“A man who takes away another man’s freedom is a prisoner of hatred; he is locked behind the bars of prejudice and narrow-mindedness. I am not truly free if I am taking away someone else’s freedom, just as surely as I am not free when my freedom is taken from me.” – Nelson Mandela.
George Washington quoted to have said: “It is not sufficient for a man to be a passive friend and a well-wisher to the cause.” A person should possess a drive to achieve and a passion for action to actualize his dreams. Many of the young in Ethiopia are passive, especially in politics. Not because we wanted it, but because the system and the tradition made us to be conditioned to this mentality. The political system diffused into our blood system through education to mould our behavior in such a way that we become subjects not participants in matters that affect our life. Although we are faultless victims as we inherited poverty, hopelessness, injustice, inequality; we were blamed as passives. We not only inherited the problems but also denied a means to change the course of the conditions in our country. We felt powerless and became fearful to go against the status quo as second class citizens.
However, the North African Revolution not only taught us how powerful we are should we stand together but also the importance of conquering fear to advance our cause. Therefore, the most valuable lesson of the year 2011 is we should no longer be passive but active participants in our country as its decisions will affect our lives. Remember politics is who gets what. Bearing this in mind I proceeded to jot down my view as a reminder. It is not to commend or condemn anyone but to express my feeling hoping that it might be helpful should we pay attention
The aim of the youth movement is the downfall of TPLF led regime and pushing its leaders to submit to the youth movement by keeping the revolution in continual progress until the achievement of democratic system. To do this we have to know the psychology of the regime, specially its leaders. Once a man has become dictator he cannot, usually, abdicate. If he does, the enemies he has made will kill him. Pompey could not have resigned, nor Mubarak, nor Zainelabidin. It is the knowledge of his own danger that drives the dictator on to eliminate his opponents.
Likewise, Meles will not try to abdicate his power easily; unless, we push him hard and let him to give up like Mubarak does. Besides, TPLF members think that they paid a great price to takeover power from the past regime and assume that their struggle was not to create a free country but to form a company called ‘Ethiopia’. As a result, they developed a feeling that they are the only ones who have a right to lead, to share its blessings and to inherit their power to their children. It should be clear that they will never be prepared to leave or share power unless we force them to do that. Hence they do whatever they can to keep their power. However, we have to be ready to pay any price to save a country we love. Truth and unity will give any movement a power. Truth is on our side but we have to work hard on our unity.
To contribute to the realization of this aim, the youth movement should form ties of solidarity between all sections of the society, causing national divisions to narrow down or disappear. This should be the primary and most important point on which the movement should emphasize. TPLF survives not because it is strong but because we are divided. We have to engage with the Oromo youth movement and others if available to enlarge our network all over the country. What should be clear is that our aim is to make the source of power from the consent of the governed. This requires a stage (even) where different viewpoints entertained freely. And our duty is to clear impediments to realize this stage. Unless a society has a clear sense of national identity and a shared public interest, individuals will show less loyalty to it than to their ethnic group, tribe or other. Therefore, the movement should find ways to bridge the gulf between different viewpoints in the country. We must do that if we want success. No one can impose its view on the other; we just have to try to find common grounds to work together. Ethiopia is a country for all of us. Therefore, we have to engage with all stakeholders in the country before we proceed to action.
We no longer regard the differences of nationality as the cause, but only as the manifestation of injustice. Focusing on only once nationality is not the essence of community, but the essence of difference. It is exclusive not inclusive. Focusing on difference rather than on similarity; being exclusive rather than inclusive is part of the problem not the solution. We can narrow down our differences by agreeing to create democratic Ethiopia where everyone is treated equally before the law.
Liberty is the right to do everything that harms no one else. Individual liberty and its application form the basis of civil society. The society has to guarantee to each of its members the preservation of his person, his rights (culture, language …) and his property. The sole bond which holds the society together is natural necessity and the preservation of their property.
I do not know why Sept. 1, 2011 is chosen as I couldn’t find its historical significance. Jan. 25 for Egyptians is the day they started anti colonial struggle against the British colonialism in 1950s. Therefore, the choice should be done carefully so that it can trigger positive response from every part of the society. If I was given a chance, I would have suggested the day of Adwa. It is a day of victory of black Africans over white Europeans. This is not to mean it should be changed but the decision supposed to be done based on feedback from participants.
Our ability to reach a large number of people is limited if we only use face book or twitter as only a few people have an access to internet. Therefore, we have to see other options as telephone text messaging to reach as many people as possible across the country.
Finally, our aim is to establish a country in which everyone, individual or group, shall have an input in matters that affects its life regardless of its ethnic or religious background. Globalization increased interconnectedness which resulted in decreasing the significance of borders. Exclusive assertion of particularism cannot solve the problem of nationality. It is religion not politics which presupposes homogeneity. The true nature of democracy is its ability to accommodate heterogeneous groups and rule based on the whims of the majority while protecting the rights of minority. Nothing can hinder us from forming a unity among the diverse groups in the country. What comes from the heart reaches the heart says an African proverb. I hope this reaches the heart.
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