኛ ባህል የትዳርን ተፈጥሮ አና ባህሪ ተረድቶ በ "አንተ ትብስ አንቺ ትብሺ" ዘየ አንዲያዝ የሚገፋፋ አና የማይናቅም ስኬት ያሳየ ነው። ትዳር አና የፍቅር ግንኙነት ውስጥ የህግ አና የፖለቲካ አስተሳሰብ መቀላቀል አና በዛ መመዘን ተፈጥሮውን መንሳት ይመስለኛል። የተቃራኒ ጾታ ግንኙነትም ሆነ ትዳር ስለ መብት አይደለም። አንደዛ ከሆነ ፓለቲካ አና ህግ ሆኖ ቁጭ ይላል። ስለ ፍቅር ነው። የችግሮቹን ምንጮች ስንመረምር ጥንቃቄ ማድረግ ይገባል ለማለት ነው።

"ዘመናዊነት"ስ ራሱ የፈጠረው ችግር የለም? ድሮ ኋላ ቀርቶአል ይባል በነበረው ማህበረሰባችን ውስጥ የልጁቹን አናት በ25 ጥይት ደብድቦ የሚገድል ሰው መኖሩን በአጂጉ አጠረጠራለሁ። ከዚህ የወንጀል ድርጊት በፊት የተበላሸ ነገር አለ። አገሌ ነው አገሌ ነው ማለት ጣጣ ውስጥ ሳይገባ በተለያየ መልክ ከውጪ የተቀበልነው ባህል የራሱ የሆነ ድርሻ የለውም ለማለት እቸገራለሁ። በማያቸው የአማርኛ ፊልሞች ላይ የማስተውለው የወንድ አና የሴት ኮንቨርሴሽን አንኳን መመነጫጨቅ ሲንጸባረቅበት ነው የማየው። መመነጫጨቅ ከሌለበትም ልክ አንደውጪው በህዝብ ፊት ያልተለመደ መሳሳም ይስተዋልበታል። ፈጽሞ የባህላችን አይመስልም። አንደዛም አየሆነ አሁንም አንደ ጭራቅ እየታየ ያለው ባህላችን ነው። ባላችን ፍቅር ያልነገሰበት አና ለሴት ልጂ አክብሮት የማይሰጥበት ነበር ማለት ስሜታዊነት አልፍ ሲል ደሞ አላዋቂነት ሊሆን ይችላል። የነገስታቱ የፍቅር ታሪክ ራሱ የሚለው ነገር አለ። የቤተሰብ አና የትዳር ዋጋ ክተጋጋለ ወሲባዊ ስሜት ባነሰ ሁኔት አየታየ የመጣ ይመስላል። ይሄ ከባህላችን ጋር ግንኙነት አለው ማለት ትንሽ ፍርደ ገምድልነት ሊሆን ይችላል። ገበያ ያላችው ጹሁፎችንም ጸሃፍቶችንም እያየን ነው። በወሲብ ዙሪያ አደሚያጠነጥኑ አያየን ነው። አየሰማን ነው። የሙዚቃ ስራዎችም ይዘት አና መልዐክቶቻቸው ስለ ዘመኑ ግንኙነት የሚሉት ነገር አላቸው። ወሲብ ወሲብ ወሲብ።

ትዳር አንደስኬታማነት መለኪያ ቢታይ ችግር የለውም ባይ ነኝ። ነገር ግና ያለጾታ ምርጫ ለወንዱም በሴቱም ነው መለኪያ መሆን ያለበት። ያላገባ ሴት ስኬታማ ካልሆነ ያላገባ ወንድም አንደዛው። በትዳር ውስጥ ሊያጋጥም የሚችልም አለመግባባትም የትዳርን አላስፈላጊነት የሚያመላክት ሊሆን አይችልም። እድሜውን መለኪያ ጨብጦ ሌላ ቁምነገር ሳይሰራ የሚያልፍን ወንድ ማህበረሰቡ አንደችግር ቢያየው የአስተሳሰባችን መሰረቱ( አስካሁን ባለው) ማህበራዊ ስለሆነ አና የግለሰቡ ችግር ብቻ ተደርጎ ስለማይታይ መሆኑ ግምት ውስጥ ሊገባ ይገባል። በተመሳሳይ ሁኔታ ሴቶች ይሄን ነገር ሲያድርጉ ቢታዮ አንደችግር ከመታየት አያመልጥም። በእኛ ባህል። ከማግባት አና ካለማግባት ብቻም ጋር የተያያዘ ሳይሆን ስይገባ የሚሰራውም ነገር የሚወስነው ይመስለኛል። ያላገባች ሴት ስትመነኩስ አንደ ችግር ሊታይ አይችልም። ያላገባም ወንድ ሲመነኩስ አንደችግር ሊታይ አይችልም። የሚሸረሽረው አና የሚፈትነው ማህበራዊ አስተሳሰብ ስለማይኖር። በምንኩስናውም ውስጥ የሚገኝ ማህበራዊ ጥቅም ስለሚኖር። ለትዳር የሚሰጠው ክብር አና ክብደትም ከግለሰቦቹ ባለፈ ከሚያበረከተው ሃገራዊ ድርሻም በመነጨ ነው። ቤተሰብ የህብረተሰብ ቀጣይነት የሚረጋገጥበት አንደኛው መንገድ አይደለ አንዴ? ቤተሰብ ከሌለ የማህበረሰብ መስረቱ ምን ሊሆን ይችላል? የሴተኛ አዳሪነትንት የሚያስተቸው አና ነውር ያድረገው አንደኛው ጉዳይ ሃይማኖታዊ እይታ አና በማይነገድበት ነገር ላይ በመነገዱ ብቻ አይደለም። በቤተሰብ ምስረታ ላይ የራሱም የሆነ አፍራሽ ተጽዕኖ ስላለውም ጭምር ይመስለኛል።

ሰሞኑን ባነበብኩት አደፍርስ ዛሬ "ፊሚኒስት" ሊባሉ የሚችሉ አይነት ሴትን አይቻለሁ- ወይዘሮ አካላትን! (ገጽ 36 አካባቢ ይመስለኛል) አምስት ያህል ባል አግብተው ከአምስቱም አምስት ልጂ ወልደው ከአምስቱም የተፋቱ ናቸው። ግድ የለሽ ናቸው --- ይሄ ነው የሚባል የባሎቻቸው ትዝታ አስከማይኖራቸው ድረስ! ማቴሪያሊስትም ነበሩ ---የዛኑ ያህል ደሞ ማህበረሰባቸውን ወደው አንደማህበረሰባቸውም የኖሩ ናቸው በሌላ ገጽታው። "አደፍርስ" ላይ ከተነሱት ጠቃሚ ማህበራዊ ጉዳዮች አንዱ የግንኙነት አና የትዳር ጉዳይ ነው። የትዳርን መሰረት ምንነት በዘመናዊ ትምህርት የተገኘ እውቀትን ክማህበራዊ አስተሳሰብ አና ባህል ጋር አዋዶ ሳያጣላቸው ጥሩ አድርጎ አስቀምጦታል። ቁንጂና የሚባለውንም ነገር ልቅም አድርጎ ስሎታል! አዛ ላይ ያሉት አንስቶች ቆንጆቆች ነበሩ። ቁንጂናቸው ግን ከኮስሞቲክስ ስና መሰል ጉዳዮች ጋር ያልተያያዙ ነበሩ። አንዳንዴ የአኛን ማሀበረስብ በሌላ ማህበረስብ ከመስፈራችን በፊት መጽሃፉ ላይ አንደሚንጸባረቀው ያለንን አና የሌለንን በጥሞና ብናጤናቸው ጥሩ ይመስለኛል። ያለ በለዚያ ብዙ አደፍርሶች አሉ። ከውጪ አየተጫነበን ያለው ነገር በራሱ አደፍርስ ነው። ለማንኛውም ከዚህም ሰፋ ያለ መስል ስለሚያስፈልግ ጊዜ አንደፈቀደ አመለስበት ይሆናል። በድጋሚ ጂምሩ ግን ጥሩ ነው።

አቶ ኃይለማርያም ባልዋሉበት “ኩበት” ለቀማ

አቶ ኃይለማርያም ደሳለኝ ስልጣን ተሰጥቶኣቸው ከተቀበሉ ወዲህ የቀድሞ የአሜሪካ አምባሳደር በኢትዮጵያ ዴቪድ ሽን

Response to "Campaign against 'dysfunctional behavior"

A few days back, I reacted to a status update of a facebook friend. As it turns out, I was in fact reacting to an excerpt from an article entitled “campaign against dysfunctional behaviors [of Ethiopians]” by a different writer. The counter-reaction on the part of my face book friend was only to get the whole thing on my face book page. I found the article to be interesting to me at least for two reasons. Obviously one of the reasons is that it’s is directly related to Ethiopia. The other is that it is related to issues that matter most to me albeit the approach to the issue was from a different trajectory for which I have little understanding of. However, neither the approach, which appears to me much like psycho-social analysis and a bit of “global citizenry” trajectory, nor the issues addressed therein are the reasons to repulse the sense of credulity. Credulity outside of the realm of faith has little or no appeal to me.I had to read the article with utmost critical approach. However, this article does not represent an effort to offer a response to every single point the writer touched upon in an effort to substantiate her position which reads something like –the reason for ‘intra-group’ conflict among Ethiopians, both at home and in the Diaspora, - is “dysfunctional social behavior.”

The point related to how conflict retards development and the emphasis on the importance of building up conflict resolution mechanism are points well taken – I’ve no dispute on that. What I consider wrong (very wrong!) is the writer's stern conviction to Ethiopianize “ dysfunctional social behavior” and the degree of certainty she demonstrates throughout the article –which, apparently, led her to a "dysfunctional", I believe, psycho-social analysis of conflict in the Ethiopian polity. The vital importance of historical trajectory, impact of external factors, role and motivation of political administration could have had enriched the analysis and provided a better understanding and picture of the problem. Besides even in the approach she employed (psycho-social), some of the listings of “dysfunctional social behavior” are taken without adequate and proper qualification – in a generic form.“Dysfunctional social behavior” is only dysfunctional social behavior and there is nothing Ethiopian about it.

Needless to write, conflict is an integral part of human society – and is universal both in time and space. And I don’t think that elements of human nature that cause conflict differ fundamentally from society to society. Greed for power, wealth, prestige and what have you play into the making of a conflict –and everywhere –whether it is intra-societal conflict or inter-societal conflict. Prejudice need not be discounted as a factor too. In the last elections, Kenyans experienced one of the worst conflict and violence in their history. If we are to analyze this conflict, chances are we will observe writer's listings,to which I am reacting, (by the way the list is long !) of “dysfunctional social behavior” ,in one way or another,in all the parties that were involved in the conflict. The Irony is that leaderships in some societies, even in "democracies" in the "global north" for that matter, could exploit some or even all of the behaviors you mentioned so long as they found it essential to maintain their hold on power in the name of creating what they consider "relative stability." How else could you maintain status quo? When there is no weakness to exploit, you create one!Think about about how Felix Houphuet-Boigny of what is now Cote d’Ivoire run a cliental and paternalistic state for well over thirty years.Why do we even have to go all the way to West Africa? Think of what TPLF leadership has been doing since its inception!Isn't rejection of TPLF politics by Ethiopians grounded on the idea that the way it handled Ethiopian politics is unEthiopian? Did TPLF spare even religious institutions in its effort to create weakness? In politics, when you want to use an entity for your own purpose you either make it strong or you make it weak- depending on your needs.This story of creating strength and/or weakness is not just an African story.(Is Barack Obama his own political creation?)It's a power game I believe(conspiracy theorist could tell you more on this- BTW do you consider conspirator y theorists "Ethiopian"? -as they seem to possess some of the "dysfunctional" social attributes you mentioned.)So you could see some of the attributes you talked about in any intra-societal conflict in Africa or elsewhere in different forms.

We can also consider a major conflict as an example- the Iraq War. If you are to approach it in a psycho-social analytic approach, it is likely that you will observe at least some of the things you mentioned as “dysfunctional social behavior.” Mistrust, suspicion, prejudice, arrogance, greed (for power and probably wealth too), ego – and what have you were ingredients of the leadership ( not just Bush jr) that declared the war. And how many Americans supported this war? Do you spare them from ,at least some of, the behavioral patterns you described? As it turned out there was no WMD. Again, my point is that there is nothing Ethiopian about the attributes you mentioned.

In fact, one of the examples you provided, Ethiopian Orthodox Church to be specific, testify otherwise. The wrangle and division within the Ethiopian Orthodox Church in the diaspora is not Ethiopian at all. The point I indicated above to make external factors part of your analysis is worth mentioning again. It is part of recorded history that the church attracted the attention of outsiders. At some point in the past, there was a misconception, among outsiders, that the Ethiopian church is weaker than the Ethiopian Monarchy. The strategy they opted for to change the Ethiopian Church was to manipulate the monarchy. It didn't work. Orthodox Church proved that that was not the case. And in its very long history, the church survived, and successfully in fact, numerous sabotages ranging imposition of new creeds to creation of schism. There was a time when outsiders managed to make (I am not sure if it is no longer the case) it to the very core of monastic communities with the pretext of spiritual revelation (ማርያምን በህልሜ አየኋት)only to gather the information they need. As it turned out, the case was that of espionage by “sociologists” and researchers in other Fields of study wearing a mask. But they did not get much of the things they needed. The story of James Bruce, the only European who managed to enter the country during the closed door policy of 150 years with the pretext of "studying the source of Nile", was in fact motivated by researching in the realm of theology in Ethiopia. Graham Hancock, in his book the "sign and the seal", has numerous clues about research efforts.

Now, we are even hearing a story, even from our own people, that the Ethiopian church is “international” “ዓለም ዓቀፋዊ.” I am not sure if this is a line up behind the thought that “religion plays a vital role in globalizing the world” as put forward some politicians and academics. Seemingly, unlike the unflinching courage and conviction of prelates and other servants of the Ethiopian Tewahdo orthodox faith in the past, the conviction is now eroded with “opportunity”- in its economic or political form. And the government in power was part of story for the division and weakening of the Ethiopian Church. So the division in the church is by no means Ethiopian in nature. It may, rather, represent weakening of spirituality of the emerging generation. Embracing spirituality is crucially important to arrest greed in all its forms, which I believe is a significant contributor in the creation of conflict.Transcending the needs of appetite and greed is important to embrace faith, principle and patriotism. These qualities are unlikely to be a breading ground for the "dysfunctional" attributes you mentioned.

