The Ethiopian government, led by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, is waging war against its own people—specifically, the Amhara.

Amhara men, women, and children are being killed and arrested not for their actions, but for who they are. This is targeted ethnic violence. It is, therefore, genocide.

The term “genocide” is inflammatory, but in the context of Ethiopia (as in Gaza), it is tragically accurate. It describes the mass killing, unlawful arrests, forced displacement, and systemic dehumanization of a specific group—in this case, the Amhara.

As a result of this targeted violence and the fallout from the 2020–2022 war with the TPLF, a severe humanitarian crisis has engulfed the Amhara region:

Nearly a million people are internally displaced, many living in overcrowded and structurally unsafe camps with inadequate sanitation and limited access to water, food, and healthcare. Thousands of children are showing signs of malnutrition, and cholera has spread throughout the region, with over 5,000 reported cases in 2023–2024. This outbreak is linked to poor sanitation and appalling living conditions in the displacement camps.

Deadly Drones

Abiy is using the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF), including the air force, to target Amhara civilians, with drones routinely employed as the weapon of choice. These attacks are blatant violations of international humanitarian law.

The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has documented lethal air and drone strikes by the Ethiopian Air Force in Amhara cities—including Debre Birhan, Finote Selam, and Bure—all of which resulted in significant civilian casualties and damage to residential areas.

On 17 April, a major drone strike took place in Gedeb Town. AllAfrica reportedthat “over 100 civilians were killed when a drone targeted a group gathered near Gedeb Primary School for community activities.” In a statement echoing Israeli denials in Gaza, the Ethiopian government claimed they were “targeting” Fano fighters. Survivors are clear: the victims were ordinary people engaged in peaceful community work.

According to Abiy, Fano is a militant group—a derogatory label often used to delegitimize and criminalize freedom fighters or community militias—and the supposed target of his military campaign. In reality, Fano is a community-based defense force made up of local civilians and former members of the Amhara Special Forces (ASF), which was decommissioned by the government in 2023. In fact, the government is ‘targeting’ not just Fano, but Amhara civilians—both young and old.

The word Fano (Amharic) means “volunteer” or “patriot.” Widely regarded within Amhara communities as a heroic force—and rightly so—Fano became extremely active during the Tigray War, defending not just Amhara communities from TPLF fighters, but also civilians throughout the region and beyond. Since the disbanding of the ASF, Fano has taken on a greater role in protecting its people from aggression by the ENDF.

They are now resisting not only government forces but also the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), the armed wing of the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), an ethnic nationalist party that is part of the ruling coalition.

The OLF was outlawed and branded a terrorist organization under the previous regime. However, when Abiy Ahmed—an Oromo himself—came to power in 2018, the designation was lifted, and the OLF was welcomed back into the political mainstream.

Its military unit, however, is still labeled a terrorist organization by the Ethiopian government, and with good reason. Despite this classification, there is clear evidence that the OLA has operated in parallel with, and in some cases in coordination with, the ENDF and Oromo Special Forces (OSF) in attacks against Amhara civilians.

The OLA claims to fight for greater autonomy and self-determination for the Oromo people—Ethiopia’s largest ethnic group, alongside the Amhara. Its goals are framed within Ethiopia’s divisive system of ethnic federalism, which has led to the establishment of regional states based on ethnic majorities.

Enshrined in the country’s 1995 constitution, Ethnic Federalism is a misguided policy that has institutionalized division along ethnic lines, deepened historical grievances, exacerbated inter-communal tensions, and fueled cycles of violence. This system lies at the root of the violence against Amhara communities; it fans the flames of tribalism—a societal poison embedded within Ethiopia’s political structure.

Ethnic Division by Design

The hope that swept the country when Abiy came to power quickly evaporated as it became clear that, despite his rhetoric, Abiy’s politics are not rooted in unity and reform but in division and domination. He has empowered Oromo nationalist elements while ruthlessly suppressing Amhara interests.

Abiy is a narcissistic, deeply divisive figure—more concerned with consolidating power and perpetuating his rule than with the wellbeing of the Ethiopian people. He is autocratic and, like all such figures, paranoid. Criticism of any kind—from any group or individual—is not tolerated; arrest and torture are common consequences.

And while most of the population lives in grinding poverty, Abiy pours resources into vanity projects and military hardware—not to defend the country from external threats, but to terrorize his own people and suppress internal dissent.

Under his leadership, both longstanding and newly inflamed ethnic tensions have been weaponized, turning Ethiopia into a federation of competing ethnic and tribal interests rather than a unified state.

This inflamed tribalism isn’t unique to Ethiopia—it is part of a global trend. The loudest voice may be Trump in the U.S., but autocratic, so-called populists are in power across the world. From India to Hungary, Israel to Brazil, nationalism has taken root, eroding democratic institutions and trampling on human rights and international law.

Ethiopia is one of the most tragic and violent manifestations of this global regression—and, with 94% of its population experiencing poverty at some level, it remains one of the poorest nations to fall under the shadow of such political extremism.

Unite for Amhara

The plight of the Amhara people is the plight of Ethiopia. There can be no substantive social or economic development in the country without peace.

The genocide against the Amhara is one of the worst humanitarian crises unfolding on the African continent—yet Africa remains largely silent. Where is the African Union on this issue? Based in Addis Ababa and often outspoken on conflicts in Sudan and Chad, the AU has said and done little to support the Amhara.

The United Nations, too, must act. An independent investigation into human rights violations and potential acts of genocide is long overdue. Entire Amhara communities have been devastated: tens of thousands are dead, over two million are estimated to be displaced, and hundreds of thousands—perhaps as many as 500,000—falsely imprisoned. Those still living in their homes do so under the shadow of fear and repression imposed by Abiy Ahmed’s violent regime.

Ending this crisis will require both internal and external pressure: a sustained, large-scale protest movement from within Ethiopia, coupled with economic and political action from international donors and institutions—who, to date, have remained silent.

But as long as ethnic federalism remains in place, lasting peace in Ethiopia seems unlikely. Any political system—anywhere—that entrenches division rather than fosters unity must be dismantled. The future of Ethiopia—and the world—depends on adopting structures and values that bring people together, not tear them apart.

Unity rooted in social justice, compassion, and cooperation is the only path to lasting peace. Unity is the greatest threat to regimes like Abiy’s—and the thing they fear most. When people stand together and speak with one voice, no government, no matter how brutal, can silence them.

Ethiopians across all communities and ethnicities must confront the truth of what is happening, acknowledge the suffering of the Amhara people, and—sharing in their pain—stand beside them to demand an end to the killing and persecution.

https://www.counterpunch.org/2025/05/02/the-plight-of-amhara-people-is-the-plight-of-ethiopia-a-call-for-unity/

At least now, the choices are clearly defined—the alternatives revealed in ways that were once less obvious: what kind of world we want, what kind of country we aim to be, and what kind of people we aspire to become. It is up to us, then, to make our decision, upon which the future will be built.

