It is common practice now days among certain groups of Ethiopians who have certain affiliation to this or that group to attack somebody who has a different paradigm and tries to understand political process of a given country from a different perspective. In this respect Ato Tsehaye`s slanderous attack cannot be justified by any scientific standard and has nothing in common with my own firm principles which I have been fighting for two decades. https://www.ethiomedia.com/release/commissioned_paper_before_elections.html 

Ato Tsehaye`s attack reminds me Shakespeare's remarks which is stated: " Ten good turns to dead, and one ill report doth (does) spread" if I did so.  

For any political or socio-economic discourse which is written by an individual, before one comes to any negative conclusion, it is very important to understand the real message of the entire context. In science it is not allowed to take one aspect out of a detailed analysis of certain situation and give ones own judgment by driving from that particular paragraph. From Plato to Nicolas Cusanus, the greatest philosopher and renaissance genius warn that such kind of generalization from a particular paragraph is not only very dangerous but it cannot be also the basis of any scientific discourse. In their statements, one can understand a particular aspect if he understands an entire aspect of a given situation or context. For those who especially claim that they are activists of this or that particular organization it is of a paramount importance to study somebody's analysis in its entirety before they attest him as commissioned or bought.  

On my part, especially in the last 13 years I have consistently analysed and demonstrated the destructive policies of the IMF and the World Bank which have been practiced by the EPRDF government in our country. In all my contributions to TOBIA magazine and Web Sites, I have tried to prove that why the IMF policies are aimed against the interests of our people, and why such kinds of policies destruct the socio-economic basis of our country. In no less than other contributors, as an individual and patriot of Ethiopia, I have tried to prove my firm principles that the economic and social crises of our country cannot be solved within the framework of neo-liberalism but by applying the physical economic principles which is based on true science. In all contributions I have made, I have tried in my capacity to analyse the economic and political practices of the present EPRDF government from this physical principles, and demonstrated that it brings social and economic chaos and cultural destruction if it is not checked urgently. The situation at home proves my analysis and conclusion which I have contributed. As I have stated several times, one can understand the political practices of the present regime if one understands the global capitalist order which is introduced in our country through the mechanism of the IMF policies. Only with the order of the American imperialism, the IMF and the World Bank the EPRDF government has been practicing its ugly economic policies in our country. If one understands the complex nature of this relationship he is in a position to give a balanced and critical judgment.

Let me come to Ato Tsehaye`s slanderous attack word by word. First of all as the title indicates, my analysis is not at all terret terret. As any body knows who understands science, terret which is narrated by an individual does not have any scientific basis. Terret is terret  which can be presented to entertain kids or even men in general.  On the other side my approach is a scientific analysis which is based on a particular paradigm and which reflects the political, economic and social situation of our country. If this is terret I cannot understand the position and the reflection of Ato Tsehaye. If he believes that things in Ethiopia are contrary to my own analysis he must prove. To the mentioned paragraph which is correct and which is my own firm position, Ato Tsehaye either does not know the socio-economic formation of our country and the psychological makeup of our people or he tries to mislead our readers by throwing such unscientific concept.  In a country where enlightenment has never taken place and where deformed education system has been introduced the elite develops a very trickery and confused way of living and handling which is a reflection of interwoven mechanisms. That is why starting the classical time of the Greek civilization the great philosophers had engaged themselves more in understanding the psychological makeup of their people. When the mind develops to a certain level the ability to abstract and rationalize will grow progressively. This can be achieved not by a general education system which we know and with which we are brought up but by a special education system which shapes the human mind so that he could behave like God. In other words, as Socrates said to do always-good things to others is the result of true knowledge which diametrically opposes empiricism.   In this case my analysis is not as such an insult but a scientific analysis which I have studied and developed over 20 years. If one has carefully studied Mathza`s approach it is just a justification of the present destructive policy of the regime and is diametrically opposes my own assessment. On the other side as a genuine intellectual, I would like to admit that such kind of a particular paragraph can be instrumentalized by the government to undermine the efforts of the opposition forces.  The political legitimacy of the opposition forces can be understood if one has in mind true scientific analysis. The last 13 years have proved that almost all opposition forces are not in a position to counterattack the policy of the IMF and the World Bank which has been practiced in our country. I could say most propagate still a market economy without defining what it means. You can read the political programs of the opposition forces. The government says that it is practicing market economic reforms of the IMF type. As you know any political party can be tested and checked not only by its program but also by its consistent analysis of a given economic and social condition.

