ማንን እንሰዋ

በ2012 ጠቅላላ ስብሰባቸው የቻይና ኮምዩኒስት ፓርቲ መሪዎች ለህልውናቸው ብለው በሙስና ላይ ታላቅ እርምጃ መውሰድ እንዳለባቸው ተረድተው የእርምጃ ውሳኔ ወሰዱ። እርምጃቸው ሺ ዢንፒንግን  መሪ (ፕሬዚደንት) መሾምና የጸረ ሙስና «ሚኒስቴር»፤ ክፍል ወይ ቢሮ ሳይሆን ሚኒስቴር» ማቋቋም ነበር። ፕሬዚደንት ሺ ሙስናንና ጸረ መልካም አስተዳደርን እዋገለሁ ዋናው ጉዳዬም አደርገዋለሁ በማለት ለምርጫ ቀረበ። የኮምዩኒስት ፓርቲ ሹማምንት ይህን አውቀው ተስማምተው መረጡት።

ልምን? የጸረ ሙስና ዘመቻ እራሳቸውን ሊጎዳ ሊያከስር ሊያሳስርም እንደሚችል እያወቁ እንዴት የጸረ ሙስና ዘመቻ እንዲካሄድ ፈለጉ? ምክነያቱ ሙስና ፓርቲውን (አባላቱን) እጅግ እየጎዳና ህልውናውን ሊያጠፋ እንደሚችል ስለተረዱ ነው። የተለያዩ መሪዎቻቸውም በዪፋ እንደዚ ብለው ግመው ተናግረው ነበር፡ « ፓርቲአችንም ሀገራችን በሙስና ምክነያት ሊፈርሱ ይችላሉ» ብለዋል።

ስለዚህ ፓርቲው ፈርሶ ሁላችንም ከምንሞት ሙስናን ቀንሰን ህዝባችንን አባብለን ፓርቲው ይትረፍ አብዛኞቻችን እንትረፍ ግን አንዳንዶቻችን በተለይ ሙስና ውስጥ እጅግ የሰመጡት ደግሞም የማንፈልጋቸው ባልደረቦቻችን ይውደቁ ይታሰሩ። ይህ ነበር የቻይና ኮምዩኒስት ፓርቲ ሹማምንት አስተሳሰብ ፕሬዚደንት ሺን ሲመርጡት። ሰውነታችን ሙሉ በሙሉ ከሚሞት ትንሽ እንድማ ነው።

ከመረጡት በኋላ ሃይሉን ማንቀሳቀስ ጀመረና አብዛኛው ካሰበው በላይ ደም ፈሰሰ። ብዙ ሰው ተሰወ። እንግዲህ እንደዚህ አይነቱ ሰፊ እቅድ ሁልግዜ እንደተጠበቀው አይሄድም። ሆኖም ፕሬዚደንት ሺ ተእልኮዋቸውን በሞላ ጎደል አሟሉ።

እንዲሁም በኢትዮጵያ ከህወሃት ጠቅላላ ስብሰባ የሚካሂደው በችይና ኮምሁኒስት ፓርቲ 2012 ስብሰባ የተካሄደው ነው። ሙስና እየገደለን እንደሆነ እናውቃለን፤ ሙስናን ማጥፋት አለበን፤ ግን ከማህላችን ማንን እንሰዋ?! ፖለቲካው በዚህ ዙርያ ነው። ስብሰባውም ሳምንታት የሚፈጀው ለዚህ ነው! ህወሃት መትረፍ ከፈለገ ይህን እርምጃ መውሰድ አለበት ግን ውሳኔው ከባድ ነው።

በኔ ሚስኪን እይታ የተወሰኑ ዋና ሹማምንት መውደቅ አለባቸው። እስር ይሁን በሙስና የተገኘውን ሃብት መንጠቅ ይሁን ተገቢውና ውጤታማ እርምጃ አላውቅም ግን ህዝቡ ይህን ይጠብቃል። መዋቀሩም ይህ መድሃኒት ያስፈልገዋል። የወደፊት ሙሰኞችን ተጠንቀቁ ይቅርባትሁ የሚለው ምልእክት በትክክል የሚደርሳቸው ታላላቅ ሹማምንት ከወደቁ ብቻ ነው።

ከዛም ቀጥሎ ግን ከዚህ በፊት እንደጠቀስኩት የሙስናን ደረጃ በቋሚነት ዝቅ አርጎ ለመጠበቅ የ100% መመሪያውን ኢህአዴግ መሰረዝ አለበት። ከፌደራል ምክር ቤት እስከ ቀበሌ የኢህአዴግ ሹማምንት ስራውን በደምብ ካልሰራ በህዝብ ድምጽ ብልጫ ከስልጣን ሊወርድ እንደሚችል ማወቅ አለበት። ይህ ነው ዋናው የሙስና መቋቋሚያ መንገድ።

አቶ ለማና አቶ ገዱ

ይህ የአቶ ለማ መገርሳና የአቶ ገዱ አንዳርጋቸው ንግግር ግዥ ፓርቲው ኢህአዴግ ውስጥ የአንድነት አስፈላጊነትና የኦሮምኛ ከአማርኛ እኩል የሀገር ቋንቋ መሆን ጥቅም (ይህንና ይህን አንብቡ) የሚረዱ ወገኖች እንዳሉ ብቻ ሳይሆን ይህን ጉዳይ ለረዥም ጊዜ ያሰላሰሉበት እንደሆነ ዪገልጻል። አቶ ለማና አቶ ገዱ ለንግግሮቻቸው ሊመሰገኑ ዪገባል።፡ ያንጸባረቁት አቋም ጥሩና ተስፋ ሰጭ ነው።

ሆኖም ወደ ተግባር ስንሄድ ይህን ልውጦች፤ አንድነት፤ መልካም አስተዳደር፤ ህብረተሰባዊ መሻሻሎች ብተለይ በወጣቶች ስነ መግባር ዙርያ፤ የወላጅና የሃይምናኦት መሪዎች በልጆቻችን ጤንነትና ደህንነት ሃላፊነታቸውን መዋጣት፤ ወዘተ አቶ ለማና አቶ ደጉ ሊፈጹሟቸው ይችሉ ይሆን?

አይችሁሉም ወይም እጅግ ይቸገራሉ አንዳንድ መሰረታዊ መዋቀራዊ ለውጦች ከሌሉ። እነዚህ ችግሮች ዛሬ ያሉት በግለሰብ ድክመቶች ብቻ ሳይሆኑ በመዋቅር ድክመት ነው። በተለይ የአውራ ፓርቲ ፖለቲካ ስርአት ለውቶችን እጅግ አፍኗል። ሌላው በዋንነት ሁለተኛው ችግር በኢህአዴግ ውስጥ የህወሃት የበላይነት መጠን ነው። እነዚህ ሁለቱ ነገሮች በመጠኑ መስተካከል አለባቸው።

የመጀመሪያውን ለማስተካከል ለባለስጣን («ህዝብ ተወካይ») ምርጫዎችን በመጠኑ ነጻ መደረግ አለበት። ሙሉ ነጻነት እንደማይሆን፤ ከአውራ ፓርቲ አገዛዝ ጋር እንደሚቃረን እረዳለሁ። ግን አውራ ፓርቲ 100% ማለት አይደለም።  100% ይባለስጣን ችለተኝነት ያመጣል። ቢሰርቅም ስልጣኑን ለማይሆን ነገሮች ቢጠቅምም ምንም አይደርስብኝም ብሎ። ግን ከስልጣን መውረድ የተወስንም ቢሆን እድል እንዳላቸው ሲረዱ ጥንቃቄ ይጨምራሉ። ስለዚህ ከ 100% ወደ 80 ወይም 70ም አስፈላጊ መሰለኝ።

