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Often, Ethiopians
have a way of placing blame squarely on the
shoulders of others when it comes to the situations
that we find ourselves in, whether as individuals or
as a nation. Personally, I have been guilty of this
fact, in my everyday life, as well as in this
column. I suppose it is often times easier to find a
scapegoat than it is to actually take responsibility
yourself. I bring this point up, not to chastise my
past actions, but rather, to dwell on where this
seemingly simple truth has gotten us.
Blame, of course, is the closing act of a much
longer and more complicated play, that of the
choices we make and the courtesies we offer. It is
easier to apportion fault than to hold ourselves
responsible for our actions. It is not as clear-cut
as saying: in the event that we make bad choices, we
are faced with dire situations, but in the cases
where we make good ones, we encounter fairer
circumstances. In many cases, bad things happen to
good people and vice-versa. There is that simple
truth called life that has a nasty little way of
making a bad situation worse - consider Murphy’s
Law. The situation even gets murkier when it goes
further up the scale of the choice ladder to where
policies and decisions on the national level are
made and implemented.
The reality of our existence is that we do not do
things up front. This is true of our personal lives
and of the functioning of the government,
businesses, or households. Transparency is not part
and parcel of being Ethiopian. Therefore, when
something goes wrong, who better to place the blame
on but the people that have never really shown us
what it is that they do behind their closed doors.
So, many Ethiopians blame the dire strains and
almost survival nature in which we find ourselves
living today on God having turned his back on the
nation (and honestly, I think this a good thing,
because it is keeping us from plunging into chaos).
What better scapegoat could there be than the man
upstairs who should have a grand master plan?
Everything from high living expenses, death,
illness, and even the state and condition of the
government and country is a direct result of the
wrath of He who is apparently not pleased with us
anymore. It is considered punishment for sins by the
people, and for the government, which has not been
playing its parental role up to par.
As lovely an expression of faith as this may seem to
the mind of the more religiously inclined, because
it really does have a way of turning one to the
powers that be in the times of most strain, this is
most certainly not the case.
The truth remains that the situations in which we
find ourselves are indeed the long-term effect of a
series of choices that, in turn, ended up not being
the perfect ones for the nation, or for its people.
Now, the decisions were not made solely by the
either the government or by the people. Making the
decision to invest in the infrastructure of the
country is extremely positive, although the manner
in which this was done is questionable. The results
of that are reflected in the intense shortages of
basic services that we face today. But, no single
individual or institution can be blamed entirely for
this.
If you and your neighbours are tired of living
without electricity, devise a way, as a
neighbourhood, to do something about it. The truth
is, blaming the government is not going to get us
power any time soon (believe me, I have tried
yelling insults, writing, praying, all of it). If
you do not have water, find an alternate water
source for you and your family, sitting around and
placing blame is not going to change the situation
that we are in.
This is not to say that responsibility should not be
taken, or blame apportioned. On the contrary, there
is plenty that can be attributed to this or that
person, institution, or government agency. But, as
long as we know that the mistakes have been made and
we understand their consequences by observing the
environment that has been created as a result of
that, we cannot forever sit and point fingers at
others.
What needs to be done is for the individual to stand
up, take responsibility, and find a means to get
through the strains and want that the faults of
others have created in their lives. When that is
done, they can then turn to their neighbour. Instead
of waiting for a solution to come to us from above,
because by the time it trickles down, there will be
another set of issues to deal with, I think that the
time has come for the community to stand up and
begin acting on a much smaller scale. That way, we
can go from the ground up. |