Concerning the concept of feudalism and feudal structure one should know what feudalism is. It is a bit sad to say that if somebody uses such kind of a concept most think it is either an insult or believe that one tries to bring the old argument what we have left it 30 or 40 years ago. Unfortunately if we want to develop and see the complexities and problems of our society we must define the meaning of such kinds of concepts. Whether we like it or not it has been a part of our lives for generations and has determined our ways of living and attitudes and as such it is very important to define it as a scientific concept.

As every body knows most societies, especially the European have undergone through such social formations which was a major determining practice of their way of lives. The European intellectuals must fight this old form of life which was a major factor in blocking their attitudes and the development of the productive forces. By developing and reintroducing the classical education system of the Greeks, and by playing dramas and satires, genius men like Shakespeare and later on the German classical school were able to change the minds of the ruling class and to a certain extent certain parts of their respective society. Since they have well understood that the social relationship was the main factor which blocked any meaning full development and has arrested the minds of their society in developing science and technology they have invested too much time in developing arts in general a way out of general social crises. Thanks to their genius efforts they have achieved with outstanding results to change the social fabrics of their societies within a span of time. If one visit the city of Weimar in Germany where classical thought had emerged and spread from there to other places of Germany one could understand that how humanity can develop itself when it undergo through such mind developing process.

Now let me come to the real concept of feudalism. As I said feudalism is not as such an insult but a certain kind of social relationship. It is a relationship among individuals and groups and relationship between man and nature at a given historical epoch. Feudalism is not only a mode of production but also a system of living and attitudes which determines general social handlings and behaviors of that particular society. The way one abstracts and observes nature and his handlings to change his way of life will be determined by the particular social consciousness which is prevailing at that particular epoch. As feudalism is a special kind of social process the way of ordering things and nature and make the environment a place to live and enjoy is determined by the social habits and norms which are existing in that particular mode of thought and production. That is why, the Arabs, and later on the Europeans classics have introduced the word beauty a new way of shaping the natural environment in order to change the old forms of living which was monotones and very destructive. When man is able to change his environment and shape it in new way so that he could learn more the secret of nature and his mind develops, the relationship between man and nature will be changed positively.  In this respect feudalism which is wrongly misinterpreted by those forces as a purely Marxist concept try to divert the attitudes of innocent people by portraying him as a Marxist or even a communist. One should read the many thousands of European history books which are written by Marxists and non-Marists. There are similarities and differences which is a reflection of their social consciousness.

Coming to At Tsehaye`s misinterpretation and exaggeration, one should understand my analysis of the opposition forces from the above reflections which I have developed through years. My intention is not to insult them or to undermine their efforts. As a development economist and wrote my doctorate thesis about the underdevelopment of capitalism in Ethiopia which is more than 400 pages, and who have experience in teaching at colleges and university, I was compelled to read European history and compare the European and the Ethiopian society as a necessary condition of understanding social formations in general. As everybody knows in science it is allowed to make comparative study, and whether we wish it or not as long as we are engaged in such political discourse we must compare different societies to learn some valuable things from them and to avoid past mistakes which they have made. There is no alternative road to understand our society. I this case the concept of creativity, profound and complex thinking, the concept of time and efficiency, the concept of beauty and shaping nature, the concept of social organization and division of labour, the concept of social responsibility and morality, the concept of ethics and attitudes to somebody, the concept of humanism and general reflection about humanity, etc all are related to our social consciousness which we are practicing in our day to day lives. If we believe or not the social condition in which we grew up determine the above characteristics and our handlings. In this respect and after a thorough observation and study I have taken the liberty to analyse the organizational forms of most of the opposition forces. Here in Europe we are accustomed to learn that the structures and works of the organizations are studied from time to time. There are experts in this field who study the efficiency and organizational structures of different parties whether it could legitimate them to take social responsibility or not. If individual persons and political organizations want to take part in such kinds of social processes and political activities they must be criticized and they have to accept any criticism which come either from journalists or experts. If they do not accept such norms they should not engaged in political activities. This is a long process of political enlightenment that the Europeans have developed over 200 years. If my analysis is interpreted as an insult, I do not have any other alternative than to ask for an excuse. On the other hand I will be pleased if I am criticized on scientific grounds. Any scientific and constructive criticism will give me new reflection and enables me to develop new ideas so that I could improve my way of analysing social processes and contribute something historical to my society. What I want to remind Ato Tsehaye is that in all my writings over the last 20 years, I have never mentioned the name of individuals and organizations, and I have never been engaged in polemical exchanges. I am not trained in polemics, and I will confess that the polemics of the student movement have unnecessarily polarized different groups. I know the danger of polemics in such a backward society like Ethiopia. Even jocks are misinterpreted and lead towards conflicts.  My effort has been always to bring scientific discourse to interested groups who want to change the image of Ethiopia to a better future. The fact that most of the opposition forces which are new to the Ethiopian political scene and which have been engaged since the last 13 years are not aware of the necessity of theoretical discussion, will be easily hesitated if they read such theoretical writings like mines. Most of the organizations believe that to write a program and give comments and issues from time to time is sufficient to change the Ethiopian society. As long as they are not engaged in scientific and theoretical debates their contribution is worthless, and their ability to bring fundamental changes into our society will be very limited. Therefore as long as opposition forces claim that they will take into the political process of our country they must and should bring their theoretical discussion into the open and prove that how they build a better Ethiopia where our people live in prosperity and peace. As experiences in so many Third World Countries prove, like Argentina, Chile, and Nigeria, the replacement of the Military dictators by civilian governments will not alter the social conditions of the masses. In all these countries we witness that the economic and social conditions of these countries are worse than before. This proves that without theoretical discussion of each policies and philosophical discourse any society will not achieve stability and economic development. Since as individuals we are compelled to raise such kinds of questions like, where do we come from? What is our purpose in this world? In which direction are we marching? It is crucial important to discuss about the basic issues of our country so that the Ethiopian people know our intentions and the policies we are going to adapt.

