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It seems that there has been no better time to
complain about one’s existence than the current one.
As Ethiopian members of the human family, we have
seen varied and ongoing trials and tribulations,
more so than some and less so than others. In
retrospect, we have managed to grudgingly hang on
none the worse for the wear and still with some
semblance of dignity.
But these days the conditions that have so cruelly
manifested themselves at every corner of ones’ life
have made existence somewhat dreadful. The reason
that I say this is because I was randomly on my way
home the other day and noticed, for the second or
third time, that the amount of traffic on the roads
had decreased significantly and that I was able to
get around at a decent pace even during the height
of rush hour.
I
was pleased at the idea that there was something
being done about the traffic situation in the city,
when it occurred to me that this was not at all the
case. Car owners no longer find it prudent or
affordable to use their vehicles to get to and from
the places that they frequent because of the prices
of fuel.
I
do not think that this would have been such a huge
factor in contributing to the incapacitation of many
drivers in the city that are finding it difficult to
adjust their already stringent budget to such a
financial upheaval, had it not been supplemented by
all the other costs that have gone up.
For those of you that have not taken the time to
wake up and notice (or that choose to believe the
prices that are being quoted on the radio and in the
print media) Ethiopians are bleeding through every
possible pore just to put the daily bread on the
table. Food prices have reached ridiculous levels
yet again, with vegetables hitting more than 10 Br a
kilo and grains slowly but steadily climbing from
the existing three-digit to the four-digit level.
With the prices a single piece of bread, milk,
medicines, cereals, meats, consumer items and fuels
having gone up, a family of five with two fixed
incomes are no longer able to provide for their
children and their home the things that they had
become accustomed to when life was slightly cheaper.
They cannot buy school uniforms as often and
varieties in meals have to be curbed. Outings are
probably taken off the list completely, and if the
children are using some sort of alternate
transportation to get to school, that will have to
be replaced with mom or dad dropping them off using
taxis on their way to work.
Some of the people reading this piece may not be
able to relate to the problems that have been
mentioned, but I do not believe that even the
upscale have not been affected by the ongoing rise
in the cost of living. Basic necessities are now
selling at the price of luxury goods, while those
items have reached figures that are unthinkable to
the middle and low-income earner.
Without taking it too far, consider the families
that are bringing new additions into their homes
with babies. The prices of formula, baby food and
diapers is so high, I can guarantee that a majority
of new families are not able to buy the array of
options that are available for their new precious
gifts.
Being a consumer of just about anything thing these
days, especially those packaged goods considered to
be luxuries, means that you are probably going to
have to skip paying one of your bills this month,
and we all know how ridiculous that would be.
I
am not entirely sure where the solutions for these
problems are going to come from, considering what is
going on at a more international level. With major
world economies in fear of hitting some sort of a
slump, countries such as ours are left in the lurch,
unable to receive help from those that are facing
their own problems and not able to do for itself.
While many are still able to put food on the table,
those that are malnourished comprise a significant
portion of the population, and this is a problem
that has crippled the majority. And in the famous
words of Bob Marely, ‘a hungry man is an angry man’.
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