I am of the view that “dysfunctional social behavior” you mentioned could, to a great extent, be explained by attacks inflicted in the realms of spirituality, social norm and culture of the Ethiopian society. As in other society, conflict was a part of our past. Yet, we used to have efficient conflict resolution mechanisms that are of spiritual and social nature. The very practice of Shimgelina (ሽምግልና) through the agency of institutions like Mahber and Edir were proven effective. While Mahber is both a spiritual and social enterprise, Edir transcended religious divide and capitalized on social capital. When people get together investing their time and resources to share and console grieved member of their community, it is not just an act of putting oneself in the shoe of others. It is an expression of sense of loss of member of the community. The entity is social but the act sounds not only social but very spiritual. That is why the institution Edir wielded power capable of influencing social change when the need arise. It was capable of conquering the things you mentioned as “dysfunctional social behavior.” Now, all that seems to have matter least and obviously it may not matter at all in the course of time.

What matters for many members of an idiot and credulous generation of mine and even the younger ones(I am not sorry for this expression), is “modernity.” What "modernity" - which actually is capitalism- inculcates young minds with is the fantasy of "better life" and hedonism. In the history of Ethiopia, we have now a stripe club in the country, we have now students of higher institutions who seem to have no problem of embracing prostitution so as to quench their lust for hedonism and fantasy. This are,rather,"dysfunctional social behavior" in the real sense of the phrase. Economic value matters most and Edir is being criticized as one of “the most backward social institutions.” In consequence, we are yearning for commercialization of social institutions. We are yearning for “funeral companies” – because it’s "fast, efficient and “modern.”

In the process, we are not just losing the social values we used to cherish, we are also loosing the institutions with which we used to resolve conflict and foster a sense of community. This tendency manifests itself in other aspects of the societal life. Isn’t it the “enlightened, educated and modern” politician that dragged the country to political disability the country has never seen in its modern history? Did the old forms of parochialism hampered Ethiopia from defending itself and maintain its independence? Didn’t Ethiopia defended itself, like what proud people would do, even at times when its leader became Diaspora during the Second World War? Isn’t it the “modern, rational, western educated” Ethiopian that sold out his faith, principle and country at the same time for the sake of needs of the appetite and greed–“better life”?? The dysfunctional behaviors you talked about beget from these tendencies, which are not Ethiopian by no means.

What is one of the issues that is ravaging the Ethiopian Orthodox Church? Isn’t it the “modernization” agenda of those who think that the “Ethiopian church should be modern and drop some of its creeds and dogmas”? Who is fighting their fight within the church and where did they get this “modernization agenda” from? I was reading Tony Blair and Christopher Hitchens' debate on religion. Blair was for and Hitchens against religion. But at one point Blair was using expressions that it is not possible to get rid of religion out of the world but only to make them a force for good- which implies to me that he had an ambivalent position. In fact, Blair was converted to Catholicism after he led the ravaging war in Iraq alongside former US president George Bush. Ironically, or not ironically seen from the sham nature of international relations, Blair became a peace envoy in the Middle East -the part of the world he supported to be at war less than a decade ago.

To make it short, you are right in that intra-societal conflict, for that matter conflicts of any kind –whether intra-societal or inter-societal- impairs efforts to influence change in terms of development in its desired form be it economic, political or otherwise. But the definitive explanation in the form of psycho-social analysis does not entirely explain the matter.It is even wrong in most cases. It does not even give a clue as to where the origin of the impediment is. The “dysfunctional social behavior” is not Ethiopian by identity and there is no historical evidence to support it. One of the famous Jewish historian, Hagai Erlich, used an expression of “mysterious magnetism” while trying to explain why Ethiopians managed to stand taller in trying times midst internal conflict and power struggle of feudal nature. I say the mystery is that Ethiopians used to act selflessly and we were not used to trade off loyalty and patriotism, I don’t mean there were no "bandas", for personal gain or selfish interest. The mystery was spirituality. Besides, we used to have stunningly effective conflict resolution mechanism. The things you are talking about are not things of Ethiopian origin. They are acquired behaviors- I would add of opportunists.

ሃገራችንን አልተሰረቅንም ወይንም አየተሰረቅን አይደለም ማለት ይቻላልን?

ከሃገር ቤት የሚጽፉ ልጆች የጽሁፋቸው ጭብጥ ብቻ ሳይሆን ለዛውም የአንባቢን ይመስጣል። አኔ ደሞ በለዛ ነው የተለከፍኩት! ከሚጽፉት ነገር ለዛ ብዛት ፖለቲካ ሁሉ አይመስልም - አንደ ኮሜዲም አንደ ማህበራዊ ግንኙነትም ያደርገዋል። ለነገሩ - በ"ሶሻል ሜዲያ" አንዲያ ቢጻፍ የአባት ነው። ሶሻል ሚዲያ ግን የኢኮኖሚ የፓለቲካ የባህል አና የሃይማኖትም ጭምር ሜዲያ አይደለም ማለት ግን አይደለም። አንዲያውም የነሱ ባይበልጥ ነው።

የምጽፋቸው ተደጋጋሚ ፓከቲካ ነክ ጉዳዮች የፌስ ቡክ ጓደኞቸን እንዳያሰለች በማሰብ "ሶሻል ሚዲያ" አንደ ግብሩም ባይሆን አንደስሙ አንዲሆን የማደርግበት ጊዜ አለ። አንደዚያ ሳደርግ ታዲያ ፓለቲካውን ተወት አድርጌ ነው። አንደ ሃገር ቤቶቹ ልጆች ፓለቲካን አያዋዙ ለዛ አላብሶ መጻፍ መጻፍ ብችል ሁሌ ፓለቲካ ብጽፍ ደስ ባለኝ። ፓለቲካ የማያመልጡት ነገር ስለሆነ ብቻ ሳይሆን መጻፍም ስለሚገባን። ያለበለዚያ ሊነግስ የሚችለውን የድንቁርና ልክ የአቶ መለስ ለቅሶ አሳይቶናል። አዚህ ላይ ድንቁርናን የለካሁት በለቀስተኞቹ ሳይሆን በዛ ደረጃ አንዲለቀስ አና ለቅሶ የፓለቲካ ድጋፍ ማሰባሰቢያ አንዲሆን ተደርጎ --የነገር አና የከነገ ወዲያ ማህበራዊ አና ባህላዊ (ፓለቲካዊም ጭምር) አንድምታው ግምት ውስጥ ሳይገባ ---የለቅሶውን ሂደት ኢንጂነት ባደረጉት የፖለቲካ ሰዎች ነው። ስለዚህ የምጽህፋቸው የፖለቲካ ጽሁፎች በተቻለ መጠን ሃገር ቤት ያሉ የፌስ ቡክ ወዳጆች በሚጽፉበት መልክ ለማደረግ አሞክራለሁ።

ለቅሶ የኢትዮጵያን ህዝብ አንድ አድርጎኣል አያሉ በሚዲያ አንዲስተጋባ ያደረጉ ግለሰቦች አና ቡድኖች በለቅሶው ሰበብ አንደተከፋፈሉ ያደባባይ ሚስጥር ሆኖል። ህወሃት በራሱ አንድም ሁለትም አንደሆነ ይነገራል። ኦህዴድ አፍንጫውን ነፍቶአል ይባላል። ደህዴን አና ብአዴን ለአንደኛው የህወሃት ስንጣቂ ምናልባትም "መለስ የተዋጋው ለሁሉም የኢትዮጵያ ሕዝብ አኩልነት ነው" ሲሉ ለተደመጡት ወገኖች በገባርነት አና በጋሻ አጃግሬነት የመሰለፍ ፍላጎት(አቅምም ይኖራቸው ይሆናል) አንዳላቸው የሚጠቁሙ ጭምጭምታዎች አሉ ። አነኚህ ጭምጭምታዎች "ክሬዲብል" ይሁኑ አይሁኑ ጊዜ ብቻ ነው የሚያሳየን። አንደ አቶ መለስ ሞት!

ሌላኛው የህወሃት ስንጣቂ የነስብሃት የሚባለው ቡድን ደሞ አፍንጫውን ከነፋው ኦህዴድ ጋር ገጥሞኣል የሚባልም ወሬ አለ። አየሩሳሌም አርአያ ባስነበበንም በሌሎችም ጽሁፎች ማመሳከሪያነት አቶ ስብሃት ይመሩታል የሚባለውን ስንጣቂ ቀድሞ መገለል ደርሶባቸው የነበሩ የህውሀት አባላትን (የስየ ቡድን ይባሉ የነበሩ ሁሉ አንደተሰባሰቡበት ነው የሚነገረው)በባትሪ አየፈለገ አያሰባሰባቸው አንደሆነ አየሰማን ነው። በነገራችን ላይ የስየ የሚባሉ ቡድንኖችን ካናገሩ ስየን ራሱን አንደማያናግሩት ምን ማረጋገጫ ይኖራል?! ስየም ቢሆን ህውሀትነቱን አንቆ ገሎ አይመስለኝም በመድረክ ካርድ የሚጫወተው። ምናልባትም ህወሃትነቱን በውስጡ አየተንከባከበ -"አየኮተኮተውም" -አንዱ ወዳጄ አንዳለው- ይሆናል። የኦህዴድ አና አቶ ስብሃት የሚመሩት የህወሃት ስንጣቂ አንደሚባለው ገጥመው ከሆነ -ከጎሰኝነት የተለየ አጀንዳ ሊኖራቸው ይችላል ብየ የምገምትበት አገባብ የለም። የአቶ ስብሃት ቡድን ወታደራዊ የበላይነት አንዳለው( አሁን መንግስት ነኝ ከሚለውም ቡድን በተሻለ) አንድ አና ሁለት የለውም። ኦህዴድ ያልገባው ነገር ሃያ አንድ አመት አባላቶቹን አና ሌሎች ንጹሃን ዜጎችን ያስቀተቀጠበት የጎሳ ፓለቲካ አሁንም የሚያመጣለት ነገር አንደሌለ ነው። ያለወታደራዊ ሃይልስ (አሁን ባለው ሁኔታ) ኦህዴድ ምን የሚፈጥረው ነገር አለ? ጉዳዮ አንደ አበበ ቢቂላ ለብቻ በባዶ አግር ተሩጦ የሚያሸንፉት አይደለም። ትጥቁን ያሳመረ አና ወታደራዊ የበላይነት ያለው ቡድን ነው የሚያሸንፈው። ስለዚህ አንደሚባለው የነስብሃት ቡድን አንደ ስየ ቡድኖች ሁሉ የኦህዴድን ሰዎችን ሎቢ አያደረገ ልባቸውን ከፍቶት ከሆነ ህወሃቶቹ "ምጥንቃቅ" አንድሚሉት ያለ ነገር ያስፈልጋል። በእርግጥ ኦህዴድ አሰላለፉን ማሳመር ብቻ ሳይሆን የጎሳ ፓለቲካን ፋይዳ ቢስነትም በውል በመገንዘብ ኢትዮጵያዊ ከሆነው ሃይል ትብብር መፍጠር ይኖርበት ይመስለኛል። ኢትዮጵያዊ የሆነ ስል - ድንገት አባል ከሆነበት ድርጂትም የህወሃትን የፓለቲካ ስሌት አና አካሄድ በመጨረሻውም ሰዐት ቢሆን ገብቶት ህወሃት ለማስቆም ከቆረጡት ይሁን በተቃዋሚ ጎራ ከተሰለፉ ጋር መስራትም ይቻላል።

አሁንም በነገራችን ላይ ይላል ኣቤ ቶኪቻው ሲጽፍ-በነገራችን ላይ አቶ ስየ በአይተ ኣማረ ኣረጋዊ ሪፓርተር ጋዜጣ ላይ ያስነበበንን ጽሁፍ አንዴት አያችሁት? አንደ አኔ አንደኔ አንዳንድ ግልጽ የሆኑ ሊጠየቁ የማይችሉ ነገሮችን ቢጽፍም - ግልጽ ያልሆኑ አና አርስ በርሳቸው የሚጋጩም ነገሮች ተናግሮአል። ሙሉ በሙሉ ስህተት የሆኑ ነገሮችንም ጽፎአል። የአነጋገር ቶኑም ወደ መከላከያ ሚኒስተርነት ዘመኑ ጠጋ የሚል ይመስላል። አየተከላከለ ያለው ነገር አንዳለ አያሻማም። ለመድረክ ነው ወይንስ ለአንደኛው ስንጣዊ የሚከላከለው የሚለው ብቻ ነው የሚያሻማው። ከብዙ በጥቂቱ አንዷን ነገር ብቻ መዘዝ ላድርግ። በሰው ሞት (በኣቶ መለስ መሆኑ ነው አንግዲህ) ሰዎች ተደሰቱ ያሉትን ነገር ይነቅፉና ( ለሁሉም ባይሆን የአቶ መለስን ሞት ከፓለቲካ አንጻር አና ከፍትህ አንጻር የሚያዮት ወገኖች አንዳሉ የሚገባውን ያህል ትኩረት አልሰጡትም -ከሰብ አዊነት አንጻር አይታይም) መለስ ብለው ደሞ በአቶ መለስ ሞት የተፈጠረ አና ሊበላሽ የማይገባው የፖለቲካ አድል አንዳለ ይናገራሉ። ከአንድ ወዳጄ ጋር ስወያይ ---አንድነት ለዲሞክራሲ አና ለፍትህ የአመራር አባሎቹ በውጪ ሃገር አንዳኖሩ የሚከለክል ድንጋጌ ( የአንድነት ህገመንግስታዊ ልበለው) አለ ብሎኛል። አርግጥ ነው አይተ ስየን ለትምህት ላካቸው የተባለው አንድነት ነው። አቶ ስየም ትምህርታቸውን ካጠናቀቁ ወደ ስድስት ወር ገደማ ሊሆናቸው ነው ይባላል። ይሄ ከሆነ አሜሪካ ቁጭ ብለው የማንን ጎፈሬ የሚያበጥሩ ይመስላችኋል?? አንድነትስ ቢሆን በቃህ ጨርሰሃል አስከዚህ ቀን ደረስ በስራ ገበታህ መገኘት አለብህ ብሎ መናገር ኣልነበረበትም?? ነው ብሎሏል?? ስገምት አቶ ስየ አሜሪካ ሆነው የፓለቲካ ስንቃቸውን አየቆጣጠሩ ሊሆን ይችላል--- የሃገራችን ፓለቲካ ቡራኬውም ማብሪያና ማጥፊያውም አሜሪካ አየሆነ ይመስላል -በሚያሳዝን ሁኔታ። ሌላው በዚህ ጽሁፍ ያሳዮት ግልጽ ስህተት -"ባለፉት ሃያ አንድ አመታት የተገኘ ሰላም አለ። የተፈራ ንብረት አለ።" ማለታቸው ነው አንዴት? ለማን የሚሉ ጥያቂዎችን በሚመልስ መልኩ አይደለም ይሄን ያሉት።

