Thoughts on Eritrean opposition... This response was written, but not delivered, a few months ago to a question posed by one of my political heroes, our Ogbe Abraha, our General of cyber space during the war, famously called Werar Weyane, Saleh Younis, in one Eritrean political FB . Now, still in this perennial struggle of mine; discovering the self, while tightly roped up with conformity, I feel the impulse, and the impetus to break the chains, and think for myself--After all, maybe its the sublime ideas, and avant-gardism that will liberate Eritrea, not the other version of Nkid Trah, mob mentality of the opposition . Now to the response... This thread is so tantalizing, and tempting....it makes you Wetam , is Nosy the right translation of this Tigrigna word ? Anyways, at the risk of being called Wetam, I will march on ! Saleh, We have done nothing to prevent the possibility of another disastrous govt coming to the scene....Well we might be doing something. Just after a couple of years after I came to the US, I was working for a parking co. In the Greater Washington area, one day our regional manager called me and said, Samson we were considering you for a managerial post in area X, but the VP, a very good white American, thought you are not aggressive enough . Aggressive enough? hmm I related this story to a friend of mine, an Eritrean engineer/lawyer, who works for the World Bank. Surprisingly enough, he related to me the same story he experienced. Well, Is this an Eritrean gene--Not being aggressive, or fiercely independent? Not being aggressive enough on demanding your rights, and excessively afraid of being perceived as if you are attacking other people?I think our struggle should be focused towards empowering us to be independent of group( mob) mentality, and be aggressive to stand for our individual rights. I always argued our struggle for democracy should be individual centered. Relating stories of crimes committed in the 40s, 50s, 60s, and 70s will not move us forward. I am not against documenting them, but they are not ideas to follow. Rather, probing the reasons behind them, and discussing their merits, and demerits is more important--What did it do to our culture, to our society as a whole ??? Did it rob us of our individualism??? etc, etc... discussing, whether the clandestine party inside the EPLF was vital in the success of our struggle is one good point. I think as a society, we have this cultural inhibition( Hade libi/smerr) If this is a creation of our Ghedli , or it dates back farther I dont know, but I am being steadily convinced that our struggle should be based on political ideas. Ideas that hail freedom; Protestant work ethic, rugged individual, Bill of rights..... Am I sounding not Hagerawi, ya, that code word for conformity. Kennedys speech ... Ask Not what your country can do for you, ask what You can do for your country... , doesnt sit well with me. Ask both. But above all speak up, and be ready to fight. If you dont, you will not have the freedom to be left alone. Tomorrow, those who speak up and organize will knock your door and will take you, or your children somewhere . So lets use our unalienable/inalienable right to be even idiots...I think that is covered by the 1st amendment( US) and universal Human Rights Declaration :) And forget those who want to patronize us on how we speak. Just reflect....did everyone speak up in the 70s in the woods( Mieda) ?? It is not easy to blame them for not speaking up during the struggle, while under the strict surveillance of Halewa Sewra , but ironically the politicians of our day want to muzzle different political opinions under the guise of Hzbawi Maebel n Mlgas Esayas, and accuse gallant freedom fighters for not speaking up--hypocrisy at its zenith !!! Unless we get rid of this phoniness, we are apt to repeat the same mistake--ill suited government, removing Esayas will not be a panacea of our all ills !!! .....will leave you with Bob Kennedys beautiful, and interesting speech on freedom. youtu.be/1fArgCaFb1c
Posted on: Mon, 21 Jul 2014 14:03:49 +0000
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