COMMENTARY

 

‘Min Teyzo guzzo,’ or the lack of political philosophy

Fekadu Bekele (PhD): June 17, 2004

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By way of introduction

Asegedech Mekonen`s article of April 12, 2004
which I have read in the Ethiomedia entails valuable critics and analysis from
a phenomenal point of view which compels all those opposition politicians
organized or not to give proper answer whether Asegedech`s judgment of the
present political situation in Ethiopia correctly addresses the weak point of
the educated intelligentsia in general, and the political parties in particular
which criticize the present EPRDF government for various reasons.

 

By way of using a metaphor, Asegedech wants to
challenge all the opposition forces in and outside Ethiopia that there are positive changes in Ethiopia which we should not deny and which
give hopes for all Ethiopians that the country is slowly heading towards a
peaceful political arrangement and economic prosperity. In her eyes, the
emerging of small production activities and scattered service sector, and
building up of mega trade centres and the growing up of a new consumer class
which is using its new wealth and social status, and which is trying to
assimilate itself more in line with western style of living and market economy
are some positive signals which will have positive impacts on political, economic
and social situation of our country. On the other side, Asegedech by no means
denies our country’s overwhelming problems, such as backward political
institution, corrupt bureaucracy, lack of democracy, and arrogant government
which is stubborn to all positive criticisms, ethnic problems which is becoming
more dangerous to the country’s stability, and which is being used by the
government as instrument of divide and rule to prolong its dictatorial rule are
some problems which should be addressed correctly and intelligently.

 

If one looks at Asegedech`s analysis it seems
that by emphasizing on the positive side, and 
by trying to see the political and economic process of the country from
this side as one step towards political stability, Asegedech`s article is more
treacherous than earnestly meant which undermines the efforts of some patriotic
forces which are struggling to bring a civilization oriented political and
economic solution which bring Ethiopia out of the present political mess and
give her proper place as a proud and strong nation in the international
politics. At the same time, knowingly or unknowingly, Asegedech tries to divide
the opposition forces by portraying some as wise, though such kind of characterization
could be given only to persons who are brought up by the philosophy of Plato’s system
of thought, that the opposition forces in general do not have any other
alternatives other than accepting the political setup which is organized by the
present EPRDF government. Any solution outside of the present political set up
is inconceivable. As the 2005 election is nearing, forces within the EPRDF and
outside which support more or less directly or indirectly the destructive
policy of the EPRDF government are trying to divert the attention of the
opposition forces or at least their followers. Even the prime minister tries to
characterize himself as a democrat, and the only uncontested intellectual who
can give correct analysis,  if things
have gone wrong not because of his political handlings and his government but
he has borrowed from the past governments a backward economic situation and
primitive political institution. Like Pilate, he wants to wash his hands by
claiming himself he is not the part of the political intriguing which has been
practiced since the last 12 years.

 

In this small essay I try to show the logical
contradiction and the methodological problem of 
Asegedech`s article of the present political  situation in Ethiopia, why her analysis is
drawn more from sense perception than  a
dialectical approach which is based on the idea of Plato. At the same time, I
try to analyse the dilemma of the opposition forces, why their more feudalistic
perception of social and political situation and their beliefs that only by
accepting the political and economic ideology of the American Imperialism could
emancipate Ethiopia from the present political and
social turmoil which our country finds itself.

 

 

Methodological Problem

 

 

It is common now days in the Ethiopian politics
to give analysis and judge certain conditions from their face values other than
asking one self again and again why such kinds of things happen as we see them,
and not challenge our minds what are the causes that lead certain groups or
governments to behave and handle like this as we see and perceive them directly
so that the political and economic situation get worse year after year. In
seminars, news papers and magazines, one cannot learn any more the secret of
such kinds of behaviours why not only the present government has been handling
the situation at home in such a way so that the sovereignty and national
integrity of our country is becoming worse, why the past two governments did
not contribute something historical, so that we could not experience the
present political turmoil. In this respect we apprehend things which relate
normally to each other differently as if there are no causal relationships
among them and try to analyse them separately out of a given historical context.
Especially in a backward country like Ethiopia where complex thinking and logic
are not the rule but emotion governs our attitudes and handlings it is common to
believe that the past has no influence on the present, and the way we are
brought up and the education system which we are adapted to have nothing to do
on our thinking, our day to day practices and political handlings.  The present political situation at home and
the analysis which is given by different groups is clear example that we have
not yet learned to develop a scientific methodology to analyse the political,
economic and social condition of our country from a different angle so that we
could approximately pin point the problems of our country and give concrete
solution.  In this respect it is the duty
of those patriotic forces which are fighting to liberate their country from a neo-liberal
ideology and bring a science driven technological development to give
scientific analysis and show the fallacies of those forces who believe that their
approach is incontestable and give correct solution to our country’s social and
economic crises. 

 

Since three thousand years, humanity is being
caught by two irreconcilable methods of philosophical analysis, namely the
Socratic-Platonic method and the Sophistic method of analysing political,
social and economic situations as contending ways of understanding not only
real social situations but also human behaviour that are acting as historical
figures to decide over the fate of existing generation but also the coming
generations. First Socrates and later on Plato had developed what they called
the method of truth finding, by way
of asking themselves again and again to approximately find the truth and give
scientific solution to a given social situation. According to Plato, in order
to understand a given situation from a dialectical point of view the human mind
must be trained by true knowledge so that the good part of the mind being
dominant and the human sole which is equivalent to reason ultimately dominates
over the emotionally constructed body. Following Plato, when human beings first
appear in this world their brain is like raw materials. Before raw materials
must be consumed or used for any other purposes they must be formed or must be cooked
to become useable products. Like wise the human brain must get proper education
to understand the secret of nature and to ultimately change the resources
through finding new scientific methods in order to build a harmonious society.
This by no means implies that the human mind is a tabula rasa which gets
everything through sense perception as the English nominalists try to make us
believe. Plato like his master Socrates firmly believed that idea is the
sources of all true knowledge and through proper education the God given idea
must be re-activated so that we attain true knowledge, and create science and
technology in order to master nature and ease our lives.

 

According to the Greek philosophers starting
from Thales on wards, including Pythagoras, and their successors, Socrates and
Plato, humanity can redeem itself from all kinds of evils, natural and man made
and become the Master of Science and technology, if it follows the method of
hypotheses building. This philosophical method was challenged by the Sophists
who believed that the only way of truth finding and mastering nature is not the
self challenging road developed by Socrates, but by directly observing nature
and including human beings one could come to the correct analysis and solution.
According to the Sophists who fought vehemently the idea of Socrates and later
on accused him of teaching the youth not to believe in God were of the opinion
that equality benefits the strong. Not human love and brotherhood should be
taken as principles of social harmony and permanent peace but ethnic solidarity
and greed are the sources of human society and that shapes the human mind and
attain him true freedom. These two methods of analysing nature and
understanding human behaviour later on became the philosophical foundation of
European civilization, and had greater impacts on the intellectual developments
of successive generations who could develop science and technology and shape the
movements of their societies. Thomas Aquinas, Nicolas Cues, Leibniz and
Schiller, to mention some were the most prominent figures who developed the
method of Socrates and Plato to its highest level and laid down the foundation
of science and technology, where as the English empiricists fought against the
humanistic approach in order to pave the way for oligarchic rules and block the
development of science and technology across the glob. Schiller the most genius
dramatist, political philosopher and the founder of universal history, after he
had studied the Greek history and philosophy came to the conclusion that if the
human mind is not aesthetically shaped his fate will remain dark and governed
by war. By breaking himself from the Kantian view of categorical imperative*
and will, he emphasised the need of attaining political morality through
aesthetical education to bring the human life in accordance with Platonic view
of brotherhood and equality.  

 

Why is important to mention this here?  If one looks at Assegedech`s analysis, though
one does not know immediately her methodological approach, her description of
the present political situation is not developed by strictly observing the
social construction of our society. According to her view the very few cosmetic
changes which one sees here and there are good starting points of development which
will have trickle down effects. How these changes have come, what is happening
behind these changes, and whether such kinds of changes will bring fundamental
economic, social and cultural changes in our society which will be the real
foundation of permanent peace and stability are not matter of concern. She
neither asks herself whether the present economic development is supported by
science and technology or simply become by itself the causes of other deep
social and cultural crises. Asegedech raises so many questions and problems which
are on one hand very complex and need deep theoretical analysis, on the other
hand it is very difficult to follow her to understand which are the real causes
for our country’s backwardness. In order to understand the complexity of her
analysis let us try to separate the causes from the effects and develop our own
hypothesis to give approximately the real causes of Ethiopia’s underdevelopment
and why the effects will be changed again to the causes and arrest economic and
social development.

 

 

Causes of backwardness

 

After Asegedech has stated all the problems
which are hovering over our country, like hunger, disease, economic
backwardness and lack of education she comes to the conclusion that the main
cause for all these things is lack of education and information. By mentioning
one Ethiopian educated man she is convinced that the only way out of this
malaise is the change of attitude in our people. But this mentioned wise man
does not tell us why the static nature of attitude of the Ethiopian mind is the
main cause of our backwardness and how we change it so that economic progress
dominates our lives.

 

It can be true that lack of proper education
hampers social and economic development. On the other hand there are complex
social and cultural structures which block the introduction of proper
education. For some it seems that the introduction of new ways of thinking will
endanger their social status and their economic well being, and therefore they
vehemently fight any change even though from a longer perspective the society
as a whole will be in a better of position. This has been in all societies,
whether in Europe or in other parts of the globe. It
is not the peculiarity of our society that the fixing of our attitudes to
traditional values will become stubborn and we remain immune to all changes
which has been taking around the globe. If we look at the social history of Ethiopia, around the 16th century the
prominent Ethiopian philosopher began questioning the doctrine of the Old
Testament which according to his belief that what all stated in the bible is
the work of men and not as the clergy taught that it is the work of God. Zera
Yacob, after he had observed nature he came to the conclusion that empirical
observation which can be deciphered by reason ultimately leads to the truth. He
denied by no means that the Old Testament possess valuable teachings. This
brought him anger from the clergy, because Zera Yacob`s approach was a
challenge to the prevailing ideology of the clergy and the feudal order which saw
in the masses not as creative being with aspiration of new ways of life but as
masses of labourer which produce and feed the unproductive class. 