ይህ በአንዲህ አንዳለ የአቶ ኃይለማርያም ደሳለኝንም ጉዳይ ቢያንስ በአንድ ገጻቸው ያደረ "ባቄላ" "የሆኑበት ሁኔታ ያለ" ይመስለኛል። በድንገት በራሳቸው መንገድ አያሳበሩ አሁን ያሉበት ቦታ ደረሱ ብሎ በአርግጠኝነት ለመናገር የሚቻል አይመስለኝም። የራሱ የሆነ የፖለቲካ ኢንጂነሪግ ነገር ይኖረዋል። በርግጥ ኢንጂነሩ ህወሃት ነበር ወይንስ ሌላ የውጭ ሃይል - ይሄም በሂደት ጊዜ የሚነግረን ነገር ነው የሚሆነው። በነገራችን ላይ "ከዘመነ ጺላ ወደ ዘመነ ጨምበላላ" የምትለውን ነጠላ ትረባ ህወሃቶች ወደዋት (ክፍለውበትም ይሆናል) ሰርኩሌሽኗን አልተቃወሙም። ወደ ኃይለማርያም ጉዳይ ስመለስ ሰሞኑን ፌስ ብክ ላይ ካየሁት አንኳን ከቢል ጌት ጋር ጥርስ በጥርስ ሆነው የሚያሳይ ፎቶ ግራፍ አይቻለሁ። ከቢል ጌትስ ጋር ሻይ ቡና ብቻ ብለው ይለያያሉ ብሎ የሚያስብ ሰው ካለ ወይንም ካለች አሱ/ሷ የዋህ ብቻ አይደለም/ችም። ቢል ጌትስም አንደሚያስመስለው ኮዙ አንደኛ ባሉ ሃገሮች ያሉ ህዝቦችን ኑሮ መቀየር ነው ብሎ የሚያስብ ሰው ካለ አሁንም ጉዳዮ ከየዋህነት ጋር (ቢያንስ ቢያንስ ማለቴ ነው) የሚያያዝ ነገር ነው የሚሆነው። ቢል ጌትስን አና የአሜሪካን መንግስት ተምታተውብኝ አይደለም። የሜዲያ አና አንደቢልጌትስ ያሉ ተጽዕኖር ፈጣሪ ሃይሎች የሚከተሉት አቅጣጫ ሃገራቸው ስለምትከተለው ፓሊሲ የሚለው ነገር ስላለ ነው። በገዛ ሃገራችን ከስየ ከኃይለማርያም ከእገሌ ከእገሌ አያሉ አያማረጡ አያሉ አንደሆነ ይሰማኛል። ሃገራችንን አልተሰረቅንም ለማለት "የማልችልበት ሁኔታ ነው ያለው" ።

My travel account to DC and NY

My plan for Enkutatash- the Ethiopian New Year –was a trip to DC and reunion with friends whom I have not seen for well over a decade. As social as my trip was, I also wanted to make it an opportunity to observe the reality of America. I had some questions in mind –“What the affluence is like in America?” “Could I read something – perhaps “audacity of hope” in the faces of Americans and –as to what it means for the citizens to live in the mightiest empire in the world?” However, I felt like addressing these questions is not realistic in a matter of seven days of which much of it is supposed to be for catching up with long time friends from my hometown and college life back in Ethiopia. For that reason, I had to put my “political economy” glass on only occasionally and make sense of the things I see. My friend, who never cared about America before –as far as I remember, was very much absorbed into American politics and the election fever.It had me wonder every now and then whether this is a result of, on his part, the attraction power of American politics – which sounds to me probably the worst form of capitalism as thing stands now ( BTW, Vietnamese revolutionary Ho Chi Minh was appalled by the brute of American capitalism when he visited NY - that is where you have a statue of liberty – some time in the first quarter of the 20th century) or whether it is a form of resistance to the policy agenda of Mitt Romeny which he thought would affect the future of his lovely kids. It sounds both. I did ask him what he thinks of Ron Paul. He trashed him right away.

Clearly, America – of course I am referring to the parts that I have visited –is beautiful. Yet, you experience a feeling that America could even be better if there is a little tendency to arrest greed for more power and profit. Trillions of dollars in financial cost which entailed big borrowing, not to mention the cost of human lives, due to imperial wars in Middle East and Far East is essentially a manifestation of greed for power. In fact, in view of history, the trend represents continuity rather than exception. The conquest, in most of its forms, is meant to pave way for economic gain and maximization of profit in the long run -and for the new sorts of Napoleonic conquerors (the corporate)that seem to have big influence in policy formulation –which obviously is greed for wealth. Before economic exploitation there comes military conquest (and cultural domination too) as had been the case for colonialism. The expensive preparations ranging from military conquest to cultural conquest to secure endlessly profitable business empire (or to secure “the future” -"democratic future"- for “children and grand children" as goes the rhetoric) strained, I think, America’s present. The tendency does not seem like delaying gratification for a better future. Nor something related to harbingering justice and freedom the world over. The idea has rather a lot to do with expanding the realm and territorial domains of exploiters and the exploited.

Needless to say, so long as there is domination agenda, resistance to it is inevitable. The cost of breaking emerging resistances apart and maintaining domination – domination that could secure exploitation agenda irrespective of the rhetorical appearance it is given –could not be affordable in the long term. It is expensive. Forget the metaphysical reflection on issues like justice and freedom. There is no historical precedent of domination without resistance. Yes, time is changed;technology might help ease the task of imposing domination but I don’t think it can demolish resistance for good. America is not better, when it could and should be, simply because the strategy to make America better –through domination and conquest in various forms – is a burden to be resisted and not acceptable for people in other parts of the world to be conquered.The attempt to conquer and dominate the world is making American power players to forget their own people at home too. Having seen despaired and homeless people in the streets, I could not help questioning the motive that America seeks to achieve out of "development aid." While they are having their own unemployed and homeless people, they strive to trickle billions of dollars into coffers of their allies -some of which were and are brutal dictators -in development aid in the "global south"- which I really think is an investment into the project of dominating/conquering the world.How can I be convinced that a nation with significant unemployment rate and deficit financing affords to give out billions of dollars in "development and emergency aid" for nothing?Sooner of later,"there is no such thing as free lunch" in the politics of capitalism-domestic or international.Is there? How then do you explain observing homeless people in the streets of an affluent society and billions of dollars in development aid to states in the "global south"? In my opinion the agenda of domination is what is spoiling America’s present and this is why the “audacity of hope” does not make sense to me and I feel like this is why I have seen miserable people in the streets of America and in considerable numbers.

My friend had to plan a tour of DC –which helped me to reflect on the reality in America.He was my tour guide too. He had to decide what places I should visit: “Air and space Museum,” “The congress” “The white House,” “The Washington monument in DC”- which I did from a distance while he was driving-, “The African American Memorial Statue.” In fact he suggested a few more places to visit – like the museum of Art – which I had to resist. Not that I didn’t want to learn and imagine the inspiration and message behind the art collection but because of time constraint. In fact there are other places I resisted to visit too. My resistance was a reminder to myself that my taste of observation and/or things I used to admire is somewhat changed. The best thing about my friend, as has always been, is that he sincerely respects your choice and views even when he does not like them-that makes his democrat in fact -and he is supporting Mr. Barack Obama. I respect his choice too -past and present. Like now Obama does not represent change, "nor audacity of hope. But for my friend Obama is something else. Anyways, what is my impression of Washington DC?

Lack of high rise architectural and engineering magnificence did not rob Washington of charisma and its power. Even architecturally speaking, the low rise buildings are beautiful and charismatic. I felt like the buildings bear features of classical European architecture – both the Roman and Greek architecture. The whole of Washington,to me, represent personification of America’s power. Some sites in DC tell it like it is. Probably much more than what pentagon represents, the “Space and Air Museum” seems to be most vivid representation of the power of America. America’s mighty past and probably its aspiration to remain a world power is displayed in a way to strike mind- “Oh mighty America!.” In this museum, you could see the innovative side of the US -space exploration and space technology- and is diligently displayed. You could also see the militant, combative and conquering aspiration of the US as a world power. Some of the captions related to displayed war planes and the romanticization of their combative power tells a story of America’s love for “Air power” and probably partly explains the size of their spending in defense and investment in war technology.

Having observed romanticization of air force, I could only imagine the extent to which America could go in the production of much more combative and destructive war planes. In fact it is not just about military power.It is a lucrative business too! How much did the Harper government spend to buy a single fighter jet—close to 35 billion dollars?

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What other features of DC captured my imagination? Yes, the sub way! Charismatic subway stops and uncharismatic train, and what I would regard as annoying operators. The train operators talk a lot – not just about departing and arrival stops. They talk all sorts of things. Whether it is a passion for their job or an obsession to talk, I cannot tell. But I can tell that for someone who is used to ride the TTC in Toronto, it is a bit irritating. They talk almost non-stop and much of it sounds nonsense. What do you feel when the operator tells passengers: “There are 18 exits out of the train. You don’t need to use a single one and hurt yourself?!”

Other than that, the subway itself seems to epitomize, when I see it with my political economy glass, power-power that Washington wields. It’s Washington in its own right! You buy your riding ticket from the machine, you swipe it and get in. Once inside, you feel like you are free and could change directions and travel as far as you want. The trouble comes when you try to get out. The original fare you put into the card might not be enough and then there is no way out! We put $10 at EastFalls Church station, changed train at the Metrocenter and rode to Silverspring. When we’re back to where we started from –EastFalls Church –we had to add more into the card. Simply in the subway, you’re locked in and there is surveillance of course! It’s much like the rhetoric of “open and free society”. It seems open. But it really is not. It is just that you do not see where the locks are at the beginning! The locks in the society, I mean outside of the subway, you open them either with “connection” to the power elite or you need to be a bourgeoisie unto yourself with the ability to spend to get everything you want. Fare in DC is expensive, I would say. Good that I did not ride it much as my friend was driving most of the time. (Actually, transit system in New York is cheaper- even cheaper than Toronto. But New York has a different way to rip you off. My Hotel Bill in New York had numerous taxes of which that makes me laugh was “city tax”- you pay “City tax” every day. Not sure if it is the same for all North American cities. )

What else should I mention about the DC subway?! Oh yes, on top of the seat close to one side of the exit I read “Federal law requires that these seats be available to persons with disabilities and to seniors.” What comes to your mind may be “rule of law” or something. I was thinking something different. I was thinking about the damage done, of course by capitalism, to social values and norms. Social value has to be enforced with legal means. Probably the idea of putting this notice was informed by observation that necessitated reminder of the legal provision.

Reflecting on the legal reminder took me far. I was even thinking about what happened in Aurora and Virginia tech among other things. In fact this topic needs to be treated in a different occasion and on its own and should not be part of the travel account.

Outside of the sub way, I walked around the city. “Cuba Libre” in the heart of the city was attractive to me for some reason. My friend was surprised that I was fond of a place I have never been to. In fact, I was feeling like having coffee or tea. We went to “Cuba Libre” the day after I saw it when he was driving. Unfortunately, they do not open until five o’clock and I had no time to wait until they open. Next time!

The city is fascinating. I can see the affluence I used to hear about. For sure it is good to see happy people with jovial mode and some seem to be full of life. What diluted my feeling was despaired and frustrated look of considerable number of people in the streets. Smiles of people in areas of tourist attractions- the congress, the white house, the museums –and what have you did not trick me into believing that everyone is happy in DC. Of course tourists are from somewhere else and visiting new place is elating and you get to smile at least inorganic “C-h-e-e-s-e!” smile–which I do not do unless there is really something to smile about. The despair and frustration I am talking about is in the streets some of which adjacent to tourist attractions and some not. Some of them seem to be homeless. Not far from where Abraham Lincoln was shot dead and where Martin Luter king memorial library stands, I saw a group of homeless people.

Apparently they selected the spot to get the warmth of what seems to me like either a sub way or sewage. I’ve also seen emotionally disturbed people: all sorts of them. While the affluence and creation of wealth by the Americans –it is a reference to the one percent, not the 99 percent – could be taken as astounding story of success (with some qualification), the despairs and frustrations I observed are probably results of wealth creation process and failures of redistribution. By the way, It’s to be remembered that not all 99 percent are the same. Seriously, are those that are often described as “losers” parts of this category? Where do you put those who are living in a world of dystopia- “in the land of opportunity”? There has to be a new category- and I don’t know what percentage of the population they constitute. The reason that drove the group, which is not even part of 99 percent- to the street cannot be definitive and precise. I can only be speculative about it. It could be a resistance to a way of life where you toil a lot only to pay rent and grocery. It could be a form of rebellion to the brutes in the work place. It could be a rejection of the world view that the one percent, sometimes with the help of a member of the 99 percent, is imposing on them. Whatever the cause is this group of people could to be transformed to what is referred to as a “more productive way life.” If the work environment could be made attractive, no matter naïve may this sound, in all its forms, and if it’s possible to make people see meaning and significance in leading productive life, I think it is quite possible at least to reduce the number of homeless people in the street.

Apart from these observations in an allegedly affluent society and “land of opportunity”, I enjoyed my stay in DC. My friend took days off only to host me ( by the way who would do this other than a humble and caring Ethiopian friend) and drive me around the city. I caught up with old friends. I met my face book friends. I met new friends too! The time I spent in Skyline, Virginia was amazing. My Ethiopian New year this year was amazing and could not be better for an exiled man leading a sort of solitary life. I can’t ask for more. A day before leaving DC for NY, I volunteered for Ethiopian Satellite Television (ESAT-USA) and prepared interview questions. My friend’s wife –Chuchu – packed delicious “yetsome migib” and dropped it off at the ESAT’s office. It was good enough for three people. As well, I was able to be part of candle light vigil commemorating one year of illegal imprisonment of one of renowned Ethiopian blogger and journalist Eskindir Nega and that is where I met face book friends, people I know in my days at Addis Ababa University and what have you. We had a dinner in Ethiopian place in DC after the event and it was nice.