ሁለተኛው ጉዳይ ይከብዳል። ከብአዴን ኦህዴድና ሌሎቹ ጅግንነትም ብልጠትም ይጠይቃል። ከህዝባቸው ጋር ያላቸውን ቅርበት ማጠናከር ግድ ነው። ይህ ነው ኢህአዴግ ውስጥ ስልጣናቸውን የሚጎለብተው። አሁንም ላለፉት ሶስት ዓመታት የዚህን ፍንጭ እያየን ነው ነገር ግን መጠንከር አለባቸው። መልካም አስተዳደር ለነሱ የህይወትና ሞት ጉዳይ ነው። መልካም አስተዳደር አቋማችንና ግባችን ነው ብለው ቢይዙትና በዚህ ጉዳይ ቆራጥ ቢሆኑ ከህዝቦቻቸው ጋር አንድነት ያመጣሉ። በዚህ ጉዳይ እጅግ ታላቅ ሳ መሰራት አለበት።

በተዘዋዋሪ ከላይ የጠቀስኩት በሙሉ ይሚቻል ነገር ነው። ደም አያፈስም ጦርነትም አያስነሳም። ትንሽ ብልጠት ብቻይ ነው የሚያስፈልገው። ማንንንም አይጎዳም ከሙስናና ጎጂ አስተዳደር መሪዎች በቀር። አይ፤ ማድረግ የሚቻል ነው።

እግዚአብሔር ይርዳቸው። እኛንም ከዳር ቆመን አንገታችንን ደፍተን የምንታዘበው ወይም የምናጨበችበው የምናዝነውም ከዳራችን ወደ መሃል ገትብተን የመፍትዬው አካል እንድንሆን ይርዳን!

ምርጥ ንግግር ከአቶ ለማ መገርሳ

ምርጥ ንግግር (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aim-D4EKMlI)።

1. በመጀመርያ በንግግሩ የጎሳ ብሄርተኝነትና የሱ መዘዞች አንዱ ዋና የኢትዮጵያ ችግር መሆኑን አምኗልም አስረድቷልም።

2. የኢትዮጵያዊነት መንፈስ ወይም ርዕዮተ ዓለም ለሁሉም ኢትዮጵያዊ ለህልውናው አስፈላጊ መሆኑን አሳየ።

3. ህብረተሳባዊ ችግሮች እንደ ስረዓትና ስነ መግባር ማጣት እያመለጠን (runaway) እያለ የሆነ ችግር መሆኑን ተረድቷል። በዚህ ረገድ የህብረተሰብ - ወላጅና የሃይማኖት መዋቅሮች - በዋናነት ሃላፊነት እንዳለበትም መገነዘቡ ትልቅ ነገር ነው። በርካታ ዪትዮጵያ ምሁራኖች በዘመናዊነት ርዕዮተ ዓለም ተለቅፈው መንግስት ሁሉን አዋቂ ሁሉን ማድረግ የሚችል ይመስለዋል።

4. መልካም አስተዳደርም አለመኖሩ (በሌላ አባባል የሙስና ከሙስና ጋር የተገ መብዛት) ሌላው ዋና ችግር መሆኑ የብአዴን ስብሰባ ላይ መቶ መናገሩ ትልቅ ነገር ነው። ባአዴን ከህዝቡ ጋር ያለው ዋናው ችግር በዚህ ዙርያ ነው። እርግጥ የወልቃይትና ሌሎች ከሌልች ክልሎች የሚያገናኗቸው ቢኖሩም ዋናው የብአዴን ችግር መልካም አስተዳደር ነው። ወንድ ሆነው ይህን እንቅፋት ቢያሸንፉና ጭቆናና ሙስናን ቢያጠፋ ከህዝቡ ጋር አንድ ይሆናል ሀገራዊ ሃይሉም እጅግ ያይል ነበር።

እግዚአብሔር አቶ ለማ መገርሳን በዚው መንገድ እንዲቀጥል ዪርዳው።

Courageous Ethiopians

My previous post was from a chapter in Father Arseny: Priest, Prisoner, Spiritual Father, a book about a Father Arseny, a Russian Orthodox priest-monk who was imprisoned for long periods of time in the Soviet gulags (prisons) and who became a known spiritual father to many.  (The book is available in Amharic at bookstores in Addis Ababa.)

Father Arseny, along with much of the clergy of the Russian Orthodox Church who were not outright murdered, was sent to the worst of the gulags to die as a sort of slow death sentence. In the prison were also political prisoners and criminals, all of whom, understandably, hated the Soviet government and thought the government responsible not only for their imprisonment but also for all their problems and the problems of the country.

In the chapter I posted, while in prison, Father Arseny is asked to participate in a discussion among inmates about the Soviet government, and is specifically asked to condemn the Soviets unreservedly for all the suffering they have caused. They expected that he, as a prisoner of the Soviets, and moreover as a clergyman of the Russian Orthodox Church, which was targeted for destruction by the Soviets, would like them express extreme hatred for the Soviets and blame them for everything wrong in the country.

However, Father Arseny, in true Orthodox fashion, points the finger not at the other - at the Soviets - but the self - himself, his fellow clergyman, and the laity. He says, in short, that if the clergy and laity did not rebel so much against God before the revolution, then the revolution would not have even happened. In other words, it was the sins of the Orthodox clergy and laity that brought about the Soviets. His true and courageous stand left his fellow prisoners speechless.

I have met a few such courageous Ethiopians, and I do not count myself among them, who accept responsibility and hold themselves, in whatever capacity, accountable for what has and is happening in Ethiopia. They do not blame the government, past or present, the Woyane or Tigre or ERPDF, or Shaebia, or "Oromos" or OLF, or Amharas or donkeys, or communists or thieves, etc. for Ethiopia's problems. They point the finger at themselves.

And then, because they point the finger at themselves, they do what they can, with whatever minute capacity they have, to set things aright. By taking responsibility, they empower themselves - they do not see themselves as interested bystanders but as stakeholders with a role to play.

Some people ask me what they can do. What can a simple layman do? Well, I say, if (and this is a big if) you consider yourself an Ethiopian (and not an American or Swede or something) , and if you think you have positive ideas, or perhaps a good civic attitude, or positive moral outlook, then live in Ethiopia and let your positive ideas and good civic attitude and moral outlook permeate their surroundings.

Would this be effective, is the next question. What does effective mean? Will it turn the whole country around? No, of course not, but who are we to think that we can. In all humility, I can affect perhaps my family, friends, maybe neighbourhood. That's about it. If I expect any more then I'm being unrealistic at best, delusionally prideful at worst. Why, even our great leaders have much less influence that we think because of the enormous influence exerted upon them.

So we will not turn our country around, but we might help and influence  a person or two or more. And if everyone does that, as Seraphim of Sarov said: "Acquire the Spirit of Peace and a thousand souls around you will be saved."

ከማነኛዉ ወገን ነህ? ቄሱ!