 

If we look at the European history closely,
after the down fall of the Roman Empire and the rise up of the German barbarians, European society remained for
over thousand years in dark ages. The power struggle between the feudal
aristocracy and the church leaders on one hand, on the other hand the
ideological dominance of the Catholic Church had practically blocked any
meaning full development. The Catholic ideology which was against the natural
order and which denied any progress had kept the European mind as prison of
blind ideology. The masses accepted what the church leaders had taught them
that not the sun but the earth was at the centre of all the planets and including
the sun. That means the Earth was a fixed object while the planets and the Sun
were circulating around the Earth. Due to this blind belief and the suppression
of science, war, destruction and hunger became the common fate of the European
people. These cycles of hunger, disease and war could be stopped for a while
when the ideology of the church was challenged, trade and industry had taken
roots and new ways of wealth appropriation became slowly the rule of the
European society. After the Copernican revolution in the 15th century, and
during the renaissance time in the same century the European people began
awaking and the light of true civilization began reflecting in their minds. The
introduction of the classical education system of the Greeks, like astronomy,
geometry, rhetoric, Music and the Greek language had helped the European
intellectuals to invent new devices by which they could explore the nature of
the universe and used it for human civilization. This in turn opened the door
for new inventions. With the inventions of new instruments the people of Europe could exploit the resources
available easily and transformed them to useable products. The buildings of
cathedrals and cities which began around the 13th century gave them new
impetus, as industry and commerce grew the power of thinking had progressively
increased. In short only through the introduction of new education system which
was practical and highly sophisticated, the European people became ultimately
the master of their fate and control nature. This new development of science
and technology could not continue like that.  The cultural renaissance of the 15th century
was stopped by new waves of empiricism which spread from England to other European nations. The
development of a new nation-state concept which was slowly spread must be
fought by confusing ideas to block any meaningful development in other
countries. The development of the concept of utilitarian ideas that human being
has no any aspiration other than maximizing its utility and the struggle each
against every body became the main philosophical foundation of the English
empiricists. Any society is seen as the sum of individuals where as every
individual struggles for its own sake without regarding the wishes of the
others. With the emerging of Darwin‘s theory of evolution,  and the population theory of Malthus, any
society is seen an arena of competition and pure utility maximization, where as
those who could not suit to the system of struggle for survival will be
overthrown. With the triumph of this utilitarian concept and the defeat of
humanism oligarchic rules and thinking were firmly established. The religious
war of the 17th century which had lasted over thirty years had thrown so many
European societies to anarchism and to total economic collapse. In many
countries the population had diminished to one third. Farm lands were
abandoned, and the income of the feudal and aristocratic class had diminished
to a historical level. In light of this reality there were no other option than
to come to peaceful arrangements, and in 1648 major European states recognized
the historical facts of building their individual nation-states. With the
treaty of Westphalia, all hostilities were completely
abandoned. Different nations-states began concentrating to build their own home
market with the basis of manufacture activities.  

 

The above short analysis shows wrong beliefs, false
education systems which are conceived for a certain class and oligarchic rules
which consider the majority of the masses as human cattle are the main cause of
war, destruction and backwardness. As history proves again and again the
majority of the people in any country have never been the causes of wars and
destructions. Always the elite which controls power and which is not guided by
the principles of social harmony and peaceful coexistence is the main cause of
war. As any education system is determined by the same class in accordance of a
certain kind of social relationship, it will have either positive or negative
impacts on social and economic developments of a given society.  This demonstrates that not the lack of
education per se could be by itself the main causes of backwardness but the
quality of the education system, in combination of the social relationships and
the existence of a certain kind of historical and social consciousness  that determine the nature and tempo of social
development.

 

History has again and again demonstrated that
being educated by itself could not be the motor of social progress. The
question here is what kind of education one acquires, how he acquires and for
what purpose he is going to acquire are the essential questions to be studied
before one become acquaintance with certain kinds of education. Therefore at a
given historical period certain kind of education which is not studied from scientific
point of view which serves the interests of certain social groups becomes by
itself the cause of underdevelopment. The so-called modern man if it is brought
up by empiricist knowledge, by introducing not well studied social and economic
changes will complicate existing social relationships.  The overlapping up of traditional and modern
values become in conflict, and these by themselves become the causes of
permanent social and economic chaos. The introduction of modern education
systems in so many African countries, especially after political independence,
and the policy of import-substitution-industrialization are clear examples why
the so-called modernization could not become the vehicle of economic progress.
At the same time the introduction of new technologies, without asking oneself
how one introduces what kinds of technologies one is introducing, and for what
purpose, will not elevate existing social patterns.  If the introduction of new technologies are
not associated by quick imitation, research and development, economic progress
will remain superficial and will have short duration. The result will be
unequal development, resource utilization become improper and real capital
accumulation on a wider basis will not be any more possible. At the same time
due to the demonstration effects of some cosmetic change, resource outflow
becomes the rule of the system which will become by itself the main bottleneck
of industrialization and real capital accumulation. As we have seen in the last
5 decades all economic changes which have been introduced in the African soil
have failed due to the type of the education system which  are imposed on us not as such because of lack
of education. The education system which we are compelled to learn could not
open our minds and made us creative so that we become innovate to develop new
technologies. The domination of foreign experts over the school systems of the
African society, the introduction of unnecessary education which is detached
from science and technology, the political influence of foreign forces on all
state structures which are modern, and the gap between the so-called elite and the
masses of the population are interwoven mechanisms which arrest any meaningful
development. This process of confusing the African elite, including the
Ethiopian intelligentsia is becoming more and more apparent as the so-called
information technology dominates the global village. Information becomes
synonymous with knowledge, though information is a product of sense perception,
and is not as such true knowledge which brings a science driven technological
development. The type of the education system that is organized on empiricist
line and which contradicts true human civilization has totally shadowed the
soul of the new generation. The system of the education that is infused in the minds
of the African elite and which determines its way of thinking and handlings
become the causes of underdevelopment. This has been the case in all social
formations where oligarchic rules become the only norms which forms and guides
the human lives.

 

If we examine the Ethiopian education system
very closely the system of the education was not designed in such a way so that
it could give us the power of thinking to observe our natural surroundings and
become creative in order to build a new Ethiopia. It has neither enabled us to ask
ourselves why we went to schools. The fact that we were compelled to learn word
by word without questioning the meanings of the particular subjects this system
of learning blocked our thinking capacity. The system of education was so
organized that it has corrupted our minds not to understand our environments
and to undermine our people. In neither of the elementary books none of the
Ethiopian landscapes, the names of the rivers and their origins, the mountains,
the types of the trees which are growing and their property and their
usefulness to the society and the ecological setup of the country, the
different types of fishes and the birds, etc. all these essential knowledge are
not included in the curriculum. We neither know how the peasants are
cultivating their farm lands. We do not have any knowledge about the types of
cereals which are growing in our country and in which seasons they are growing.
 Even a student from Alemaya College does not have any knowledge about
the farming system of the peasantry. As we grew in such kinds of education
system and more and more foreigners who did not understand our psychological
makeup and did not have the slightest knowledge about the Ethiopian history and
landscape became integrated in our lives we became more confused and outward
oriented. We became more eclectic than generally and deeply educated. This kind
of education system has cemented the feudal order in our minds. Sober analysis,
questioning and discussing in order to come to a positive result was no more
possible. In short the modern education system had not rationalized our minds.
We became its victim that is reflected in our thinking and handlings. The
education system of our country has produced many idiots like me and who again
produces other idiots. These idiots when they are assigned to new jobs they
give false advice to the working people and to the peasantry and by that they
change them to beasts. In other words, the peasants by being converted to
seasonal workers, they will be integrated into the world market. Instead of
becoming creative beings as God created them, they will be hired in areas where
Coffee is growing and sell their labour power very cheaply. Peripheral
capitalism which is introduced with the education system has not only changed
the social matrix of our society but it has also distorted the production
activity of our society in such a way so that the Ethiopian people could not
develop science and technology in order to build a modern country. Even now the
new generation of economists advice the Ethiopian peasants and investors to
plant flowers for the world market. Look how perverse we are compelled to
think. I think most of us do not know how the world politics and the world
market are functioning. Thanks to the neo-colonial mentality of the EPRDF
government and its advisors, the so-called foreign experts have the opportunity
of masterminding our people and the government itself. By being totally brain
washed the new and most of the old elite think that they are part of the white
oligarchic class and they are ready to do whatever they obey them.

 

Such kind of education system that is completely
detached from true civilization has totally perverted our thinking, behaviour
and handlings which have wide range consequences for our society as a whole.
Instead of becoming the motor of a science driven technological development we
become one of the main factors of underdevelopment.  We will be easily irritated when some body
raises questions and challenges unscientific ideas. We give all possible names
to discredit some body as if he comes from another planet. We do not have the
gut and the ability to understand the messages of entirely different ideas and
could not give our own judgments on the basis of theory and philosophy.  The bloody war of the Ethiopian revolution is
the result of this type of very backward education system and the lack of
thinking ability which we are compelled to acquire. 

 

Still today we witness that the so-called
educated Ethiopians become irritated when one begins to challenge their ideas
and instead of listening gently and bring their own arguments scientifically
they try to divert the attitude of their followers. The last 30 years starting
the bloody revolution of the Derg and its cadres, and some leaders of the
student movement and their followers, and the political cadres of the Woyane
and the opposition forces, prove that all will be easily hesitated by new and
challenging ideas. Their eyes become red, their hairs become straight, their
heads become hot and their blood starts boiling. This proves that feudal
thinking which is against any rational idea still dominates our thinking and
handlings. What we mean and what we think are not compatible with each other.

 

In order to bring fundamental changes in our
society, we must have to challenge our selves. We must ask ourselves whether
the education system which we have acquired until now is the right type which
helps us bringing fundamental changes in our society which will lead our
society to permanent peace and prosperity. 
The question to day, not only in our country but also around the glove,
even in the industrial west is not as such any type of education what humanity
needs, but a type of education that helps him to understand his humanness and
brings him to a situation so that he will be governed by reason, not by
emotion. In a world like this where greed and power have become the dominating
factors, where very few think that they can twist the globe according to their
own wishes, we are compelled to ask our selves in such a dramatic technological
change, human knowledge never seen before, beautiful music which shapes our
minds so that we become more human, and wide spread literatures etc. why
humanity is driven again and again to wars and economic depression. What are
the factors that blind the human mind not to see the danger of wars and its
consequences? As Ethiopians and as the citizen of this beautiful world we have
the historical duty to make us acquaintance with the right type of education so
that we could fulfil our historical mission.

 

The point whether empowered people could bring
the necessary changes is again another question which needs elaboration, and
which cannot be adequately answered here. In short one can say here there is a
protracted war which is going on around the glove not to let ordinary people to
participate in decision making. The so-called parliamentary democracy becomes
the only option, and even becomes a natural thing which humanity in general
should strive for.  The empowerment of
the masses could not and should not be seen in isolation of wealth acquisition.
It is not secret to day that in all countries of the world the wealth of the
respective countries is dominated by few hundreds of peoples. In the industrial
west where the so-called parliamentary democracy becomes an established institution
not more than few percent of the population is controlling the wealth of their
society. Big Banks, Insurance companies, Industries which are converted into
stock capitals, Investment Banks which absorb society’s wealth through
different mechanisms, institutions which serve as the ideological basis of
their respective governments are controlling the majority of the wealth of
their society. The fusion of these institutions with the state apparatus, and
the influence of certain groups which are wealthy on parliamentarians, and the
complex nature of the laws which cannot be understood by ordinary people, make
the masses of the population the victim of manipulation. Therefore the
representative democracy which is the west so proud of alienates itself from
the masses, and the election that takes place every four years becomes simply a
showdown. As neo-liberalism marches in all the institutions, the elected
governments are no more governing their people in accordance of the
constitution which they have sworn on.  It
is therefore very important to study the essence and forms of democracy in its
widest context, and the nature of mass participation in decision making process
for the building up of a strong nation-state which can be transferred to the
coming generation.

 

In this regard, we come to the crucial point
why the present government is arrogant, why it is handling the political situation
like this as we see, what are the factors which hinder him not to make
political dialogues with other parties which are trying to show him good will
of discussing national issues?