Based on my initial plan,my stay in DC was to be followed by a visit to New York. Yet, I had to manipulate my original plan in how to go about it. Initially, my intention was to interrupt my stay in DC, visit New York and head for home, Toronto, from DC. I changed my mind to go to Toronto from New York. Simply because I didn’t want to use the same route I used when going to DC. I had to call Megabus and reserve a seat for a trip from New York to Toronto which incurred extra cost.
*******
After boarding the bus, I realized that the book I wanted to read (“ Hitchens Vs Blair”) was in my bag and the bag was not on me at the time. The strategy to deal with the four hours of bus ride to New York was a) to use the Megabus wifi connection and read some newspaper on my cell phone but the cell phone battery dies fast and had no charger on me. b) Alternatively, I was planning to strike and sustain a conversation with a girl who was seated next to me. I opted for the latter. What inspired me to opt for the latter was that when my eyes stealth what she was reading, I realized that she was reading Machiavelli which convinced me that I could handle the conversation if I take it in the direction of what she was reading. Specifically, she was reading “doing evil in order to do good.” I was aware that she might need the time to finish assigned course reading off. But again I was feeling like it’s only the beginning of the school year and the time might not be crucially important. “My eleventh hour personality” might have influenced me to think that way. I guess this was a creation of my veneration for spontaneity and I never lived on plan at all. I used to do school work at the eleventh hour and end up submitting unedited papers. It is not an easy state of affair for a non-conformist student to submit unedited paper and I have paid for them – of course in grades! It is now history. Now I do plan for the things I want do ahead of time.

Back to the story, this girl was not inviting to talk at all. What I rather read on her face was resignation, probably out of Friday night tiredness.Her silence was boring.Every time I try to open conversation, she cut it short.

“What is this city here?” I asked.

She hesitated if she has to respond or not, apparently.

“Baltimore!”, end of conversation

She was unchanged for about two hours. After having her “energy bar” I guess she was ok. She had to ask me if she could pass to go to washroom in the bus. This time she was smiling –you know that “customer service type of smile” (close to theinorganic “C-h-e-e-s-e” smile) that you have to smile even after an eight hours of tiresome shift? You have to smile no matter how tired you are. “Customer is always right” – if not where does profit comes from?! And where does “job” come from?
“Sure!,” I said. I stood aside and she passed.

When she comes back I tried, again, to keep her busy with conversation. I avoided asking anything personal (honestly I didn’t want anything personal as that might give her a wrong impression of my intention) and had to restrict my conversation to geographical features we see in our ways. A big river was in front of us and had to ask her about it. By the way I really wanted to know what river this was and had to google it later.

Me: “What’s this river here?”

Her answer was a question rather.
She said, “is it your first time to NYC?” ( ብርቅ ሆነብህ አንዴ ማለቷ ይሆን ፤ ሙከራየ ከጠበሳ ጋር የተያያዘ መስሏት ምንም የገባኝ ነገር የለም። አንደዚች አይነት ዝጋታም ፈረንጂ ግን አጋጥሞኝ አያውቅም)
“It’s my first time!” I replied.

“I am not sure” – that is the final part of the answer she had to offer for my question. That was she cut the conversation shot again. Probably she really does not know it. Later, She opened up “Doing evil in order to do good” and close it again. Circumstantial evidences indicate that she goes to John Hopkins University. Why else would she drink water from “John Hopkins University water Bottle?” After I saw the bottle, there was another attempt to impose conversation.

“It seems you are reading politics.” I would have been happy if she was willing to discuss about Machiavelli and on issues related to power relation. Even I was thinking of discussing the “occupy movement of the 99 percent.” unfortunately, she appeared to be uninterested at all in that direction. She replied that she is reading politics. I commented that studying politics interesting and told her that I studied politics too. She was not impressed. She avoided discussing about her reading and took the conversation along career line – which I found it a bit uncomfortable. She told me she is doing her master’s degree and asked me how the job market is like. I did not want to disappoint her by telling her my experience and conception of “career.” I told her something different but I was thinking about my conception of career. The line of getting a career especially in the field of politics is fine. You be a conformist and get it. Or you be a non-conformist and forget it. I wanted my study not to make me a conformist. I could have told her the reality –that I work as a security guard in Toronto –and could have related social mobility and job creations to Machiavellian aspects of the capitalist politics. However, I imagined that lack of understanding where I am coming from could make her think that I never studied politics and was just making it up so as to hook up with her- this was not desirable for that time. I had to go about my answer in the simple way. I informed her that I am not working in the field that I have studied but this may not be true for all people. I told her that she can make it- which she probably knows. What I didn’t tell her is ( and probably what I should as it might have helped to trigger discussion on power relation) is the way to find a job after studying political science is by adding ideological value unto yourself- value that can help the status quo in some way. Honestly, this would have meant only testing the way she thinks. If I was to tell it like it is I could have said something like: the way forward in terms of “career advancement” is being a conformist. The other possible option is to study something that is not very political.

I remember in my first year in Canada, I met matured, as they are called in Universities, Ethiopian guy in Ottawa and inquired me as to what I want to study. I boldly told him that I want to study political science. He was in a sort of disbelief mood. He took his turn to be bold enough to tell me that it is not a good idea for a “bright person like me” to study politics. Instead he advised me to study “nursing” as the prospect of career is very promising. The irony is he was himself studying “conflict resolution” at St. Paul University in Ottawa. I burst into laugh forgetting that the laugh I had in a middle of a kind of conversation we had was kind of disrespect in our Ethiopian tradition. And he was my elder too -then may be in his mid or late thirties.

Anyways, when the hope of having a good conversation with the girl on power relation and her conception of democracy and power relation in the “democracies” was dashed, I myself resigned and began to eagerly wait for the arrival time to NYC. In less than an hour we arrived in NYC.
*******
Settling in my hotel room in NY brought about a sense of estrangement. As if I have not lived my eight years in Canada in much the same way and as if I am not going to live the same way when I return to Toronto for a period of time that I don’t know, the feeling I experienced in my hotel room was overwhelming. I must have been spoiled by the five days of social warmth and cordial treat from friends and friends of friends in DC and Virginia. The beauty of my hotel room did not even trick my mind to take a feeling that I know for a long time easy: solitude. The only way to conquer this ugly feeling was to go out and explore the city in the evening.

The shuttle service from the hotel dropped me at the Astoria Blvd subway station- a stop you find before the last stop in the direction of “N” or “Q” train, as they call it. I had to explore MTA and made my way around. NYC subway is very confusing. The new trains are fancy and sophisticated. You get electronic updates as to where you are, what stop is coming next and what the final stop is- and it is very graphic. The problem is you have to know which train to take as different trains could run to different destinations in the same track. The other confusing thing about it is that the trains are labeled in letters and numbers. I guess it takes a couple of days before you figure it all out. Designated waiting areas could be confusing too. Some of them have a look of prison. Benches are not attractive at all. These things make what appears to be MTA’s mantra “improving non-stop,” which you find inside the train and walls of stops –laughable, to say the least.

However, there is lots of fun in stations. Saturday is, I think, not supposed to be a rush. Yet, you see people in a very rushing mood in the subway. I was thinking “what’s wrong with NY?!” on a serious note, the rush itself could even entertain you. It reminds you of a capitalistic mindset (“productivity”) – “cogs in the machine.” As well, it reminded me of one of Charlie Chaplie’s comedy- which I watched as part of one of my undergraduate courses at York University. Moving non-stop to the point of not holding your breath- and on Saturday! Amid such rush in the evening, what I saw at “Union Square” station was very captivating. A group of four people (call them “multicultural” if you want- picture is down posted down) were playing instrumental music. A trumpet, a saxophone and a drum blended beautifully to give a powerful melody. The intensity with which the drummer was absorbed into drumming is exceptional –the likes of which I have never seen. It had me glued to the ugly bench for about half an hour and they were playing non-stop. For the first time, I gave out some money for people who play instrument in subway stops. That ugly feeling I got in the hotel room was conquered and fast!

There after I had to go out to visit “Ground Zero” and “Freedom Tower.” Planning to visit some sites of tourist attraction (although I was not a tourist, and was never ever in my life) for the next day, I decided to return to my room and took train to uptown where my where I was staying. It was about midnight when I get there. “Statue of Liberty” and “Empire State building were sites that planned to visit. For the rest of the day my plan was to just rove around the city and go to places that I frequent in Toronto – like Starbucks!

The following day, my first planned visit was to the “Statue of Liberty.” A train ride to “WhiteFall” (I wanted to know why it was named like that---it sounded to me like “WhiteHouse”) and then I got a ticket to the statue of Liberty for $24. No extra cost to “Miss New Jersey” – the ferry that took me to the Island where “the statue of liberty” is located and to Ellis Island, where Immigration Museum is located.

No question the statue is magnificent and charismatic. The closer you get, the more charismatic it become. In addition to its look, perhaps the very idea it embodies gave it more charisma. By the way, am I alone to feel like the idea of “liberty” is very charismatic and captivating? Not just that the idea of freedom and liberty is selfless or is supposed to be that way. Freedom and liberty is over-powering and exceptionally attractive. I think that is why people give up their comfort –even their life for the cause of liberty. What is Eskindir doing in Kaliti? Why were other Ethiopians led to torture chamber in “maekelawi”? What is justice if there is no liberty? When justice is exclusive or a mockery –there is no such thing as liberty. The rhetoric of liberty becomes empty. The malaise of America’s rhetoric about liberty could simply be revealed only when you consider its foreign policy. The government in my country –Ethiopia –represents stories of the repression and tyranny – in that it is probably one of the leading in the country. Yet, it has been the leading aid recipient from the United States of America and America never unequivocally, to date, denounced repression. Ironically, the US was an ally for this same system—in fact what more could explain this story than the tremendous development aid that the US grants in different forms?

Rhetoric of “freedom and Liberty” that glitters does not represent “freedom” in the real sense of the term. Like the deeds of America as seen in its foreign policy, description of the statue of liberty seems to suggest that the statue of liberty is not American in the sense that the sculptor and architects are of European origin. To be specific, the sculptor of “the Statue of Liberty” is a French man. The material itself (copper) is from Norway. So what is really distinctively American about the statue of liberty? It’s essentially a purchase from Europe. In fact even the idea that the statue embodies – liberty –sounds, to me, very French. Where else could we trace from the very origin of ideas of liberty and freedom other than the enlightenment movement?

On a historical note and in view of the experience of African Americans, institutionalized repression, bullying and war mongering, the message the statue seems to convey is not just misnomer, it is lie and a pure propaganda. The statue is 125 years old but the “freedom” we see in America is not. And did I read a line that sounds like “globalization” in one of the notes? The poem by Emma Lazarus, which is displayed on the side of the description of the statue of liberty, sounds nice, but does not give much of a meaning or significance. It just represents propaganda. *** pic and the poem.

The next visit in the Island took me to “Immigration Museum.” Not only is this meticulously displayed, it also demonstrate a considerable degree of honesty. The things I visited reminded me of diligent Irish professor in my years at Addis Ababa University and his well designed “modern world history” course. The visit, as much as it was a reminder of my history lesson at AAU, was a reminder of my own immigration history something like eight years ago. The traditional chants and songs – the mechanisms with which workers trick their mind to forget the brute of the work they do –in the sound area is amazing. The confession note in the museum that immigration was both forced and voluntary is an interesting point of reflection that could make another article, if not book.

In this museum, you could see challenges of immigration in the past. Even baggage was a problem. The bundles of belongings immigrants brought with them reminded me of house hold furniture where I grew up. In fact we had some at home [ሳጥን]. The touch of innovation that baggage has got from “modernity” is very visible. Heavy Wooden baggage gave way to light, expandable ,wheeled and easily movable baggage.

Putting stories of misery and failure aside, stories of success of immigrants, so to speak, vary. To me, it appears to be the case that immigrants from Europe are remarkably successful. Not only did they seem to succeed economically but also they managed to entrench their respective cultural heritages in their new country. On the way from New York to Syracuse, I read traffic sign posts of towns like “Amsterdam,” “Rome,” “Utica.” I have heard about other towns too that sound very European. Do Latino’s have towns named after places of their origin too? What is San Diego?
*******
My last visit to a tourist attraction in NYC was to the Empire State Building. Magnificent, exquisite and glamorous building which stands 1250 feet tall. It tells a story of the height of architectural and engineering excellence while giving you a very good view of the city of New York in all directions. When you see the city of NYC in different directions, you feel like the magnificence of the ESB is not an exception except that of its height. Lots of incredibly amazing buildings. The problem is when you get down, get out of the building and take a walk to explore the city. Perhaps people are wont to the things that shocked me. Same like DC. You can read anger, frustration, desperation and see many emotionally disturbed people, people who ask for a change and what have you –and in the land of opportunity!

This is where you clearly see those architectural wonders are just investments meant for profit maximization and has little, if not nothing, to do with improving the lives of people. In fact the ESB itself is generating, I can imagine, serious revenue. It cost me $42 to get to 102 floors. The queue is always long. Imagine tourist (from the bourgeoisie class around the world) spending in gift shops in the building! The desperation, frustration and disappointment you observe in the streets are manifestations of problem related to redistribution of the wealth that is created at the expense of the down trodden. When I see majestic cloud high in the sky of NYC while I was on the 102 floors, a spiritual mood and thinking kicked in. I felt like all those magnificent buildings did not bear an attribute of eternity. The majestic clouds, as natural as they are, better represent eternity and imagine Heaven beyond the clouds. I forgot where I stood and all those magnificent buildings right away. After all, they didn’t sound to me as representations of justice, freedom and compassion. They might rather be reminder as to what exploiting others could do. The political meanings of those buildings are not as appealing as the fascinating architectural and engineering achievements. The exploiters need to repent and arrest their greed which is causing devastating wars, sometimes support brutal regimes –and unbearable working and living condition for their fellow citizens as well!

Seriously, I happened to see a church somewhere between 10th and 9th Avenue of the 34th street –St. Michael church (not sure if it is Angelical or Catholic Church). Engraved notice board on the wall of the church spells out schedules of prayer and confession. The idea of having appointment, just like a doctor’s appointment, for prayer or confession makes me laugh but on a second though I did not see anything wrong with it. For those who are restless, depressed, angered and even for those who made it all, it’s a very good reminder that everything outside of God is not everything. It does not represent real power. Nor eternity. More importantly, God is a reminder about what is just and what is not just. Redistribution is just (imagine that you have to give the extra pair of pant for the one without it)! I am not sure whether the capitalistic world would ever realize that campaigns to demolish faith and religion could fire back in a very bad way!

