Thread in defense of #Intellectualism.
I am shocked & deeply ashamed by PM Abiy's speech last night belittling intellectuals of political science & economics. It's cheap & reckless. I hope it is something that our children don't have to grow listening to. My kids won't!
I am shocked & deeply ashamed by PM Abiy's speech last night belittling intellectuals of political science & economics. It's cheap & reckless. I hope it is something that our children don't have to grow listening to. My kids won't!
A brief reflection: the wave of anti-intellectualism that swept through every inch of Ethiopian political space since Abiy came to power seems to begin deploying its last arsenal: authoritarianism, one of the three most effective instruments against intellectualism of any stripe.
The other 2 are populism & religion. On populism: we've seen the chilling effect of the politics of dog whistle, fuled mainly by populism,& was/is sprinkled into our daily discourses & printed in our rally-banners. It's championed by 4killo & runs deep into the rank & file cadres
On religion: I have said a little bit about the PM's assault on science (& more) in this thread.
Basically, the toxic cocktail of these three is being effectively deployed against intellectualism under the coaching of a PM who is running for office. 👇
Basically, the toxic cocktail of these three is being effectively deployed against intellectualism under the coaching of a PM who is running for office. 👇
This's besides the alarming rise in the politics of polarization of everything under the Ethiopian sky. The open season of election is ahead of us.Protecting intellectualism from those running for office should be one of th things that these of us not running for office should do
*those of us*
