The Neo-Liberals and Their Parrots on Individual
Rights and National/Nationalities question
Abey Zewde May 7, 2010
abeyze@yahoo.com
I have been following the political debates between Ethiopian political
parties since 2005 to the present. The
most disturbing factor I have noticed in these debates was how some of the
opposition leaders like Dr Nega, in 2005, Ato Lidetu and others
now many times attack EPRDF on
the question of the respect of the Individual rights. Both these personalities and others
erroneously imply as far as recognizing the rights of Nations and Nationalities
for self determination up to succession by EPRDF is void of the rights of the
individual but only encompass and makes group rights supreme.
·
the
victory of Mr. Obama to American presidency is considered a historic miracle in
the annual of American history and many in world rejoiced and afro-Americans in
particular was joyful and they were so euphoric and some even cried. Why? Mainly because for the first time a
black individual affirmed his individual rights to be what he can be. He became
the commander and chief of Anglo-Saxon dominated and the most powerful country
in the world. Looking at this, Isn’t erroneous to isolate his achievement from
his race and their 500 years struggle for equality?
·
As Black or White or Asian individual in
America; if I am denied the rights to equal opportunity given to other races to
translate my full human potential to practicality, because of my color and
ethnic background then my individual rights is trampled. But,
if racism is effectively combated in America, then not only my individual
rights but of the right of all individuals belonging to particular races and
that of All Americans is respected.
Isn’t beyond normal
thinking to separate and counter impose
rights of the individuals from and on their race, class, nationality, country,
occupation, and gender and so on unless it’s for sinister hidden agenda?
·
In
the same way, isn’t recognizing the right of nation/nationalities in Ethiopia
to determine their hard won democratic rights of the nation/nationalities of
Ethiopia to determine their destiny is the respect of their democratic rights
as individuals and as same time the members of particular nationality?
·
Isn’t
practically implementing the nation/ nationalities to administrate their
region, develop their culture and language and choose their leaders the right
of nation/nationalities of Ethiopia to participate in the making of the history
of a new and democratic, developing and a just Ethiopia; where their rights as
individuals and as member of particular nationality respected?
·
Isn’t
recognizing the rights of women, youth and others in Ethiopia to organize and
to allow holding their government accountable in the practical implantation
democracy and the respect of their rights as individuals and as particular
member of a group?
·
Isn’t
rallying and practically engaging the people of Ethiopia to eradicate poverty,
which is the main enemy that kept Ethiopia people in perpetual degradation the
respect of each Ethiopians their rights to defeat poverty and attain food and
shelter as individuals and as member of a collective? And so on. Where do you
differentiate the individual from his/her collective identity?
In my Opinion the bygone Dr Nega’s, and the
present Ato lidetu’s and their likes hazardous understanding of individual rights
arises from dependency syndrome on Western Neo-liberal intellectual’s distorted concept of individual rights that
gravely damages the respect of human
rights . It seems whatever Neo-liberal intellectuals utter,
these individuals will accept it in toto and parrot it. When the outside Neo-liberal tell them
to shout “individual rights ” they will shout “Individual rights” and when they
tell them to shout “ethnic cleansing” they will shout “Ethnic cleansing” and when they tell them to bend
they bend. These so called intellectual of ours don’t have no free mind nor
free existence. Their anti-democratic,
anti-human rights respect agenda is intertwined with the interest their
master’s Western Neo-Liberals. Plus, their main support for whatever political
agenda they have and their survival
depends not on the people of Ethiopia but mainly on the powerful few
Neo-Liberal global forces so they chose to be their Parrots.
Neo-liberal’s damaging interpretation
of the Rights of the Individual.
In my opinion,
the grave mistakes of Neo-liberals are the perception of the existence of the
right of the individuals apart from all social-economic and political
condition, nationality, class and race etc. They disconnect the individuals
from where they live in or come from. They separate individuals from group or
society they participate in and provided the means to affirm their human
essence i.e. to be free from want and achieve personal and spiritual growth to
be what they can be as human being. In short, they see the individuals as being
suspended from the environment and their social back ground which is always
their back bone.
