The benevolent society

Collaborative endeavor for the common good should be the natural instinct of society. No segment of the whole can be an island unto itself and thrive at the expense of others. It is this sort of dysfunctional socio-economics that creates at best, uncertainties and at worst a chaotic manifestation.
Our country has been lurching from one crisis to another as if it has a macabre agenda for giving itself a difficult time. Sadly, this self-flagellation has been like a never emptying glass of cold water on a hot day for historic and not so old enemies.
Ethiopian society whether it likes it or not, ready or otherwise, aware or not, is at a crossroads. But then we can not appreciate that fact unless we define this amorphous entity we call Society.
Society is a word that is ultimately derived from commonality. The shared record of co-habitation and the collective experiences of a unit of people that regard themselves with a common identity. This includes the P.M, ministers, builders, shoe shiners housewives, scientists, prostitutes, business persons, writers, doctors, HIV+ people, athletes... Firstly, there is no ‘them’ against ‘us’ in society. All the achievements and failures are owned by the same unit.
None of these clusters can live or indeed, die alone. They will either all swim or all drown. Buoyancy will be gained if they all realize that it is a shared community in only one Ethiopia. The boat will surely capsize if a societal sense of common decency is lost to the storms of the day.
Common decency in the current scheme of affairs would require certain things from the consumer public, business interests and of course, the state.
The Consumer Public
The purchasing power of the consumer is shrinking monthly. Commodities are in short supply. Taxes are eating into savings. The haves are ever richer at the expense of the have nots. These are the realities of the day. However, common decency would demand the public to rationalize the situation and not rush to blame this or that part of society for needlessly causing the upward spiral in the cost of living. Let us not categorically malign business people as a group. The overwhelming majority are at their wits end themselves trying to make ends meet. Let us be more understanding. Again, there is no room here for ‘them’ against ‘us’.
The Business Community
The business and general services sector is a vital engine of the economy and one that relies on the bottom line. It is a sector that has been and is still plagued by numerous challenges, both domestic and international. It can use all the help and incentives it can get. However, there are those that would and do take advantage of the current spike in prices to get illegal profits from an overstretched public. It is the duty of all law abiding business persons to out this chaff from amongst them.
The State
Ethiopia needs a state machinery that listens closely to the national pulse and that can feel intuitively, because it is part of society, the hardships being suffered by its citizens.
This in order to gauge the right time to impose new taxes in a consultative manner and not so arbitrarily. We also urge the state to eradicate all the domestic political obstacles to achieving national cohesion. These on-going disagreements have had devastating effects on national morale and have been deftly manipulated by regional rivals.
The last few weeks in this regard, have hopefully ushered in a change of mind by the administration. The release of detained journalists and others is encouraging and should be a sign that we may finally be emerging from the dark hangover of the fateful 2005 elections.