An Unfortunate Country of Extremists
I don't believe any one (or group) admits being extreme. While people from an opposing camp are always quick to label their opponents extremists. But who is extreme and who is not ? Is being extremist wrong ? Should extremists be tolerated ? What should one to prevent growing extremism ? These and other similar issues can be analysed in different ways under different settings.
The first paragraph I got from the English Wikipedia is a reasonably broad definition of the word extremism.
Since it is not that easy to agree on a political center of a society, not even a perceived one, the term is usually applied to groups which advocate or use methods of aggression or violence in the hope that such will catalyse a desired political or social change (or otherwise will serve as retribution). On the other hand, not every body who raises arms is an extremist. There have always been justified armed struggles against oppressors.
Let's limit ourselves to the political situation of Ethiopia. It gets even more complex as we have a highly divided country in terms of opinion, interests, ethnic background, language, religion and what have you. Nationalism is a closely related concept, especially in our case. Many Ethiopians who are behind the “One Ethiopia” motto see nationalists as the biggest problem of the country. But nationalism, in the sense of looking for one's roots, being proud of and developing one's culture and language should not be considered a threat at all. Nationalism has in deed dire consequences when it is “narrow”.
Narrow nationalists are those who believe their population is better than others or those who see all people with other ethnic backgrounds as the "the enemy". And we should try to do every thing possible so that many people don't join that camp for whatever reason. That is actually easier than most people think in the case of our country – all it takes in listening to problems of people from other ethnic groups with heart and feel their pain.
The other form of extremism in our country which is less visible, but more dangerous is the “Abyssinian extremism”. These group of people don't even want to publicly admit that there has been ethnic oppression. Obviously, cure will not drop from the heavens before the disease is identified. I find this position extremely wrong as I don't want to live in a house without a foundation. It is not only that, these groups label everyone with a different opinion as Ethiopia's enemy. A country of about 80 ethnic groups can not be immune from conflicting, competing and self-centered outlooks. This class of extremism is very dangerous as it is based on giving deaf ears to the voice of others. One can not simply ignore voices from with in the group they claim to represent.
The current trend is very worrying. I see the number of people joining the extremist camps growing everyday. We are pushing each other away. More and more liberal people who are willing to entertain opposing ideas should come to the political front. Since masses usually follow few individuals, I don't believe that we have a problem in the large, but unfortunately extremely poor, uneducated rural population, as long as we agree on the “right compromises”. This brings me to our “educated, but annoyingly polar elite”. I should come to that point of education vs staying reasonable in another article.
May God lead us to the path of liberalism, tolerance and understanding.
I don't believe any one (or group) admits being extreme. While people from an opposing camp are always quick to label their opponents extremists. But who is extreme and who is not ? Is being extremist wrong ? Should extremists be tolerated ? What should one to prevent growing extremism ? These and other similar issues can be analysed in different ways under different settings.
The first paragraph I got from the English Wikipedia is a reasonably broad definition of the word extremism.
Extremism is a pejorative term used to characterise the actions or ideologies of individuals or groups as irrational, counterproductive, unjustifiable, or otherwise unacceptable to a civil society. It is typically used in reference to political and social ideologies which are far away from the perceived political center of a society, or otherwise are claimed to violate common standards of ethics and reciprocity.
Since it is not that easy to agree on a political center of a society, not even a perceived one, the term is usually applied to groups which advocate or use methods of aggression or violence in the hope that such will catalyse a desired political or social change (or otherwise will serve as retribution). On the other hand, not every body who raises arms is an extremist. There have always been justified armed struggles against oppressors.
Let's limit ourselves to the political situation of Ethiopia. It gets even more complex as we have a highly divided country in terms of opinion, interests, ethnic background, language, religion and what have you. Nationalism is a closely related concept, especially in our case. Many Ethiopians who are behind the “One Ethiopia” motto see nationalists as the biggest problem of the country. But nationalism, in the sense of looking for one's roots, being proud of and developing one's culture and language should not be considered a threat at all. Nationalism has in deed dire consequences when it is “narrow”.
Narrow nationalists are those who believe their population is better than others or those who see all people with other ethnic backgrounds as the "the enemy". And we should try to do every thing possible so that many people don't join that camp for whatever reason. That is actually easier than most people think in the case of our country – all it takes in listening to problems of people from other ethnic groups with heart and feel their pain.
The other form of extremism in our country which is less visible, but more dangerous is the “Abyssinian extremism”. These group of people don't even want to publicly admit that there has been ethnic oppression. Obviously, cure will not drop from the heavens before the disease is identified. I find this position extremely wrong as I don't want to live in a house without a foundation. It is not only that, these groups label everyone with a different opinion as Ethiopia's enemy. A country of about 80 ethnic groups can not be immune from conflicting, competing and self-centered outlooks. This class of extremism is very dangerous as it is based on giving deaf ears to the voice of others. One can not simply ignore voices from with in the group they claim to represent.
The current trend is very worrying. I see the number of people joining the extremist camps growing everyday. We are pushing each other away. More and more liberal people who are willing to entertain opposing ideas should come to the political front. Since masses usually follow few individuals, I don't believe that we have a problem in the large, but unfortunately extremely poor, uneducated rural population, as long as we agree on the “right compromises”. This brings me to our “educated, but annoyingly polar elite”. I should come to that point of education vs staying reasonable in another article.
May God lead us to the path of liberalism, tolerance and understanding.
posted by Addis Ethiopia at
1:59 AM
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