 

 

 

              
 Political philosophy and political handlings of the present government

 

It is not as such sufficient to characterize
the present EPRDF government as arrogant or to cry that absence of democracy
and incompetent bureaucracy are dominating the lives of our people so that
economic progress will be hampered. It is crucial important to analyse the
political handlings of the present government from a philosophical point of
view in order to understand its true nature, whether the EPRDF government has a
political philosophy or it is guiding our society blindly to unknown
destination.

 

What do I mean by political philosophy?  Political philosophy is the art of governing
a given society so that social harmony, economic progress, equality and justice
among the member of the society become accepted parameters so that the society
as a whole consciously shapes its life. The nature of the state apparatus and
the philosophical backgrounds of those forces that are controlling the state
apparatus are determining factors for the materialization of the mentioned
parameters. A society that is not governed by a certain philosophy, a state
apparatus that is not in a position to determine the path of the society from
the above mentioned parameters, its destination will be confused and instead of
orderly life social chaos will be the rule of such kinds of a system.

 

It is not without reason that the Greeks have
found the first political philosophy as guiding parameters in order to
construct a historical conscious society. Before the appearance of the writings
of Homer, Thales and Pythagoras the founder of the Greek verse and philosophy,
the Greeks as a whole were governed by oligarchic rules which drew them
permanently to wars and destruction. The masses lived in desolate situation
deprived of their natural rights.  Wars,
destruction and permanent dislocation of the people were seen as natural
factors which were sent by Gods as punishment. Permanent war among the oligarchic
classes, the destruction of social life which were seen as natural,  were then put in question by the great
philosophers of that time. Not Gods determines how human beings live in this
world, but human beings themselves are the master of their fates. By observing
the universe and the paths of the planets, they came to the conclusion that
human beings could shape their lives in accordance of the harmonious universe.
Therefore wars, destruction and permanent dislocation are not natural but they
arise from wrong beliefs. Since the ruling classes are guided by the principles
of power and greed, and since they consider the masses of their population as
human cattle without any decent life, in order to fulfil their irrational
fillings they drew their society into wars. According to the Greek
philosophers, the ruling classes and the masses must be freed from such kinds
of blind beliefs to build a society which is aesthetic and harmonious.
Successive state men like Solon, and philosophers like Socrates and Plato had
formulated a theory of political philosophy which could be as guide lines to
govern a given society.

 

Solon who belonged to a rich family and by
engaging himself in trade activities came into contacts with the ionian
civilization and learned from Thales philosophy that helped him to shape his
attitude. As a member of the oligarchic class who knew closely the massive
exploitation of the peasantry by the feudal class and the inhuman conditions of
the slaves, he understood well that this condition could not continue like this.
As the first statesman he cancelled all the debts of the peasants and for those
whose land was confiscated by force gave them back. Slaves were freed from
their bondages, and the enforcement of creditors to own the slaves in case of
non payable debt was forbidden. Only the acquisition of property as means of
debt repayment could be acceptable in the era of Solon.  Solon not only as a statesman, but also as a
philosopher and a writer of dramas that could cultivate the human mind during
his one year government had developed a new political culture that opened the
door to more participation of the ordinary people in political decision
process. Though Solon reforms could not continue like that, the political
process that he introduced gave a special kind of dynamism for the next
generation. Other philosophers and men of dramas, architects and artists came
to the scene and gave new dynamism to the society in general that had decisive
impacts in shaping the minds of the Greek people.  Socrates and Plato by laying a new scientific
philosophy as described above widened the scope of political philosophy. They
have integrated into their political philosophy the methodology of scientific
investigation to enable human being to become the master of nature by
understanding the physical world.  The
dialectical method of Socrates and Plato as is analysed above was challenged by
the sophists in order to make humanity the prisoner of certain oligarchic
classes which is guided by the mere principles of power and greed.  These two contending ideas continued until the
middles ages, the political philosophy of the Sophists get slowly the upper
hand and being reformulated and widened by the English empiricists, like
Hobbes, Locke and the classical economists which could slowly poisoned the
global ruling classes of the different historical epochs. Educations, military
science and political philosophy were formulated in order to serve certain
ruling groups who saw in themselves that they are blessed to decide over the
majority of their respective society. As professor Seung has clearly
demonstrated in his fantastic book, Plato rediscovered: The politics of wars is always the politics of military-industrial
complexes, which inevitably involves big money and power and breeds greed and
fraud. This war philosophy in different historical epochs has been the
political philosophy of the ruling classes in different societies and now in
the era of high tech and interwoven military-industrial complexes it is the
principal guide lines of the so-called world leaders who are bringing permanent
chaos around the globe. Now let us go to Ethiopia.

 

In order to understand the political handlings
of the EPRDF government it is relevant to study the nature of the political
philosophy of the Haile Selassie government and the military dictatorship.
Without understanding the social construction of the past two governments, and
their political handlings it is very difficult to understand why the present
government draws our society into permanent chaos so that our people live in
fear and disharmony.

 

Some historians of Ethiopian origin and foreigners
try to associate Emperor Haile Selassie with modernization, and the Emperor
himself as wise leader of modern Ethiopia. As the political situation in our
country becomes bleaker this attitude is gaining more support without through
analysis of the Ethiopian situation during the Emperor time. For those
intellectuals who have depth understanding of social theory and human
civilization, the government of Emperor Haile Selassie has done nothing something
historical which could guarantee the integrity and sovereignty of Ethiopia.

 

The emperor who did not have any political
philosophy believed that the sovereignty and integrity of Ethiopia could be maintained by simply
building up a huge civil and military bureaucracy which is detached from the
masses. For the Haile Selassie government and his bureaucracy it was enough to
have some cosmetic changes which could satisfy the consumption needs of the
upper class. The fact that any sovereign national-state could be built up,
maintained and strengthened when a science based industrialization policy has
been taken which could encompass the whole country was not a prima facie fact
by the ruling elite. It was neither known that the development of home market
which could be the reproduction base of the society which could bring the
society together and deliver him dynamism so that his thinking power develops
was out of consideration. Haile Selassie believed that with the few changes he
had introduced and the ideology that he had spread that he was sent by God to
rule Ethiopia could maintain his power base for the coming thousand years. He
thought that Ethiopia belonged to him and his family
alone. He considered the Ethiopian people as human cattle without any
aspiration, natural right to develop as free person in order to practice their
god given creative power. This is characteristic to all feudal systems. Though
the cosmetic changes he had introduced brought some contradictions and friction
among the society, the attitude of the masses was not radically changed to
bring new ways of lives. Since the reproduction base of the society was
controlled by the ruling class the masses had little chance to alter their
reproduction base and become innovative. The so-called modernization which is
planted in few cities has perpetuated old values which hindered new and radical
thinking. The overlapping up of old values with the so-called modern values
which is mainly imported from America opened the way for an elite class which
could alienated  himself from the masses
and behaved arrogantly.  Since the
education system did not have any philosophy and did not have the ability of
redeeming the minds of the new elite, the mentality of this new class could not
see things outside of its horizon. He could not understand that he had
historical roles to play to bring systematic changes within the society that
strengthens the integrity of the society and give him confidence that he
belongs to the system. In short Haile Selassie produced sociologically seen, a very
unstable class that does not have any self confidence in its own. The fusion of
this peripheral education system with the feudal mode of thinking made him very
intriguing, lazy and at the same time very arrogant, unpatriotic and selfish,
without moral values and even racist that associates itself with foreign
forces.

 

Haile Selasie`s political handling was
compatible with feudal thinking. The mode of production and the reproduction base
of the society that was mainly agricultural hindered him to see things beyond
his own life. He thought that Ethiopia belonged to him and his family
alone, and the masses did not have any right of developing themselves as free
human beings to build a society that is aesthetic and historical. The development
of a money economy which was in its rudimentary form and which was concentrated
in few cities could not eradicate the feudal mode of production, and as such
the thinking of the ruling class remained static. Since the education system
was not rationally organized so as to create a dynamic elite class  which could produce new way of thinking by
engaging itself in sophisticated literary works, arts and classical music, the
system of feudal think was more cemented rather than being shattered. The Haile
Selassie government was therefore not in a position to develop a system of
confidence among the society by making systematic changes in the field of
politics by giving more freedom, and in the field of economics by encouraging
technological based industrial policy which could have dynamic effects to widen
the reproduction base of the society on a system of capitalist economy. In
short, the ruling class which was represented by the monarchy could not think
strategically and did not understand the complexity of internal and
international politics. As the system could not any more fit to control the
internal contradictions which it had produced, and the international pressure
which was manifested in economic crises and political shifts, the government of
Haile Selassie must be overthrown. There was no any alternative to keep him in
power. What could we learn from this? A ruling class which is not guided by a
defined political philosophy and which is not in a position to find new ways of
political handlings which are suit to new situations, it will not have another
fate other than being overthrown.    

 

The political handlings of the military
dictatorship emanated from this feudal way of thinking. What makes it different
from the Haile Selassie government was its violent and very irrational handling
of the political situation. As so many argued that the political philosophy of
the military dictatorship was not as such guided by socialist philosophy. As
history proves one year or two years of introductions in socialist theory dose
not alter the human mind. The socialist theory is a product of many generations
and even thousands of years which ultimately takes its last shape by Karl Marx,
and developed out of a capitalist society. As some argue, Marx used the
philosophical theory of Kant and Hegel to develop his own version of
materialistic theory. Whether the Marxian theory is a correct social theory
which could solve existing social problems is another question. The issue here
is that as the Bible and the Koran are not the sources of Christian and Muslim
wars and aggressions, socialism cannot be blamed for the bloody war that we
have experienced in Ethiopia. We could firmly believe today that
the military ideology of the American imperialism and the feudal ideology had
intricately produced a violent and very contradictory class which was ready to
destruct any opposition forces when ever needed. The military ideology which is
incompatible with human respect made the uncultivated mind of the military more
brutal and wild. In Mendelssohn words, one of the greatest humanist and
philosophers of the 18th century: “A
wild person has not any filling of human respect and does not posses any moral
and ethical values which could shape his mind so that love, order and total
perfection governs his rational handling.”  This philosophical statement suffices to
characterize all the members of the Derg which brutally slaughtered thousands
of Ethiopian intellectuals that has never been seen before in Ethiopian
history. In order to eradicate its opponents the Mengistu regime had organized
a special force called Nebelbal, which was brutally trained to systematically
kill which it suspected that could endanger the life of Mengistu Hailemariam. The
members of this special force were collected from remote areas and did not have
any educational backgrounds. With no any rational knowledge in their heads it
was easy to train them brutally so that they could behave as wild animals. Well
fed and trained they could fulfil the order of the Mengistu regime to sharply
shoot its opponents. This demonstrates the wild nature of the military regime and
the social background in which it was brought up and the special socialization
which it used to enjoy and which the Haile Selassie regime unconsciously
imported from America. It was a part of international
conspiracy which was systematically developed by the American imperialism in
order to undermine the development of capitalism in all Third World Countries.
As we have seen in all Latin American countries where the brutalization of the
state apparatus has taken an unprecedented scale in order to fight the supposed
communism, the feudal regime of Ethiopia had also opened the door for the
American imperialism to infiltrate into the state apparatus. The irrational
student movement which did not have time to study adequately all these things, the
social formation of our country and the psychological make up of the military
had unnecessarily provoked the system which ended in blood shed. It is
therefore incorrect to argue that the military government was solely
responsible for the bloody situation and for the destruction of our country.
All had participated consciously or unconsciously to create an atmosphere of
chaos. If the remaining intellectual understands this situation and speaks
openly that it had contributed for the disintegration of Ethiopia and did not understand the
complexity of international politics it will have a role to play in
constructing a new Ethiopia.