Anyways to wrap up, my trip to DC and NY was excellent. The time I had in Virginia and DC was excellent. The social warm I experienced after eight years was amazing. Who knows it might tempt me either to visit very often or to find job and settle there for good. From the perspective of political economy, with all the problems I observed America seems to be inspiring. In a matter of days I was writing books after books- just in my imagination. Thank you for reading me.

***The end ****

“የጠሚው” ሞት ፣ “ሕዝባዊ ለቅሶ” አና ማህበራዊ አንድምታው

ከአንድ ወር በፊት የ"ጠሚው" መሞት በውጭ ሃገር በሚኖሩ ኢትዮጵያውያን የአደባባይ ሚስጥር በሆነበት ጊዜ የህወሃት አመራር ጉዳዮን በሚስጥር ይዞ ሃዘኑን እይጨረሰ ፤ በጎን ደሞ"ጠሚው" ሞቶአል የሚለውን ዜና አያስተባበሉ( በዓለም አቀፉም ማህበረሰብ ለዜናው መታፈን ተባባሪ ነበር) የስልጣን "ዝውውር" ላይ አየሰሩ ነበር። በሚቆጣጠሯቸው አና በአነሱ ቀጥተኛ አና ቀጥተኛ ያልሆነ ተጽዕኖ ስር ባሉ መገናኛ ብዙሃም ስለ “መተካካት” አና ከመለስ ዜናዊ በኋላ ስለሚሆን የፖለቲካ ሁነት ለውይይት በማቅረብ ህዝቡን ለሃዘን ማዘጋጀት የሚመስል ስራ ሲሰሩ ቆዮ። ካድሬውም ሳይነገረው ነገሩ አንዲገባው ተደርጎ ለሃዘን ሲዘጋጂ ከረመ። ከዚያ የአልጋ ቁራኛ ሆኖ ከወር በፊት የሞተውን ሰው በ"ድንገት ከዚህ ዓለም በሞት ተለዮ" ተብሎ ድራማው በጧት በቴሌቭዥን በቀጥታ መተላለፍ ጀመረ።

በለቅሶውም ላይ ባለስልጣናቱ ተኮልኩልው አብረው ሲተውኑ አየን። አምስት ሚሊየን ደርሶአል የተባለውም የህወሃት/ኢሃዴግ አባል የድራማው ተዋናይ ሆነ። በቤታቸው ጊቢ ድንኳን ካስተከሉ ወታደራዊ ባለስልጣናት አስከ ድንኳን የሚጥሉ መንደርተኞች አንዳሉ ተሰማ። በየቀበሌው ሃዘነተኛው የሚፈርምበት አና የ”ሰዐት ፊርማ” የሚመስል መዝገብ አንደተዘጋጀ፤ ይባስ ብሎም በውጪ ሃገራት ዘመድ ወዳጂ ያላቸው ኢትዮጵያውያን ለዘመድ ወዳጆቻቸው ስልክ አየደወሉ የጠሚውን ከዚህ ዓለም [ከነበሩበት የራሳቸው ዓለምም] በሞት መለየት አንዲያረዱ ማሰሰቢያ ቢጤም ተላለፈ። ማሳሰቢያውን ተቀብለው የደወሉም አልጠፉም። በኢትዮጵያ ባህል ሰው ሲሞት አለመወቀስ ብቻ ሳይሆን ያልነበረውን አና ያላደረገው ጭምር ገጽታ ማላበስ አና መካብ አንግዳ ነገር ባይሆንም፤ ጠሚው ከሞቱ በኋላ ስለ ጠሚው የተፈጠረው ስብዕና ከመጋነንም ባለፈ ከእውነት ጋር አይን አና አፈር የሆነ ጉዳይ ሆኖ ተገኘ። የውሸት ገበያው ግን የደራ ነበር።

በተቃዋሚ ፓርቲዎች አና በተቃዋሚ አስተሳሰብ ላይ የነበራቸው “ጠብ ያለሽ በዳቦ” ፓሊሲ፤ ለውጭ ቱጃሮች ባልባሌ ዋጋ የተሸጠው መሬት አና ዜጎች በሃገራቸው ወደፊት የሚጠብቃቸው ዕጣ ኣቅመ ቢስ ገባርነት “የሆነበት ሁኔታ”፤ ሳይገባው ሶማሊያ ተልኮ ሞቶ መሬት ለመሬት የተጎተተው አና ሟቹ ጠሚ "የሞተው የቆሰለው ምናምን ያለውን ዝርዝር የመናገር ግዴታ የለብኝም"ብለው በፓርላማ ያላገጡበት ሰራዊት አና የሰራዊቱ ወገን፤"መቸ አንደምለቃችሁ አልነግራችሁም። ጸሎት አድርጉ" ተብሎ የተፌዘበት ሕዝብ፤ በአዲስ አበባ፣ በጋምቤላ፣በኦጋዴን፣በአዋሳ፣በጎንደር አና በተለያዮ የሃገሪቱ ክፍሎች የተጨፈጨፉ አና ህይወታቸውን ያጡ ኢትዮጵያውያን ፤ የመናገር አና የመጻፍ ነጻነታቸውን ብቻ ስለተጠቀሙበት በገፍ በየእስር ቤቱ የተጣሉ አና ለመግለጽ የሚዘገንን አካላዊ ድብደባ የደረሰባቸው ወገኖች ተረስተው፤ ይህን ሁሉ ጉዳይ አድራጊ ፈጣሪ በመሆን ያቀናበሩአና የመሩ አንድ ትምክህተኛ አና ሲበዛ ዘረኛ ግለሰብ ሲሞቱ “አንበሳው፣ ጀግናው፣ አስተዋዮ” አየተባለ ሲነገር መስማት አና ማየት አጂግ በጣም ይገርማል/ይገማልም። ጉዳዮን አሳዛኝ የሚያደርገው በድንፈ ሃሳብ ደረጃ ሃገር ተረካቢ ነው የሚባለው የህብረተሰብ ክፍል -ወጣቱ -በሰውየው የአመራር ዘመን የተፈጠረውን ብልሹ ፣ በዘር ላይ የተመሰረተ እና ሙሰኛ አስተዳደር ፈጽሞ ረስቶ አብሮ ሃዘነተኛ ሲሆን ማየቱ ነው። አንደ ፓለቲካ ስልጣን ማቆያ ስትራቴጂ በተየያዮ የሃገሪቱ ክፍሎች ያስጫሩት የጎሳ አና የሃይማኖት ግጪት አና ግጭቱ ያስከተለው የህይወት መጥፋት አና ስደት ተረስቶ አስተዋይ መሪ ናቸው ተባሉ። ህወሃት ስልጣን ይዞ ካልቆየ ሃገሪቱ ትበታተናለች አያሉ ሲደነፋ የነበሩ ሰው አንደ አስተዋይ አና ለኢትዮጵያ አሳቢ መሪ ተደርጎ ተሳለ።የኢትዮጵያ መተንፈሻ ሳንባ አና ኢትዮጵያ የተንጠለጠለችው በሱ ላይ እስኪመስለን ድረስ ለማመን የሚያስቸግር እየየ ሰማን። ሀዘን በፓለቲካ ቅስቀሳ ዘመቻ መልክ ሲቀናበር የትኛው የህብረተሰብ ክፍል የሚያቀርበው ለቅሶ እና እየየ አውነት ሊመስል አንደሚችል ግምት ውስጥ አንኳን ሳይገባ የሚበሉት የሌላቸው በጎዳና የሚተዳደሩ ፣የኔቢጤውች፣ “ማርሽ ለቃሚዎች” ሳይቀሩ የጠሚው መሞት በመፃዒ ዕድላቸው ላይ የሚያስከትለው እክል ያለ ይመስል አና ከዚህ በፊት ጠቅላይ ሚኒስትሩ በሚመሩት ስርዐት ተጠቃሚ የነበሩ ይመስል መሪር ሃዘነተኞ ሆነው የድራማው አካል ተደረጉ።

“ጠቅላይ ሚኒስትሩ የጀመሩትን ልማት አንቀጥላለን” የሚለውን መፈክር መስተጋባት ተጀመረ።ነገር ግን ህወሃት ሃዘን ላይ ነኝ ብሎ ህዝቡን አያደናቆረ መሪር ሃዘነተኛ ለማስመሰል በሚተጋበት በዚህ ሰዓት እንኳ አሁንም ዜጎች ግፍና ሰቆቃ አየተፈጸመባቸው ነው። ትላንት ተመስገን ደሳለኝ ከሰው ጋር አንዳይገናኝ ሆኖ ወደ እስር ቤት ተወርውሮአል። ባነስተኛ ንግድ የሚተዳደሩ ሰዎች ባለቻቸው ትንሽ ግሮሰሪ መጠጥ ለመሽጥ ሙዚቃ ከፍታችኋል ተብለው እንደተደበደቡ አና ቤታቸው እንደተዘጋባቸው አየሰማን ነው። የተፈጠረው ሁኔታ ህወሃት ከተጠቀመበት ከህዝብ ጋር ሊታረቅበት ይችላል ከሚለው መላምት በተቃራኒ ሁኔታውን ተጠቅሞ አፈናውን ለማጠናከር ቆርጦ የተነሳ ይመስላል። ብአዴን፣ ኦህዴድ አና ሌሎቹ ደሞ መለስ አንድ ወቅት ፓርላማ ላይ አንደተናገረው "ወባ አንደያዘው ሲንቀጠቀጡ" እየታዮ ነው። የያዛቸው ግን ህወሃት ነው። የብአዴን፣ የኦህዴድ አና የደህዴን መንቀጥቀጥ ታች ወዳለው ሰባት ሚሊየን ደርሶኣል ወደሚባለው ኣባል ወርዶ ፤የተወሰነው የህብረተሰብ ክፍላ ላይም ስለተጋባ ነው እየየ ሲቀልጥ የሰማንበት ምክንያት ። ችግሩ ያለው ከላይ ሆነው ደህንነቱን አየተቆጣጠሩ ባሉት ሰዎች አይደለም።ከታች ተሸክመውት ያሉት የብአዴን፣የኦህዴድ አና የደህዴግ አባላት ናቸው። ለመሆኑ የጠሚውን አስከሬን ይጠብቁ ከነበሩ የህውሀት የጦር መኮንኖች ምን አነበባችሁ? ከሳሞራ አና ብአዴን መሪዎች --በተለይ ከአዲሱ ምን አነበባችሁ? ፖለቲካዊ ከሚመስለው የአዜብ ለቅሶ ጀርባ ምን ግምት ወሰዳችሁ? ጠሚው- መለስ ዜናዊ- ሲወጡ አና ሲገቡ - “ዞር በል ፣ተኛ ፣ጥፋ” እየተበለ ቁም ስቅሉን ሲያይ የነበረ ሕዝብስ ዛሬ የአስከሬናቸውን ሳጥን በግላጭ ታቅፎ “መሪር”ህዘነተኛ ሲሆን ምን ተሰማችሁ? የሰፈሮቹን ልጆች፣ጓደኞቹን አና ወገኑን በቀጭን ትዕዛዝ በሞት ያስነጠቁት ሰው ሞተው ሲያቸው “ለፍርድ ሳይቀርቡ የሚል” ቁጭት ቀርቶ ጭራሽ በሞታቸው መሪር ሃዘነተኛ ሲሆን ምን ተሳማችሁ? የጎሳ ፓለቲካ ቀንደኛ ተቃዋሚ ሊሆን የሚገባው አዲስ አበቤ የጎሳ ፓለቲካ ግንባር ቀደም አርክቴክት ሲሞት ያቀለጠው እየየ ምን ስሜት ፈጠረባችሁ? ጠቅላይ ሚኒስትሩ በህይወት ዘመናቸው ባደረሱት ጥፋት አና መጠነ ሰፊ ግድያ ምክንያት ለፍርድ ሳይቀርቡ በ”ተፈጥሮ” ሞት መነጠቃቸው ያሳዘነኝን ያህል፤ ከሟች ወገን መሆን የነበረበት ህዝብ ለገዳይ ሲያለቅስ መስተዋሉ ከዛ የበለጠ አሳዝኖኛል።