On the face of it, there appear to be a variety of choices around any given issue. But if we look with dispassion and love at the major concerns of the day, can we truly say there are choices at all? Take a simple example: should we support drilling for oil, or not? When viewed through the lens of our guiding criteria—dispassion and love—the answer is plain, and is therefore free from choice.

Or take a more urgent example: is it “right” to support Israel in its actions against the Palestinian people? The Israeli government and military are committing genocide, all support—arms, aid, and political cover—therefore, should be withdrawn, and Israel completely isolated. This again is a choiceless decision, free from dilemma, if, and it’s a big if, we are willing to see the situation clearly, through the unflinching light of dispassion and love.

But most—if not all—of our choices arise not from this point of clarity, but from a muddled, self-centred position: our likes and dislikes, our desires and fears, our psychological and sociological conditioning.

Within this fragmented space, choice—routinely conflated with freedom—has little, if anything, to do with, freedom – true freedom. And can there be any other kind?

In fact, freedom does not equate with choice—but with love, and it is from this shining source that our ‘choices’ should emerge, if we—humanity—are to face the challenges of our time and begin to build a new and just world.

While it may appear counterintuitive, I would suggest it is, in fact, the cleansing energy of love that is driving everything to the surface—where it can be seen and recognised for what it truly is. This revelatory force acts as a mirror to humanity, exposing both the pure and the corrupted, the path of progress and unity, alongside the divisive, violent ways of the past; the cruel alongside the compassionate.

In the same way that both weeds and flowers grow under the same sunlight, neither side has a monopoly on this revealing light, which nourishes both the good and the bad, the true and the false alike. As a wise man has said, all are fed equally—“the one who loves and works for justice and sharing, but also the one who causes the divisions, schisms, and greed in the world.”

The opposites revealed—large and small, everyday and pivotal moments—demand that we choose. Some issues are more polarising than others, dividing families, fracturing friendships: Brexit, the environment, Trump, Israel/Palestine, and all things religious. Lines are drawn, sides are taken, and the space between becomes a battleground; and where there is division, there is almost always conflict—whether within an individual or a group

In the stark, unflinching light of our times, nothing can remain hidden for long. All is being revealed in the chaos: the ways of peace and the machinery of war; just and cooperative modes of living, in contrast to isolationism and the violence of inequality; environmental responsibility set against endless consumerism and corporate greed. On and on it goes—choices rising from the noise, asking us: Where are we? Where do we stand?

It is clear: the opposites are evident, and with them, so are the ‘choices’—if, of course, we are willing to set aside our selfishness and fears and observe these opposites with dispassion and love. When we do, we will discover that unity and Oneness are the natural order of things, not division and separation, as we have long believed.

https://www.counterpunch.org/2025/04/11/clear-choices-in-a-divided-world/

In a display of staggering arrogance, even by its own standards, the U.S. administration recently sent a questionnaire to UN aid agencies, asking staff whether they held “anti-American” beliefs or affiliations—as if America were a religion rather than a nation-state—and whether they had any links to communism. The International Committee of the Red Cross also received the form, which was issued by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

The questionnaire demanded confirmation that agency workers had no ties to communist, socialist, or totalitarian parties—or to any group deemed ideologically ‘suspect’. “Can you confirm that your organization does not work with entities associated with communist, socialist, or totalitarian parties, or any party that espouses anti-American beliefs?” 

What exactly are these “anti-American beliefs” anyway? Perhaps democracy, the rule of law, equality, social justice, or freedom of expression qualify—since where these values exist at all, they are ignored or trampled on by the Trump administration. Try organizing a pro-Palestine demonstration or hosting an LGBTQ+ celebration at the Kennedy Center in Washington and see how far those ‘American’ freedoms extend.

The blatant message behind this outrageous act is clear: to receive US funding or political backing, you must align with US ideology and biases—such as unwavering loyalty to Israel. It’s hard to imagine any other country or government sending such a crass document. It is yet another example of how Trump and his administration view the world and America’s place within it.

They distrust anyone who isn’t part of their broader clan, and seem to believe that the U.S. is superior to all other nations and institutions—operating in a separate shiny space, one that is above and beyond both domestic and international law.

‘The law’ is routinely ignored, especially International Humanitarian Law (IHL), which is regarded with contempt. This did not begin with Trump. Since 9/11, the U.S. and its mates (particularly Israel), have consistently undermined IHL, gradually eroding its foundations. Today, this weakening has reached a point where Israel is able to commit genocide with total impunity.

In addition to disregarding the law, all forms of respectful behavior toward global bodies—and in some cases, national leaders—are ignored. A prime example is the appalling treatment of Zelensky in the Oval Office by Trump and J.D.Vance, followed by Vance’s condescending lecture to European leaders at the Munich Security Conference. While his speech was praised in the U.S. by Trump and right-wing media, it was met with near silence by those in attendance.

This imperious approach extends to the Trump administration’s attitude towards the UN. The administration is actively working to subvert the organization and cast doubt on the effectiveness and legitimacy of its work.

Beyond questioning UN staff, the administration has withdrawn from key UN agencies—most notably the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) and UNRWA (the UN agency for Palestinian refugees)—and launched a review of overall UN funding. While the U.S. is the largest donor to the UN, it routinely fails to pay its assessed contributions on time; as of March 2025, it owed $1.5 billion in unpaid assessments.

Europe’s weird response

The loudest reaction to the U.S.’s growing disregard for international institutions and human rights has come from European governments (including UK), who, bizarrely, have responded by increasing national defense budgets in the face of what they regard as increased uncertainty.

This is perplexing because if humanity is genuinely striving for peace (a big if), what logic is there in investing more in the instruments of war—guns, drones, tanks, fighter jets—anything designed to kill and destroy? Politicians, ever duplicitous, justify this by citing the need to counter an ever-growing ‘threat’—Russia, followed by China and North Korea are the usual suspects. 

What is often overlooked is that, since 1948, the U.S. has been involved in more armed conflicts than any other nation—either through direct military intervention, such as in Vietnam, Korea, Iraq, and Afghanistan (with disastrous consequences in each case), or by enabling allies to commit atrocities, including genocide, as in the case of Israel.

Achieving global peace requires addressing the root causes of conflict, not building bigger and more powerful armies. The only true beneficiaries of this misguided and immoral approach are the arms corporations—largely American—that fuel the military-industrial complex.

The new centre of things?

As Europe and the world grapples with its own responses to global uncertainty, the need for a unified and effective international system has never been clearer. 

At the heart of any evolving global order should be the United Nations (UN)—the very institution that is being systematically diminished by the Trump administration.

Established in 1945, the UN’s primary mission is to maintain international peace and security. While conflict has persisted in the 80 years since, the UN has played a key role in preventing a third world war—an achievement that is perhaps overlooked.

In a February speech to the Security Council (SC), which contained elements that could help shape a new global order, Secretary-General António Guterres stressed that “global solidarity and solutions are needed [now] more than ever……global challenges cry out for multilateral solutions.”