 

To understand the political handlings of the
present EPRDEF government we must drive our analysis from the above premises.
EPRDEF did not come from another planet. It is a product of feudal Ethiopia and peripheral capitalism. As such
its political handlings and attitudes emanate from this social and
psychological construction in which it has been brought up. What make it different
from the two past governments is its ethnic component and more or less its
homogeneity which is now eroding. It has at the same time unnecessarily
developed within its own mind a kind of competition to demonstrate that now the
time has come to install ethnic based ruling system which could terminate once
for all the alleged Amhara ruling class from the Ethiopian minds. This gives it
ethnic solidarity within its own community though the majority of them do not
understand the essence of politics. This ethnic solidarity, the absence of any
competing political group in the Ethiopian political scene and the systematic
support of the US imperialism to dismantle Ethiopia as a nation state have more
or less contributed to develop arrogance behaviour within its mind. In addition
to these the ethnic policy which it has been practicing since the last 12 years
could be used as instruments of divide and rule to make instable the whole
political set up. The country must be remained in permanent turmoil and the
minds of the Ethiopian people must be confused to prolong its decadent ruling.

 

From this vantage point of view if we look
especially its practice of the national question which Asegedech and the PM
have celebrated as a mile stone in the Ethiopian politics that guarantee true
freedom for the respected nationalities we see very contradictory things which
contrarily hinder any meaningful development in all its aspects. First of all
let us see the national question how it was raised by the student movement.

 

The most radical wing of the Ethiopian student
movement, which was led by Wallelegne Makonnen, who was one of the most
aggressive and very irrational leader of the student movement as I could judge
it today, had raised the issue of national question as one of the main causes
of suppressions of the different Ethiopian nationalities after he had read
Lenin’s works on this issue. Wallelegene and others who followed suit this
position came to the conclusion that the materialization of Lenin’s suggestions
that oppressed nationalities must have independence including up to political
secession could guarantee true freedom. In order to strengthen his position
Lenin resembled the issue of the national question as a relationship between a
husband and a wife that as long as true love does not exist between them the
only option is separation. This vulgar and unhistorical approach of Lenin was
overtaken by the student leadership word by word.  Lenin and the student movement by insisting
the national question, as a way out of suppression forgot historically seen very
important things. In any society the development of nation-state is a
historical process which takes thousands of years. Before nation-states as we
see them today in various degrees of development become into existence they
must undergo various changes and complexities which gave their peculiar
characteristics. Intermarriage between different groups which came into contact
with trades, the development of language by borrowing certain words from each
other, cultural contacts and formations which gave them some resemblances and
differences, and social relationships which develop as different groups come
into contacts and the division of labour which take different shapes as the
various groups struggles to exploit their intelligence in order to satisfy
their ever growing needs etc. all these have contributed to the formation of
nations states across the world. As these processes were not sufficient to
guarantee a fixed boundary and control more and more groups and resources some
nationalities have taken as their historical duties to use violence as the only
means to bring various nationalities under the control of one nation. Where the
material conditions and the intellectual basis of the various nationalities
have developed better, the formation of nation-states was easy to accomplish.
In Ethiopia where the intellectual basis and the material
condition were not that much developed various monarchs had used more or less
violence to build Ethiopia as a nation-state. The
feudalization of the society and the very rudimentary nature of the division of
labour and the absence of any social movement were factors that hindered Ethiopia to become a coherent nation-state.
In other words the nation-state formation is not complete. As Ethiopia becomes
more and more integrated into the world capitalist market the suppression of
the nationalities has taken another dimension which cannot be seen isolated
from the over whole underdevelopment of the Ethiopian society. The suppression
of the various nationalities is a by-product of feudalism and peripheral
capitalism which can and must bee seen within the context of social formation
which is in the path of reorientation and coherency. As I have tried to show
above, because of the incompetence of the feudal order and its backward
attitudes it could not play a historical role by developing the material basis
of the society. In short over 90% of the Ethiopian people were the victims of
feudal oppression which can be solved not by means of a kind of vulgar approach
exercised by the present government but by metaphysical ways which elevate
their power of thinking and make them creative so that in alliance they could
build a free and strong Ethiopia on the basis of science and technology.    

 

The political practice of the EPRDF government
is not only reactionary but it also blocks any meaningful development. As
social anthropology proves human beings could develop their creative power when
they become more intermixed with each other. 
The ability to develop their own languages and learn other languages
when they come into contacts with other groups and nationalities will empower
them true freedom and independent thinking. Their isolation and marriage
practices within their own groups alone hinder them to develop as free human
beings. The more they are isolated and the more they develop a sprit of
otherness they become suspicious and the ability of abstract thinking which is
essential for the development of science and technology will remain
underdeveloped. Therefore the policy of Killil is the policy of
underdevelopment which must be fought scientifically. As   PM Meles tries to make us believe that the
various oppressed nationalities are enjoying the sweet of true freedom is pure
nonsense and unscientific.  

 

When put into practice, as Asegedech and the PM
claims the oppressed nationalities could not attain true freedom. First of all they
began revenging against the so-called oppressors, especially the Amharas and
the Gurages became the victim of such kind of vulgar freedom. The old cadres of
the Military government by using the new situation and integrated into the
newly formed parties and  by moving from
place to place they began harassing whom 
they had suspected as oppressors and Neftegnas.  By using the new posts which they have
acquired and being integrated into the new mechanisms of oppressions, they had the
opportunity of dismantling the harmonious relationships which the various
nationalities have enjoyed hitherto. Being frightened by the new circumstances,
the Amharas and the Gurages had no other options than escaping themselves and
their families and go to the capital city. As a result of these evections, farm
lands were abandoned. Trade activities which so many cities had enjoyed until
then were diminished to a historical level. The division of labour which the
various nationalities have practiced became out of function. Cities became
changed to small villages, and small villages to rural areas. In light of this
clear situation one cannot claim that the various nationalities have acquired
true freedom. This alleged freedom is not at all supported by true social
emancipation and cultural renaissance. Instead of freedom one witness that in
so many rural areas where various nationalities have set up their   administrations social anarchy and economic
regression have become the rule of the system. What is after all freedom if one
is not in a position to communicate with other nationalities.  There is also one important aspect which one
should bare in mind. True freedom could be attained only if one recognizes the
freedom of the others and respects their humanness.  All in all the oppressed nationalities could
not enjoy true freedom as our leaders are trying to convince us.  

 

The political understanding of the present
government goes beyond ones own imagination and its misconceptions of social
formation like Ethiopia is very ridicules. By using a very
bad metaphor it has tried to change radically the social fabrics of the
Ethiopian society. According to its philosophy the Ethiopian society must be
jarred like a bottle of Coca Cola. When the jarred bottle is opened the gas overflows
and the rest remains at stand still which could be drank comfortably. Likewise
such a society likes Ethiopia with its religious and ethnic
contradictions and feudal like institutions must be confronted in such a manner
so that the society at the end comes to harmony and social dynamism. In its
false perception social dynamism and international politics the EPRDF
government has opened the door for fundamentalist groups and religious sects
which are in permanent confrontation against the old Orthodox Christian church
and the Muslim tradition of our country. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church and the
Ethiopian Muslims have been living over the last 1300 year more or less
peacefully. Now because of the unnecessary radicalizations of the two groups
there is permanent tension which could be culminated into a dangerous
situation.       

 

If one analyses the political handlings of the
EPRDEF government from a true political philosophy point of view it does not
posses any social theory. It lacks coherence and changes its tactics from time
to time to make the people live in permanent fear. It is a typical ugly feudal
politics coloured with peripheral capitalism which demonstrates its
primitiveness and uncertainty at the highest level. Due to its changing tactics
which is of course very primitive, the people in Addis say that Satan is
advising the EPRDF government to behave like this.  I think all the policies which have been
adopted must be seen from the above vantage-point of view. To my belief the
present government will go ahead with its ugly policy of divide and rule
system. The “civilized” West supports the present government if it
continues with its policy of disintegration and social anarchy. The West has
one single interest: To see a divided and weak Ethiopia, where its citizens are living on
permanent food aid. It is the philosophy of the American imperialism and the West
to undermine any effort of nation building with the basis of science and
technology. Therefore it is foolish to believe that the West will alter its policy
of supporting the present EPRDF government.

                                  

                        Pro poor economic policy versus market
oriented policy

 

 

In her analysis Asegedch tries to convince us
that the EPRDF government has been following until now an economic policy which
favours the poor. When Asegedch writes this sentence she has never tried to
deeply analyse what she is trying to mean by pro poor economic policy. In
several articles which I have contributed to Ethiopian magazines I have tried
to show that the economic policy of the EPRDF government from the outset is
consistent with the market economic policy of the IMF and the World Bank. The
economic policy paper of 1993 which was drafted by the IMF and blindly accepted
by the EPRDF government proves that the EPRDF government has never formulated
an economic policy which could elevate the standard living of the Ethiopian
masses. Its political philosophy and its poor backgrounds of political economy
will not allow it to formulate an economic policy which could benefit the
masses.

 

Following the economic draft of 1993, the EPRDF
government has devalued the Ethiopian birr to 5,02 and the devaluation process
has then successively continued and reached to almost 10 Ethiopian birr. The
logic of this devaluation was to promote exports and to make restrict imports.
The result is vice versa. As Ethiopia exports mainly coffee and other
agricultural products, the expected export growth did not become a reality. As
new competitors appear in the world market the elasticity demands for coffee
instead of showing upward trends it diminishes successively. And hence the
income from export could not grow as the IMF and the government have planned.
On the other side, though from theoretical points of view imported goods become
dearer and thereby could restrict imports, the liberalisation of the foreign
trade has enabled the new consumer class to import very luxurious goods which
have wide range consequences on the trade balance of the country. As the
liberalization process continues Asian countries, such as the republic of China, Japan and Korea used the opportunity to export more
of their goods to Ethiopia and could compete with the
manufacturing industry, especially with small and medium industries. The
imports of goods from these countries have severely damaged the production
capacities of the producers at home. As the result of this many employers were
compelled to either reduce their production capacity or shut it at all. The
consequence of this kind of liberalization is, shrinking the home market,
increase of mass unemployment and thereby diminishing the buying capacity of
the masses, diverting the meagre hard currency to other consumptive purposes,
and increasing activity of black markets which began destroying the cultural
basis of the society. The privatisation policy of the regime has aggravated
this situation. As factories and trade corporations were sold to unknown
individuals who were supported by the government, because of the restructuring
of the companies thousands of employees have lost their jobs. The privatization
policy of the regime has inevitably created a new social situation which on one
side enriches very few individuals, and on the other side the pauperization of
the society has taken unprecedented scale which has not been seen in our history
before. Though some total free market adherents of Ethiopian origin are not
satisfied with the intensity and progress of the market economic policy of the
regime the Ethiopian masses are compelled to swallow the bitter medicine of the
IMF market economic policy and know better than those experts who still believe
that there is no other alternatives than accepting the market economic policy
of the IMF.

