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Collective Intelligence Versus Collective Stupidity

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Collective Intelligence Versus Collective Stupidity Tragedy Struck Ethiopia, Again: Collective Intelligence versus Collective Stupidity Contact information: Girma Berhanu Department of Education and Special Education (Professor) University of Gothenburg Box 300, SE 405 30 Göteborg, Sweden E-mail: [email protected] 1 Background Ethiopia is in a dangerous crossroad. Slow moving atrocities massacre and pogrom have become all too common. The overall situation is critical. The country has newly been engulfed by tragic bloodshed. The Washington Post just reported (July 8 at 5:51 AM) that at least 239 people have been killed and 3,500 arrested in more than a week of unrest in Ethiopia that poses the biggest challenge yet to its Nobel Peace Prize-winning prime minister. The 3,500 arrests have included that of a well-known Oromo activist, Jawar Mohammed, and more than 30 supporters. It is not clear what charges they might face. Local reports have said that in some places ethnic Oromo have attacked ethnic Amhara, and in Shashamane town some people were going home to home checking identity cards and targeting Amhara residents. The death toll from demonstrations and targeted attacks on non-Oromo persons living in Oromia region following the murder of a popular singer from the Oromo ethnic group is estimated in several hundreds. A disheartened friend of mine just wrote to me: “I'm puzzled and perplexed by what is happening at home in Ethiopia. The Oromo youth is simply pilling down the onion of Oromo civility. Pumped with empty bravado and false pretext history for decades since the days of the Derg regime, the youth has turned out to be wild, partial, ethnocentric, and without any humane empathy in them. To this youth Ethiopia is synonymous to Amhara. Even some close friends have cut connections with me because of my stand on united Ethiopia. I'm not sure how to cure and rekindle sense of unity in the minds of this furious and fiery Oromo youth." I am dismayed! “Simmering ethnic tensions in the country of more than 100 million peo- ple have posed a major challenge to Abiy Ahmed, whose efforts to loosen the straps of iron-fisted rule and opening-up the democratic space have led to increased jockeying for power and influence”1. "A genocide begins with the killing of one man – not for what he has done, but because of who he is. A campaign of 'ethnic cleansing' begins with one neighbor turning on another. Poverty begins when even one child is denied his or her fundamental right to education. What begins with the failure to uphold the dignity of one life, all too often ends with a calamity for entire nations..."~ Kofi Annan. If we understand that genocide begins with the killing of one man, we are in a position not only to understand the true nature of genocide but also to act against it. This is the difference between "information" and "knowledge" or "understanding" which Holocaust survivors talked about. You and I both know that the Holocaust involved the murder of six million individuals, or that the Rwandan genocide claimed some eight hundred thousand 1 Death toll in Ethiopia violence over singer's killing hits 239. At least 239 killed in protests since last week over murder of popular ethnic Oromo singer Haacaaluu Hundeessaa. ( https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/07/ death-toll-ethiopia-violence- singer-killing-hits-239-200708075014258.html) 2 lives. But to fully understand genocidal drives, we must recognize that each of the perished lives had a story, each had a soul, and each loved and was loved by others. Genocide involves the destruction of all of this. Annan's speech went on. "Scientists tell us that the world of nature is so small and interdependent that a butterfly flapping its wings in the Amazon rainforest can generate a violent storm on the other side of the earth. This principle is known as the 'Butterfly Effect.' Today, we realize, perhaps more than ever, that the world of human activity also has its own 'Butterfly Effect' – for better or for worse."2 In a previous article (Berhanu, 2019)3, I attempted to unravel the possible reasons, factors and motives of ethno-nationalists´ — in particular Oromo nationalists’—agendas in Ethiopia. My argument was then focusing on few tribalism elements (wrapped up with anti-Ethiopia discourses as well as anti-Amhara propaganda) typically characterized by malicious false allegations. Concerted effort is needed to combat this false and distorted information. My analysis shows that ignorance, sinister motives, low moral intelligence, self-aggrandizement (inferiority complex) and conscientious stupidity are the common denominators to or attributes of all these ardent ethno nationalists. The catalysts are not genuinely concerned for their respective ethnic groups. They are primarily motived by ‘psychological and personal factors’. What