Guterres stands out among world leaders as a principled figure, consistently calling on nations to cooperate and address global challenges like climate change and poverty. His vision contrasts sharply with the narrow, insular ideology of far-right governments, such as the one currently entrenched in Washington.

If the systemic evolution that is so badly needed is to come about—the movement into ‘the new’—the world needs leaders with vision and courage, like the Secretary-General: creative men and women capable of listening and reimagining systems and institutions to better serve the needs of the time. 

The transition into ‘the new’ has been underway for decades and is unstoppable. However, resistance remains intense—embodied by figures like Trump and his ilk—and the choices before us are stark. 

To move forward, we must cast aside the poisons they peddle: fragmentation, intolerance, and tribalism, and instead embrace the timeless values of sharing, cooperation, and mutual understanding. It is through the demonstration of these values that social harmony and lasting peace can be achieved—without which nothing of true significance can endure.

Unity is essential; humanity is one—equal and whole—and the United Nations remains a powerful symbol of this interconnectedness. Attempts by the U.S. administration to weaken or undermine the UN only embolden rogue states like Israel, which routinely attacks UN agencies and disregards its resolutions. Member states and UN officials must stand together in firm defiance of such actions.

With reforms to the Security Council—such as abolishing the permanent member veto and expanding representation—the UN has the potential to become the world’s great unifying and equalizing body. Serving as the facilitator of lasting peace through the promotion of social justice and sharing, as well as the pre-eminent global forum for debate; a space free of all ‘isms, in which every nation’s voice carries equal weight.

Only through a collective commitment to ‘the good’ can we transcend the divisions epitomized by the U.S. government and begin to build a future where peace, social justice, and equality are lived realities for all.

https://www.counterpunch.org/2025/03/28/a-strong-un-for-a-world-in-transition/

Emboldened by the election of Donald Trump as U.S. President, far-right groups are rising around the world. These voices present a major threat, not just to the democracy they claim to revere, but also to social cohesion, minority groups, and the natural world. Intolerance and tribalism are their common currency—social poisons that foster division, fuel hate, and ignite violence.

In 1989, the Berlin Wall fell, Germany was reunified, and the Soviet Union began to unravel. It was a moment of jubilation in Germany and throughout the West. Democratic governments, which had been rapidly growing after World War II, seemed to have reached their final triumph with German unification.

In the following years, democracy was embraced by much of Eastern Europe, Nelson Mandela was released from prison, and apartheid was dismantled in South Africa after more than 40 years. It was a remarkable time—one filled with tremendous optimism, a belief that the world had finally turned its back on repressive methods and that real change was possible; that a new era was beginning.

Thirty-five years on, that feeling of hope has been well and truly extinguished; the ideal of democracy is in peril, and a suffocating shadow is spreading across the world. The global rules-based order is under attack, extremism and authoritarianism seem to be on the rise, and societies in many Western countries are perhaps more divided and polarized than ever before.

Extremism and inequality

The appeal of the far right is the result of a number of interconnected factors. Inequality is a major ingredient—wealth and income inequality, but also unequal access to good-quality housing, education, healthcare, and opportunities, as well as cultural activities like concerts, exhibitions, theatre, etc.

Up until the late 1980s and early 1990s, levels of wealth and income inequality were comparatively low, but by the mid-2000s, disparities had grown substantially. In 2016, Oxfam reported that “runaway inequality has created a world where 62 people own as much wealth as the poorest half of the world’s population—a figure that has fallen from 388 just five years ago.”

But instead of working-class groups uniting in calls for social justice, the primary consequence, as French economist Thomas Piketty observed, was (and continues to be) ‘the rise of various forms of xenophobic ‘populism’ and identity-based politics.’

Inevitably, inequality has moved in only one direction: it is now even more extreme. Poverty is growing in many countries, while the number of billionaires increases year on year. According to Oxfam, ‘Global billionaire wealth grew by $2 trillion in 2024, three times faster than the year before, equivalent to roughly $5.7 billion a day. Meanwhile, according to the World Bank, the number of people still living in poverty—around 3.5 billion—has barely changed since 1990.’ In fact, the number is increasing.”

For the 99.9%, inequality is part of the economic instability under which they live, and economic uncertainty is another major factor in the appeal of far-right groups.

After the 2008 financial crash (the impact of which is still being felt), support for far-right groups grew. This is consistent with the fallout from previous financial crises. Research examining around 100 such events since 1870 found that “far-right parties are the biggest beneficiaries of financial crashes… after a crisis, the share of the vote going to right-wing parties increases by more than 30 percent.”

Now we come to immigration—more accurately, the politicization of immigration. This is perhaps the single biggest factor driving people into the arms of far-right political parties and figures. It stems from a narrow sense of individual and national identity, fueling negative attitudes toward multiculturalism—particularly, but not exclusively, in relation to people from Muslim countries. These fearful attitudes are eagerly exploited and inflamed by ambitious right-wing politicians, with the aid of conservative mainstream media and propaganda spread via social media.

Immigrants, asylum seekers, refugees, and economic migrants have become scapegoats for economic hardship, unemployment, stagnant wages, and the breakdown of public services. Far-right parties amplify these substantial social issues and, instead of highlighting the systemic failures (Neo-liberal policies) and political mismanagement, including the mishandled impact of globalization, they point the finger at foreigners.

Blame and distrust of ‘the other’ for a nation’s ills is not only unjustified and perverse, but it also allows far-right protectionism and flag-waving tribalism to flourish. Migrants are condemned and accused of failing to integrate, of importing foreign ways of life, and of weakening—rather than enriching—the adopted country’s culture. Social division and hate are the intertwined aims of the far right, and increasingly, of panicked centre-right political parties desperate for voters.

In addition to attacking foreigners, LGBTQ+ people are increasingly scapegoated by far-right politicians pushing a conservative agenda. The result is a rise in hate speech and an ‘unprecedented surge in violence against LGBTQ+ people in 2024 across Europe.’ A recent report shows that this victimization is a growing issue in Europe and Central Asia, where ‘governments are using anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric to justify restrictions on free speech, civil society, and fair elections.’ This is how widespread suppression begins and fascism takes hold—first, silence so-called ‘minority groups’; then, expand control based on spurious security and social concerns to include everyone

It’s not too late

These are unquestionably transitional times as we move from a crumbling way of life into ‘the new.’ While they are undeniably dangerous and filled with uncertainty, they also present tremendous opportunities. The choice of how we move forward is ours: unite and prosper, or remain divided and endure increasing adversity.

Humanity is confronted with a series of extremely challenging, interconnected crises, with the environmental catastrophe being by far the most severe. If the global trend toward extremism continues, the bold actions needed to tackle the pressing issues of our time—particularly climate change and ecological collapse—will not be taken, allowing these crises to worsen.

In large part, it is the failure of progressive forces worldwide to address systemic failings over decades that has allowed the far right to gain traction and spread its poison. The economic crash of 2008/09 played a role in the rise of the far right and the narrowing of perspectives within the center-right. However, like all such events, the crash presented an opportunity to reimagine the socio-economic system along more just and sustainable lines. Instead, the corrupt greed of bankers was rewarded with bailouts, while the people were punished through austerity and wage cuts.