 

The investment policy of the regime by itself
is another attempt to strengthen the existing underdevelopment of the country.
If one looks at the investment policy the regime continues the old form of
import-substitution-industrialization whose import content is very high. The
expansion of food and beverage factories which have very low multiplier effects
and which have weak technological basis become the main investment options
where the regime concentrates its efforts. These two areas which have very weak
backward linkages become the main focuses even for the private investors. With
the advice of the World Bank and UNIDO the regime continues its unequal development
policy. The expansion of the sugar factory in Wongi with the help of the EU and
the World Bank in order to stimulate exports clearly shows how the regime could
not understand the nature of such kinds of investment. As we know the world
market is completely overwhelmed by the Brazilian sugar and the synthetic sugar
from the EU which is heavily subsidised. In light of this situation to divert
the meagre resources to this unprofitable and cost intensive area of investment
demonstrates how our leaders could be easily manipulated by their foreign
advisors.  As statistics demonstrate
these investments could not have the capacity of absorbing the reserve army
which is looking for jobs. The concentration of the investments in few areas
has widened the already exiting unequal development. In this case one cannot
claim that the EPRDF government has been following until now economic policies
which favour the poor. All the policies and the reality in Ethiopia clearly prove that the majority of
Ethiopians become the victim of such a market economic reform which has the
capacity of disintegrating and marginalizing the whole society.

 

The lack of any scientifically studied economic
policy and the incapacity of the policy makers to understand the complexity of
the social reproduction base of our society have compelled many private
business men to divert their resources in areas where the turn over of capital is
very quick but its accumulation base is very weak. Opening hotels and other
services which have very low capacity of absorbing  labour and very weak linkages become the main
focuses where private capitals is allocated. Building activities, the formation
of insurance companies which resemble the western style and which do not match
with the economic base of the country, Banks which are not connected to
productive sectors etc. are the celebrated areas where the so-called modern man
is trying to throw its capital. All the above and these economic activities
have very low value added effects and as such could not transform our society into
a scientifically based capitalistic economy.  In short in light of mass poverty and not
clearly defined economic policy which is not based on physical economic
principles the underdevelopment of the country will take another dimension which threatens the national
integrity and social harmony of our society.    

 

If we look at the private sector, money making
is the main aim and as such all economic activities are not related to technological
developments. The logic of capitalistic rationality, such as investing,
maintaining, widening and rationalization of the industries is completely
absent from the minds of the investors. The lack of any economic dynamism in
such area and the consumption habit which the new economic class has developed
block real capitalistic development. In this case if we examine the whole
economic activity it is highly dispersed without organic links via money
mechanism. The nature of the economic activity which is more or less organized
on feudalistic principles, that means the absence of any efficiency in terms of
raw material storage, getting the right types of input factors, and producing
at the right time and the right products to satisfy consumer demand, the lack
of efficient method of production cost calculation, the very weak link with the
Banking sector and the absence of any organizational principles are
characteristic aspects which block any meaning full capitalistic development.
The government is not aware of these facts which still govern the attitude of
our society.  In this case the general
trend of the economic activity is not very promising as Asgedech tries to make
us believe.

 

Let me come to the question of land
privatization.  I would like to affirm
that both Asegedech and the EPRDF government are completely right when they
insist that the present lease system is the only alternative which could firmly
hold the peasantry to the rural area and guarantee him true freedom. In this
case some of the opposition forces and those academicians who insist that
without land privatization the improvement of food security is impossible are
wrong. As in any economic theory and policy there is also misunderstanding
concerning the land question and the role of land privatization in economic
development.  

 

Land like water and air is a free gift of
nature and as such it is not a human product. Historically in all countries of
the world the question of land and the privatization process have been resolved
by means of powers. Those forces which had political powers and those which
were intermingled with the political power could ultimately usurp land and
could bring the weak part of the society under their control. The capitalist
development of the West is not particular from the above facts. The
feudalization process which was started beginning the 10th century in central Europe and the political strength of the
feudal and aristocratic class which gained momentum had diminished the
peasantry to serfdom and to total subordination. As capitalism grows and
manufacture activity expands the land become slowly a private institution which
cemented the existing social relationships by legal means. As political economy
is freed from mercantilism and liberal ideology takes the upper hand those
social forces who believed that their time had come saw the question of land as
one means of wealth accumulation and means of political power. Hence via legal
mechanisms they could gain the status of private property as a part of individual
freedom. The crucial aspect that private property from purely legal point of
view without exercising power could not be the basis of exploitation is
unscientific. Only the massive exploitation of the peasantry, the denial of its
humanness and the expulsion of the peasantry from its farmlands in order to
expand capitalist development could pave the way for general capitalist
development. This fact is well documented and no one can deny that without
primitive accumulation the present system of international capitalism could not
affirm its dominance.

 

When we come to Ethiopia the question of land which was
dominantly in the hands of the church, the aristocracy and the feudal lords had
negative impacts on the social and economic development of the country. For
centuries the Ethiopian peasants were degraded to serfdom like situation which
blocked the development of the productive forces and hence capitalism. Though
there were different land tenure systems in north and the south of the country,
in general the concentration of lands in very few hands undermined the social
mobility of the society and the development of capitalism. At the end of the
19th century when the traditional holding system slowly changed to private
property, the situation of the peasants did not get improve. The introduction
of money has changed the character of payment from natural to money rent. The
penetration of capitalism especially after the 1940s had a greater impact on
the development of peripheral capitalism. The private property on land began
being transformed from its feudal character to a quasi capitalistic
relationship. This was the case especially in the southern part of the country
where cash cropping become the dominant mode of production. The expansion of
money economy and the relative social mobility had mainly its impacts on the
mode of consumption other than on the development of the productive forces.
Hence the feudal relationships with its various contradictions could dominate
the lives of the Ethiopian people. The fact that the Haile Selassie government
was not ready to make land reforms it was at the end necessary to make radical
land reforms. Here one could debate on the nature of the reforms whether it was
necessary from political point of view to make such a radical land reform. Without
doubt there were mistakes in the reforms which were the reflection of the
political and social consciousness which was prevailing during the revolution.
All in all the land reform was a necessary factor which freed the Ethiopian
masses from a quasi serfdom situation. Why the land reform did not bring the
necessary result is another question which needs wide theoretical and empirical
elaboration and is beyond the scope of this analysis.

 

In the light of the prevailing hunger problem
and due to the ideological dominance of neo-liberalism many Ethiopian
academician even the old Marxists are insisting that the privatization of land
is a necessary criteria to alleviate the hunger problem and to gain food
sufficiency. To my understanding there is a great confusion among those forces
who insist that land must be privatized. They do not have theoretical and
scientific foundations to justify their slogans of private property on land. If
one takes the case of Brazil where private property on land exists
over 40% of the population live beyond poverty line and there is hunger problem
from to time to time. That is the case in so many Latin American countries
where oligarchic forms of land relationship is existing and where the majority
of the people are working as daily labourers for the world market without
improving their lives for generations. This shows that irrespective of private
property on land there still exists economic underdevelopment and mass poverty
in so many Latin American countries. Hence one cannot associate the problem of
hunger and mass poverty in Ethiopia with the absence of private
property on land. The problem of underdevelopment in Ethiopia is more a cultural, a political and
a mental problem than the non existence of private of property on land. The
groups which insist that private property on land could solve existing food
shortages do not know what kind of a society they want to establish. As we know
any society is more than an arena where economic practices are taking place.
The sum of political, economic, cultural and certain defined value systems
which are being practiced in any society determine the nature and the social
coherency of that particular society. To reduce any society to economic
practices and to private property alone is not only pure reductionism but it is
also very dangerous which paves the way for social anarchism. This is the most
important aspect which must be analysed well.

 

The arguments for private property are diverse
and contradictory. As I have stated above the most crucial point what the
free-marketers insisting is that the introduction of private property will
abolish the existing hunger problem. The second point is that the existing
state ownership on land could not create favourable situation for foreign
investors. As studies in Latin American countries prove where foreign investors
have more rights than the ordinary people the majority of the masses are
reduced to slave like situation without slightly improving their lives from
generation to generation. The children of the workers too are compelled to work
in the plantations and do not have the opportunity of going to school and
improve their lives. That means the social mobility of the children of the
peasantry and the seasonal workers is restricted and remained for generation on
the same level. Peasants and workers do not have any right of organizing
themselves and they live in quasi human cattle situation without social
security. Those who oppose such system of exploitation will be shot by
paratroops whose political ideology is quasi fascism. The Americans and their
associates in these countries consider any social movement for the improvement
of the lives of the workers as the works of communists.  Especially American multi national firms which
are engaged in quasi plantation economy by intermingled themselves with the
state apparatus of the concerned governments are the causes of concentration of
wealth in small groups of people which are terrorizing their people and force unequal
development in various sphere of the society. Without further analysis this is
the situation in so many Latin American countries where social anarchy and
state terrorism which is supported by international synarchist forces become
the social norm of these societies. In light of these circumstances to believe
that private property on land will have positive impacts in attracting foreign
investors is nothing than reducing Ethiopia and our people to slave like
situation. If foreigners have access to invest in Ethiopia they will concentrate in those
areas and produce which will be marketable and will be exported. Foreign
investors in any country of the world do not have any interest in stimulating
the development of the home market and such kind of foreign involvement is
against the natural right of the Ethiopian people. As in so many Latin American
countries, the government and few individuals that associate themselves with
foreigners will be the only beneficiary of foreign investment. The case of the
Metahara and Wonji sugar plantation and factory, the role of Mitchelcot, in the
Awash region in the 60s are clear examples why foreign investment could not
bring a balanced and well sustained economy which benefits the majority of the
masses. I think most academician seem to forget all the crimes foreigners had
inflicted during the reign of the Haile Selassie government on our people. The
problem of the free-marketers in Ethiopia and who live abroad is that they do
not have the concept of humanity and human civilization in their own heads.  That all human beings are created according to
the images of God and are equipped with creative soul to understand the
physical world and create new instruments to exploit nature in a balanced way
so that they could ease their lives and live in harmony with nature is out of
their paradigm with which they are brought up. They think and believe that the
ideology of the free market will solve existing economic and social problems if
everything is free and each and every individual will then have equal access to
what is marketable and every body will maximize its utility in accordance of
the market principles of demand and supply. If we accept this philosophy and
capitulate to these free-marketers we will commit the greatest crime against
our people. It is our duty to show that these individuals organized or not they
are fighting against the interest of our people, and they are even against a
genuine capitalist development which is based on science and technology.     