በፋሺስት ኢጣሊያ የወረራ ዘመን የፋሽስቶቹ የጎሳ ፓለቲካ በገሃድ የተሽነፈው አዲስ አበባ ነበር። በፋሺስቶቹ የመንፈስ ልጆች በህወሃቶች ጊዜ ነገሩ ተገላበጠ -ምንም አንኳን በዘጠና ሰባት ሌላ ታሪክ ታይቶ የነበረ ቢሆንም። በዘጠና ሰባት በሁለት መልኩ የጥሊያንኑን ወረር የሚያስታውስ ነገር አንደተፈጠረ አይዘነጋም። የፋሽስቶቹ የመንፈስ ልጆች አንደ ፋሺስቶቹ ኢትዮጵያውያንን ጨፍጭፈዋል። ኢትዮጵያውያኑም በባዶ አጃቸው ከባለ መትረየስ ጋር እየተፋለሙ አንደ አባቶቻቸው በአርበኝነት ወድቀዋል። በዘጠና ሰባት።ፍትሃዊ ነበሩ ኣልነበሩም የሚለውም ነገር ሌላ ጉዳይ ሆኖ (ስለማያስፈልግ) በአምባገነንነት መመዘኛ ከመለስ ጋር ስናወዳድራቸው ቅዱስ ናቸው ሊባሉ የሚችሉት አጼ ኃይለስላሴ ከዙፋን ወርደው በመኪና ወደ አስር ቤት ሲወሰዱ "ሌባ" አየተባሉ የተሰደቡበት አዲስ አበባ ላይ፤ ዛሬ የምር ሌባ አና አራጂ የነበሩ ሰው ማንም ሳይነካቸው በአምላክ ቸርነት ሲያልፉ የከተማው ህዝብ ድንኳን ተክሎ አንጥፎ የሚቀመጥበት ዘመን ላይ ተደርሶል። ኢትዮጵያን ሊለውጥ የማይችል የትምህርት ፓሊሲ አንዴት በድፍረት ትውልድ ላይ ይሞከራል ሲባል፤ “ትምርህት መድሃኒት አይደለም። በአይጥ አይሞክርም ።በሰው ነው የሚሞከረው” ያለው ሰውየ የራሱን ልጂ ሳንፎርድ አና አንግሊዝ አገር ልኮ ዋጋው የማይቀመስ ውድ ትምህርት ቤት ነው ያስተማረው። ዛሬ ሌባ መባሉ ቀርቶለት --- “ለአኔ ማለት የማያውቁ፣ ራሳቸውን የማይወዱ” የሚል ውዳሴ ተዥጎደጎደላቸው። ስለ ባንዲራ፣ስለ ሃገር፣ ስለታሪካዊ ቅርስ አና ባለቤትነት ፣ስለ ህጋዊነት አና ህገ መንግስት ስለ ነጻነት አና ዜግነት የተቀባጠረው አላዋቂ አና በንቀት የተሞላ ነገር ባንዴ ተረስቶ “ኢትዮጵያ በመቶ ዓመት የማታገኛቸው አስተዋይ መሪ ነበሩ” ተባለ። “ወርቅ ነው” ላሉት ህዝብ አብሮአቸው የታገለው አቶ ስየ አብርሃ ከሃወሃት አስባረውት፤ አሱም ህወሃት ውስጥ የፖለቲካ መቆሚያ (ግራውንድ) ሲያጣ ከሌሎች ጋር አሰራለሁ ብሎ ሌላ አይነት ፓለቲካ ሲጀመር ለአቶ መለስ ከ”ወርቅነት” ወርዶ “አህያ” ሆኖ አንደታያቸው ፍንጭ የሰጡት ለምን (ከመድረክ)ከስየ ጋር አትደራደሩም የሚል አይነት ጥያቄ ሲቀርብላቸው “አንኳን ከሰው ጋር ከአህያም ጋር መነጋገር ይቻላል” ብለው ሲወርፉት ነው--ኣስተዋዮ መሪ! በህወሃት በአህያነት የተፈረጀው ግን “ወርቅነቱን” የተወው አቶ ስየን ብቻ ነው ብሎ የሚያስብ ካለ የህወሃትን ባህሪ ጠንቅቆ ካለማወቅ የመጣ የተሳሳት ግምት ነው። ዛሬ በተቀናበረ ሁኔታ አያዘነ የሚመስለው የአዲስ አበባን ነዋሪ ነገ በትምክህት የተወጠረው ህወህት “አህያነቱን አስመሰከረ። እንደ አህያ አየረገጥል ልንገዛው የምንችለው ህዝብ ነው” ብሎ ቢያስብ ማን ጠያቂ አለው? ብአዴን? ኦህዴድ? ደህዴን? ማነው ጠያቂው? በዚህ ሰዐትስ ተመስገንን እስር ቤት መወርወር ስለተሰማቸው አና ሊሰማቸው ስለሚችለው ነገር የሚለው የለም?? የዘጠና አንዱ ጭፍጨፋ ሳይጨመር “ጠሚው” ብዙ ህዝብ ባስጨፈፉበት ከተማ ሰባት ዓመት በማይሆን ጊዜ ያ ሁሉ ሰቆቃ ተረስቶ አንዴት አንዴት ለማመን የሚያስቸግር የጻድቅነት ትክለ ስብዕና ተፈጠረላቸው? አንዴትስ ሰው አምኖ ተቀበለው? ፊት ለፊት የሚታዮ ናቸው የምላቸውን ሁለት ሶስት ምክንያቶችን መጥቀስ እፈልጋለሁ።

በአንደኛ ደረጃ አንደምክንያት የማስቀምጠው የማህበራው አስተሳሰብ ኪሳራን ነው። ኪሳራ የሚለው አገላለጽ ያለምንም ጥያቄ የሚያስማማ(ኦብጀክቲቭ) ላይሆን ይችላል። ለነገሩ ቁጥር አንደ ፊደል ሳይገድል አይቀርም። ለአኔ የሃሳብ ጥንካሬ አና ድክመት የሚሰፈረው ሃሳቡን በሚቀበለው ሰው ቁጥር መብዛት አና ማነስ አይደለም- ምንም አንኳን ያለው ልማድ አንደዚያ ቢሆንም። የማህበራዊ አስተሳሰብ ኪሳራ ስል- የትኛው ነው የከሰረው ማህበራዊ አስተሳሰብ? አንዴት ከሰረ ? የሚል ጥያቄም መነሳቱ አይቀርም። የክሰረውም ሳይሆን ምናልባት የክሰረ የሚመስለው ቢባል ይሻላል።ምክንያቱም የከስረ የሚመስለው ሃሳብ በማይናወጥ ሁኔታ ቁጥራቸው ቢያንስም የተወሰኑ ሰዎች ጋር በጽናት ካለ ከስሮኣል ማለት አይቻልም። ለዘመናት በሚሊየን የሚቆጠሩ ኢትዮጵያውያን መስዋዕትነት የተከፈሉበት ታሪካዊ መሰረት፣ከፍትህ ጋር የተያያዘ አና ሃገራዊ ፋይዳ ያለው አስተሳሰብ ይቅር አና በበታችነት ስሜት የተፈጠረ ከኢትዮጵያዊ ማንነት ጋር ምንም አይነት ትስስር የሌለው ጥቂት ሰዎች ጫካ የወሰዱት ሃሳብ አንኳን ከጊዜ በኋላ “አሸንፎ” አይተናል። በትክክል “አሸንፎአል” ወይ ሌላ ጥያቄ ነው። ከአስራሰባት ዓመት የጫካ ትግል በኋላ አየዘለሉ በሚያሳዮት “የአሸናፊነት” ስሜት ጎን ለጎን ኮሽ ስሊልም ኮሽ ሳይልም አንደሰረቀ ሰው አየደነገጡ በድንጋጤ የሚያስሩበት አና የሚገድሉበትንም ሁኔታ አስተውለናል።ለመዝለሉ ይዘላሉ አንጂ ሁኔታቸው ያሸነፈ አይነት ሰው አይደለም። ከስጋት ጋር የሚኖሩ ሰዎች አንድሆኑ የሚያሳዮት ባህሪ ምስክር ነው። በመሳሪያ የነገሰ አና በመሳሪያ የሚጠበቅ የፓለቲካ አስተስሰብ “የአምቧይ ካብ” አንጂ አሸናፊም ሊሆን አይችላም። ያውም “ከአምቧይ ካብ” ባያንስ ነው?!

ዛሬ የከሰረ የሚመስለው የድሮው ማህበራዊ አስተሳሰብ ነው። ድሮ በድህነት ንቅንቅ የማይል ህሊና አና ያገር ፍቅር ገዢ አስተሳሰብ አና የአኗኗር ዘይቤ የነበረውን ያህል ፤ ዛሬ የተፈጠረው ቅጥ ያጣ የኑሮ ውድነት ያንን ያስተሳሰብ መሰረት አንዲንድ አና ድህነት የፖለቲካዊ ዋጋ አንዲኖረው ተደርጎ ስለተፈጠረ፤ “ጠላታችን ድህነት ነው” ከሚለው መፈክር ጎን ለጎን በውስጠ ታዋቂ ለድሃ ሕዝብ ለህሊና መኖር የመቀናጣት ፤ከዚያም አልፎ የአብደት ያህል ሆኖ አንዲታይ ሁሉ ሆነ። በኢትዮጵያ ማህበራዊ ጉዳይ በሚመስሉ ነገር ግን ፓለቲካዊ ፋይዳም ሊኖራቸው በሚችል (ማጤን ለሚፈልግ) ኣዳዲስ የፊልም ስራዎች ላይ በተደጋጋሚ የማየው መልዕክት ይሄንኑ ነው -በቅርቡ ያየሁትን “7ኛው ሰው” ጨምሮ። የመለስ ዜናዊ ለቅሶ ደሞ ያለውን ማህበራዊ ያስተሳሰብ ኪሳራ ቁልጭ አድርጎ በገሃድ አሳይቶኛል። የማህበራዊ ኪሳራውስ አንዴት ተፈጠረ?

ከህወሃት ወደ ስልጣን መምጣት ጋር ተያይዞ በተለይም ከምርጫ ዘጠና ሰባት ወደዚህ በፊት የነበረው አስተሳሰብ አክሳሪ አና ኋላ ቀርም ጭምር ተደርጎ አንዲሳል ተደረገ። አንደዚህ አይነቱን ድባብ ለመፍጠር “ህጋዊ” ፣ፖለቲካዊ አና ወታደራዊም ርምጃም ተውሰዶኣል። ለህሊና መኖርን አንደቅንጦት የሚያይ አዲስ ማህበራዊ አስተሳሰብ አንደተፈተረው ሁሉ፤ ህሊናን አሳልፎ በመሸጥ የሚገኝ ተቀባይነት አና ኢኮኖሚያዊ ጥቅም አንደ ብልህነት ፣ጨዋነት አና አዋቂነት ጭምር አንዲታይ ተደርጎአል። ላልገባቸው ሃሳብ ለማጨብጨብ አና ዘብ ለመቆም አይናቸውን የማያሹ አና ከጭብጨባቸው አና ድጋፋቸው በተለያየ መልኩ መጠቀም የሚፈልጉ- የህሊናን የፍርድ ደውል አና የህሊናን ተቃውሞ የመስማት ብቃት የሌላቸው -‘ንቃተ-ድንቁርና’ ውስጥ ያሉ ብያቸዋለሁ- የሚያሾሙበት አና የሚሸለሙበት ሁኔታ ተፈጠረ(ወይንም ድሮም አንዲህ አይነት ነገር አይጠፋም ቢባል በተለየ ሁኔታ በህወህት አስተዳደር ተስፋፋ።) ንቃተ-ድንቁሩና አና ንቃተ-ደናቁርነት አትራፊ መስሎ የሚታይበት ሁኔታ በአኗኗር ዘየ አና በፕሮፓጋንዳ ዘመቻ መልክም ጭምር አየተስተጋባ ፤ጎን ለጎን ደሞ ንቃተ ህሊና የሚፈጥረው ትግል፣ያገር ፍቅር አና ፈሪሃ ህሊና (በእምነቴ ፈሪሃ እግዚያብሄር ወደምለው ይጠጋል) በግፍ አና በበደል በስቃይ አንዲንገላታ አና በአሳር “ዋ!” አስብሎ ሌሎች አንዳይሞክሩት መቀጣጫ ማድረግም በሰፊው የተሰራበት ጉዳይ ነው። ትግሉ በንቃተ-ደናቁርና አና በንቃት ህሊና መካከል ነው። ንቃተ ደናቁርትነት ያሸልማል። ያሾማል። ንቃተ ህሊና አና ለህሊና መኖር ደሞ ያስቀጣል። አስከሞት።

ንቃተ ህሊና ክቡር ነው። ንቃተ ህሊና አና ለዚያ መኖርም በገንዘብ የማይተመን አና ዋጋው እስከ ህይወት የሚደርስበትም ምክንያቱ ይሄው ነው። በሸቀጥ ገበያ አንደሚታየው- ጥሩ የሚባል ሸቀጥ -በመልኩ፣ በጥንካሬው ፣አምራቾቹ በየዕለቱ በሚነዙት የማስታወቂያ ጋጋታ አና ተጠቃሚዎቹ ባላቸው “ማህበራዊ አና ኢኮኖሚያዊ” ደረጃ ምክንያት በተጽዕኖ አንደሚፈጥሩት የዋጋ ውድነት ሳይሆን፤በተለየ ሁኔታ አና በንቃተ-ደናቁርት ዓለም ለሚኖሩ በማይገባ መልኩ ለህሊና መኖር ዋጋው ከፍተኛ ነው። ህሊና ክቡር ነገር አንደመሆኑ ለህሊና ለመኖር በማይቻልበት ድባብ አና ሁኔታ ለህሊና መኖር ሲባል የሚክፈለው ዋጋ አንደህሊና ውድ ነው። ክቡር ነው። አራሱን የሚያከብር ሰውነቱን የሚያከብር ይከፍለዋል። አንድ ሰው ለህሊናው ሲኖርም የሚኖረው ለራሱ ብቻ አንዳልሆነ ሊሰመርበት ይገባል! ማህበራዊ አና ሃገራዊ ፋይዳ አለው ማየት ለቻለ። ውሎ አድሮ ተጽዕኖ ማድረሱ አይቀርም። ንቃተ-ደናቁርትነት ደሞ ርካሽ ነው። የሚሸጥ የሚለወጥም ነው። ለህይወት ከመስጋት ጋር በተያያዘ ይሁን፤ የኢኮኖሚ ጥቅም በማሳድድ ይሁን በጎሳ ታማኝነት ይሁን --ርካሽ ነው። ንቃተ ደናቁርትነት ክቡር ህሊና ስለማይጠይቅ የከበረ ዋጋ አያስከፍልም። ለመጥፎውም ለጥሩውም ነገር እሽታ አና ማስመሰል ብቻ ነው የሚጠይቀው። ንቃተ-ደናቁርትነት አዙሮ የማያይ አና የማስብ አቅሙ እክል ላይ የወደቀበት ሰው ብቻ የሚኖረው የህይወት ዘየ ነው። ንቃተ-ደናቁርትነት በአስተሳሰብ ላይ የተመሰረተ ወይንም በድፍረት ላይ የተመሰረተ አስተሳሰብ ሳይሆን በመንፈሳዊው ዓለም “ስጋዊ ፍላጎት” በሚባሉ ነገሮች ላይ የተመሰረተ አስተሳሰብ አና ያኗኗር ዘይቤ ነው። “ሰው ዓለሙን ሁሉ ቢያተርፍ ነብሱን ግን ቢጎዳት ምን ይጠቅመዋል?” የሚለው የክርስቶስ ትምህርት ሁሌ ይሄንን ነጥብ ያስታውሰኛል።