(from Father Arseny: Priest, Prisoner, Spiritual Father)

በመጀመሪያ ወደ እስር ቤት ስትገባ ቀናትን ትቆጥራለህ፣ ከዚያም ሳምንታትን፣ ከሁለትዓመታት በኋላ በሚመጣዉ ጊዜ የምታደርገው ሞትን መጠበቅ ብቻ ነው፡፡ አድካሚ የጉልበት ሥራ፣መራራ ረሐብ፣ እርስ በእርስ መናቆር፣ መደባደብ፣ ብርዱና ከቤተ-ሰብ መለየቱ ያደድቡህናየማይቀረውን ሞት ብቻ እንድታስብ ትሆናለህ፡፡ ስለዚህ አብዛኛዎቹ እስረኞች በስነ-ምግባር ረገድደካሞች የሚሆኑት፡፡

ለብዙዎቻችን የፖለቲካና ለሁሉም የወንጀለኛ እስረኞች ስሜታችን እንደ ሁኔታዉ ግራና ቀኝየሚዋልል ነበር፣ የአለቃው ቁጥጥር፣ የሚሠረቅ ዳቦ፣ እርስ በእርስ መናቆር፣ በተለይ በእስር ቤቱለተመደቡ እስረኞች የተመደበው እጅግ ከባድ የጉልበት ሥራ፣ ልዩዉ የቅጣት ክፍል፣ በረዶየሚሆኑ ጣቶች ወይም በጎረቤት የእስር ቤቱ ክፍሎች ውስጥ የሚሞቱት እስረኞች ስሜትንለመቀያየር ምክንያቶች ነበሩ፡፡ ሐሳብህ ሁሉ ተራና በእነዚህ ላይ ብቻ የሚያተኩሩ ይሆናሉ፡፡ እጅግበጣም የአያሌዎቹ እስረኞች ሕልም እስከሚጠግቡ በልተው ለሁለት ወይም ለሦስት ሰዓታት ያህልመተኛት ወይም ግማሽ ሊትር ቮድካ አግኝተው ሁሉንም ጨልጠው እንደገና ሌላ ተጨማሪ ምግብቢሰለቅጡ በወደዱ ነበር፣ ይሁን እንጂ እነዚህ ሁሉ ባዶ ምኞቶች ብቻ ነበሩ፡፡

እጅግ በጣም ትቂት የፖለቲካ እስረኞች በተቻላቸው መጠን ርኅሩኅ ሆነው ለመቆየት ሞከሩ፣ራሳቸውንም ከሌላዉ በመለየት፣ እርስ በእርስ በመደጋገፍና ራሳቸውን ወደ ተራ የወንጀለኛ እስረኞችዝቅ ላለማድረግ እየጣሩ ነበር፡፡ በተቻላቸው መጠን የእስር ቤቱ ደንብ በሚፈቅደው መሠረትራሳቸውን በማያዋርድ ሁኔታ ይኖራሉ፡፡ እነዚህ ሰዎች ከእስር ቤቱ የበረንዳ ማዕዘን ላይ ቆመውቃለ-ተናብቦ/ሌክቸር ያደርጋሉ፣ ግጥም ወይም አጭር ሳይንስ-ነክ ጽሑፍ ያነባሉ፣ አልፎ አልፎምየትም ባገኙት ብጣሽ ወረቀት ሳይቀር ማስታዎሻ ይጽፋሉ፡፡ በሆነ ርእሰ-ጉዳይ ላይ ሞቅ ያለ ክርክርይነሣል፣ ይሁን እንጂ እጅግ በጣም የሚጦፈው ፖለቲካን አስመልክቶ የሚደረገው ክርክር ነበር፡፡አልፎ አልፎ የወንጀል እስረኞችም ሳይቀር በክርክሩ ይቀላቀሉ ነበር፤ ፖለቲከኞች በፖለቲካ ረገድብዙም ፍላጎት አይታይባቸውም፣ ይሁን እንጂ አልፎ አልፎ ፍላጎቱ ነበራቸው፡፡ ሰዎች በስሜትየሚቃወሟቸውን በጥላቻ ይከራከሯቸው ነበር፡፡ አባ አርሴኒ በዚህ ክርከር ፈጽመው አይሳተፉም፡፡ነገር ግን ከዕለታት አንድ ቀን ያለፍላጎታቸው ተጎትተው ገቡ፡፡

ምንም ጊዜም እስረኞች ሐሳባቸውን ለመግለጽ ይፈራሉ፣ ይሁን እንጂ ወደሞቀ ክርክርውስጥ ሲገቡ ፍርሃት ሊያስከትል የሚችለውን ነገር ሁሉ ይረሱታል፡፡ በክርክሩ ከሚሳተፉት መካከልትቂቶቹ የአሰብሁትን መናገር ሳልችል ድምፄ ታፈነ፣” ይላሉ፡፡

እስረኞች ተቆጥረው የእስር ቤቱ በሮች ተቆለፉ፣ ከግድግዳዉ በስተጀርባ ነፋሱ እየነፈሰነበር፤ ግግሩ በረዶ መስኮቶችን እንዳይከፈቱ አደረጋቸው፣ ክፍሉ የታፈነና ዕርጥበት-አዘል ነበር፣ሆኖም ግን ውስጡ ሞቃት ነው፡፡ አምፖሎቹ ከሚፈለገው ከግማሽ በታች ብርሃናቸው መጠን ባነሰያበሩ ነበር፡፡ እነዚህ ሁሉ ትካዜና ሐዘን እንዲኖር ያደርጋሉ፡፡ በመሆኑም ሰዎች ብቸኛ ይሆናሉ፡፡እስረኞቹ በአንድነት ተሰበስበው መነጋገር፣መከራከርና ያለፈውን ማስታወስ ጀመሩ፡፡ ወንጀለኛእስረኞች ካርድ ወይም እንዶሚኖ ለብር ወይም ለመቁኑን እየተጫወቱ ነበር፡፡ አባ አርሴኒ ካረፉበትአልጋ አጠገብ የተሰበሰቡ እስረኞች በመንግሥት ላይ ያላቸውን አመለካከት ርእሰ-ጉዳይ በማድረግኃይለኛ ክርክር አደረጉ፡፡ በ15 ደቂቃዎች ውስጥ 20 የሚሆኑ ሰዎች ወደ ክርክሩ ተቀላቀሉና ክርክሩጦፈ፡፡ አንዱ የአንዱን ንግግር በማቋረጥ ሥጋት ጨመረ፡፡ ከተከራካሪዎች መካከል ቀድሞ የፓርቲአባል የነበሩ፤ ከልዩ ልዩ የሕይወት ተሞክሮዎች የተማሩ ሰዎች፤ በጣም ትቂት ቭላስቶቭትሲዎችናx1ሌሎችም ነበሩ፡፡ “እዚህ ያለነው ለምድነው? ለምንም! ፍትሕ የት አለ? ሁሉም መረሸን አለባቸው!”በማለት ፊታቸውን አኮሳትረው ይጮሁ፡፡ አራት ወይም አምስት የሚሆኑ ቀድሞ የፓርቲ አባልየነበሩ በነገሩ ባለስማማታቸው “አሳዛኝ ስሕተት እየተፈጸመ ነው” በማለት ገለጹ፡፡ እንደአበባላቸውከሆነ እየሆነ ያለው ሁሉ እራሱ ስታሊን በማያውቀው በትቂት ሠርጎ-ገቦች በመሞኘት የሚፈጸምመሆኑን ገለጹ፡፡