  

When we come to its practicability the adherents
of a pure market economy do not have any workable solution how they put it into
practice. First of all privatization means that selling all lands which are
under the control of the state. For these to happen the constitution must be
changed since all claim they respect the rule of law. Without changing the
constitution one cannot simply sell state properties. Secondly, if private
property is allowed the state does not have the right to allocate lands to the
peasantry. Private property means nothing but selling to individuals who have
money. That means the peasants who have possession rights until now must be
evicted from their lands. This leads us automatically to concentration of
private property in the hands of few individuals who have the ability to buy.
With this one changes inevitably the social matrix of our society, and
consciously or unconsciously will pave the way for a new kind of social
anarchism which will undermine any meaning full economic and social
development. Given this bleak situation if private property will be introduced,
we should and must work in harmony how we could organize the present lease
system in a favourable situation so that on one side economic development will
be possible and on the other hand social harmony will be the norm of our
society so that Ethiopia as a nation-state not only survives but also
strengthened and transferred to the next generation. I do not believe that
lease system if it is organized well will undermine capitalistic development.
To simply copy the historical facts of the West as the only alternative of
capitalistic development is to make grave error.

 

The present food shortage and hunger problem in
our country is more a structural problem which could be analysed and understood
from the over whole underdevelopment of our country. The present EPRDF
government by following very contradictory policies is aggravating the
situation. Its policy of divide and rule, the implementation of a neo-liberal
economic policy which undermines genuine development and its irrational
approaches to all social situations are worsening the social and economic
conditions of the peasantry. Because of the neo-liberal ideology and free trade
policy of the regime the Ethiopian market is overwhelmed by cheap American and
European grains which damage the peasant’s ability of cultivating its farm in
accordance of the needs of the society. It is not secret that because of
problems of market many peasants are throwing their grains in the cities after
they have brought many kilo meters away from home.  They could not carry them back home.  Secondly the government does not have a
comprehensive policy of agricultural development which could on one hand
guarantee food security and reduces hunger, on the other hand improves the
social and economic conditions of the peasantry. Thirdly the majority of the
peasantry still depends on very primitive farm method that is not compatible
with the demand of the society. The very primitive nature of farm practices
damages the productivity of the soil and hence productivity per man and per
acre land is diminishing year after year. Land management systems on one hand
to improve the fauna and flora of the country side, and on the other hand to
raise the yield of the farm are not being practiced. Because of weak
institution and lack of qualified experts the peasants are left alone.
Fourthly, the majority of the peasants do not have access to cheap credit.
Fifth, because of fear of loosing its control the government creates in certain
areas chaotic situations which undermine the farm practices of the peasantry.
In Gojam and Gondar areas where the EPRDF government still practices a policy of divide and
rule, and because of debt repayment problems, the peasants of these areas could
not resume their farm practices from time to time. Some come to the cities to
find jobs in order to pay their debts. Under these circumstances it is unwise
to believe that only the privatization of land could solve our countries food
and hunger problem. It is therefore very important to concentrate our efforts
so that on one hand to compel the government to change its policy of
destruction, on the other hand to struggle for radical changes in all fields of
our society so that true political emancipation which paves the way for the
transition of power will become effective.

 

 

                                               The Alternative

 

Any economic policy which will be put into
practice must be theoretically and scientifically supported whether it is
capable enough to solve existing social and economic problems.  A society which is not guided by certain
theoretical and philosophical principles will be sooner or latter condemned to
permanent social chaos. Instead of social harmony and balanced economic
development, wealth appropriation by the few will be the norm of the society.
From this vantage-point of view it is quite important to give theoretical and
some empirical analysis why the neo-liberal ideology of market economy has an
inbuilt mechanism of unequal development which automatically excludes the
majority of a given society not to be included in developmental process.

 

The present problem in Ethiopia and outside Ethiopia in the Ethiopian communities in Europe and North America is that no theoretical and
scientific discussion about the fate of our society takes place. The present
intellectual atmosphere within our country and in the Diaspora is not
promising. In some areas there exists total resignation, in certain areas some
prefer a Pinochet type of market economy that tends towards fascism, and in
other areas where the slogan of  Ethiopiawinet becomes the main focal
point of political struggle, there is a frustrating misunderstanding between
true scientifically based economic development which strengthens Ethiopiawinet and a neo-liberal market
economy which undermines the social integrity of our people and weakens its
national sovereignty. Some who believe that they could solve the country’s
social and economic problem when they seize power are not open to scientific
discussion and tend towards paternalistic attitudes as if they are legitimated
to talk on behalf of our people, and they have the sole monopoly to do so. In
this atmosphere of total confusion it is practically impossible to be engaged
in open discussion to teach and learn and then come to a workable solution that
could give hope so that our people rise in unison to build a strong and united Ethiopia. In order to come to some
discussion and clear up the confusion made by the neo-liberal ideology as the
only alternative of solving social problems across the world let me show its
irrelevance as an instrument of creating real social wealth.

 

The fallacy of the neo-liberal ideology lies in
the fact that it is based on pure assumptions which do not exist in the real
world or in any given society. In other words it negates existing social
realities in any given society. According to the neo-liberal ideology,
political power, social relationships and the relationships between man and
nature and the role of culture in influencing economic development of a given
society positively or negatively are not included in its model. It neither
includes in its model historical analysis and comparative social studies as
means of detecting the causes of underdevelopment in any given society. Land,
capital and labour are taken as the simple premises of any economic analysis,
the scarcity and relative abundance of one or the two factors and their
efficient or non-efficient allocations determine whether a given society is
capable of structuring its economy on the pure principle of market economy. By
taking the Hobbesian dictum of each against every body and forms of
organizations on purely individualistic basis without organic links,
individuals in any given society tend towards utility maximization. According
to neo-liberal ideology, since human needs are unlimited, if a society is consciously
or unconsciously organized on the principle of market economy, individuals are
struggling to get the maximum utility. Such a system of economic organization
is organized for the sake of utility maximization, and individuals are in
permanent struggle against each other to fulfil this desire. In other words any
individual has no other mission other than engaging itself in economic
activities which yields him the maximum utility.

 

According to the neo-liberal ideology the
present capitalistic developments of the West has reached this stage not 1)
through scientific investigations laid during the last two or more thousand
years which had passed from one society to the another  and through intermingling of different
cultures and moved towards the West to serve there as the basis of further
development, 2)  through cultural
renaissance which had started first in Italy and spread in other parts of
Europe, 3) through internal accumulation processes and long trade activities
which could enhance general capitalistic development , 4) through primitive
accumulation on international level by undermining economic developments on
other parts of the globe, 5) through internal cohesion social relationships and
formations of nation-states which favoured economic development on manufactured
based activities and fastened the development of the home market by building
organic links among the different economic sectors. All these very important
aspects are not part of the theoretical and scientific analysis of the
neo-classical model. In short the neo-classical economic model operates beyond
the scope of time and space and by assuming things which are not relevant from
a purely capitalistic development point of view.

 

In the neo-liberal model all the three
production factors, namely land, capital and labour do not exist in any given
society at the same time with the same quantity and quality. In one country
there exists more land and labour, where as in another country capital is the
overwhelming production factor. In this case and through the necessity of
international trade between different nations, different countries that are
engaged in exchange activities the relative mobility of one or the two factors
are possible. For example since all Third World Countries do not posses enough
capital they must import capital from relatively developed countries. In other
words countries which lack capital should not concentrate to develop their own
technology and they do not need to develop their own science and technology. All
the three factors are seen in functional relationships which have their prices
which are determined according to the scarcity and demand and supply. By that
the neo-classical model negates all the theoretical and scientific analysis
that was developed by the Greek Classics from Thales on wards, especially by
Plato that capital is nothing but the product of idea which could be
progressively developed when the cognitive power of every individual equipped with
the correct knowledge. According to the physical economic principles, first
developed by Leibniz capital cannot be seen differently from technological
development, where as technology is embodied in capital which could come into
existence by creative ability of the human soul. If one looks at the
technological developments prevailing today it is the product of thousands of
years which come into existence through the interactions of different cultures.
That means technology is by no means a product of one particular race. In all
societies where technological development has taken place, -there have been
always some developments- one observes that the human mind tries to invent new
instruments to exploit the resources of nature and make it edible. Without
progressive change in the human knowledge technological development is
practically impossible. For example, how did the first human being come to
develop a plough? How was it possible that it used oxen or horses to plough the
land it controlled?

 

How it was possible that human being did not
only invent fire but used it to smelt iron in order to produce instruments of
labour? Fire which is a metaphor for technological development in Promethean
myth which rebelled against Zeus, the most jealous of the Greek Gods which
punished Prometheus for revealing the secret of knowledge to human being was
one step towards the development of technology. This proves also that human
being is in constant struggle to change its mode of production by inventing new
instruments.  The story goes on like
that. To undermine or to exclude the cognitive power of human being to develop
technologies out of an economic model is not only anti science but also anti
human and a historical.

 

When we come to political economy which was
developed around the 16th century, and which is dialectically connected with
the rise of nation-states the problem of developing a national economy become
apparent. Until the rise of liberal economic theory at around the 17th and the
18th century, mercantilism was the only economic policy which served as
effective instrument in building a national economy and constantly creating new
wealth. Only through the intervention of the state and supporting the active
forces of economic agents different European countries developed internal
markets and abolished existing boundaries within their own nation-states. As
nation-states become facts, and rivalries grew new ideas came which wanted to
undermine the nation-state concept of relatively underdeveloped economies. The
liberal ideology and free trade economic doctrine of the English empiricists
gained momentum and spread in different countries. The ideological struggle had
taken another dimension and the struggle to get more wealth through unequal
exchange and if necessary through non-economic mechanisms becomes a part of
economic policy. New territories, new markets and raw materials to feed the
rising industrial development become a part of capitalistic development. In
this way political economy began being interpreted differently and the struggle
to develop and defend once own nation is seen the most important aspect of
nation building. The German historical school prominently represented by
Friedrich List is one historical step forward to develop the concept of
national economy to its highest level. Friedrich List had vehemently refuted
the liberal ideology of free trade represented by Adam Smith, why it undermines
the development of a technologically based economy.  In short as neo-liberalism tries to reduce
economic model to only three factors or the known growth model of modern day
economic theory is not only very dangerous but also anti-human which prolongs
the misery of Third World Countries like Ethiopia for thousands of years if it
is not corrected urgently.

 

The problem of a pure neo-liberal market
economy goes beyond these fallacies which it vehemently represents. It sees all
nations of the world through one mirror as if all nations have the same
developmental preconditions. According to the free market principles of neo-liberalism
monetarism is the correct policy which could eradicate imbalances in any given
society which are existing. In all societies the intervention of the state to
bring developmental changes undermines individual efforts and market philosophy
principles. The macro economic policy which was developed in the 30s of the
last century and expanded after the war is the only theoretical foundations
that all nations should follow and apply. The macro- economic policy with its
micro-economic foundation is the only theoretical guide line which enforces
market economy when it is correctly applied. Inflation theory, general
employment, money and commodity market and the theory of balance of payment and
international tread are the parameters with which the neo-liberal ideology is
operating. Though so many societies do not have the same features all policies
for all countries are being formulated from these factors. For example a
country like Ethiopia where about 85 % of the population
is practicing subsistence farming and other informal economic activities is
seen as if the society is living in purely capitalistic society where as other
laws and forms of organizations are the rules and norms of the society. Hence a
society like Ethiopia must accept the bitter medicine of
monetarism if the country wants to develop a market economy.  Monetarist policies, like restricting money
supplies by restricting credits and making expensive bank credits, reducing
budget deficits by diminishing the role of the state in all economic and social
activities, by liberalizing trade and privatization of state properties, and by
devaluing the currencies the monetarist ideologists believe that any country
could pave the way for a true market economy which ultimately improves the
lives of each and every individual. As we observe and experiences in so many
developed and underdeveloped countries demonstrate when such policies are
applied they have wide range consequences for the society as a whole which is
known and which I do not dwell long on the subject. It is important to mention
here that the monetarist ideology of the IMF and the World Bank negates all the
empirical evidences of the last 60 years which have been practiced in all
capitalist societies, and in the emerging economies of the republic of China, South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore. All these economies could grow
only through the massive and conscious interventions of the governments of
these countries. If we take the capitalist countries, where almost the share of
the state amounts to 45% of the GSP, the governments are suppliers and
demanders of products and services at the same time. There is no area where the
governments of the capitalist countries are not directly or indirectly
intervening. From direct investment policies to tax and money policies and
diverse laws which are related to economic activities are means of
interventions where the various capitalist states exercise their influence. In
light of these facts to put pressure on such governments like Ethiopia is not only anti science and also
very dangerous. After I have given some theoretical, historical and empirical
analysis let me give my alternative how we could tackle the present economic
and social crises in our country.