Whether they like it or not, society is the back bone
of the individual humans because, it is here, where the society they formed is intended to supports
them to strive and to struggle and also teach them to survive to attain
personality and spiritual development.
Society (as nation, as a country and as a world community) must provide
the means for them to exercise their rights to be what they can be as
individuals by providing shelter and food and a democratic socio-political and
economic condition.
In turn, the individuals must fulfill their
responsibility to society because, society is the only arrangement where
individuals exercise their rights to show their unique individual talent,
develop their sense to enjoy the higher realm of life through appreciation of
art, creativity, love and sympathy for others, critical judgment of their
society and exercise the pursuit of happiness
But, when individuals find the society they built
becomes an obstacle for them to realize their individual rights, national
rights and other rights to be what they
can be and realize their full human potential; they have the rights to
criticize it, if necessary reform it or build a new and just society. Perceiving individual in isolation from
society is not only erroneous but it is also dangerous.
The danger of conceiving individuals as absolute
detached beings is giving the individual humans the charter of such as of a lion in animal kingdom that manifests apartness
only. The lion manifest its apartness as
ferocious animal, whose life existence of is a continuous affirmation of its
feeling of apartness. Its’ very life texture of personality is based on cunning
exploitation of other animals. It has maintained its right of individual
existence at the cost of total annihilation of other animals preying them at
their venerable moment.
We can see clearly the destructive and dangers nature
of Neo-liberal perception, when we analyze the society they envision a little
further. They want a society filled with individuals who manifest the charter
of apartness like that of a lion. They perceive a society as a zoo where every
individual is self-sufficient atomistic entity guided by feeling of apartness.
This kind of persons can only survive by cunning exploitation of others to be
used for his/hers own advantage like that of lion cunning exploitation of other
animals. They want a society where individuals
maintain their egotistic and exploitative individual existence at cost of total
annihilation others; Just like that of a
lion that maintained its right of individual existence at the cost of total
annihilation of other animals preying them at their venerable moment utilizing
its unparallel strength. In the same way Neo-liberals want to maintain their
privileged global status cunningly legitimizing their action in the name of
human rights mostly trumpeting “individual rights abuse’ exploiting the
venerable spot of democratic and progressive aspiring developing nations and
society.
To Neo-liberal type individuals, even if society
presents them the opportunity and the atmosphere to cooperate with others their
narrow self-seeking lionstic characteristic forbids
them. The only thing that exist for them consist in cunning exploitation of
their neighbors, as they are a mere natures’ environment.
In my opinion what Neo-liberals talk about is not
individuals rights respect at all ; rather it is allowing the egotistic few
individual human lions with insatiable greedy exploit the others and at the end
of all the stronger tramples the weaker underfoot in the name of human rights.
This in our world means, the powerful few Neo-liberal advocates and their
master’s seize everything for themselves, while the weak many, the poor, the
oppressed countries and nationalities remain under perpetual legacy of poverty
and degradation. That is why Neo-liberals aided by their Ethiopian parrots
ignore and oppose the tremendous effort of the Ethiopian people to build a conducive socio-political and economic system to defeat
poverty, eradicate national oppression, and tackle human rights abuse in a
lasting manner.
While Neo-liberals claim the advocacy of individual
rights as their chattel, they blame the all nations and ideas who differ from
them, like the Chinese, the Africans and progressive ideologies like Abyotawe democracy etc- for making group right supreme. In
our country the Neo-liberals and their parrots, some of our leaders from
opposition group blame the Ethiopian societal arrangement for making group
rights supreme. Just because Ethiopia realizes the sovereignty Ethiopia lay in
its people and recognizes the rights of nation and nationalities for self
determination. For them, even practically allowing the people to exercise their
sovereignty in administering their region and choosing their leader’s in
developing their region, culture and language is giving primacy to group
rights.
Ultimately,
Neo-liberals are trying to indicate all other societies; ideas which differ
from their values are group rights worshipers who live an ant like existence.