ንቃተ ደናቁርትነት ድህነት የሚወልደው ነገር አይደለም። ኑሮአቸውን ያሸነፉ፣ከማሸነፍም አልፈው “መዋለ-ንዋይ አፍሳሺ” የሚባሉት ሰሞኑን ተሰልፈው ለመለስ ዜናዊ ሲያለቅሱ አይተናል። አርቲስት ናቸው ከሚባሉት አስከ ዓለም ዓቀፍ አትሌቶች ኃይሌ ገብረስላሴ ድረስ። ንቃተ-ህሊና ያላቸው ለእምነት አና ለእውነት የሚኖሩ አየተሳደዱ አና አየተንግላቱ ንቃተ ደናቁሮች ተፅዕኖ ፈጣሪ ሲሆኑ ንቃተ-ድንቁርና የመደርጀት አጋጣሚ ሊያገኝ አንደሚችል አንድና ሁለት የለውም። በማበራዊ አስተሳሰባቸው ሊከበሩ የማይገባቸውን “ተፅዕኖ ፈጣሪዎች” ዕውቅና አና አክብሮት አየሰጠን በሄድን ቁጥር ንቃተ-ደናቁርትነት አየተደላደለ መሰረት አየያዘ ይሄዳል። ሼክ አላሙዲን ያላቸውን ሃብት ተጠቅመው ኢትዮጵያ ውስጥ ብዙ የንግድ ተቋማትን ኣስፋፍተዋል። የት ላይ አንደሆነ በውል ባላስታውስም አንዴ የሆነ ቦታ አንዳነበብኩት አንደ አዶላ ወርቅ ካለው ኢንቬስትመንት ለኢንቨስትመንት ያወጡትን ገንዘብ ከአንድ አመት ባነሰ ጊዜ መልሰው የዛኑ ያህል አንዳተረፉ ተጠቁሟል። አንዲህ ከሚዝቁት ትርፍ ላይ ብዙ ቁምነገር ሊገባ የማይችል (ካላቸው ሃብት አንጻር) በስጦታ መልክ ስለሚወረውሩ ብቻ ባለጠግነትን የህሊና መሸፈኛ መጋረጃ አንደሆነ ነገር በሚያሳብቅ መልኩ ባለሀብቱ ለማህበራዊ አስተሳሰባችን መክሰር ያበረከቱት ቀላል የማይባል አስተዋጾ ተረስቶ ሼሁ ደግ ናቸው አየተባለ ሲወራ የሰማሁበት አጋጣሚ ብዙ ነው። የዕድሜ ባለጸጋ ሊባል የሚችል ሰው ገንዘብ ሳላለው ብቻ ከአንድ ፍሬ ልጂ ጋር መለኪያ ጨብጦ እሽክትር ሲመታ ከእስልምናውም ከኢትዮጵያዊነቱም ጋር ሊጋጨው የሚገባ ባህሪ ባይሆን (በ”ግለሰብ መብት” ሂሳብ) አንኳን አንዲህ ያለው ባህሪ ተረስቶ አክብሮት ባልተቸረው ነበር። ማህበራዊ ተፅዕኖ ፈጣሪነቱ የልብ ልብ ሰጥቶት በፓለቲካውም አንጻር የሞከረው ነገርም ግምት ውስጥ መግባት አለበት። ውጪ ያለውን ማህበረሰብ ለህወሃት ፓለቲካ ትርፍ ሲባል በገንዘብ ለመግዛት ያማረው ሰው ነው። ኢትዮጳያ ውስጥ የተሳካው ድሆችን ለፓለቲካ መጠቀሚያ መሳሪያ የማድረጉ አካሄድ ግን ውጭ ሃገር ሊሰራ አልቻለም። ለነገሩ ከሌሎች ሀገሮች ተሞክሮ በመነሳት ድህነት አሁን ኢትዮጵያ አንደሚታየው ቅጥ ሲያጣ የሚኖረው ፖለቲካዊ ፋይዳ ህወሃት ለራሱ የፈጠረውን አይነት የፖለቲካ ፋይዳ መሆን አልነበረበትም። ከመንግስት ይልቅ ለተቃዋሚ ፖለቲካ ከፍተኛ የፖለቲካ ምንዛሬ ሊኖረው በተገባ ነበር።

ኑሮን ለማሸነፍ፤ ኑሮን ከማሸነፍ ባለፈም “ጥሩ ኑሮ” (“ቤተር ላይፍ”) ለመምራት ሲባል ለማያምኑበት የፓለቲካ አስተሳሰብ ከማጨብጨብ ያለፈ ትጋት የሚጠይቅበት ሁኔታ ይኖራል። የንቃተ-ደናቁርትነት ደመኛ መስሎ የሚታየው የንቃተ-ህሊና ባለሃብቶች ለህሊናቸው የሚኖሩ አንደመሆናቸው(የማይኖሩ ካሉ ንቃተ-ህሊና አባካኞች ስለሆኑ አነሱን አይጨምርም) ፤ለህሊናችው የሚኖሩ ሰወችን ማሳደድ አና ቁም ስቅል ማሳየት፣ማፈን፣ማንገላታት፣ማሰር፣ማሳሰር አና ማሳደድ ከንቃተ-ደናቁርት የሚጠበቁ የንቃተ-ደናቁርትነት ብቃት መለኪያዎች ናቸው። ኑሮን በወንጀል አና በህሊና ሽያጭ ማሸነፍ ወይንም የተሻለ ማድረግ በስተመጨረሻ ያዋጣል ወይ? ልክስ ነው ወይ የሚሉት ጥያቄዎች በንቃተ-ደናቁርት የህሊና አይን አና ጆሮ የሚገባ አይደለም።

አጨብጫቢነት (ኮንፎርሚስት ወደሚለው ትርጉም ሊጠጋ ይችላል) መልኩ የተለየ ከመሆኑ በስተቀር በበለጸገውም ዓለም አለ። ያሾማልም ያሸልማልም- በ”ኦፓርቹኒቲ” ስም። በተቃራኒ ንቃተ ህሊና አና ለህሊና መኖር ደሞ አንደ አብድ ሊያሳይ ይችላል። ባልበለጸጉ ሃግሮች አንደሚታየው ጡጫ አና አርግጫ በግላጭ ባይኖርም- ኣካልን ሳይነኩ ህሊናን ለመግረፍ የሚሞከር ሙከራ አለ። ይሄ አስተሳሰብ የኔ ብቻ አየመሰለኝ አልፎ አልፎ ደስ የማይል የ”ኦድ”ነት ስሜት ይሰማኝ ነበር። ከቅርብ ጊዜ ወዲህ “የካውንተር-ካልቸር” አንቅስቃሴ ጽሁፎችን ሳነብ ጉዳዮ ቀደም ብሎ ብዙ የተባለበት አንደሆነ ለመረዳት ችያለሁ። በበለጸገው ዓለም ያለው አጨብጫነት አና እንደኛ ባለ ሃገር ያለው አጨብጫቢነት በህብረተስብ ላይ የሚያስከትለው ጉዳት ተመሳሳይ አይደለም። የበለጸገው ዓለም ምንም አይነት የፍትሃዊንት ጥያቄ ቢኖርም በልጽጓል። ይነስም ይብዛም ዜጎች ምርታማ ናቸው። እንደኛ ያንለውን ማህበረሰብ ግን የእድገት ሂደቱን መጎተት ብቻ ሳይሆን ባለበት ከመሄድም ሊያስቆመው ይችላል። በመለስ ዜናዊ ለቅሶ የታየው ምላሽ የሚያስደነግጠው ከዚህ አንጻር ሲታይ ነው። የህወሃት አጨብጫቢ ፓርቲዎች፣ አጨብጫቢ ፓርላማ ፣ አጨብጫቢ የፍትህ ተቋማት ፣ አጨብጫቢ ሚዲያ፣ አጨብጫቢ ሰራዊት ያነሰ ይመስል ፣ አጨብጫቢ ዜጋ በገፍ ማየት ከተጀመረ “በአንቅርት ላይ ጆሮ ደግፍ” ሳይሆን መለስ ዜናዊን ገድሎኣል አንደሚባለው ነቀርሳ የከፋ ነገር ማስከተሉ አይቀርም። ለነገሩ የነበረብን ችግር አንደ አንቅርት ቀላል አልነበረም። ጫን ያለ ችግር የነበረ ቢሆን ነው አሁን የምናየውን ነገር አያየን ያለነው።

በሁለተኛ ደረጃ አንደምክንያት መቀመጥ ያለበት የተቃዋሚ ፓርቲዎች አሰራር ፣ቁርጠኝነት ማጣት አና ለፓለቲካ ትግል አንደግብዓዐት ሊወሰዱ የሚገባቸውን ነገሮች በአጀንዳነት ይዞ ካለመስራትም የመነጨ ነው ባይ ነኝ። ባለፉት አርባ አመታት የተቃውሞ ፖለቲካ ተሳትፎን ፋይዳ ለማሳጣት የተሄደበት ዋነኛ መንገድ ፍርሃትን መፍጠር ነበር። የፊውዳል ፓለቲካ ከመመኘት አንዳቆጠርብኝ አንጂ ቀደም ሲል በነበረው የፊውዳሉ የፖለቲካ ባህል ተቃዋሚም አንኳ ቢሆን ፈሪ አንዲሆን አይጠበቅም (አንዳንዴ የተቃዋሚውንም የመንግስትንም በሽኩቻ፣በግለኛነት አና በራስ ስልጣን ወዳድነት ላይ የተመሰረተ የፓለቲካ አካሄድ ስናይ ያለፈው የተሻለ ነበር የሚያብልበት ሁኔታ ሊኖር ይቻላል) ። “በዛብህን [የሸዋውን]በዘውዴ አንጂ በወንድነት አልበልጠውም” ሲሉ አጼ ቴዎድሮስ የሚያስረግጡት ይሄኑኑ መሰለኝ። አጼ ቴዎድሮስ ራሳቸው ድህነት ያልፈታቸው (የኮሶ ሻጭ ልጂ አልነበሩም አንዴ?!) እምነት ፣ግብረ ገብነት አና ያገር ፍቅር ማማ በውስጣቸው ሰርተው ከዚያም ዙፋን የደፉበትን ሂደት---ሙሉ በሙሉ በአጼ ቴዎድሮስ ተፈጥሮ ምክንያት ነው ለማለት ያስቸግራል። ያደጉበት ማህበረሰብ አና የመንግስት አስተዳደሩ ከፍርሃት በላይ ጀግንነትን የሚፈጥር በመሆኑ አና በህብረተሰቡም የነበረው ተቀባይነት ይመስለኛል። ዛሬ አንኳንስ መሳሪያ ካልያዘው ተቃዋሚ አና መሳሪያ ከያዙት አና ለህወሃት ከሚያጨበጭቡት እህት ድርጂቶች ቴድሮስ ወይ ገረሱ ዱኪ (ያገር ፍቅር) የሚንጸባረቅበት የፓርቲ አመራር የጠፋበት ምክንያቱ ምንድን ነው? መጥፋቱስ አንደፓለቲካ ችግር ታይቶኣል ወይ? በባህል ላይ የደረሰው ውርጂብኝ ውጤት ነው። በሃገራችን ውስጥ በመንግስት አካላት ቡራኬ ስትራይፕ ክለብ ሲፈጠር፤ ዜጎች ከዕለት ተዕለት ኑሮአቸው አና ከወደፊት አጣ ፋንታቸው ጋር ተያያዢነት የሌለው ጉዳይ (የአውሮፓን ክለቦች ሻምፒዮና ማስታወስ ይቻላል) በንድፈ ሃሳብ ደረጃ ሃገር ተረካቢ ነው የሚባለውን አምራች ዜጋ ቀልብ ሲገዛ ፤ ሃገር የመረከቡ ስራ ጭራሽ ሲረሳ ጉዳዮ በሃገር ህልውና አና መጻኢ ዕድል ያለውን ኣሉታዊ(አፍራሽ) ተጽዕኖ ተረድቶ ነገሩን ከቁም ነገር ጽፎ የተቃዋሚዎ ፓለቲካ ሁነኛ አጀንዳ ለማድረግ የተሞከረበት ሁኔታ ያለ አይመስለኝም። ዛሬ ወጣቱን ህወሃት አንደ ባንክ ዘርፎት ለህወሃት ለቅሶም ሆነ ለህወሃት በዓል አደባባይ የሚያወጣበት ተጨማሪ ምክንያት ይሄው ነው። ህወሃት የደርግን ፈለግ ተከትሎ ጀግና በሚፈጠው ባህላችን ላይ ያደረሰው ጥቃት ይሄ ነው የሚባል አይደለም። ደርግም፣ህወሃትም፣ በሌላም ጎራ ተሰልፈው የነበሩ፣ ያ ትውልድ ፣ ተራራን እስክስታ ያስመታ አና ያዘለለለ ምናምን የሚባልለት ትውልድ የየፖለቲካ አጀንዳቸውን ከነበራቸው የባህር ማዶ ንባብ የቀዱት ቢሆንም የመታገያ ወኔ አና የመንፈስ ስንቅ ያገኙት ከባህላችን ነበር። ወደ ስልጣን ከመጡ በኋላ ሁሉም በባህል ላይ ዘምተው የሚያታግለውን የመንፈስ ስንቅ ዝርፈው አልቃሽ አና ዘፍኝ ትውልድ ፈጠሩ። ባህልን በመዝረፍ ረገድ የህወሃት ወንጀል ግን ጠንከር ይላል።