 

Any economic policy if it becomes effective
must take into account the essence and the role of the state as its starting
point of theoretical and empirical analysis. Without a profound analysis of the
essence and the role of the state no economic policy could achieve the
necessary result and no nation will get its true freedom.

 

The problem of the Ethiopian intellectual is
that it has never adequately analysed what should be the nature of any state,
and especially the nature of the Ethiopian state if Ethiopia develops and being strengthened as
a nation state. The Ethiopian state of the last 60 years has been taken as
normal and as god given without asking how the Ethiopian state system came into
existence in the last 60 years and what did it achieve for its citizen so that
our people exercised true freedom and economic prosperity. The lack of a
theoretical analysis in this area is characteristic to all Marxists and non Marxist
organizations. Their feudalistic perception of human development and
civilization blocked their intellectual capacity to study the social formation
and underdevelopment of Ethiopia.

 

Thanks to western intellectuals of the critical
school of thought starting from Socrates on wards that have developed elaborate
theoretical works what should be the nature and the essence of any nation if
peace, true freedom and prosperity will be the main guidelines of any society.
As any state is a product of certain social formations and power struggles its
historical roles can be determined by the existing social and historical
consciousness of that given society. The practices of the state in its various
forms reflect the historical and intellectual consciousness of the particular
conditions which have been developed through centuries. Accordingly, in
accordance of its particular historical consciousness it either creates
favourable conditions for the improvement of the productive forces which bring
over whole economic development or block economic development. If we look at
the state formations of the capitalist societies starting the 16th century, the
role of the states in creating favourable conditions for economic development
and direct interventions to stimulate capitalistic economic growth are well
theoretically elaborated. From a theoretical, empirical and philosophical point
of view the role of the state in all major capitalist societies was not seen in
isolation of national sovereignty, economic development on the basis of
physical economic principles and individual freedom which reflected the various
historical epochs of the various countries. As such the capitalist state has
always worked within a certain theoretical and philosophical paradigm which was
elaborated by philosophers of the different epochs. On the other side countries
like Ethiopia which do not have any theoretical foundations of the state have
followed blindly the advices of imperialist countries to waste their wealth and
intelligence and block economic and social developments. From this perspective
it is very important to define the nature and the role of the state in
accumulation process. With this in mind it is then very simple to come to other
economic issues and their practicability to bring Ethiopia on the road of genuine economic
development which guarantees the social integrity and sovereignty o the
country. I will concentrate on certain points which I believe that they will
effectively change the images of Ethiopia if they are put into practice
consistently and vigorously. 

 

  

1. Defining the role of the state: The role of the state must be
defined in the new   

    constitution
which will be formulated and accepted by the Ethiopian people. In accordance

    of
the constitution the state has the historical and moral duty to follow a policy
of economic

   
development which enables accumulation processes and bring an over whole
development

    that
could improve the lives of the Ethiopian people. In this case the direct and
indirect

   
interventions of the state in economic matters must be worked out and
must be improved

    from
time to time when ever  they are necessary.
There are three main areas where the role    

    of the state becomes significant and
unavoidable if medium and long term development              .   could be come effective.  In the area of strategic investments, like
iron and steel industries,

    transportation system especially  train systems that could be expanded and
developed with

    a
special kind of financial mechanism, inland canal system for material and human

   
transportation and highways and organizing a new system of education
which supports

   
science and technology are the main areas where the state must  give the maximum effort

    to
induce genuine development.  

 

2. Defining the role of private investment: Individuals who want to
invest their money and

   know
how must get the necessary legal frame work, material and spiritual support so
that

   they could
participate in building a new Ethiopia. In the constitution private
property

   except  on land must be fully guaranteed and
individual investors have full freedom in                         

   accordance
of the law to plan and make their own decision. Private investments as long
as     

   do
not  contradict the constitution, and
work in accordance of well defined laws that do not

  
violate the health of the society, ecological setup of the country and
maintain certain criteria

   will
be encouraged.  In this case the
government must encourage private investors

   to
invest not only in few cities but also in all cities and districts of the
country. For those

   who
invest in remote areas the state should give incentive mechanisms, like tax

   exemption
for a certain period, land leasing at lower prises, and facilitate
transportation                                            

   system
which fasten the valorisation of capitalist development  Foreign products which

  
compete against home mode products and destroy the existing industries
will be strictly

   prohibited
from entering into the country.

 

3. Defining the role of money and banking:  Until know the Ethiopian banking system is

   operating
under the principles of peripheral capitalism which blocks the development of

   capitalism
and the velocity of capital at higher level so that money could not circulate  

  
effectively quickly. The banking system lends money mainly to service
sector and does not have    

   any
strategy how it stimulates capitalist growth. The banking and the productive
sector do not                                                    

   have
organic links.  Most of the people still
maintain their money at home below their bed and

   give
it for consumption purpose which hamper capitalist money accumulation by being

   invested from time to time. Because of the
subsistence nature of the economy all payments

   occur
in direct contacts, wages and salaries do not pass the banking systems.
Therefore the

   banking system of the country could not get
the necessary capital to forward as credit for

   private
investors. In this case it is very important to organize the banking system on
three

   principal lines which could exist side by side
which favour all parts of the society. The

  central
bank and other state regulated banking systems are the first criteria which
could

 
organize effective money circulation and forward cheap credits for small
and medium

 
industries. Cooperative banking system, especially for the purpose of
agricultural 

 
development and building houses are effective means to enhance balanced
development

  and
support capitalist development. Thirdly, the organization of private banking
system on

  the
basis of  effective credit allocation and
management. In order to control the effectiveness

  the
banking system a special institute of credit control and allocation will be
organized

  which
will report to the government and the parliament from time to time. At the same

  time
all black market activities and circulation of hard currencies outside the
banking

  system
must be legally prohibited.

.

4. Defining the role of physical economy: Physical economy is the
principle by which

   a
given society develops on the basis of science and technology. Any society that
is not

  
governed by the principles of physical economy will be disintegrated
soon or later.

  
Without the principle of physical economy and its full materialization
any society could

   not
give the maximum living standard for its citizen. The basic foundation of
physical

  
economy is the Socratic and Platonic philosophy which is the basis of
science and

  
technology and which encompasses art, music, architecture and other
aspects of human

 
development which support the creative activity of the individuals.
Therefore the education  

  system
of the country must be formulated and organized on the basis of physical
economic

 
principles which shapes the human mind as a free and creative citizen so
that harmonious

 
development is possible and transferred to the coming generations. In
addition to this the full

 
mobilization of the masses, whether educated or not for every kind of
work, road building,

  city construction,
construction of houses, organization of industrial activities, changing the

  rural
area to a place not only agricultural production takes place, but also to make
it for

  inland
tourist attraction so that the  young
generation grasps and enjoys the beauty of his country,

  etc. is
a necessary precondition for the development of physical principles. No nation
state

  has taken
the present shape  without using the
physical power of its citizens for dam

 
buildings, construction of cathedrals and cities, and for making canals
for ship

 
transportation. Societies which do not effectively use their human
resources will be

  condemned to permanent poverty and
backwardness. God has created human beings to use

  their
creative powers so that they could change the material world in accordance of
their

  needs
and develop it to a higher level. It is against the natural order and against
humanity

  not to
use the given human resources for building a given nation. In this principle
every

  citizen
has the moral and historical duty and right to take part in any work which
could 

 
transform Ethiopia to one of the most beautiful
countries in this world. He who opposes

  this
ideal and create unnecessary obstacles 
is the enemy of genuine civilization.

 

5. Defining the role
of agriculture: Agriculture
is the basis of our living condition and

   
sources of raw materials. The development of agriculture should not and
must not be seen

    not
only from the point of profit maximization, but also from the perspective of
building

    a
natural habitat for animals and human beings as well. A society which
undermines the

    role
of agriculture and which purely organizes the system on purely profit basis
losses

    soon
or later the grip of controlling balanced growth of the fauna and flora of the
country

    side.
Until now the Ethiopian agricultural system is underdeveloped and its
potentialities are not

    well
explored. Because of the primitive nature of the state apparatus and weak
institutions  

   the peasants
could not develop their full potential to diverse their farming practices.
Because

   of
very weak market institutions the peasants could not get guaranteed prices as
rewards for

   their
hard works. It is therefor very important to see the agricultural sector as
sources of raw

  
materials for the industries and as sources of human living condition without
which healthy

   life
is not possible. The agricultural sector can be effectively organized on family
basis on

   small
and medium size. Gross farming should be allowed in areas where products are

  
planned for exports and for continues industrial process as raw
materials, especially in the

   field
of oil seeds plantation.   

 

6. Formulating accumulation model: All the above points could be
materialized through an

    extended
accumulation which operates like blood circulation. There are four essential

   
elements which determine the practicability and effectiveness of such an
accumulation

    model
that has a dynamic multiplier effect for the general economy.  1. Raw material

    producing
and processing sector, which can be called as department I  

    2. The second sector is steel and iron
industry which is department II.

    3. Machine engineering sector which produces
various tools and machines for further

   
construction and assembly. This sector incorporates design engineering
and is department

    III.
4. Consumption goods producing industry to satisfy the consumption needs of
the

   
society and it is called department IV.

 

Among these various departments there exists
organic links, since each department depends

on the other. The fact that each department
serves as a supplier and receiver of semi processed

goods for further production on a higher scale
the constant  flow and relationship among
the

the various departments enable the economy to
grow progressively. This system of accumulation will compel individual
producers to modify their products from time to time in order to get the
maximum market share and profit. Since all departments as a matter of fact
employ workers, and the wages of the workers will be allocated for consumption
purposes, the workers become again markets which guarantee the circulation of
money so that money which is paid as wages and salaries goes to its original
place and serves as capital.  Only such a
model of accumulation could

generate capitalist development and lays the foundation
of a coherent national economy.