So, they are saying these groups are just like ants they live in herds, manifest
togetherness but their work is always and repetitive and the same, lucking
individualization. They implicitly mean the rights of the individuals to
exercise their unique talent, creativity and express their value, air their
opinion own property or criticize society are forbidden in this ant-like
society. Hence they are asserting in an ant like society there is no space for
individuals to show their unique talent, creativity, criticizes and impact
society -hence like ants progresses in art of life is zero.
I think
Contrary to distorted Neo-liberal comprehensions, humans’ existence is not that
of lion’s existence that solely manifest apartness which is centered on cunning
exploitation of others animals or ant’s
existence that manifest solely togetherness devoid of individualization
depraving progress in art of living
As opposed to animal kingdom what is noble about human
existence is the realization of a fact that continuous development of specious
and gradual realization of higher social life can be achieved only through a
system of existence founded on balanced concept of apartness
(individualization) and togetherness (group). It is only human that refer to
himself I manifesting and maintaining
his/her individuality and at the same time refer to other and to
himself/herself as a group we manifesting togetherness when he discuss his
problem and difficulties, joins in happiness, sorrow, struggle of his/her
friends, his nation, country and the world community
Hence, the world community efforts except the few Neo-
liberals and their puppets is to join hands to create a conducive material and
social condition to maximize the benefit, where all individuals develop in
their full unique qualities, and creativity and nations and nationalities
blossom with their diver’s culture.
Imagine a world filled with millions of great philosophers,
artists, writers, scientist, and poet’s and hundreds of diverse nation and
nationalities-- Imagine a world
with different shaded and shaped faces
of the young and the old - with different culture and language blossoming like
a colorful flowers showered with
freedom. It will be human life filled with millions of individuals’ creativity
like that of Picasso, Zerayakobe, Michelangelo,
Mozart, Yared, Lu Xun,
Oscar Wild and Afework
Tekele and the
beauty of all cultures etc available, visible and comprehendible to all at all places. It
would be the greatest accomplishment for humans to break the wall of the
drudgery of life that prevents people from the beauty of living by librating
human potentiality. That means, we will be surrounded with the flood of human
creativity and we will appreciate the beauty of existence to its fullest
extent. This can only be achieved in world where one for a million, millions
for one contributes to the survival and the greater enjoyment of life for all
individuals.
Hence, making individual life above the life of
millions is the most dangerous modern day obstacle for humankind’s effort to
build a democratic and just world community. Neo-liberal exultation of the few
egotists emphasizing on “I” or individuality denying togetherness or group, or
mutual relations makes individual right
loses its true charter and turn into the most detrimental factor for
human rights respect. It will be a base for formation of societal zoo allowing
the egotistic few individual human lions with insatiable greed exploit the
others and at the end of all the stronger tramples the weak, the poor, the
oppressed countries and nationalities to remain under perpetual legacy of
poverty and degradation.
That is why the stand of Neo-Liberals and their
Parrots in the question important issues in Ethiopia For example on
privatization both want the privatization everything including strategic enterprises
such as the telecommunication and electric companies of Ethiopia. Who can
afford to by these companies? No doubt the few
powerful neo-liberal forces can afford to buy these companies living Ethiopia
strategically dependent and putting Ethiopian sovereignty into question.
Both want land to be sold on the market so the peasants who is still struggling to defeat poverty, to sale their land when in trouble and the cunning neo-liberal and their parrots who have many get it cheap; exposing 85 percent of the Ethiopian people to unemployment and destitution where there is no industrial work and Ethiopia to remain weak and the few neo-liberal grab everything.
In order to achieve all these sinister agenda they, cunningly use torrent
of “human rights abuse allegation” centered in their so called individual
rights as raw material to legitimize their action against Ethiopia and other
African nation.
Neo liberal analysis of human rights is as the chine’s
saying is like a bamboo tree thick on the outs side and shallow in the inside
but in Neo-liberals cause the shallowness is packed with poisons interpretation
of false human rights concept and application