For fifty years or more, the division between those advocating for evolutionary change (think of the Arab Spring, the Occupy movement, or the global environmental movement) and those determined to maintain the unjust status quo has been clear. Demands for peace, economic justice, climate action, and more have been consistently ignored. As a result, year after year, the chasm between these two groups has widened; attitudes have darkened, and as governments have become more extreme, suppression has been legitimized.

Had there been a more open, creative response to the energies of the time, the march toward the far right—currently taking place in opposition to the natural order of things—would not have happened, and we would be living in a completely different world. Even now, at the eleventh hour, that opportunity still exists; resistance is entrenched, making the task harder and the need for men and women of goodwill to unite more urgent than ever: the future of our societies and the planet depend on it.

https://www.counterpunch.org/2025/02/28/the-result-of-inaction-ignoring-the-people-led-to-this/

Every year of the past 10 has been the hottest on record, with 2024 topping the heat chart. It’s not only air temperatures that are climbing; in 2024, the oceans of the world also reached a new daily high. 2024 was the first year on record where global average temperatures exceeded 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. “From January to September, the global mean surface air temperature was 1.54°C above the pre-industrial average.”

The reason the planet continues to heat up is because not enough is being done to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Arising principally from burning fossil fuels (oil, coal, gas), it is GHG emissions that are clogging the lower atmosphere, resulting in global warming.

Limiting global warming to 1.5˚C was the target agreed upon by 196 countries at the Paris Climate Accords in 2016. The Paris Agreement “sets long-term goals to…. hold global temperature increase to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.” President Trump has taken the US out of the legally binding landmark agreement. This reckless and irresponsible step sets a dangerous example for other nations that wish to flaunt environmental commitments, and should be strongly condemned by governments throughout the world.

If the current warming trajectory continues, by the early 2030’s 1.5˚C is likely to become the norm, with higher temperatures a real risk.

Increases in average ground temperatures of 1.5 or 2 degrees centigrade doesn’t sound like much, but every additional fraction of a degree can bring more frequent and intense extreme weather, such as heatwaves and heavy rainfall. “Every tenth of a degree matters and climate impacts get progressively worse the more warming we have,” explains Zeke Hausfather, a climate scientist at Berkeley Earth.

Once established a 1.5˚C world would be hard to reverse, and the risks are manifold: an increase in extreme weather events – more frequent and intense heatwaves, droughts, heavy rainfall and storms; rising sea levels, which in turn increases the risk of costal flooding and erosion; coral reef loss – its estimated that 70-90% of coral reefs could disappear due to ocean warming and acidification; arctic ice loss, affecting ecosystems and global climate patterns; biodiversity loss – up to 14% of land species could face high risk of extinction.

If warming of 1.5˚C is normalised and becomes 2˚C (or higher), the impacts would be much worse — doubling the extinction risks, intensifying extreme weather, and making some regions uninhabitable, leading to mass displacement of people.

In addition to the environmental impacts, rising temperatures affect communities and economies. A heating planet means food and water shortages and increased risk of heat related illnesses and deaths. Businesses are impacted in affected areas and climate disasters cost trillions of dollars in infrastructure damage and reduced productivity.

Its all interconnected

Climate change is one aspect of the man-made environmental catastrophe, which is the biggest crisis humanity has ever been confronted with. It is unprecedented in seriousness and impact, short, medium, and long-term. The speed of change is surprising everyone, including climate scientists. “Both 2023 and 2024 temperatures surprised most climate scientists— we didn’t think we’d be seeing a year above 1.5˚C this early,” says Dr Hausfather.

In all developed and emerging countries, the environmental emergency should be the central issue around which all other matters— economy, development, geo-politics, etc.— are decided. How does this policy, this proposal, impact the planet? Does it have a negative or positive effect on the climate, on local ecosystems, on pollution, etc., or is it neutral? If the proposal increases greenhouse gas emissions, further weakens an endangered species or ecosystem, adds to air/water/soil pollution, or expands desertification. Then the proposal should immediately be dropped; this is what would happen in we were living in a world where responsible governance was standard practice. Sadly we are not.

The current crop of political ‘leaders’ are weak, unprincipled, and on the whole, completely inadequate to the colossal challenge that the man-made environmental catastrophe presents. Compromised by their indebtedness to big business, personal ambition, blind adherence to ideology, and complete lack of vision, not only do they consistently fail to address the issues of the day, but their actions routinely intensify the problems.

Far from environmental concerns sitting at the forefront of policy-making, irrespective of country or ideology, it is securing economic growth that exercises the minds of politicians, and the drive for profit that determines the actions of corporations. Growth that is strongly dependent on consumerism, and it is unconstrained consumerism within and by rich nations, that is in large part responsible for the environmental catastrophe.

Along with competition and social injustice, consumerism is one of the cornerstones of market fundamentalism. Excess is celebrated, selfishness and greed promoted. Not only has this crude materialistic way of life vandalised the natural world, it has encouraged narrow unhealthy behaviour and a set of social norms that have created unhealthy societies populated by frightened, confused people.

The health of the planet and the well-being of humanity, as well as the animal, vegetable and mineral kingdoms are all interconnected. It is one integrated eco-system, one life; infection in one area affects all other parts. There is no such thing as separation, on all levels life is one. Try telling that to the Clown In Chief ensconced in the White House.

Whilst governments and (most) corporations/businesses are not interested in putting the environment at the centre of everything, we as individuals can. This means protesting environmental abuse and taking personal responsibility for the way we live. Every decision – shopping, travel, heating, etc., should take into account the environmental impact; if everyone decided to only patronise environmentally responsible businesses, companies large and small would quickly change their strategies. The same applies to politicians, local and national, who are trying to persuade the electorate to vote for them.

Given the scale of the crisis such steps may appear tiny, but when adopted by enough people they can have an impact, and doing something rather than nothing alleviates to some degree the feeling of despair. Hope, which is so badly needed at this time, is not based on wishful thinking, but comes about through sustained action.

https://www.counterpunch.org/2025/02/14/and-still-growth-is-all-they-talk-about/

With each passing year wealth becomes concentrated in the hands of a smaller and smaller number of individuals and corporations. It is estimated that by 2030 the richest 1% in the world will possess two-thirds of all global wealth. And in a world dominated by money, with wealth comes political influence and power, the corruption of democracy and the perversion of policy making.

The division between the rich and the rest, between wealthy and poor nations, is not a calm quiet space. It is a highly volatile cesspool, filled with animosity and resentment, ready to explode at any moment. It is a violent space.

Income and wealth inequality are entrenched forms of social injustice. They exist to varying degrees in every country of the world and are the inevitable consequence of the unjust, pervasive socio-economic ideology, Neoliberalism.