 

The organization of the Ethiopian economy on
the above principles is the only alternative which could lay the basis of
capitalist development and guarantee her freedom. The pure cry that a
neo-liberal economic model could bring growth and individual freedom is not
only dangerous it will disintegrate Ethiopia into chaotic mini states. The neo-liberal
model paves the road for foreign intervention and for the synarchist forces
which are struggling to setup a fascist type of government in Ethiopia so that our people live in
permanent fear and chaos. Therefore the neo-liberal model must be rejected as
anti human, anti civilization and as anti nation-state.

 

 

                                      The
Problem of the Opposition

 

It is very difficult to claim that there is a genuine
political opposition which could bring Ethiopia out of the present economic and
social chaos and build the economy on the basis of  science and technology. Starting the student
movement until today opposition forces in and outside Ethiopia could never organize themselves on true
philosophical and scientific backgrounds. All forces lack theoretical,
philosophical and scientific basis as guide lines to develop and organize as
alternative forces. All have feudal structures which is the main cause of their
ineffectiveness and lack of vision. They are more interested in seizing power
than bringing a science driven technological development. All could not
organize the youth. All are reliable on foreign forces, especially on America. All have accepted the paradigm of
the American imperialism and the neo-liberal world outlook. All have fixed
ideas and feudalistic perception of human beings. The concept of human being as
the motor of any development is not integrated in their concepts of political
struggle. Most of the opposition forces do not see politics as the art and
instrument of building a harmonious and balanced nation-state. The concept of a
nation-state and hence national sovereignty is not well understood. All in all
the present opposition forces have no any organizational structures which could
legitimate them to seize political power.

 

The perception of the opposition forces on the
present government emanates from their feudalistic attitude which is still
troubling their minds. The fact that we are not grown in a free society we see
every thing suspiciously. We still believe that the past two governments have
done something historical to our society, though the present government is the
product of that feudal Ethiopia, and its political handlings are
being dictated by feudalistic principles of divide and rule coloured by peripheral
capitalism. We do not dare to give profound analysis by going backwards and
understand the complexity of our society and how it has developed at least in
last 60 years. The lack of any philosophy and social theory to analyse our
country’s situation hinders us to see the present political conditions beyond a
certain projected political frame work. In this respect it is very difficult to
give a well defined and scientific analysis to grasp the nature of the
political setup of the present system and its political practices. In addition
to these the ethnical element and our belongings to this or that ethnic
category plays a major role in understanding or misunderstanding the position
of the other groups. In short we are bad politicians and philosophers that lack
any sober analysis and harmony in our minds.

 

The problem of the opposition forces becomes
clear when one examines their position towards the American imperialism. They do
not consider and do not understand that the present government came to power
with the direct help of the American imperialism, and America has never participated in the
bloody war during the revolution and did not help Somalia in those days when Ethiopia terribly invaded and the Ethiopian
masses were defending their motherlands. In the eyes of most of the opposition
forces America has never sided with those separatist forces
to draw Ethiopia into permanent war. Most of them
have never the information that America has given the green light for
Eritrean invaders to annex Badme. Since most of them still believe that they
can come to power with the help of the American imperialism what America is
doing in this world and against Ethiopian sovereignty is normal and natural,
and hence no one should stand against the interests of the American
imperialism. During the presidential campaign some old forces have contributed
for over a million dollar for Al Gore for the democratic candidate with the
hope that America may change its foreign policy
towards Ethiopia. How a naive political understanding
it is?  As if the foreign policy of the United States depends only on one person they try
everything to show their loyalties so that their dream of seizing political
power will be materialized. Even to day some of them are trying to convince the
congress men that America recognizes the sovereignty of Ethiopia concerning the border conflict
between Ethiopia and Eritrea though there are evidences that America has never supported the causes of Ethiopia, and played dirty rolls to
undermine the national integrity and sovereignty of our beloved motherland.
Their non profound understanding of international politics and lack of
political philosophy drive them to wrong tactics and strategies. For the
misunderstanding of international politics and specially the foreign policy of
the United States there are some Ethiopian journalists and contributors for
certain Ethiopian Magazines who have been terribly writing in the last 13 years
in confusing the Ethiopian youth so that it could not understand the true
nature of international politics. Most of these forces are terribly in love
with this super power and as such their minds could not see how this world is
burning due to the foreign policy of America and its aspiration of dominating
the world resources and expanding its ugly culture.  These eclectic forces with their fine Amahric
writings and sophistic ideas they have chosen not the path of civilization but
the path of darkness and Ethiopian disintegration. Our mothers and fathers who
fought courageously for sovereignty of Ethiopia against the Italian invasion in Adowa and in those dark days in Michew
have never dreamt that a generation of cowards and sophists would play a role
in the Ethiopian politics. Their dreams were to lay the foundation for a
strong, beautiful and prosperous Ethiopia. That was their vision. In
comparison to the present day opposition forces the generation of Menilik and
Tewodros had enlightened and farsighted vision. Under these circumstances it is
very difficult to talk about a constructive and homogenous opposition force
which could fulfil the genuine aspiration of the Ethiopian people i.e. to
struggle for a prosperous, strong and democratic Ethiopia.    

 

On the other side the present government by
seeking confrontation and by taking unnecessary measures which are provocative
is worsening the atmosphere for political dialog. Its stubborn mentality, its
arrogance, feudal intrigues and neo-colonial attitudes and its submissive
behaviour towards foreigners and racist handlings of our people demonstrate
that the government is ready for a direct and brutal confrontation.  Its misunderstanding of politics leads it to
change its tactics from time to time in order to prolong the misery of our
people.  Under the motto we have the
weapon and the support of the American imperialism the government believes it
could rule Ethiopia for the coming 100 years. That the
social and economic conditions of our country are getting worse every day is
not a matter of concern for the present government. With its huge militaristic build
up and strong economic base for its supporters it is completely confident that
it could twist the situation in its own terms. It does not understand that the
situation will be out of control within ours and days. No state in history
could stay on power by simply strengthening its military force and relying on
certain groups which are greedy and do not have any political perspectives.

 

The irrational political handlings of the
present government over the last 13 years have allied all forces together as if
all of these are struggling for the sovereignty and prosperity of the country.
The present political setup of our country becomes a subterfuge for all forces
irrespective of their bad political performances in the past and disintegrating
activities of our country. Most of those evil forces took part in the past in
murderous activities and spied for the US imperialism to destroy Ethiopia as a nation-state. It seems that
the Ethiopian people have forgotten all their evil deeds. And they have not yet
learned and still consider that what they all did was in the service of Ethiopia. Now they are dreaming to seize
power to prolong the misery of our people. It is a very confusing situation
which our country faces. The very intriguing thing is that the present
government creates favourable situation for some forces which participated in
the bloody action during the revolution. Though I do not have any idea of
revenging these elements, I could imagine that such forces will never bring
genuine changes in our country. As history proves such kinds of forces which are
engaged in bloody activities will tend again and again to destruction and
bloody action. These forces if they are genuine enough they should confess all
their past mistakes. With their irrational participation and spying activities
the Ethiopian people become the victim of the present political system
Thousands of young Ethiopian fled away from their country and live in
precarious conditions in various countries of the world. Because of their misunderstanding
of politics as instrument of revenge they are the causes of family
disintegration, cultural destruction and ethnic violence. In that bloody white
and red terror actions of self destruction all have contributed in their
capacity to destruct our beloved and beautiful Ethiopia. No one could escape this fact. As
Plato clearly says when such kinds of forces are in a position to look inside
their own minds to understand the nature of their crimes and confess to their
own people so that others do not repeat them, they will have a role to play.  It is therefore the moral and historical
obligation of all those forces which participated in the ugly war of
annihilation of their brothers and sisters to come forward and say god forgive
us for our irrational deeds. In this manner we all contribute something
historical for the rebuilding of our country and for the next generation. As
tit for tat cannot be the basis of genuine and constructive politics, we can
build the future of Ethiopia on the basis of forgiveness and
self confession for the past crimes we have done.

 

 

                                               Conclusion

 

I am compelled to give this long essay to throw
some lights into our minds so that we can ask ourselves and understand
political events from a different perspective. Political analysis as we are
accustomed and emotional approaches with which we are trained will not enable
us to understand the political construction of present day Ethiopia and the political handlings of our
government by a simple empiricist approach. It is quite important to dig more
and more in the political processes of our country to know the driving motives
of such kinds of political handlings.  Why
the government like the past two governments in Ethiopia pursues the same kinds of politics
for the last 13 years though it is crystal clear that the society as whole is
heading towards ever growing crises? 
What makes it stubborn not to correct its political handlings and why it
is not willing to change its axiom so that the situation could become
controllable?  Why is it necessary to
march on the path of self destruction though there are other methods which the
present government should follow and can correct some of the mistakes which it
has done in the past?  To understand all
these problems it is necessary to go beyond some simplistic concepts.

 

Asegedech`s approach to understand the
political construction and backward nature of our society emanates from a
different epistemological background which lacks coherency and is eclectically
written. Her beautiful English overshadows her false empiricist approach and
wrong understanding of the social formation of our society. Hence she could not
understand the complexity of Ethiopian politics and the political handlings of
the present government and the various groups which are struggling to seize
power. This type of analysis reflects also the major weak point of most of the
opposition forces which are assembled around certain slogans that are from
scientific and philosophical point of view irrelevant and could not solve our
country’s vast problems.

 

In a world like this when political confusion
is more apparent, instead of political dialogs confrontation becomes the only
alternative to solve internal and international conflicts, at a time when few
think that with their technological and military powers they could dictate the
fate of so many nations, we are compelled to see the events not through
conventional methods, but through dialectical approaches.  Since all of us consciously or unconsciously
follow certain values and methodologies, our apprehensions of this world’s
political events differ diametrically, and we have opposing ideas which reflect
our epistemological backgrounds and social status. Only few who can see this
world through a different mirror and pose questions again and again could give
correct assessments whether the world political construction as we see it today
reflects certain power relationships to extend empire buildings or as we hear through
mass media that the danger emanates from some projected dangers. Therefore,
especially as citizen of a very backward country we have the historical and
moral responsibility to choose the correct paradigm which helps us to
understand social relationships and political events so that we could give
correct analysis and solve existing problems.  Only a correct paradigm could help us to
develop free and independent mind which is the precondition of a scientific
analysis.

 

* By categorical imperative Kant understands concepts
which constitute the very supposition

   for
having and using empirical concepts. For example substance is a category. It is
a necessary

  
condition or comprehending anything as any thing. In other words Kent‘s system of knowledge

  
develops out of experiences and material objects which we see and
perceive and understand

  
through our reasons.       

 

 

 

                                  

 

 

Books of references:

 

1. Brunn, Snell.                         The Road to Think and to Truth.
Göttingen, 1978

2. Friedrich, List.                       Outline of American
Political Economy. Wiesbaden, 1966

3. Hartnack, Justus.                    From Radical Empiricism to Absolute
Idealism. New York,1986

4. LesLie A. Mulholland.           Kant’s Systems of Rights. New York & Oxford, 1988

5  Meier,
Christian.                    The Political Art of the
Greek Tragedy. Munich, 1980

6.  
“           “                 “             The development of
Politics by the Greeks. Frankfurt a Main, 1980

6. Schiller, Friedrich.       Theoretical Writings. Köln, 1999

7. Seung, T.K ; (1996)                Plato
Rediscovered: Human Value and Social Order.

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The author, Dr. Fekadu Bekele, can be reached by email: [email protected]

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