is most saddening is the continuous defamation of the character and reputation of Emperor Menelik as well as belittling the globally renowned Adwa victory, which is the pride of black people. As the only African nation to successfully resist European conquest during the scramble for Africa, Ethiopia became a pre-eminent symbol of the pan-African movement and international opposition to colonization. The battle of Adwa not only saved Ethiopia from colonization by Rome, but also raised the status of an African country to an equal partner in the world community. The victory was achieved by the combined efforts of the gallant Oromo, Tigrean, Amhara, Gurague, Wollayita and several other ethnic groups inhabiting Ethiopia. It is a pride of everybody. Why do then, the proponents of tribalism want to delete that glorious national history unless they resorted to an utter lack of moral intelligence and human responsiveness! Yes, “Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.” ― Aldous Huxley, Complete Essays 2, 1926-29. In a recent article (Ezra (2020) wrote that Ethiopia is now run by ODP-EPRDF; and not TPLF-EPRDF. Yet, day in and day out the self-appointed Oromo elites, activists and politicians keep crying foul every time they show up on TV or any public gathering. What really is up with them?4 This is one reason why so many innocent lives are lost, properties are destroyed by mob destructive actions. To me this is nothing but, ‘Collective Stupidity’. It is important to note that the current population of Ethiopia has surpassed 112,000,000. However, the political discourses appear to solely revolve around the three Ethnic groups 2 https://everything2.com/title/A+genocide+begins+with+the+killing+of+one+man 3 https://ecadforum.com/2019/08/08/the-root-causes-of-the-incessant-obsession-by-ethno-nationalists-and- tribalists-to-dissolve-ethiopia/amp/ 4 https://www.satenaw.com/self-appointed-oromo-elites-activists-politicians-lost-mind-sure-seems/ 3 (Oromo, Amhara and Tigre) disregarding 50,000,000 plus Ethiopians belonging to 80 plus ethnic groups including descendants of interethnic marriages whom the Oromo extremists call as DICALLA. Ethiopia is a cosmopolitan society where many different people lived in almost total harmony until now. Along the course of history, many cities like Harar and Addis Ababa have been a melting pot and today’s Ethiopians resemble their ancestors in their immense tolerance of ethnical differences in spite of some derailed politicians and ethnic nationalist activists’ (Jawar Mohammed, Bekele Gerba, Ezekiel Gebissa, Tsegaye Ararssa, TPLF political elites, and etc.) barrages of fake narratives and treacherous and sinister motives. Wicked and dishonorable actions and rhetoric by tribal extremist politicians and activists, with sinister motives to foment conflict among the multitudes of Ethiopian ethnic groups, are the standard of the day in Ethiopia. It started with Tigrean cadres since the mid-1960s and has been going on for several decades; and now it is intensified well-orchestrated and organized in clandestine by Oromo (ethno) tribalism demagogues. Amidst all these trials, what gives the cohesion of the country is an esprit des corps based on a traditional culture, which in turn derives its solidity from the roots of a rich history as well as a common fate for all committed to live here. Jeff Pearce5, shocked by the latest tragedy wrote compellingly insightful messages to Ethiopians, with the title “Ethiopia, Save Yourselves as One People”: You came together as one people long ago — twice — to kick out the true enemy. First at Adwa, then years later in 1941….You came together as one people when the Kagnew Battalion fought bravely in the Korean War….You died as one people when Marxist psychopaths under the Derg went on their rampages of slaughter, rape and torture. Would you like to hear from the witnesses? Because there are those still alive who recall those dark days, who can tell you Amhara were murdered. Tigrayans were murdered. Oromo were murdered. Stop by the Red Terror Museum and look at the trays of skulls and bones and see what crop is sown from intolerance……This atheist, your pale, white cousin, is saying to you, people of faiths — Christian, Muslim, Jewish, etc. — people of different backgrounds — Amharic, Oromo, Tigrayan, Afar, etc. — that calling for the extermination of one people just leads to another museum with trays full of bones. Or worse, a landscape of waste, with no marker at all. And I promise you the cameras will come with their hungry, unblinking eyes, and the correspondents saying, “Oh, the shame of it. What a beautiful country Ethiopia once was...”Your nation is one of the leaders of Africa. Lead Africa again now. As one people. Please. Collective Intelligence versus Collective Stupidity My aim with this short article is however to problematize the latest tragedy with the help of two concepts: Collective intelligence6 and collective stupidity.
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