The impacts

In the UK inequality is high compared to other developed countries. According to the Equality Trust, the UK is the 9th most unequal country in terms of income of the 38 OECD countries. In 2022, they report that, “Households in the bottom 20% of the population had on average an equivalized disposable income of £13,218, whilst the top 20% had £83,687.”

This is pretty shocking, but wealth inequality is even more acute, with the richest 20% “taking….63% of the country’s wealth, while the bottom 20% have only….0.5% of the wealth.” Just half a percentage point of the wealth, hard to comprehend. And, if a recent report from the Fairness Foundation (FF) is correct, levels of inequality in health, housing, poverty……are set to grow over the next five years.

Britain, the report makes clear, “Is a society suffering from the carbon monoxide poisoning of unfair inequality — of wealth, income, health and education, and between regions and people of different ethnicities, genders, social classes and disabilities.”

The consequences of such inequality, on individuals and society as a whole are serious and are manifold. Countries with lower levels of inequality like the Scandinavian nations, are consistently found to be happier places to live; the populace is more trusting of others and the state, and crime is lower. Conversely, in countries where wealth and income inequality is higher people are more suspicious of other people, particularly people who do not look them, think like them or pray like them — foreigners, refugees, ’the other’. Social tension is greater, the general sense of well-being is lower, mental health is poorer.

Wealth and income inequality leads to educational inequality, which in turn leads to inequality of opportunity. Both the individual and society at large are impacted negatively as consequence.

The single greatest impact of inequality must be the absence of peace, in individuals, in communities and in countries. This grows from the seed of social injustice, and all forms of inequality are unjust. There will never be peace as long as such extreme levels of injustice exists, and while “unfair inequality” as the FF puts it, persists, not only will injustice continue, but, as the extremes grow wider, as they must, injustice will intensify. As Pope Francis said in 2013, “Until exclusion and inequality in society and between peoples are reversed, it will be impossible to eliminate violence.”

Not only is inequality unjust, it is immoral, dangerous and violent, fuelling extremism and terrorism. In addition it is simply unfair, and precludes the realisation of what FF call the five ‘Fair Necessities’ — fair essentials, fair opportunities, fair rewards, fair exchange and fair treatment.

Inequality is a major ingredient in creating fertile ground for extremists of all kinds to exploit, and for acts of violence, which in many cases constitute acts of terrorism, to take place.

In the UK over the last eight years in particular, far right views, on, for example, immigration policy, have entered the mainstream, distorting and poisoning the debate.

Brexit was a key moment in this national souring. An unmitigated disaster for the country, it was voted on by ill-informed disenfranchised communities that believed the lies of opportunistic stupid politicians. Speaking about the threat of the far right, Shabna Begum, chief executive of the Runnymede Trust (a think tank that claims it, “speaks truth to power on race and racism”) has said, “there is a real threat that, unless a new [Labour] government delivers swift and meaningful change to inequality, we will see far-right parties capitalise on desperation and despair and become a real electoral threat.”

This is exactly what happened recently, when outright lies and incitement to violence by far right agitators and right wing politicians, led to a week of riots in UK towns; riots that, in many cases qualified as terrorism.

The flag waving thugs hurling bricks at the police where almost exclusively white working class men and boys, poorly educated and disenfranchised, with no reasoned political view, just a lot of anger and resentment. Highly charged emotions, which are easily enflamed and focused by far right voices spreading hate and misinformation; the target, as always seems to be the case, was ‘the other’, asylum seekers, refugees and Muslims, and ‘the state’, in the form of the police.

Anger and bitterness caused, not by Muslims or asylum seekers, but by a range of social issues relating to injustice and inequality: poor housing, education and health care, lack of opportunity, unemployment, low wages and exploitation.

Social injustice, which feeds resentment and allows for exploitation by extremists, cannot excuse racism and islamophobia, but such appalling violence will never be eradicated whilst social injustice exists. It wasn’t middle class men and women from leafy suburbs that were abusing police and hurling threats at non-white asylum seekers.

Social justice and sharing

It is naive to believe that inequality can be eradicated, but it can be reduced; most people don’t actually want much. The focus should be on creating more equal societies; societies that are fair and just. Where the quality of health care and education, access to opportunities, housing and the arts, are not dependent on wealth.

Key to bringing about a socially just world is redistribution or sharing. On a global scale this means sharing the resources of the world more fairly, based on need, not on ability to pay. Nationally it means sharing the riches of the country more equitably; not allowing colossal concentrations of wealth to be held by an ever reducing number of individuals and corporations.

All of which requires the introduction of economic and social policies flowing from a shift in attitudes and priorities; a movement away from nationalism competition and division, towards cooperation, social responsibility and unity. Such values have been spoken about forever, but they remain little more than lofty ideals. However, if we are to rid the world of violent extremism and create social harmony and peace, these qualities, which are actually inherent, need to become the guiding principles for political decision making and socio-economic structures.

After 14 years of Conservative incompetence, corruption and lies, the election of The Labour Party led by Kier Starmer, has ignited a feeling of hope and optimism in the country.

In a historic election, on 4 July Labour won a landslide with 412 parliamentary seats (of 650 in total); the Tories, as if anyone cares, recorded there worst ever election result, and have at last been consigned to the political wilderness to tear themselves apart.

The new intake of MPs constitutes the most ethnically diverse and gender balanced parliament in history, with women making up 40% of all MPs. It also has the largest number of LGBTQ+ MPS ever, with Labour’s 50 LGBTQ+ MPs representing the largest party cohort of any parliament, anywhere in the world.

Labours extraordinary triumph demonstrates that in the age of extremism, a left of centre party can still win power, something that is encouraging for countries in Europe and the US. Populism in the UK, strengthened by the Brexit referendum and relentlessly fuelled by the Conservatives, however has not been driven out of British politics. Reform UK, a new far right company (not a political party), that promotes intolerance, hate and division, won 5 parliamentary seats and came second in 103 constituencies. 

Like all such groups they have no workable policies, blame everything on immigrants and migration, talk dismissively about climate change and net zero, and are a poisonous, dangerous force in the country. These xenophobic parties prosper where inequality, economic insecurity and social injustice exist. The antidote is to deal with these underlying causes, to build inclusive fair societies and to challenge divisive intolerant rhetoric wherever it emerges. If Labour can do this the country will be a more harmonious united place, and Reform’s support will quickly fall away.

Labours inheritance

The Conservatives ran the country into the ground, and created what the Lisa Nandy, the new Secretary of State for Culture, described as “the darkest decade and a half in  my lifetime.” They divided the country, destroyed public services, including the NHS, which the new Secretary of State for Health described as ‘broken’, increased inequality and child poverty, saw homelessness explode, tanked the economy and, with their total disregard for the rule of law, undermined the UK’s position in the World. In addition they caused the Brexit disaster and, among other calamities, are responsible for countless avoidable deaths during Covid.

