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By Abel Merawi
September 2, 2020 (Ezega.com) – When people ask for financial aid, leaders speak of ethnic solutions. When desperate farmers require modern technological solutions, leaders disguise it as racial inequality. Young people demand jobs while leaders preach regional separatisms. Without identifying the root of the economic problems, we cannot begin to solve them. The individual, who is born free, faces the difficulty of properly identifying and formulating his own demands. There is no need for an elaborate discourse that individual freedom is an illusion without economic freedom. Let’s be bold enough to admit that Ethiopians have economic agendas but they certainly do not have ethnic or racial agendas. However, the incessant false doctrine of leading and opposing the “politicians” tries to create it.
Freedom comes with a choice accompanied by responsibility. Such freedom comes with preliminary conditions. These conditions include an education that awakens the seeking mind; a political environment that provides or, at least, tolerates freedom of expression; the availability of basic public infrastructure; and an economic model that gives hope to move from poverty to wealth.
Poverty is a barrier between the individual and freedom. In poverty, the constant pursuit of basic needs hinders vision and will. It’s almost impossible to exercise freedom when you don’t know where or how your next meal will arrive. It is difficult for parents to achieve their dreams when meeting the rudimentary needs of their children is a huge task. The recent graduate could not become an entrepreneur if he still depends on elderly parents who need the support of the child. In school, it is difficult for a struggling teacher to inspire students about the value of education. In these and more ways, poverty limits our physical and mental movement.
As the expression goes, ‘No man is an island’. Our birth is welcomed by the citizens. Consequently, our freedom is stretched or restricted by the political and economic system of the country and the citizens of which we are a part. To expose the meaning of economic bondage in Ethiopia, we will begin with a discussion of the political and economic situation of the nation. Politically speaking, Ethiopia is threatened by ethnic violence between supposedly dominant groups. In truth, the unity of the peoples is indispensable for economic growth. The recent violent protests by the crowd and the diabolical narrative of their leaders resulted in the loss of precious human lives. They have left millions of innocent people homeless and in need of help through no fault of their own. The destruction of religious institutions has taken the comfort away from desperate people who found hope in the Godhead. Destruction of public and private property has stolen hard-earned money from honest, hard-working people, while making investors shy away from investing in the country. In Ethiopia, the work of politicians seems only to add fuel to the fire.
Peace and unity are essential for economic progress; however, it is not enough without a functioning economic system. To truly judge the effectiveness of an economic system, we must examine the growth prospects of the middle and lower class through ingenuity and diligence. When few individuals and groups own the capital of a nation, the rest of the people are destined to be subordinate. There are natural resources in all nations, and when only a few possess them for generations, the rest lead a secondary life characterized by servitude. Perhaps a closer look at the relationship between employer and employee will give us a better understanding.
In capitalism, there is a broad perception or, more likely, a misperception about the rules of the game. The first assumption is that the capitalist hires the employee for a service, so it is consensual and fair. The second assumption is that the price of goods and services increases when wages increase. The other assumption refers to taxation, which is supposed to be progressive and fair. Among other things, the way we understand these three points determines our economic life. Dr. Cornel West and Roberto Mangabeira Unger in ‘The Future of American Progressivism’ (1998) argue: “The hope of social mobility – the ability of the determined individual to move up the ladder of class distinctions – depends on economic resources. and educational in the disposition of each individual, as well as on the barriers of privilege, discrimination and exclusion that must face ”. Consequently, an economic system that ignores and discourages social mobility results in unfair economic inequality.
The employer and employee make a similar assumption that they argue: Since a person agrees to do a certain job for a certain price, without physical coercion, the deal is fair. I find it difficult to agree with such a statement and ask: is it fair when poverty and lack of opportunities lead you to agree to what the employer wants to pay? Can you negotiate wages when you are indefinitely unemployed? More importantly, does the payment match the earnings you made for the employer? Karl Marx in his work ‘Poverty of philosophy’ defines the cost of labor power as “the cost required for the maintenance of the worker as a worker and for his education and training as a worker.” In other words, the employee’s salary should not only cover basic needs but also future growth.