“የሩስያ ሕዝብ ግማሹ በእስር ቤት ታጉሮ ሳለ ተታለልን! አስተዳዳሪዎቹም እንዲደመሰሱታቀደ!” በማለት አንድ ድምፅ ጮኸ፡፡

ስታሊን አሳምሮ ያውቃል፣ የራሱ ትእዛዝ ነው፣” አለ ሌላዉ፡፡

ስታሊንን በመግደል አሲርሃል ተብሎ የተያዘው ከስረኞቹ አንዱ እጅግ በጣም በመበሳጨቱድምፁ ተቆራረጠ፡፡ ትቂት ቭላስቭትስኪዎች ማነኛውንም ሐሳብና በመቃወም ጮኹ፡፡

“እነዚያ የፓርቲ አባላት መሰቀል ወይም መረሸን አለባቸው!” አለ ሌላ አንድ ሰው፡፡ከ1917 ዓ/ም ጀምሮ ዋና የቮልሼቪክ ፓርቲ አባል የነበረ አንድ ሽማግሌ ሰው በመጀርመንጦር ሠራዊት ውስጥ ካገለገለ ሰው ጋር ተደባደበና በኃይል መሳደብ፡፡

“አንተ ባንዳ ነህ!” ብሎ ጮኸ፡፡ “መረሸን ነበረብህ፣ ነገር ግን በሕይወት እስካሁን አለህ! እኔራሴ እንዳተ ያሉትን ባንዳዎች እረሽናቸዋለሁ ወይም እሰቅላቸዋለሁ፡፡ እስካሁን ድረስ ወደናንተባለመዝቴ አዝናለሁ፡፡ ስሕተትም ፈጽሜያለሁ፣ ይሁን እንጂ አንተ ባንዳዉ በዚህ እስር ቤት ውስጥከኔ ጋር ትሞታለህ ብየ ተስፋ አደርጋለሁ፡፡

“እኔ ባንዳ ነኝ? እኔ የሶቭየትን መንግሥት ከሚደግፉት አንዱ ነኝ!” “ማለት ትችላለህ፣ ነገር ግን አንተም ባንዳ ነህ፣ ለዚህ ነው መንግሥት እዚህ እስር ቤትያመጣህ፡፡”

በርቀት የነበሩ ሰዎች ሳቁ፣ ሆኖም ግን ክርክሩ በሞቀ ሁኔታ ቀጠለ፡፡ አንድ ሰው ድንገት“አብያተ ክርስቲያናትን አውድመው ሃይማኖትን አጠፉ፡፡ በዚህ ጉዳይ ላይ አንድ ሰው ካጠገቡ ቁጭ(1) ያሉትን አባ አርሴኒን አስታወሰና “ደህና፣ ፒዮትር አንድሬየቪች ንገረን፣ ባለሥልጣናቱን እንዴትታያቸዋለህ?” ሲል ጠየቀ፡፡

አባ አርሴኒ ዝም ብለው ክርክሩን ሲያዳምጡ ቆዩ፣ ነገር ግን አሁን ያለፍላጎታቸው ወደክርክሩ ጎትተው ከተቷቸው፡፡ አባ አርሴኒ ምን እንደሚመልሱ ግልጽ ነበር፡፡ በእስር ቤቱ ውስጥ ብዙየተሰቃዩ ሰው ስለነበሩ የአባ አርሴኒ ጓደኞች ተጨነቁ፡፡

በጂትሎቭስኪ የሚመሩት ቭላስቭትሲዎች ከሌላዉ እስረኛ ራሳቸውን አግለው እየኖሩ ነበር፡፡የሚፈሩት ምንም ነገር አልነበረም፤ በምን ምክንያት እንደተያዙ ያውቃሉ፣ የሕይወታቸው ፍጻሜምቅርብ እንደሆም ይገምታሉ፡፡ ከነርሱ አንዱ “እንግዲህ በል አፍስሰው ቄሴ!” አለ፡፡

አባ አርሴኒ ላፍታ ዝም አሉና “የጦፈ ክርክር ስለያዛችሁ ክርክሩ ወደ ጭቅጭቅ ተቀየረ፣ሊትቆጣጠሩት ወደማትችሉት ደረጃ ደረሰ፡፡ በእስር ቤት መኖር አስቸጋሪ እየሆነ በመምጣቱሁላችንም ፍጻሜያችን ምን እንደሚሆን እናውቃለን፡፡ ክርክሩም መራራ የሆነው ለዚህ ነው፡፡የማይረሸን ወይም በሕይወት የሚተርፍ የለም፡፡ ሁላችሁም ባለሥልጣናቱን፣ ትእዛዛቱንና ሰዎችንትዎነጅላላችሁ፤ ሌላውን ለማስቆጣት ጎትታችሁ ወደ ክርክሩ አስገባችሁኝ፡፡

“ኮሚኒስቶች ምዕመናንን አስረዋል፣ አብያተ ክርስቲያናትን ዘግተዋል፣ ሃይማኖትን ትተዋልብላችኋል፡፡ አዎ፣ ላዩን ሲታይ እውነት ይመስላል፤ ነገር ግን እስቲ በጥልቀት እንመልከተው፣ያለፉትን ጊዜያት በጥልቀት እንመልከት፡፡ ከኛ ከሩስያውያውን ሕዝቦች መካከል ብዙዎቹሃይማኖታቸውን ክደዋል፣ ባለፉት ዘመናት ውስጥ ለነበሩ አባቶች ክብር መሥጠት አቆሙ፡፡በመሆኑም ብዙ መልካምና ብርቅ ነገሮችን አጠናል፡፡ በስሕተት ጎዳና እየሄደ ያለ ማነው?ባለሥልጣናቱ ብቻ ናቸውን? አይደሉም፣ እኛም ራሳችን በስሕተት መንገድ ላይ ነን፣ ስለሆነምአሁን ራሳችን የዘራነውን እያጨድን ነው፡፡

“በምሁራኑ፣ በመኳንንቱ፣ በነጋዴዎችና በሲቪሉ ማኅበረ-ሰብ የተደረጉትን መጥፎምሳሌዎች እናስታውስ፡፡ እኛም በቤተ ክህነቱ ዘርፍ ያለን ሰዎች የበለጠ ክፉዎች ነበርን፡፡“የካህናቱ ልጆች አርቲስቶችና አብዮተኞች ሆኑ፣ የካህናቱ ቤተሰቦች አባቶቻቸው በየምክንያቱበመዋሸታቸው እምነት ስላጡባቸው ካህናቱን ከነሃይማኖታቸው ናቋቸው፡፡ ከአብዮቱ ረጅም ዓመታትአስቀድሞ ካህናቱ ለነፍስ ልጆቻቸው ታማኝ እረኞች አልነበሩም፡፡ ቅስና እንደማነኛውም የሙያ ዘርፍበመቆጠሩ ካህናቱ በሀልወተ-እግዚአብሔር የማያምኑና ከቤተ ክርስቲያን በሚገኘው ገንዘብ እየጠጡየመጠጥ ሱሰኞች ሆኑ፡፡

“ካገራችን ገዳማት መካከል አምስቱ ወይም ስድስቱ የክርስትና ማዕከሎች ነበሩ፤ የቫላምገዳም፣ ኦፕቲና ፑስቲን ከነታዋቂ መምህራኑ/ስተራርትሲx2 ፣ ዲቬዮቭስኪ ኮንቬንትና እንዲሁምየሳሮቭ ገዳም ይገኛሉ፡፡ ሌሎችም ገዳማት አሁን እምነት-አልባ በመሆናቸው የሃይማኖተኛ መነኮሳትመገኛ ሳይሆኑ ተራ የማኅበረ-ሰብ መጠራቀሚያ ሆነዋል፡፡