The task before the new government is therefore huge, but the team is strong and their commitment to “a calm and patient rebuilding” appears genuine. Repairing the damage done and creating a sense of optimism, where for so long there has been despair, will not be easy and will take time, something governments tend not to have much of. Unity is key; if Labour can bring about a degree of social justice and reduce economic hardship, if it restores the NHS and decentralises political decision making to the nations and regions, it may have a chance of squashing the forces of division and generating a feeling of national togetherness.

Labour’s one word campaign slogan was ‘change’, and, after a matter of days in office, the single biggest change has been in tone. Gone is the infighting, the pettiness and duplicity, to be replaced with committed determination, openness and competency. As The Guardian put it, “The grownups are back in Westminster. The Tory psychodramas inside No 10 have been replaced by a serious Labour government focused on delivery.” 

In his first speech at Prime-Minister Keir Starmer delivered a message of hope and sincerity. He promised to build a “government of service” and to restore trust in politics, by ‘actions not words’. To put the “country first” not the party, and to govern “unburdened by doctrine”. Politics, which for so long has not served the country, he said, “can [indeed should] be a force for good”.

Starmer’s initial decisions have been consistent with Labour’s commitment to ‘change and stability’; terms that may appear contradictory, but as Labour voices have repeatedly pointed out, after 14 years of chaos and pettiness, stable thoughtful government is change. Most of the shadow team were appointed to the cabinet, which contains more female ministers than any previous government, and includes Rachel Reeves, the first ever female chancellor. It is also the most working class cabinet – the majority of the top team went to comprehensive schools, with only one member of the cabinet attending private school, compared with 75% in Conservative cabinets over recent years. 

All of which is significant, and means that unlike successive Tory administrations, which we’re overflowing with millionaires and privilege, the people now engaged in fashioning policies, and putting forward legislation, will have a real understanding of the lives most people are living.

Politicians routinely talk about their desire to unite a country, and Labour have said that cultivating unity is a main priority for them. In his first speech as PM, Starmer said this, “You have given us a clear mandate and we will use it to deliver change. To restore service and respect to politics, end the era of noisy performance, tread more lightly on your lives. And to unite our country, four nations standing together again.” 

One way they hope to “unite the country” is by chipping away at inequality, by moving decision making closer to people is key to this; working with regional mayors and leaders, decentralising power and establishing cooperative relationships. “Putting people in charge of their own destiny”, Lisa Nandy says, is the “silver thread connecting all areas of the new government.”

Whilst many of us would like to see Labour go much further than it has so far pledged to do, particularly in relation to Europe and the environment, after years of duplicity and incompetence it feels like Britain has turned a corner and that the work of re-building and healing, so desperately needed, has begun.

https://www.counterpunch.org/2024/07/19/labour-government-the-politics-of-service/

The legacy left by the Conservatives after 14 years in government is not just economic stagnation, and the destruction of public services, it is social division, far right extremism and anger.

Violence, racism and hate are the common language of far-right groups/individuals the world over, all of which has been writ large on the streets of some towns in the UK over the last week. “Far-right thuggery,” as the Prime-Minister, Kier Starmer, called it, has wreaked havoc, and created fear among minority communities, particularly Muslims and asylum seekers.

White male thugs mounted vicious attacks on police, looted and vandalised businesses, homes and civic buildings, set fire to parked cars and attacked hotels where, the hooligans believed, asylum seekers were staying. In opposition to fascism,   thousands of people have come together at anti-racist protests across the country. Community groups have worked to clean up the streets and individuals have launched funding campaigns to raise money to repair the damage done by the rioters.

Tory slogans

Orchestrated online and streamed live by the perpetrators of the chaos, the horrific scenes of civil disorder, were ignited by mis-information around the identity of a young man arrested for killing three children in Southport. But the environment of hate has been cultivated by right wing politicians and media outlets for years.

Twitter/X, (which under Elon Musk has welcomed fellow extremists), Tik Tok, Facebook and Telegram have served as notice boards for mis-dis-information and outright lies, meeting places for agitators and organising venues.

A range of people made up the marauding mobs: vicious xenophobes and Neo-Nazis; flag waving hooligans looking for a fight; misled simpletons looting shops, and spectators videoing the chaos on their phones, repeating Tory dis-information if questioned, and cheering rioters.

As they threw debris at police some of the rioters chanted slogans used by former (Conservative) ministers, including the previous prime-minister, Rishi Sunak. “Stop The Boats”, one of Sunak’s meaningless but endlessly repeated catchphrases, relating to the terrifying journey undertaken by migrants attempting to travel across the English Channel from France to the UK. ‘Take our country back’, was another vicious phrase repeated by the mob. An incendiary jingle used ad infinitum by Boris Johnson and his cohorts during the Brexit referendum, and recently adapted by Reform UK bigot, Lee Anderson. ‘Take our country back’, from who exactly?

The rioting was a direct result of years of Tory led state racism; years of anti-migrant government policies and hostile media narratives. Most loudly since 2016, Conservative politicians adopted the rhetoric of right wing populism and fuelled prejudice and division wherever they could. They consistently fed poison into the public blood stream and stoked culture wars in the hope of winning votes. In so doing they created a space where far right extremism could ferment and far right political voices, from within there ranks and outside, could drift effortlessly into the mainstream.

Many of the communities that responded most readily were those most severely impacted by the economic decline and decimation of public services resulting from Tory policies, including the car crash that was/is Brexit. The same communities often, that out of ignorance and a kind of perverse nationalism, and fired up by manipulative politicians, had voted for Brexit. Chief among those exploitative politicians was Nigel Farage. A cheerleader for Brexit and now leader of Reform UK – a far right party of misogynists (20% of Reform MP’s recently elected have served prison sentences for violence against women), who has inflamed the violence and given political cover to the rioters.

The likes of Farage, care not for the people they incite to violence or the problems the country faces. They are interested in one thing only, achieving power by sewing social division through the propagation of lies. Lies that gullible ill-informed people believe, lies that are spread and expanded on social media, lies that become imbedded in the consciousness of certain sections of the society, and lies that once adopted, appear to be impossible to erase, even when confronted with the truth.

Racism and Islamophobia

Deliberately inciting civil disorder is a form of Stochastic terrorism, defined as “the repeated use of hate speech or other vilifying, dehumanizing rhetoric by a political leader or other public figure that inspires one or more of the figure’s supporters to commit hate crimes or other acts of violence against a targeted person, group, or community.” And politicians like Boris Johnson, Suella Braverman, Kemi Badenoch (the favourite to become the next Tory leader), and Reform UK MP’s, Farage Lee Anderson and Richard Tice, among others, are Stochastic terrorists. 

So too is Tommy Robinson (real name, Stephen Christopher Yaxley-Lennon), a nasty piece of work who leads the disbanded English Defence League. Along with other far right activists Robinson has been directing the riots via social media, spreading pernicious lies and mis/dis-information. 

Such people have consistently sought to dehumanise migrants, in particular Muslims. The target of their bile is always the same, ‘the foreigner’,‘the other’, anyone, in this case, not white/white British. They adopt and spread conspiracy theories like The Great Replacement ideology (the mad idea that there is a plot to replace the political power and culture of white people living in Western countries with non-whites) and create fear and anger with every utterance they make.

