Meles Zenawi and the miseducation of Ethiopian youth
6 October, 2009 | Teodros Kiros, PhD
“Fortunately, I do not make decisions for her. But if I were to make that
decision, I would tell her to stay clear from this kind of life, if she
possibly can. But in the end, if there is enough fire in her to make it
possible to live such a life - because I do not think you can live it without
adequate fire inside - and if she has that fire, then welcome to the club.
In this short piece I would like to examine the truth status of his unthought
out statements.
Consider the first statement, ‘ I do not make decisions for her”. He might
not, perhaps, because, she does not let him. Unlike all the political prisoners
whom he has jailed, she has a choice. She could walk out of the palace
because
(a) She can, if she wants to and
(b) He cannot imprison her if she walks out. The prisoners whom he has jailed
have no options. They cannot choose for themselves, if they dare, as some of
them did, they would be told that they have violated the myopic
constitution-and put in prison.
He dares us when he says, “ I would tell her to stay clear from this kind of
life”. Which kind of life, he does not say. Clearly he is speaking about the life
of public accountability, when the leader makes mistakes. He does not believe
in the right of the citizen to use public reason and criticize leaders, when they
fail to lead properly. The right to use public reason is the core of Living
Democracy, a right for which the citizen is jailed in Meles Zenawi’s Ethiopia.
What he has is not fire, or what he might have meant, passion. Passion or fire
is a democratic virtue when it is appropriately used at the right time and for
the right reason. That passion he does not have. His passion is tyranny, the
squashing of dissent and the murder of public reason, the reasoning power of
the Ethiopian citizen.
What his daughter needs is not tyrannical fire, but democratic fire, the fire
that empowers the citizen to think, to dissent, and to participate in the
decision making process.
I truly hope that his vacuous statements do not destroy the Ethiopian youth,
whom he is mis educating.
In direct contrast to him, I say to the youth of Ethiopia, use passion in
concert with reason. Public offices are not the spaces which you must occupy
to silence others, but to allow others to question you, to teach you, to challenge
you, so that you can grow and mature along with the citizen who must reason
and hold you accountable for the decisions that you make.
Political life, contrary to Meles, is a public good provided that the leader
becomes philosophical and philosophy itself becomes an attractive vocation for
those who think, for all those who think before speaking.
Perhaps, his daughter whom I congratulate, would teach her father, by one day
occupying a public office, and become the voice of Living Democracy.
6 October, 2009 | Teodros Kiros, PhD
“Fortunately, I do not make decisions for her. But if I were to make that
decision, I would tell her to stay clear from this kind of life, if she
possibly can. But in the end, if there is enough fire in her to make it
possible to live such a life - because I do not think you can live it without
adequate fire inside - and if she has that fire, then welcome to the club.
- “But if she does not have that fire,
this should be the last thing she
should think of. And my advice to
every kid in Ethiopia is “if you
have the fire – go for it, if you do
not – stay as far away from it as
you possibly can for your own
health.” so said Ethiopia’s prime
minister, Ato Meles Zenawi.
Sadly, this is the classic case of
miseducating Ethiopian youth. I truly
wish that Meles had controlled his
mouth and thought carefully about
words. He is no philosopher, not even
a deliberative mind; if he were, he
would think first and then speak.
In this short piece I would like to examine the truth status of his unthought
out statements.
Consider the first statement, ‘ I do not make decisions for her”. He might
not, perhaps, because, she does not let him. Unlike all the political prisoners
whom he has jailed, she has a choice. She could walk out of the palace
because
(a) She can, if she wants to and
(b) He cannot imprison her if she walks out. The prisoners whom he has jailed
have no options. They cannot choose for themselves, if they dare, as some of
them did, they would be told that they have violated the myopic
constitution-and put in prison.
He dares us when he says, “ I would tell her to stay clear from this kind of
life”. Which kind of life, he does not say. Clearly he is speaking about the life
of public accountability, when the leader makes mistakes. He does not believe
in the right of the citizen to use public reason and criticize leaders, when they
fail to lead properly. The right to use public reason is the core of Living
Democracy, a right for which the citizen is jailed in Meles Zenawi’s Ethiopia.
What he has is not fire, or what he might have meant, passion. Passion or fire
is a democratic virtue when it is appropriately used at the right time and for
the right reason. That passion he does not have. His passion is tyranny, the
squashing of dissent and the murder of public reason, the reasoning power of
the Ethiopian citizen.
What his daughter needs is not tyrannical fire, but democratic fire, the fire
that empowers the citizen to think, to dissent, and to participate in the
decision making process.
I truly hope that his vacuous statements do not destroy the Ethiopian youth,
whom he is mis educating.
In direct contrast to him, I say to the youth of Ethiopia, use passion in
concert with reason. Public offices are not the spaces which you must occupy
to silence others, but to allow others to question you, to teach you, to challenge
you, so that you can grow and mature along with the citizen who must reason
and hold you accountable for the decisions that you make.
Political life, contrary to Meles, is a public good provided that the leader
becomes philosophical and philosophy itself becomes an attractive vocation for
those who think, for all those who think before speaking.
Perhaps, his daughter whom I congratulate, would teach her father, by one day
occupying a public office, and become the voice of Living Democracy.
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