Individuals and Expectations

by Yared Gebrehana 05/09/08

I have been living in the west for the last couple of years and hope to live here for the foreseeable future. There are many things which I don't like about the Ethiopian government, but I am not a political immigrant. I am just another economic immigrant who struggles to make ends meet. I always try not to think of myself as an immigrant as I would like to go back to my country one day as if there is a difference. I have to admit that I have no idea when that would be. In fact, I am increasingly getting scared of the fact that I could remain here forever. And I don't see anything wrong with it.

Having said that, I appreciate all Ethiopians, who could have come to the developed world, but decided to stay in the country. There are also those who don't exhaust every little opening they see to get out of the country. These people don't have to be investors, political leaders or public personalities. An average employee doing his / her job properly is contributing a lot to the country ? not necessarily in terms of immediate wealth production, but more in terms of building the foundations of an economically viable nation and a working culture. Those are the patriotic Ethiopians who deserve the Medal of Honor.

Being an "immigrant" myself, I can't possibly judge anyone who decided to leave their motherland and strive in a foreign, but rich, country as men have always been doing that since the start of time. Great nations were built as a result of people moving from one part of the world to another. That won't be possible with today's world dynamics though. Yet again, there is also what is called reverse migration where by individuals decide to go back to the country of their origin after achieving economic (or educational, or moral) success after a spell in a foreign country. China and India are clearly hugely benefiting from that. Another obvious benefit is money remittance. There are also other ways like organized charity and development associations through which immigrants help the unfortunate ones in their homeland.

The other interesting way, which this article is about is, what one can broadly call "idea remittance". It is usually happens in the form of political participations. Ethiopian around the world (Ethiopian Diaspora, as many would like to be called), have been actively voicing their opinion since the last days of Emperor Hailesellassie. Now that the population has hugely grown since then, it is only natural that the voice of the Diaspora is getting louder and louder. The aim of this article is not to discuss whether the contribution has been enough or not, or for that matter negative or positive. I am rather saying that we should not feel obliged to contribute in some prominent way.

I don't consider myself any less Ethiopian than Meles Zenawi, Birhanu Nega or Lencho Leta because I did not manage to step to the front line of Ethiopian politics. But I do have a tremendous respect for them. On the other hand, I don't expect the "Ethiopian Nelson Mandela, or Mahatma Gandhi" to emerge out of the bule, though I would have loved to have one.

The world has, through out history, seen many movements which changed the way people are living for better or for worse. Most of these movements have involved the grass roots in some way or another. But there have always been extra ordinary individuals who have organized and lead these movements. We also have had our share of great individuals who influenced our country's trajectory one way or another.

Though I don't have any substantive proof, there was an unhealthy trend among our long distance runners. They would drop out for whatever reason if they realized that they were not going to win. That was the result of the huge pressure we were putting on our beloved athletes. Being the worlds 10^th best 10,000 km or marathon runner is an achievement bettered by only 9 other people on the planet. But our society was a kind of demanding them to finish 1^st all the time. It is good if they could do it, but they should not be tormented to achieve that as finishing 4^th as an equally daunting challenge.

I believe we are observing a similar phenomenon on the political arena. We are over expecting from our politicians / leaders. The disastrous side effect is, most of our politicians are working satisfy their egos rather than the ideals they stand for.

In fact, many well-versed individuals are limiting their participation to house hold discussions. This has led to "less qualified" individuals to come to forefront of politics. There is nothing better for our motherland than harnessing the contribution of the "better qualified" individuals. But they have stayed behind their closed doors due to a number of reasons which probably started with the not so fruitful sacrifice paid by the EPRP generation. The events surrounding May 05 elections have definitely pushed a few away after a short lived sensation. In effect, the people we see on the Ethiopian political front are not necessarily the best we have. This could in fact be true for any other country though. As the saying goes, politics is dirty anyway.

I the beginning, I argued that it is perfectly acceptable to be an average person. Then, I stated that a few individuals leave a stronger foot print on history than masses. Then, I seem to argue that we should not put too much pressure on our prominent individuals. It seems that there is some contradiction in that unless Ethiopia is doomed for failure. There actually isn't. It is all about adjusting our expectations to the reality. On the side of the prominent politicians, they should not take their take their commitment so far that they go off track.

Let me finish this article by an interview watched on Ethiopian Television a few years ago. I think it was just after Gigi's (Egigayehu Shibabaw) widely successful third album. It was the renowned journalist Tefera Gedamu interviewing her. I don't exactly remember the words, but here is the gist of one particular question and answer. He asked her about why she was mixing some native Ethiopian beats with western beats rather than preserving them. Her response was something like why should I be singled out to undertake that task. If she was feeling like that she came to this world for that I would have love her to do that. But just because she is an extraordinarily talented musician, I don't expect the whole burden of saving Ethiopian traditional music to rest upon her shoulders.

The author is an Ethiopian living in the USA and can be reached at yared.gebrehana@gmail.com