Despite the claims of Farage, some Conservative opportunists and far right protagonists, the rioters do not ‘have a legitimate point’, they do not represent ‘the people’ and they are not protesting government immigration policy. These are race riots and Islamophobia.

There is however anger within many communities at the dreadful state of the country. But none of the mess has been caused by immigration, which has brought enormous benefits to the UK. There is a major problem with the asylum system though, which the Tories broke. They failed to process asylum applications, which has led to a huge backlog of claims, resulting in asylum seekers (estimated 30,000) being accommodated in hotels for months on end at taxpayer expense. When processed, far from being found to be ‘illegal’ as is repeatedly stated, 70 – 80% of applicants are granted asylum.

After a series of appalling Conservatives governments the UK is on its knees: public services are in tatters, there is a national housing crisis and, whilst the country has more billionaires than ever, the majority of people, particularly in working class communities are struggling financially, with many families living in poverty. Add to this years of racist rhetoric and ‘othering’ from Tory politicians and xenophobes and you have the perfect scenario for far-right extremists to exploit.

The criminal hooligans who have committed violence, and those inciting violence and racism online, will, Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper has said, “face the full force of the law”, and this process has already begun. The police force, which was decimated by Tory cuts, have shown great restraint and professionalism, and the response of the government has been swift and determined. But in order to drive the far right back into the shadows where they belong, and silence the Stochastic terrorists, the Labour government needs to address the frustrations and ingrained social issues that these poisonous groups have exploited, and demonstrate, as it has pledged to do, that politics can actually be a force for good. 

https://www.counterpunch.org/2024/08/09/uk-riots-racism-and-islamophobia-meets-community-unity/

Earning enough to pay the rent or mortgage, cover utility bills and travel costs, buy food and have the occasional coffee is difficult, impossible for many. 

But its not hard for everyone, is it; there are a small number of people living among us who don’t have to worry about the bills, are not troubled when food prices increase or rents balloon. 

They are the rich and the obscenely rich. On the surface they look like the rest of us, but they live in a completely different world to the one most of us inhabit. A pristine space of privilege and political influence.

The statistics around wealth and income inequality are manifold and horrifying. There are, according to Forbes more billionaires in the world than ever before; 2,781 individuals with fortunes in excess of $1Bn (up 141 on 2023), of which 14 are ‘centi-billionaires’ i.e. fortunes over $100 Bn. Mostly the super rich are men, Oxfam record that, “Globally, men own US $105 trillion more wealth than women.” 

During the last ten years, (which saw the 2008 financial crash, Covid and the Ukraine/Russia) the collective wealth of this tiny shiny gang has increased by 120%. As Forbes puts it, “Even during times of financial uncertainty for many, the super-rich continue to thrive.” At the same time, on the same planet, as the hyper rich drown in money and stuff, around five billion people around the world are poorer now than they were in 2019. 

The poorest everywhere are women, people of colour (“in the USA, the wealth of a typical Black household is just 15.8% of that of a typical white household”) and marginalised groups; the same sections of society coincidentally that were most severely impacted by Covid.

Remember all the talk during the pandemic of a socio-economic reset, of tackling social injustices, creating fairer more integrated ways of working and living etc, blah, blah blah. Well, Oxfam reveal that, in subsequent years while “average real wages of nearly 800 million workers have fallen” across 52 countries, the worlds billionaires are $3.3Tn richer than they were pre pandemic……and their wealth has grown three times faster than the rate of inflation.” 

Unimaginable wealth for a tiny number of individuals while the majority of humanity live in varying levels of poverty or economic hardship. “The wealth of the world’s five richest billionaires has more than doubled since the start of this decade, while 60% of humanity has grown poorer.” Can anyone really still believe in ‘Trickle down economics’ (“gush up” as Arundhati Roy rightly describes it)?

In parallel to unprecedented concentrations of wealth, the corporations that many of these individuals lead or own have also been making unprecedented profits. Oxfam: “148 of the world’s biggest corporations together raked in $1.8 trillion…in total net profits in the year to June 2023, a 52 per cent jump compared to average net profits in 2018-2021.”

Record profits as the majority struggle to feed themselves, are in many cases falling into debt and destitution, whilst being told to ‘tighten their belts’, by obnoxious, often wealthy, politicians beholden to corporate leaders.

Virtually all profits are dished out to shareholders, with companies refusing to pay their staff properly;  less than 0.5% “of over 1,600 of the world’s largest companies “pay their workers a living wage.” Corporate greed knows no limits it seems, nor the level of worker exploitation.

Corporate political power fuels inequality not just by shareholder payouts, but by keeping wages low, avoiding paying taxes, absorbing and running public services and feeding climate change.

Multiple inequalities

There are various forms of inequality that flow from the underlying cause, financial inequality: climate change, political influence, housing, access to the arts and internet, good health care and stimulating education among others.

In addition to growing inequality within countries, the gap between the Global north and the Global south is also increasing, and as the impacts of climate change escalate this disparity will only increase. Under the socio-economic system of the day all is dependent on money. Financial hardship/poverty places individuals and nations in a position of disadvantage, making it impossible for example to live in a comfortable home, eat a balanced healthy diet, to attend a good school, visit art galleries and the theatre, access the internet; travel, have a voice that is listened to by the political class.

The systemic cause of this madness is of course the inherent injustice/s sewn into the DNA of the pervasive socio-economic model. The more extreme, the more fundamental the form of capitalism becomes concentrations of wealth intensify and narrow, inequality increases, democracy flounders, social divisions and anger grow.

Since the 1990s, thanks largely to that fanatical duo, Thatcher and Reagan, and intensifying year on year, the socio-economic paradigm has moved from twilight to utter darkness. Neo-Liberalism or Market fundamentalism, has expanded its reach, until it now dominates virtually all areas of life, in almost every corner of the world.

The Paradigm of Greed and Destruction champions excess while dismissing sufficiency, simplicity and moderation. Everything is seen as a commodity, including health care, education, and people, to be monetised, exploited to the last drop and profited from. Everyone is regarded as a consumer, every nation, city or village analysed as a potential marketplace. 

It is a deeply materialistic, extremely crude, albeit complex way of organising society, that humanity is enthralled too and entrapped by. Obsession with objects and sensory experiences has resulted in mankind being divorced from him/herself, from the natural world and that underlying reality, which we call god. It is choking the life out of humanity,  poisoning the planet and driving climate change.

Yes, the underlying cause of climate change and ecological vandalism is consumerism, therefore greed. Not consumerism within poor developing nations (including China) of course, but relentless irresponsible consumerism in rich western nations (US leads the pack by some margin), particularly the richest members within these societies. “The richest 1% globally emit as much carbon pollution as the poorest two-thirds of humanity [roughly 5.4billion].”