“አሁን ሰዎች ከነዚህ ገዳማት ምን ይማራሉ? ምን ዓይነት ምሳሌ የሚሆን ነገርስ ተቀመጠ?“ልጆቻችንን በተገቢው መንገድ አላሳደግናቸውም፣ ጠንካራ የእምነት መሠረትአላስቀመጥንላቸውም፡፡ እንግዲህ ይህን ሁሉ ልብ በሉ! ለዚህ ነው ሰዎቻችን ፈጥነው ሁላችንንምየረሱን፣ ካህናቶቻቸውን ረስተዋል፣ እምነታቸውንና ቤተ ክርስቲያናቸውንም በመርሳት ለማፍረስቆርጠው ተነሡ፣ እንዲሁም የጥፋት ዘዴ በመቀመር ካህናቱ የጥፋት መሪዎች ሆኑ፡፡

“ይህን ሁሉ ልብ ካልነው ጣታችንን ወደባለሥልጣኖቻችን ብቻ አንቀስርም፣ ምክንያቱምየእምነት-አልባ ዘሮች ራሳችን ባዘጋጀነው አፈር ላይ ተዘሩ፡፡ ከዚያም እነዚያ ዘሮች ተራቡ፤ እናምመታሰርን፣ መሰቃየትን፣ የንጹሐንን ደም መፍሰስ አቆጠቆጡ፡፡ ይሁን እንጂ በሀገሬ ውስጥ የሆነውሁሉ ቢሆንም ዜጋዋ ነኝ፡፡ ካህን እንደመሆኔ መጠን ሀገራችንን የመጠበቅና የመርዳት ኃላፊነት(2):: እንዳለብን የነፍስ ልጆቼን እመክራለሁ፡፡ አሁን እየተፈጸመ ያለው መቆም አለበት፤ በፍጥነትመስተካከል ያለበት እጅግ ታላቅ ስሕተት ነው፡፡”

“ስለዚህ የኛዉ ቄሴም ኮሚ ሆንሃላ! አለ አንድ ሰው “ኮሚኒስት” የሚለውን ኮሚ ብሎበማሳጠር፡፡ ቅዱስ ትመስላለህ፣ ይሁን እንጂ አንተ በሁለት ቢላዋ የምትበላ አራጆ ነህ፣ ለካስ ቅስቀሳእያካሄድህ ነው! ለባለሥልጣናቱ እየሠራህ ነው!” አለና አባ አርሴኒን በመጥፎ ሁኔታ ገፍትሮከሚከራከረው ሕዝብ መከካከል አስወጣቸው፡፡

ክርክሩ በጦፈ ሁኔታ ቀጠለ፣ ነገር ግን ብዙ ሰዎች ቡድኑን እየተውት ወጡ፡፡

ከዚህ ጊዜ ጀምሮ ትቂት እስረኞች አባ አርሴኒን መበቀል ጀመሩ፡፡ በምሸት ደበደቧቸው፣አንድ ሰው ባልጋቸው ላይ የፊኛዉን ፈሳሽ ለቀቀባቸው፣ ሌላዉም ደግሞ መቁኑናቸውንሠረቃቸው፡፡ እኛ የርሳቸው ጓደኞቻቸው ደግሞ ካጥቂዎቻቸው ለመታግ ሞከርን፡፡ ሆኖም ግን አጥቂቡድኖቹ አመለ-ብልሹዎች ስለነበሩ ማነኛውንም ጉዳት የማድረስ አቅሙ ነበራቸው፡፡ባንድ ምሸት ጆራ ግሪጎሬንኮ የሚባል ከኪየቭ የመጣ ሰው አባ አርሴኒን የቭላሶቭቲዎች መሪወደ ሆነው ጂሎቭስኪ ወሰዳቸው፣ ጂሎቭስኪ ካልጋዉ ላይ ተጋድሞ ከጓደኞቹ ጋር እያወራ ነበር፡፡“ቄሴ፣ ከኛ ወገን ነህን ወይስ ከኮሚኒስቶች? ለእስር ቤቱ ባለሥልጣናት እየሠራህ መሆኑንደርሰንብሃል፣ ኑዛዜ ትቀበልና አሳልፈህ ለነሱ ትሠጣለህ፡፡ አሁን ምን እንደምናደርግህ እኛ ብቻ ነንየምናውቅ፣ ትምህርት ሊሆንህ የሚችል ምት እንመታሃለን፡፡ እንሂድ ጆራ! በቅድሚያ ግን ቄሴየሚለውን እንስማ፡፡”

ጆራ ግሪጎሬንኮ በሁሉም ሰው ዘንድ የተጠላ ነበር፡፡ አጭር፣ ወፍራምና ትክሻዉ ሰፋ በማለቱአንገት የሌለው ይመስላል፣ ፊቱ ጠባሳ ስለበዛበት መልከ-ጥፉ ሲሆን በሆነ ባልሆነው የሐሰትፈገግታ ፈገግ ይላል፡፡ ይህ ተዳምሮ ሰውየውን አስቀያሚ አድርጎታል፡፡ ምንም እንኳን የቭላሶቭአባል በመሆኑ ብቻ በእስር ቤቱ ውስጥ ቢገኝም በጀርመን ሠራዊት ውስጥ በመረሸን ተግባር ላይየተሳተፈ ነው የሚል የሐሜት ወሬ ይወራበታል፡፡ አባ አርሴኒ በዕርጋታ ወደጂትሎቭስኪተመለከቱና “በሰዎች ሕይወት ላይ መወሰን የሚችለው እግዚአብሔር ብቻ ነው፤ አንተ አይደለህም፡፡የአንተ ቡድን አባል አልሆንም፣” አሉት፡፡ ከዚያም ከጂትሎቭኪ በተቃራኒ ካልጋው ላይ ቁጭ አሉና“ልታስፈራራኝ አትሞክር፡፡ ለኡኡታ፣ ለድብደባና ለሞት ዛቻ ቤተሰቡ ነኝ፡፡ በዚህ ዓለም ላይየምኖረውን ጊዜና የእያንዳንዳችንን ዕድሜ በሚወስን በእግዚአብሔር ያለምንም ቅድመ-ሁኔታአምናለሁ፡፡ የምሞትበት ጊዜ አሁን ከሆነ የእግዚአብሔር ፈቃድ ነው፡፡ እኔም ሆንሁ አንተ ይህንመለወጥ አንችልም፡፡ ሁላችንም እንደሥራችን ሊፈረድብን ወደእግዚአብሔር ፍርድ መቅረባችንአይቀርም፡፡

“በእግዚአብሔርና በደጋግ ሰዎች መልካም ሥራ አምናለሁ፣ እስከመጨረሻዋ እስትንፋሴድረስ በዕርግጥም አምናለሁ፡፡ አንተስ? አምላክህ የት አለ? እምነትህስ የት አለ? ስለሚሳደዱትአሳዳጆች ብዙ ትናገራለህ፣ ነገር ግን እስካሁን ራስህ እያሳደድህ ነው፣ እያዋረድህና እየገደልህ ነው፡፡እጆችህን ተመልከት፣ በደም ተጨማልቀዋል!”