My attempt to give certain analysis about the organizational efficiency of the opposition forces should not and must not be seen to weaken their efforts to build unity among themselves, as Ato Tsehay unfortunately misinterprets me. I am for unity, for unity which is philosophically grounded and principled. To cry for unity without principles and philosophical foundations lead us nowhere. As political parties or organizations are reflections of a given social relationship and they are assembled around certain values they must bring forth their beliefs how they shape Ethiopia as a strong, proud and prosperous country. The major European countries have achieved all these developments because they have accepted certain philosophies and values with which they could organize their societies. Therefore opposition forces must and should learn that without basic philosophical principles and value systems which they believe any country could not achieve the necessary social progress. Likewise unity among them will achieve the necessary goal if they have principles.

In order not to bore my readers, let me clear certain points which Ato Tsehay completely misunderstood and tried to mislead my readers. When I used certain quotations my intention was not to confuse my readers and those who are struggling for a democratic Ethiopia. As everybody knows, knowledge is universal and we are compelled to read and apply some of the knowledge which we believe they can be useful for the liberation of our country. I have quoted all these philosophers in my analysis because they are the original sources of true knowledge, and their knowledge is universal. As history proves those great Greek philosophers, like Thales, Pythagoras, and Plato and later on Euclid etc, were in Egypt, and had acquired their knowledge from Egyptian priests who were blacks. Diodorus, the Roman historian who lived from 90-21 BC wrote in his accounts of ancient history that the Ethiopians claim the Egyptian of the Pharaoh times had copied all the laws and philosophies from Ethiopia. According to other sources even mathematical knowledge is originated in Ethiopia, which the Egyptian priests had copied. After 5 BC when this knowledge was introduced into Greek, the Greek scholars had expanded and gave scientific foundation which became the fundamental philosophical principles of social organization. All major European philosophers who were engaged in enlightening their societies had taken the Egyptian and the Greek knowledge as starting points of bringing fundamental changes in their countries. Anta Diop, the greatest African scientist, anthropologist and philosophers, after he had made extensive studies, he came to the conclusion that without the Egyptian civilization one cannot conceive such kinds of development in Europe. In his concluding remarks, by showing the similarities of the Greek and the Egyptian philosophy, Africa could redeem itself from the present social chaos if she goes back to her roots and discovers the true Egyptian philosophy which the Greeks developed it to a higher level. In this case it is not wrong to make citation from the works of these great philosophers, like Socrates and Plato. Therefore it is our historical duty to use these resources as the basis of our development. He who tries to undermine the philosophy of Socrates, Plato and the works of other major men of dramas and arts, like Shakespeare and Schiller, he will make the gravest mistake against his own society. On my part I do not know any other better knowledge than this which has the ability of redeeming any society from the vagary of darkness.

In the service of the Ethiopian people I stand for democracy, principled unity and social progress. 

Thank you very much for your misunderstanding/understanding.

                                                                                                                                  Dr.Fekadu Bekele