The second assumption is that the employee’s salary is determined by the market price of the service or good. In other words, as wages rise, the price of goods and services inflates. This, I think, is an absurd argument since what the employee is negotiating is the profit sharing between the capitalists and the worker. In a simple, hypothetical scenario, suppose that a capitalist buys the raw materials of a single product for 500 birr, pays 100 birr for the employee, and sells it at the price of 1,000 birr. This means that the total profit from a single production is 500 birr, of which the employee receives 100 birr and the capitalist 400 birr. Thus, when the employee asks for a better payment, it is the 400 birr that the employer is taking. However, the oldest trick of the capitalist is to increase the price of the commodity without risking or even increasing profits. Karl Marx argues: “The rise and fall of profits and wages simply express the proportion in which capitalists and workers share the product of a day’s work, without influencing in most cases the price of the product. “.
The tax system is also another misconception. Taxation is assumed to be progressive, neglecting the huge difference within tax circles. The same and more happens with the employee tax system. For example, taxing a person who earns 15,000 birr 35% the same as a person earning 60,000 birr is absolutely wrong. The same happens when taxing the same amount to the producer who benefits from 1 million and 10 million. Returning to the case of the employed, the tax system does not encourage saving not only because the tax rate is high but also because there is double taxation. I call it double taxation because there are taxes on both income and consumption. As Dr. Cornel West argues, “A shift to consumption-based taxes can help raise the level of savings by exempting savings from taxes.” Therefore, the consumption tax encourages saving on income and can help the working class that is maintained in a cyclical life.
The aforementioned points are at the heart of Ethiopia’s economic disparity, but they are not the only ones. Really exploring the economic problems of our country should become the priority of Ethiopian economists. Sometimes the real problem is in silence. When everyone engages in racial issues, the economic issue is ignored and silenced. If the leaders of the opposition parties spent more time solving the country’s economic agendas than creating ethnic problems, we would have come a long way. As for individuals, they continue the existence of economic servitude without anyone, not even themselves, being able to understand and overcome it. The first step is to stop focusing on the side show and face the real problem. Let’s end our discussion with the words of Dr. West and Unger who commented:
“To understand your country you must love it. To love it you must, in a sense, accept it. However, to accept it as it is is to betray it. To accept your country without betraying it, you must love it for what it shows in it what it could become. “
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Abel merawi is an Addis Abeba contributor for Ezega.com. You can contact him through this form.
Other items from Abel merawi:
Free but on Chain. Part II: Social Slavery
Free but on Chain. Part I: The Slavery of the Worldview
Unemployment and economic growth in Ethiopia
Human ignorance underrated
Is America the land of the free? (Part II)
Is America the land of the free? (Part I)
Capitalism becomes an impediment to morality
Ketman: Living in Disguise to Win Acceptance
The system and the ‘criminal’
Trust as an economic force
Do you trust the government?
Our online world
Fame confused with expertise
The heavy burden of health workers
A time to reflect
The Plague of Albert Camus: Fiction becomes reality!
History of pandemics in Ethiopia
The Human Fight Against Pandemics: Historical Perspective
Crisis speculators
You can make the difference
Rule of law for a free society
Adwa
The origins of law
Determinants of Market Value: Part II
Determinants of Market Value: Part I
Your life matters too
Manifestations of artistic expression
Achievements vs natural accidents
The sacrificial grip
Injustice is never justifiable
The educational demands of the future
Job security, life and an unpredictable future
The shift from racism to bodybuilding
Sacrifice meaning for power?
Cultural and market forces
Intersubjective reality
Searching for cosmic justice
National myths: makers and destroyers of nations
Are we truly free?
Maturity: the prerequisite for freedom and democracy
Loyalty to the truth, not the group
The value of work
The shortcomings of the Ethiopian political system
Intellectuals and people
Where are our conquerors?
The Allegory of the Cave and Its Lessons for Leaders
The truth behind humanity
The seven virtues
The seven capital sins
What is the right thing to do?
Building National Identity
Adey Abeba and the spirit of change
Street violence
Living the truth as a human being
Hubris: the tragedy of not learning from others
The Age of Group Mentality: Us vs. Them
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