ጂትሎቭስኪ እጆቹን አነሣና በተለየ ሁኔታ አተኩሮ አያቸው፤ ከዚያም ወደአባ አርሴኒተመለከተ፡፡ እጆቹን ከጭኑ ላይ አሳረፋቸውና በጣቶቹ ሲጥጥ የሚል ድምፅ በፍጠር “ስለማላውቀውማነኛውም ነገር ለመናገር አትሞክር!” አለና አባ አርሴኒን እንደገና በጥልቀት ተመለከታቸው፡፡ግሪጎሬንኮ ከላይኛው ተደራቢ አልጋ ላይ ሆኖ “አርካዲ ሴሚዮኖቪች፣ ቄሴ በሃይማኖት በዐልየሚያስተምር ሰው ይመስላል፤ ለምን አሁን ገድለን አንገላገልም?” በማለት በብስጭት ተናገረ፡፡

“ዝም በል፣ ግሪንጎሬንኮ!” ሲለው መለሰና ጂትሎቭስኪ “ወደውስጥ ከማስገባታችን በፊትየሚለውን ሁሉ ይበል፡፡ ቄሶች ማነብነብ ሥራቸው ነው፣ ልክ እንደኮሞኒስት ካድሮዎች፣” አለ፡፡

አባ አርሴኒ ቀጠሉ፤ “አንድ ሰው አንድ ቀን አንተን ሃይማኖተኛ ነበረ አለኝ፣ ግን ለምንታምናለህ? ሰዎችን አሰቃይተህ የገደልህ በማን ስም ነው? ስለዶስቶቭስኪ--ስትናገር አስታውሳለሁ፣በጣም የምትወደው ደራሲና የሩስያውያን ነፍስ መሆኑን ተናግረሃል፤ “ዘ-ብራጊስ ካራማዞቭ”በተሰኘው መጽሐፉ የዞሲማን ቃለ-ምክር እጠቅሳለሁ፡፡ ከመሞቻ አልጋዉ ላይ ሆኖ በዙሪያዉከበውት ለነበሩ ሰዎች እንዲህ አለ፤ “ከሀድያንን፣ ክፋት የሚያስተምሩትን፣ ማቴሪያሊስቶችንናክፉዎችንም ሳይቀር አትጥሏቸው፣ ምክንያቱም ከእነርሱ መካከልም ትቂቶቹ በእውነት ርኅሩኆችአሉና፣ በተለይ ደግሞ በዘመናችን፡፡ የእግዚአብሔርን ሰዎች ውደዱ፡፡ እመኑና ታላቅ የእምነት ደረጃይኑራችሁ፡፡ ለሁሉም ሰዎች መልካም ሥሩ፣ ስቃዮቻቸውን በመሸከም ዕርዷቸው፡፡ እያንዳንዱ ሰውስለሕይወት እንደገና እንዲያስብና ስህተቱንም እንዲያርም ጊዜ አለው፣ ይህን ማድረግም ይገባዋል፡፡ይህን ከተናገሩ በኋላ አባ አርሴኒ ተነስተው ወደአልጋቸው አመሩ፡፡ ነገር ግን ግሪጎሬንኮከአልጋዉ ላይ ዘለለና አባ አርሴኒን አንገታቸውን አነቃቸው፡፡ በዚያ ቅጽበት በተሰበሰቡት ሰዎችመካከል አንድ ረጅምና ጠንካራ ሰውየ እየተጎማለለ ብቅ አለ፣ ይህ ሰው በእስር ቤቱ ውስጥ“መርከበኛዉ” በሚል ስም ይታወቃል፡፡ ኦዴሳ ላይ በፖለቲካ ምክንያት ተይዞ ለአስራ-አምስትዓመታት በዚህ እስር ቤት ውስጥ እንዲቆይ እስከተፈረደበት ጊዜ ድረስ በእርግትም መርከበኛ ነበር፡፡”ግዴለሽ፣ ደስተኛና ጥሩ ጀግና ሰው ነበር፣ እንደማናችንም በእስር ቤት ቢቆይም ጤናማ የሰውነትአቋሙን እንዳለ ነበር፡፡

መርከበኛዉን ከበው የሚመለከቱትን ሰዎች እየገፈተረ መጣና ግሪጎሬንኮን ያለማመንታትአነሣና በዕቃ እንደተሞላ ጆንያ ወደጂትሎቭስኪ ቡድን አባላት ወረወረው፡፡

“ስማ አንተ ምናምን! አሁን ሩስያ ውስጥ እንጂ ጀርመን ውስጥ አለመሆንህን ልታውቅይገባል!” አለና ወደጂትሎቭስኪ ዞሮ ያለማመንታት በኦዴስያኛ የአነጋገር ዘይቤ “የኔ ክቡር ሆይ፣ጓደኞችህን ፀጥ ብታሰኛቸው ይበጃሃል! ያለበለዚያ ማንቁርታችሁን እዘጋዋለሁ፡፡ ሁላችሁም ፀጥበሉ!”

የጂትሎቭስኪ ቡድን አባላት ተንቀጠቀጡ፤ ብዙ እስረኞችም መጡና አባ አርሴኒንናመርከበኛዉን ለማገዝ በተጠንቀቅ ቆሙ፡፡

መርከበኛዉ ወደግሪጎሬንኮ መጣና “ፒዮትር አንድሬየቪችን መንካት አትችልም! አንድ ነገር ቢሆኑእኔ በግሌ ስለእርሳቸው እገድላሃለሁ፣ ከመግደሌ በፊት ስስ ብልትህን መትቼ በመጣልእጫወትብሃለሁ፣” አለው፡፡ ከዚያም አባ አርሴኒን ጠራቸውና “ፒዮትር አንድሬቪች፣ እንሂድ! አሁንአስጨንቀናቸዋል፡፡ ለእርስዎ የተለየ አክብሮት አለኝ፡፡ በሰላም ደግመን እንደምንገናኝ ተስፋአደርጋለሁ፡፡”

በሦስት ሳምንታት ውስጥ ጆራ ግሪጎሬንኮ ወደሌላ እስር ቤት ተዛወረ፡፡ ከዚያ ጊዜ ጀምሮጂትሎቭስኪዎች ፀጥ አሉ፣ ለሰዎችም ከበሬታ ማሳየት ጀመሩ፡፡ ክርክሩ ግን እንደቀጠለ ነበር፣ አባአርሴኒ ግን ከዚያ ጊዜ ጀመሮ በክርክር መሳተፋቸውን አቆሙ፡፡

(1)  ቭላሶቨትስ በጄነራል ቭላሶቭ ስር ይታዘዙ የነበሩ ሩስያውያውን ወታደሮች ሲሆኑ ከውጭ ሆነው ኮሚኒዝምን ለመዋጋትከጀርመን ጦር ሠራዊት ጋር ተቀላቀሉ፡፡ ጦርነቱ በጀርመኖች ተሸናፊነት በመደምደሙ በመጨረሻ በጦር ቃል-ኪዳን ተባባሪሀገራት ወደሩስያ እንዲመለሱ ተደረገና ከሞላ-ጎደል ሁሉም ሲሰቀሉ የቀሩት ደግሞ ወደልዩ የሞት ካምፕ ተላኩ፡፡


(2) ስተራርትስ “ስታሬትዝ” ለሚለው ቃል የብዙ ቁጥር ሲሆን ትርጉሙ ሰዎች ሃይማኖታዊ ምክር ለማግኘት የሚሄዱበትታዋቂ መምህር ማለት ነው፡፡ የኦፕቲና ገዳም እንደነዚህ ዐይነት መምህራንን በማፍራት የታወቀ ነው፡፡ 

What's Ethnic Nationalism? Again...

