Horn of Africa Leftists

"If we have shortcomings, we are not afraid to have them pointed out and criticized because we serve the people. Anyone, no matter who may point out our shortcomings. If he is right, we will correct them. If what he proposes will benefit the people, we will act upon it."-Mao

FEEDBACK

These western leftists absolutely need to just keep it at imperialism and stay away from the internal politics of Ethiopia. Just being in pfdj promotes you to address the primary contradiction which is imperialism. But the lack of

acknowledgement of secondary contradictions by pfdj leads to a lack of understanding of an analysis on how the ruling class exploits these secondary contradictions to further their agenda. These secondary contradictions are weaponized to exasperate the primary contradiction. How tplf is using the plight of the oppressed nationalities to mask their elitist ideology. Ppl like Simon dismiss the oppressed as just tribalists. And it stops there for them, offering no validity to the oppressed masses who instead fall for tplf rhetoric that appears to be more in line with the oppressed. This alienates them like you said, and that’s a legitimate critique of the no more movement. This adds a lot of issues.

This also gives legitimacy to Abiy, who on top of being even having more neoliberal policies than tplf, has denied historical grievances of folks in Ethiopia and even in America, and like you said you can oppose and fight against imperialism without totally endorsing the other side. It shouldn’t stop at just primary contradiction.

While EPRP*(Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Party) was actively resisting derg, they still aligned with dergs decisions to oust western puppet entities from Ethiopia.

An example of being principled and aligning on the right side w/o endorsing the other side

CRITICISM

You repeatedly state that Abiy started this war with TPLF,

contrary to TPLF's own words in which they state they launched a "pre-emptive strike" against multiple northern command bases on Nov 4th.

Just simply "having positions" doesn't really mean anything if it doesn't translate to material action. In my opinion, many on the left, save a few organizations, are failing to capture the moment of what is essentially a pan-African movement against neo-colonial designs.

https://blackallianceforpeace.com/principles-of-unity

What end is having a critique of the GOE while under attack by US backed forces supposed to contribute to the global movement?

Should the left not unite with the #NoMore movement against imperialism or should it?

Listening to this I hear a lot of strawmen. Nowhere in any of the breakthrough or black agenda report coverage of the war have I seen anyone praise Abiy as some kind of socialist anti-imperialist hero.Seems unfair to suggest that's their position when it isn't.

Also like...what? "Take away the TPLF?" This isn't materialist at all, seeing as the TPLF is a heavily armed belligerent and player in the current conflict.

This is an appeal to idealism in the middle of a war in which there will eventually be a victor and a vanquished.

Just wondering exactly what the endgame is here?

So people shouldn't be mobilizing against US supported regime change in Ethiopia because Abiy is a capitalist?

Should we take a "neither x or y" approach while a fascist proxy group continues its onslaught across the country?

POSITION

Examine why PFDJ or Eritrea are in alliance with Amhara region?is it right? The primacy of the class struggle over the national question is an issue

All-Ethiopia Socialist Movement(MEISON) vs EPRP*(Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Party)

However, there were some sticky political problems for both the TPLF and EPRP regarding Eritrea. While they recognized the struggle for the Eritrean independence as genuine, they had differences as to whether the case was a ‘colonial issue’ or not. Without conducting the necessary study or having appropriate discussions, the TPLF held the view that the Eritrean case was a ‘colonial question.’ as the EPLF wanted it to be.

It was probably an opportunistic stand , designed to outflank the EPRP from the privileged position the EPLF offering it.

Without understanding the consequences that were to haunt it in the discourse of Ethiopian political history, this position continued to be the stand of the TPLF for years to come.

Another area of difference was over Eritrea and the guerrilla struggle for independence there. EPRP showed much greater sympathy for the guerrillas, particularly for the more radical Eritrean Peoples’ Liberation Front (EPLF). Many early EPRP cadres were trained and armed by the EPLF, and the EPRP’s armed wing used EPLF-held areas as a base when it commenced armed struggle in the north. MEISON accepted the right of self-determination for the nationalities, including the right ...

Important episode to consider what does principled anti-imperialist solidarity suppose to look like for the Horn of Africa with critical three points

1. Let's examine the left content creators and journalist position as being too pro Abiy/PP due to the sourcing info from the Abyssinian (Amhara region)/PFDJ alliance that is led to the creation of the new diaspora based #NoMore movement and current development...Why did they do this? Maybe the motivating factor is for social media traction/audience metrics/donations etc

You take away the TPLF you can see why the people and advisors or allies of Abiys are neoliberal and reason why is in alliance with them is they all share common ideology views on neoliberalism and overall Abyssainid views on what is Ethiopia and its future..

Including Berhanu Nega as education minister, in a speech to lawmakers on Wednesday. The others are Belete Molla, who comes in as innovation and technology minister and Kejela Merdassa as the head of the culture docket.

The Ethiopia’s far-right -ultra-unionist PM Dr Abiy Ahmed and his conspirator ally Professor Berhanu Nega’s parties- namely Exclusive Prosperity Party (EPP) and Ethiopian Citizens for Social Justice (ECSJ) are advocating Western liberal democracy and liberal economy as model capable of saving Ethiopia and its subjects.

Berhanu Nega wrote policy papers for the World Bank, which were later included in the Kinijit (CUDCoalition for Unity and Democracy) Manifesto

The Kinijit (CUD) Manifesto. Attached snippet calling for the implementation of free market liberal democracy

“[Mr Abiy] is extremely interested to see a strong private sector that can generate jobs for the millions of youths that are currently unemployed,” said Mr Abebe, 38, who worked at the World Bank before Mr Abiy asked him to join the commission.

“And I think that is consistent with the whole economic reform agenda. For so long economic growth has been fuelled by state investment and now the state should cede space to the private sector and play its natural arbiter role as a regulator,” he said.

https://www.ft.com/content/38c9e736-7e49-11e9-81d2-f785092ab560

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/apr/15/suspicion-and-fear-linger-as-ethiopia-campus-wars-go-quiet

Wed 15 Apr 2020 07.21 EDT

The government is now looking at alternative funding models, including student loans. “There should be some kind of co-financing from the private sector,” said Tassew Woldehanna, president of Addis Ababa University. “Students need to start paying.”

In January, the Minister of Higher Education suggested that free tuition was partly to blame for conflicts because it made it harder for universities to maintain the quality of education and housing for the roughly 200,000 new students enrolling each year. In 2000, Ethiopia had just two universities; now there are 45. It is one of the fastest expansions in higher education in the world, but without a concomitant rise in standards.

Abiy and Crrypto connection

Cardano is not new to Ethiopia, in 2018 the government signed a deal with Cardano to incorporate blockchain technology to the agritech industry. According to United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, since Ethiopia is a latecomer to:

Jack Dorsey vocalized his support of Project Mano, a group of Ethiopia-based entrepreneurs who want to get the Ethiopian government to consider mining and storing Bitcoin

I would like to thank @IMF & my dear sister @KGeorgieva for IMF’s extraordinary support of Ethiopia’s Home Grown Economic Reform Program amounting to USD 2.9 billion. Building on our past success, we have embarked on a new journey to set Ethiopia on a path to prosperity.

https://twitter.com/AbiyAhmedAli/status/1205152845818945536