ትንሽ ወጣ የሚል ርዕስ ቢመስልም ከዚሁ የተቃዋሚ ፓርቲዎች የፖለቲካ አንቅስቃሴ ጋር ተያይዞ በከተማ የማይኖረው ህዝብ ጋር ያላቸው ግንኙነት ምን ይመስላል የሚለው ግምት ውስጥ መግባት ኣለበት። እዛም አዘነተኛ በገፍ አንዳለ ስለሚነገርም ጭምር። ከ85 ፐርሰንት በላይ ሕዝብ በገጠር ይኖራል በሚባልበት ሃገር የተቃዋሚ ፓርቲዎች በገጠር የሚኖረውን ህዝብ ለመቀስቀስ የሚጠቀሙበት ዘዴ የገበሬውን የግንዛቤ ደረጃ ግምት ውስጥ ያስገባ ነበረ? ስለ ሰብዓዊ መብት፣ ስለ ዲሞክራሲያዊ መብቶች ስለዜግነት መብቶች አንደወረደ በ”ሊበራሉ” ዘየ አያወሩ ነው የሚቀርቡት (ይቀርቡታል ወይ የሚለው ጥያቄ ሆኖ ነው አንግዲህ)? ወይንስ አንደሚገባው ከባህሉ፣ከወጉ አና ከግንዛቤ ደረጃው ጋር አንዲሄድ አድርገው ያቀርቡለታል የሚለው ጥያቄ ነው። በገጠር ያለው ማህበረሰባችን አምላኩን የሚፈራ አና ግፍን የማይወድ አንደሆነ አንድና ሁለት የለውም። ስለምን የህወሃት የግፍ ፓሊሲ ተባባሪ( በእህት ድርጂቶችም በኩል ቢሆን) አና መሳሪያ ሊሆን ቻለ? በዚህ መንግስት ፓሊሲ የተረገጠ ሆኖ ሳለ ስለምን የህወሃት አዘነተኛ ሆነ? ሰሞኑን አንድ ሰው ያጫወተኝን ላካፍል። የተወለደበት ጎጃም ደንበጫ ሚባል ቦታ ለአረፍት ሄዶ ያጋጠመውን ነው ያወራኝ። ከዘጠና ሰባት ምርጫ ጋር ተያይዞ የተገለለ አና ክትትልም ጭምር የሚደረግበት ዘመድ አንዳለው ነገረኝ። አናም ከጓደኖቹ ጋር ሻይ ሊጠጣ ይጠራቸው አና ጓደኞቹ አንዲገለል የተወሰነበት ክትትልም የሚደረግበት ሰው ጋር መሆኑን ሲያዮ ፈሩ። ፍርሃታቸውንም ሳይደብቁ አስረድተውት ለመሄድ አንደማይፈልጉ ነገሩት። ምን ይሄ ብቻ ክትትል አንዲደረግበት የተወሰነበት ሰው ተወልዶ ያደገበትን ከተማ ከረዢም ጊዜ በኋላ የሄደ ዘመዱ ጋር በመታየቱ ጸጉረ ልውጥ ሰው ጋር ታየ ተበሎ ለከተማው ደህንነት ሃላፊ ሌሊት በስልክ ተነግሮት ኖሮ ከአንቅልፉ ባንኖ ተነስቶ “ጸጉረ ልውጡን” አደን ጀምሮአል። ሲያገኘው አና ልጁን ሲያናግረው የሆነው ነገር ሌላ ነው። ያገሩ ልጂ በትምህርት ምክንያት ርቆ ሄዶ የኖረ አና ዘመዶቹን ለመጠየቅ የመጣ አንደሆነ ተረዳ። በሌላኛው የጎጃም ክፍል ተመሳሳይ ነገር የለም ማለት ይከብዳል ከሁኔታው። የሃሳብ ልዮነት ያለው ዜጋ ለምን የደህንነት ክትትል ይፈረድበታል የሚለው ጥያቄ አንደተጠበቀ ሆኖ ፤ ጎጃም ለማያውቀው ህወሃት ስልጣን ሲል የራሱን ወገን አስከመሰለል አና ምናልባትም አሳልፎ አስከመስጠት የሚደርስ ሰው አንዴት ሊገኝ ቻለ? አንዴት ጎጃም ወየነ? ንቃተ-ደናቁርትነት አንዴት ነገሰ የሚለው ትያቄ መልስ ብቻ ሳይሆን መፍትሄም የሚያስፈልገው ነው።

የገጠሩ ህዝብ ብዙ ጊዜ “ሳይማር ያስተማረን” አየተባለ ቢገለጽም ሳይማር የተማረም ነበር! ነውር ያውቃል። የተዛባ ፍርድ መለየት ይችላል። የግፍ ተባባሪ አይሆንም። በራሱ መንገድ ንቃተ-ህሊና የነበረው ነው። ያንን ንቃቱን ላለፉት አርባ አመታት ሲዘረፍ የኖረ ቢሆንም አሁን የተነሳው ተቃዋሚ አንደኛው ስራ መሆን የነበረበት ሁኔታውን በጥሞና ተረድቶ ስነ-ልቦናውን ግምት ውስጥ አስገብቶ አየተነጠቀ ያለውን ንቃተ-ህሊናውን አያስጠበቀ የለውጥ ሃይል አና ባለቤት ማድረግ ያስፈልግ ነበር። ስራው ቀላል ነው። ያለምንም ችግር መስራት ይቻላል ከሚል አምነት አይደለም። ግን አንዲህ አንዲህ ያለው ስራ ካተሰራ አና በገጠር ያለው ትኩስ ሃይል በባለቤትነት ስሜት የሃገሩ ፓለቲካ አካል አንዲሆን የሚመላከትበት ሂደት ካልጠፈጠረ ህወሃት ፀጉረ ልውጥ ባልሆኑ ሰዎች አማካይነት ንቃተ-ደናቁርትነትን አያስፋፋ ሲያስፈልገው የሚያስጨፍረው ሲያስፈልገአው የሚያስለቅሰው የፓለቲካ መሳሪያ አድርጎት ይኖራል። በዚህ ሂደት ሀገር ህወሃት በሚያዘጋጃቸው የራሱ ተተኪዎች አየወደቀች ሌላው “አስተዋይ አድናቂ” ህወሃት ደሞ አስተዋይ መሪ ፈጣሪ አየሆነ ሃገር በህወሃት ቅብብሎሽ ልትወድቅ ትችላለች።

በሶስተኛ ደረጃ ምክንያት ነው ብየ ያሰብኩት ነገር በከተማ የነበሩ ንቃተ-ህሊና የማነጽ አና ግንዛቤ የማስፋት አቅም የነበራቸው ዜጎች ህወሃትም ዘመኑም ብፈጠረው “የኑሮ ግብ”-ስደት-ሰለባ መሆን ነው። በዓለማችን ታሪክ ውስጥ ሀገራቸውን ጥለው የተሰደዱ ሰዎች ከውጭ ሆነው የለውጥ እቅድ በመንደፍ አብዮት አና የፖለቲካ ለውጥ የፈጠሩበት ሁኔታ አንዳለ ማስታወስ ያስፈልጋል። ለምሳሌ ሆ ቺ ሚኒ( ሶሻሊስትነቱ ለጊዜው ይረሳ---የተነሳበት አገባብ ሌላ ስለሆነ) በእንግሊዝ አና በፈረንሳይ በስደት የኖረ አና በምግብ አብሳይነት ኑሮውን ይገፋ የነበረ ሰው ነው። ሲያምን ግን አመነ። ግንዛቤውን አዳብሮ ታግሎ ያታገለ መሪ ነበር። ሊዮን ትሮትስኪ (ሌኒንም ራሱ) የታላቁን የጥቅምት አብዮት ጥንስስ የሰሩት በቪየና የካፌ ቼንትራሌን ቡና አያወራረዱ ነው። በነገራችን ላይ ትሮትስኪ ለፖለቲካ ስራ ወደ ሃገሩ ሲገባ አንኳን ሞርጌጂ ያልከፈለው የቡና ዕዳ ነበረበት። እጂ አና አግሩን ይዞ ነው የተመለሰው። አንደ ቸ ጉቬራ ደሞ ከሃገር ሃገር አየሄዱ ለተጨቆነ ህዝብ ሁሉ የመታገል ህልም የነበረው አና የሞከረውም ነበረ። በተቃራኒው የአኛ ሃገር ስደተኛ መብዛቱ ብቻ ሳይሆን ለሃገራችን ለውጥ ጥሩ ሞተር ሊሆን ይችል የነበረ አና በተወሰነ መልኩም የነቃው ነው የተሰደደው። ምን ሰራን? የስታርባክሱ ፖለቲካ የፈጠረውም ሆነ ሊፈጥር ያሰበው እዚህ ግባ የሚባል የለውጥ እቅድ ያለ አይመስልም። አልፎ አልፎ በፓለቲካ ወሬ መሃል የሞርጌጂ ወሬ ሁሉ የሚያወራ አይጠፋም። በየተሰደደበት ሃገር ተመሳስሎ ለመኖር አውቆትም ሳያውቀውም ራሱን ቀየረ። በራሱ የመጣውም ማህበራዊ አስተሳሰብ ለውጥ (አጨብጫቢነትን ጨምሮ) ወደ ሃገር ቤት የላከም አይጠፋም። ባንድ ጎኑ ሳየው በሃገራችን በደረሰው የማህበራዊ አስተሳሰብ ክስረት ይነስም ይብዛ የወጣነው ሰዎችም አጂ አንዳለበት ይሰማኛል። ዛሬ የኢትዮጵያ ወጣት በህወሃት ሲዘርፍ ተዘረፍክ የማለት የሞራል ብቃትስ አለን ወይ የሚለው ራሱን የቻለ ጥያቄ ነው።

ከላይ አንደምክንያት የዳሰስኳቸው አንዳልኩት ፊት ለፊት የተከሰተልኝን ሃሳብ ለማካፈል ያህል አንጂ ችግሩ ይጠና ቢባል ተጨማሪ ወይንም ከዚህ የተለየ በርካታ ምክንያቶች ሊገኙ ይችላሉ። ወደ ማጠቃለያ ሃሳቤ ስመጣ -መለስ ሞተ። ደጋፊዎች አሉት። ቤተሰብ ወዳጂ ዘመድ አሉት። ሃዘናቸው ይገባኛል። ይገባቸውማል። ከዚያ ሲያልፍ ግን መለስ ዜናዊ ሲመራው በነበረው ስርዐት ሲረግጡ የነበሩ ዜጎች የደረሰባቸውን አና በወገኖቻቸውም ላይ ጭምር የደረሰውን ግድያ አና አፈና ዘንግቶ “ሰማይ የተደፋ” ይመስል እየየ ማለቱ የአስተሳሰብ ቀውስን አመላካች ይመስለኛል። ከባህላችን “ለሞተ ሰው ማዘን” ጋርም መያያዝ የለበትም። የአቶ መለስ ሞት ለህወሀት ፓለቲካ ነው። ስለሆነም ነው ለረዢም ጊዜ ማህበራዊነትን ረስቶ ጉዳዮን በሚስጥር በህወሃት ሰዎች ብቻ አንዲያዝ አድርጎ የነበረው። በውስጡ ያለውን አስተዳደራዊ ጉዳይ ጨርሶ አደባባይ ሲያወጣ የአቶ መለስብ ሞት የህጋዊነት መገንቢያ ጡበ አና አርማታ ሊያደርገው ፈለገ። በባህል ስም እየየ ሲባል ህወሃት ጉዳዮን አንደ ባህል ሳይሆን የሚረዳው ( የነሱ ባህል ሌላ አንደሆነ አቶ በረከት ስሞን አንደነገረን እንዳይረሳ) የፖለቲካ ምንዛሬ አድርጎ ተቀባይነትን አንደማሳያ ተጠቅሞ የበለጠ ጉዳት ሊያደርስ ይችላል። የበለጠ አፈና ሊያደርስ ይችላል።

ጠሚው ከሞቱ በኋላ የተሰጣቸው ትክለ-ስብዕና (ኢሜጂ) መጋነን ብቻ ሳይሆን ፈር የለቀቀ አናበሃሰትም የተሞላ ነው። መጥፎ ጎን አንደነበራቸው ሁሉ ጥሩ ጎንም ነበራቸው አያሉ ለሚያወሩ አባባላቸው ትክክል የማይሆንበት ሁኔታ አለ። መጀመሪያ ነገር በዚህ በሰለጠነ ዘመን ሃያ አንድ አመት ሙሉ በጉልበት በላያችላን ላይ የኖረን ሰው አንደባለውለታ ማየቱ ካላዋቂነት ሌላ ምንም ትርጉም ሊሰጠው አይችልም። ሁለተኛ ነገር መለስ ዜናዊ የሰራው ስህተት በስራ ሂደት አንደሚፈጠር ስህተት አድርጎ ማየቱ ፈጽሞ ስህተት ነው። በጠቅላይ ሚኒስትሩ ትዕዛዝ ኢትዮጵያ ውስጥ የሰው ህይወት በገፍ የጠፋው፣ ዜጎች በጂምላ ወደ አስር የተወረወሩት፣ አሰቃቂ ድብደባ የደረሰባቸው አንድ ጊዜ አይደለም። ሁሉት ጊዜ አይደለም። የዜጎች ህይወትን ከማጥፋት ጋር የተያያዘ ድርጊት አንደወንጀል አንጂ አንደ ስህተት መታየትም የለበትም። ተጠያቂነት አና የህግ የበላይነት የኖረበት ሃገር ቢኖረን ኖሮ ጠቅላይ ሚኒስትሩ አኳንስ ሃያ አንድ ዓመት በስልጣን ሊቆዮ በመጀመሪያው የአምስት አመት የስልጣን ዘመናቸው በፈጸሙት ወይንም ባስፈጸሙት ወንጀል ፍርድ ቤት መቆም የሚገባቸው ነበሩ። ይሁን ያ ሁሉ ቀረ። የአምላክ ፍርድ አና ፈቃድ ቀደመ። አንዲህ ሲሆን ያደረጉትን ነገር ይቅር አንበላቸው ቢባል አንኳ፤ ህወሃት ሃዘኑን ተጠቅሞ፤ የለቅሶ እቅድ አና በጀትም ጭምር አውጥቶ( የተከፈላቸው ሰዎች አንዳሉ ተሰምቶል--የትራንስፓርት አቅርቦቱ አና ሌላ ሌላውም ) የሌለ የጻድቅ ገጽታ ሲያላብሳቸው እሱን ተቀብሎ ማራገብ አያስፈልግም። ሰው መሆናቸውን የሚያጠራጥር ገጽታ ነው የተገነባላቸው። መለስ ዜናዊ ለሃያ አንድ አመት በስራው ላይ አንደመቆየቱ ለህወሃት “በሚጠም” መልኩ ስራውን ኣቀላጥፎ የመስራት ልምድ ሊያካብት አንደሚችል ጥያቄ የለውም። ያ ማለት ግን የተለዮ ሰው ናቸው አያስባለ ሊያደናቁር የሚገባው ነገር አይደለም። ስብሃት ነጋ ከቁም ብዙ ጊዜ የሚናገሩትን ከቁም ነገር ቆጥሬ የማላውቅ ቢሆንም በዚህ ጉዳይ ላይ የሰጡት አስተያየት ግን ሚዛናዊ ነው አላለሁ። ፋጢማ ፣ከበደ ፣ እገሌ ---ያው ናቸው። ይሄን ያህል ልዮነት ሊኖራቸው አይችልም። ለመሆኑ በኦህዴድ፣ በብአዴን አና በደህዴን ያሉ “ለትራንስፎርሜሽኑ አቅድ” ከጠሚው ጎን ተሰልፍው የሰሩ (“ልማት” በሚባለው ነገር ውስጥ የደከሙም ይኖራሉ። ምናልባት ከተቅላይ ሚኒስትሩ አኩል) ይሄ በህወሃት ለመፍጠር አየተሞከረ ያለው የፖለቲካ ገጽታ ወደፊት ሊያስከትል የሚችለው ችግር ታይቶአቸዋል? ለመሆኑ በትውልድ እየተቀለደ እስከመቼ ነው የሚኖረው?? የህወሃት አህት ድርጂቶች የወንጀል ተባባሪ በመሆን በንቃተ-ደናቁርትነት መንፈስ የሚቀጥሉትስ አስከመቼ ነው?

Elitist, “Temberkaki”?

“The Economist” recently offered an article relating to Meles.