I've written often on the subject of ethnic nationalism (http://asfawdarguemeshal.blogspot.ca/2016/11/some-basics-on-interacting-with-ethnic.html and other articles). Because I think it has become, since the Dergue and especially the EPRDF, the most important issue in Ethiopian politics, as well as the most dangerous in terms of political instability and general social disruption.

 

I recently had a discussion with some friends on the issue, and we found ourselves trying to form a common understanding about what ethnic nationalism means. I mean, if it is the most pressing issue in Ethiopia, then of course it would help if we could all have, at least to some extent, a common understanding of what it means. In practical terms, not theoretical.

 

Coming up with a common understanding was a difficult slog, even though my interlocutors, the friends with whom I was talking, are, to put it broadly, Ethiopian nationalists. Like me, they are not fond of ethnic nationalism as it is in Ethiopia today. But, in our discussion, I took the side of ethnic nationalism, so to speak, and they the side of Ethiopian nationalism. They presented to me the following well worn arguments against ethnic nationalism:

 

1. Identifying people by ethnicity is a form of discrimination. Why should an Oromo having more rights than an Amhara, just by virtue of being Oromo? This is discrimination and is backward or immoral.

 

2. Yes, there are different ethnic groups and languages in Ethiopia, and all of them should be recognized as part of reality, but organizing around ethnicity is exclusionary.

 

3. There is a history of war and oppression in Ethiopia, but it was not based on ethnicity per se, but on conquest and land. There were wars amongst ethnic groups (Gondar and Shoa, Guji and Borena), not just between ethnic groups.

 

4. The Southern expansion (invasion) of southern Ethiopia was not an Amhara invasion, not an ethnic invasion, but an invasion by the Ethiopian government, specifically the Kingdom of Shoa, which included not only Amharas but others, including Oromos.

 

5. The Southern expansion was but the latest of many wars in Ethiopian history. Perhaps the most significant were the Oromo expansion (invasion) and the Muslim (Adal) expansion (invasion!).

 

6. In more recent history as well, the Ethiopian government has never discriminated on ethnicity. Yes, Amharic was the national language, but one national language had to be chosen. This cannot be considered ethnic discrimination.

 

7. In terms of economic opportunity, there was no ethnic discrimination. Access to government-sponsored post-secondary education was open to all, and in fact it was the policy of Emperor Haile Selassie to include students from all regions and all classes, as long as the students were capable.

 

8. Ethnic nationalist policies such as separation or autonomy of ethnic regions would result in disaster for the economy.

 

and so on. You get the picture.

 

These are good and valid arguments. They make sense. Yet they seem not to matter to ethnic nationalists. But they should matter, my friends said, these are rational arguments - any rational person would more or less agree with them. So we just have to argue more?

 

In order to try and get them to empathize with ethnic nationalists, I asked them to consider the following scenario. What if two hundred years ago Italy had invaded and occupied Ethiopia. And what if they had brought about a good deal of development and governed without ethnic discrimination or racism. Would we not, today, after 200 years, still want them to leave Ethiopia? Would we not consider them to be sufficiently 'different' from us? Would we not want to change the textbooks to reflect our version of history, which would mean portraying the Italians as colonizers, as a category morally inferior to us, even though we too had made war at different times in history? Etc.

 

This scenario exercise did not work - it did not convince my friends. I didn't think it would. I think it was too abstract - too removed from reality - and not similar enough to the reality in Ethiopia. The Italian relationship with Ethiopia cannot be compared with the relationship of different ethnic groups within Ethiopia, which even in war interacted in a ways much different to the interaction between Italy and Ethiopia.

 

My next try was to simply assert that ethnic identity is a human condition that supersedes the 'rational' arguments above. Why does an Ethiopian in America choose to be in community with fellow Ethiopian-Americans rather than mainstream Americans? After all, a human being is a human being. If I am interested in football, then I share these interests with anyone, no matter what his ethnic group, who has the same interests. If I am a parent, then I share the same interests around parenting as any parent of any ethnic group. Yet, there is an attraction to other Ethiopians, based solely on ethnicity. This is simply because ethnic identity is a fundamental part of being human. It may not make sense in certain contexts, but it is a reality that we have to work around, rather than bash our heads against.

 

My clinching argument - clinching as far as I am concerned but perhaps not my friends - was to point out the various ethnic nationalisms in so-called developed countries around in the world - ethnic nationalisms that seem to be increasing in strength as development increases! Quebec would have separated from Canada years ago had it not been for the immigrant population which ruined any chance of a pro-secession referendum vote. Catalonia, supposedly the richest and most 'socially developed' part of Spain is becoming more and more ethnic nationalist. These are just two examples - there are many. This, for me, illustrates that the above 'rational arguments' against ethnic nationalism simply do not work. They do not work. Ethnic identity remains.

 

So what is the solution? Well, is there a problem to begin with? As I've written before (http://asfawdarguemeshal.blogspot.ca/2016/09/curbing-ethnic-nationalism-via_26.html), yes, too much ethnic nationalism, no matter how it's defined, brings about conflict. In fact, one can define excessive ethnic nationalism as one that results in conflict. If we see ethnic related conflict, if we see people protesting for ethnic rights, then we have a problem with too much ethnic nationalism, or ethnic persecution, which is the just the flip side of the coin. This is obvious and evidence around the world shows this. So, yes, it is a problem and we need a solution - we need to curb ethnic nationalism.

 

So if these 'rational arguments' don't work, what works? Before going on to that, let's look at some factors that affect - that can increase or decrease ethnic nationalism.

 

1. Geography: Being on an edge, so to speak, like Eritrea or Catalonia or Scotland, results in greater ethnic nationalism. Being in the middle, like Oromia, curbs ethnic nationalism. Why? Because being in the middle means more interaction and mixing with the rest of the population and it also makes secession more difficult, which forces ethnic nationalists to find ways to live together rather than take extreme positions.

 

2. Economy: In Quebec, when the economy goes bad, people get upset and become more ethnic nationalist! In the case of Catalonia, that's not the case. The effect of economy depends on the context. In the case of Oromia, the ethnic nationalist elites market their ideology partly on "fertile and resource rich Oromia". On the other hand, on the ground, the people of Oromia know how important rich urban centres like Addis Ababa are to them.

 

3. Politics: Repression, poor governance, etc. increases ethnic nationalism, as the case of Eritrea illustrates so well. Who would want to live in an Ethiopia governed by the Dergue? Indeed, Shaebia owes its biggest debt to the Dergue!

 

4. Language and culture: On face value it would seem that expanding the ethnic nationalist groups aspirations when it comes to language and culture would decrease ethnic nationalism. But the evidence is that it might curb ethnic nationalism in the short term, but in the long term, there's no impact. Canada became fully bilingual, increased the economic advantages of Quebec, and implemented other policies Quebec nationalism wanted, and this helped in the short run, but in the long run the francophones in Quebec still voted to separate from Canada.

 

5. Other factors: During the two Quebec secession referendums, one of the things the nationalist (Canadian) side was preoccupied with was trying to prevent some famous Canadian figure from making disparaging public statements about Quebec. One or two such statements, and the polls would swing towards secession!

 

Funny how ethnic nationalism works. Today, take a poll, and 30% may favour secession. A couple of months from now, after a couple of ethnic skirmished in the media, maybe an economic downturn, suddenly 60% are in favour of secession! How do these people change their minds about such a fundamental matter, perhaps a fundamental matter of identity, so quickly? Are they ethnic nationalists or what? Do you see how ethnic identity can be so complex, mild, and yet strong, fickle, and yet long lasting?

 

So, again, what is the solution? Integration and demography. Or as Donald Levine put it in Greater Ethiopia, synthesis. We need in Ethiopia a synthesis of ethnicity, or more accurately to increase the current synthesis. I will give one example of a government policy that can accomplish this - making Afaan Oromo a national language and teaching it equal to Amharic or other languages in schools. Make all federal services available in Afaan Oromo throughout the country, not just in Oromia. Then have at least the large regions such as Amhara Region include Oromiffa equal to Amharic in public schools, so that every child that graduates from school in Amhara region will speak Oromiffa as well as Amharic. Imagine the integration of ethnic groups that this will promote, while at the same time promoting Afaan Oromo throughout Ethiopia as a national language. This will result in a larger integrated population, which will reduce the 'market' of ethnic nationalists. I offer this as a solution because it's the only one that seems to have worked throughout the world throughout history.

 

So, in summary, ethnic identity is fundamental part of the human condition, and its modern consequence ethnic nationalism almost so. No amount of rational arguing against it will reduce it. Too much ethnic nationalism results in conflict, which we see in Ethiopia and other places around the world. The way to moderate ethnic nationalism is to promote integration.

The News Makes Us Dumb (and serfs)

My father was, I think it's safe to say, an intellectual - an Ethiopian intellectual. Like in many homes of Ethiopian intellectuals, in our home, amateur politics and philosophy was often the topic of conversation. Between my father and I, our friends and guests, during visits, lunches, and dinners, it was a time when, where two or three (Ethiopian men) are gathered, politics is present.

We also watched the news. Not much else. Maybe a comedy here, and perhaps a cowboy and Indian show for nostalgia's sake. But news was king. And when we moved to North America, then we really got our fill of news. And plenty of political commentary.

As you might expect, we thought of ourselves as quite smart. We were the news watchers. We knew what was going on. We were serious. We were cosmopolitan. We were intellectuals. Our neighbours couldn't even point out Mexico on a map, and there we knew most of the world capitals. We even watched the US presidential debates - of the nominees! How smart we were.

Of course, this was all nonsense. We followed "the news" in exactly in the same way as the housewife followed soap operas or the youth followed sports. We were passive onlookers onto an activity on which we had no influence and had no stake, but fooled ourselves into thinking that merely watching meant something! But no, the news, was really a form of entertainment - mindless (and heartless) entertainment and escapism. Gossip that pretended to be something else. Passive and numbing brainwashing. No better than a soap opera. Actually worse - most soap opera watchers are under no illusion that they are doing something worthwhile!

Today, I don't watch TV and don't follow the news. On the internet, once in a while I quickly browse the headlines on a few sites - none of them mainstream. But sometimes, I find myself entranced and feeling the urge to delve a little into the news/gossip, and I have to stop myself.

Nevertheless, it was on the internet of course that I stumbled upon this old article: Why The News Makes Us Dumb. I encourage you all to read it. And turn off the news. Never watch CNN; if you see it on a television screen where you happen to it, flee!  Don't let your mind be colonized. If you have the spare time to burn, go have a chat with your neighbour. It would do you and him much more good than staring at the TV.

The Ethiopian Intellectual - Lost and Adrift

A Facebook post that I read yesterday reminded me of something that's been repeated in Ethiopian intellectual circles for decades, but still bears repeating because the problem its speaks of is still among our major problems, if not the most important problem in Ethiopia.

With age and experience, being a product of 'modern' education, that is, modern as an ideology, with every passing year I realize more and more how much our minds - the minds of Ethiopian 'intellectuals' (the quotes are for me) - have been colonized by what we might call modern or foreign (mostly Western) education. Even those of us who decry modernity's influence on Ethiopia, who decry our maladaptation of foreign mindsets, theories, and practices, are so much formed by these influences that are foreign to Ethiopia that we even express our concerns in foreign terms!

The problem with the foreign and modern mindset is not just that it is foreign and modern. The problem is that it is alien and therefore goes against the inertia of thousands of years of  Ethiopianness - however one defines Ethiopianness.

Let's take the idea of the modern 'democracy', an idea that most of us have fallen in love with at some time or another,  as an example. First of all, to even define and understand the idea properly, one would need to be immersed in the context in which the idea evolved. That is, an Ethiopian academic born and raised in Ethiopia, even if he was educated in the West, and even if his father, and even his grandfather, were products of Western education, cannot understand the idea of democracy in a way that a Briton or American can. The Ethiopian's understanding will always be somewhat superficial and so his application of these ideas will always be somewhat flawed.

Secondly, at the level of the society at large, not just the Western educated intellectuals, the understanding of democracy would be even more superficial because the idea, as it is, is so foreign. I say 'as it is', because of course there are ideas within democracy that are also part of Ethiopian tradition, or that are even universal, but the total idea of Western democracy remains foreign and difficult for the Ethiopian to fully absorb, let alone practice.

Third, and most importantly, the foreignness of Western democracy means that, sui generis, it cannot be a good fit in Ethiopia. That is, it did not evolve out of Ethiopian tradition, to address Ethiopian needs, to address Ethiopian problems, etc. It may have excellent ideas - it may itself be an excellent idea - but, as a whole idea, it remains foreign and as such cannot be a  prescription for an Ethiopian problem or any Ethiopian problems. That is not to say that something that looks like democracy may not be good for Ethiopia, but this something, whatever it is, will not come about by bringing the idea of democracy into Ethiopia, or adjusting it to Ethiopia. It will come about by looking at Ethiopia as it is and thinking about what social change, if any, would be good for it.

Ironically, those intellectuals who have warned us against being colonized by Western mindsets were often foreigners themselves. One of them, the great Donald Levine, summarised these sentiments in one of my favourite quotes:

“The vitality of a people springs from feeling at home in its culture and from a sense of kinship with its past. The negation of all those sentiments acquired in childhood leaves man adrift, a prey to random images and destructive impulses… The most productive and liberating sort of social change is that built on continuity with the past.”

Levine used to always recount a conversation he had with a modern Ethiopian intellectual or student in the 1960's. This student, presumably upset by the injustice of the policies of the Imperial Government, and at the same time suitably brainwashed, like most of his contemporaries, by some version of communism, remarked to Levine that the best thing for Ethiopia would be communism. Levine, like an elder of sorts, reminded the modern Ethiopian that communism requires revolutions that usually cost tens of thousands of lives. The modern Ethiopian replied that let alone tens of thousands of lives, millions of lives would not be too great a sacrifice to bring about communism to Ethiopia! Levine, as a lover of Ethiopian tradition, was shocked and alarmed to hear such a sentiment from the cream of Ethiopia's crop.

You see, Ethiopian intellectuals, given a background of relative poverty and backwardness from the point of view of the world today and the inferiority complex that comes with it, in order to run as fast as we can away from our seemingly insurmountable problems, run blindly, like a deer chased by a lion, into the arms of foreign ideas and ideologies. And then, we quickly become more Catholic than the Pope, so to speak. We become the most radical Communists, or radical ethnic nationalists, or worshippers of 'democracy', etc. We become so attached to these 'pretty', foreign, ideas. This, if not anything, illustrates how dangerous and incompatible foreign ideas are with being Ethiopian.

So I, myself, I try to flee back, back to being Ethiopia. I try my best to cling to my childhood sentiments, so to speak, even if my modern mindset rebels. It is the safe, the tried and true, the resilient and robust approach. I ask Ethiopian intellectuals to do the same. And I hope and pray that those not infected by modern education can avoid the infection!