It doesn’t have to be like this

Keeping the masses poor, physically exhausted and emotionally drained, whilst concentrating wealth into the pockets of the already rich is not a new game of course. As Priya Sahni-Nicholas of the Equality Trust explains, “The super-rich have spent centuries diverting wealth into their hands, making our democracy less responsive to people’s needs and damaging our communities. The result is we [society/nations] are poorer, sicker, less productive, unhappier, more polarised, and less trusting.”

The values of the market are destroying communities and literally making people ill – physically and psychologically (and of course the two are inter-twinned). These insidious tools of control create the conditions for all kinds of conflict, individually and collectively. They fuel tribalism, deny/pervert democracy, encourage corruption, and make peace impossible. All of which is by design; the last thing the ruling elites want is a contented happy, and well informed  populace. 

Despite the dogmatic rhetoric from politicians of all colours this is not the only way to live, the only option. We can change this, and if we are to prosper we must change this.

At the heart of any re-imagining must be the inculcation of that simple attitude and spontaneous action that parents routinely encourage in their children, – Sharing. We need to learn to share; fundamentally to share the essentials required to live – water, food, shelter; share the knowledge, information, and technology. Ensure everyone, irrespective of income has access to good quality health care and stimulating education, and begin to create a just world where trust can blossom, differences dissolve and relationships form. 

Sharing is the first step of such a shift. If introduced as a guiding principle it would have a profound impact, not just in the way basic needs are met, but in the collective consciousness. It would facilitate a kinder, fairer, society and allow a space to open up in which stress could gradually dissolve. The mechanisms for building sharing into the machine could easily be designed and introduced, if, and of course its a colossal if, the political will was there. 

In parallel with structural simplification, purpose needs to be rediscovered and actions cleansed. Humanity must – or potentially face extinction – move away from the relentless pursuit of material, sensory pleasure, which demands constant stimulation through consumption, and therefore, ensures perpetual discontent and environmental catastrophe, to a quieter, simpler mode of living. 

This may sound ridiculously ambitious, and given the determination by corporations, the exceedingly rich and weak politicians with vested interests, it may well be. But unless purpose is re-imagined, and unless ‘root and branch’ economic ‘reform’ takes place, the social-economic-political divisions will not just continue, they will intensify, and the unbelievable extremes will become normalised, baked into everyday life and everyday politics.

Everything is in a state of collapse; all the forms, all the systems and, in societies throughout the world, particularly the West, many of the people are falling apart. This is the time for such a move; if not now, when?

https://www.counterpunch.org/2024/05/24/2024-people-starve-as-the-rich-get-richer/

As Western governments and partisan media concentrate on the genocide in Gaza and war in Ukraine, the Amhara genocide in Ethiopia and the simmering conflicts in the Amhara region remain largely ignored.

The Ethiopian government, led by Prime-Minister Abiy Ahmed is, directly or indirectly, behind virtually every act of ethnic violence in the country.

Within the Amhara region of the country fighting, which many believe constitutes war, between the Ethiopian National Defence Force (ENDF) and the Fano, has been raging with varying degrees of intensity since April 2023.

Fano is an Amhara armed (often poorly armed) group, made up of men and women of various ages and backgrounds from within the community. Historically a youth movement, a volunteer force, charged with defending their village/town/city from attack. 

In the current conflict the malign forces come in the uniformed shape of the ENDF and recently, TPLF (Tigray People Liberation Front) forces. The same TPLF that in November 2020 went to war with the Ethiopian State and tried to violently overthrow the government.

The United Nations estimate 600,000 were killed in two years of fighting (making it the deadliest war of the 21 Century), however Ethiopian sources believe the figure is over 1 million; in addition millions were displaced. Much of the fighting occurred in the Amhara and Afar regions, which border Tigray, to the south and east respectively.

Under the auspices of the African Union and with American meddlers close at hand, on 3 November 2022 the waring parties signed The Cessation of Hostilities Agreement (CoHA) in Pretoria, South Africa. The CoHA was hailed as a peace treaty  and the country breathed a collective sigh of relief.

The CoHA is littered with noble intentions, most of which have not been realised. For example, the commitment to “respect fundamental human rights and democratic norms and principles”. Human rights in Ethiopia are trampled on, as for democratic norms and principles, there is no democracy in Ethiopia, and no observation of democratic principles.

Over and above the basic agreement to stop fighting, the TPLF promised to disarm, to “refrain from conscription, training, deployment, mobilisation, or preparation for conflict and hostilities”, and to stop “aiding and abetting, supporting or collaborating with, any armed or subversive group in any parts of the country.’ 

The government, for its part, agreed to remove the terrorist designation of the TPLF. Thereby welcoming the enemy back into the political space.

Unsurprisingly perhaps, the TPLF has retained its guns, and it is widely reported that they recently took delivery of heavy weaponry from the very same government they tried to overthrow.

TPLF Join the Party

While war between the TPLF and the government may have stopped, in the 18 months since Pretoria, for Amhara communities living in Oromia and parts of Amhara there has been no peace, far from it.

The Amhara ethnic group is the largest or second largest (depending on who you believe) in the country. Amhara communities have been oppressed for generations, but since Abiy Ahmed came to power in 2018, persecution of Amhara people living in Oromia specifically, has morphed into genocide. 

Tens of thousands of Amhara men, women and children, have been killed (estimates range between 30 – 50,000), hundreds of thousands arrested, over three million displaced. Oromo extremists (Oromo Liberation Army or Shene), Oromo Special Forces under the control of the Oromo Regional Authority (ORA), and the ENDF are carrying out the ethnic slaughter. Behind all of these various armed groups sits the federal government and Abiy Ahmed, himself an Oromo. 

In recent months the TPLF, with the backing of the ENDF, have attacked towns in Northern Amhara. The area, which the TPLF are claiming to be part of Tigray, was ‘colonised’ by Tigray settlements during the TPLF’s time in power, but historically sits with Amhara. The attacks, described by the Amhara Regional Authority as an “invasion”, are a clear breach of the CoHA by the TPLF. 

In this latest act of aggression against Amhara, the Abiy regime is accused of colluding with the TPLF; an organisation that despite having the terrorist label removed, remains a terrorist group through and through. 

The Amhara regional government has called on the TPLF and its supporters to… “fullyadhere to the Pretoria agreement and swiftly vacate from the areas it currently controls”, and is demanding all troops (TPLF and ENDF) be withdrawn from the Raya Alamata (occupied by TPLF forces during the 2020 -2022 war), Raya Bala, Ofla, Korem, and Zata areas. 

According to the UN, over 50,000 civilians have been displaced as a result of the incursions. “The humanitarian situation is dire, with thousands…in need of broad humanitarian support to survive”. The majority of those forced from their homes are women, children/youth and elderly.

The African Union (AU) has called on both sides “to urgently halt hostilities….ensure the safety of civilians to end the renewed displacement of the local population”, “ and to  fully implement the CoHA.

Despite the fact that much of the fighting during the 2020-2022 war took place within the Amhara region, the Amhara authority was excluded from the Pretoria talks, as a result the Amhara people feel betrayed by the Abiy government.

The details of the CoHA are widely known, what isn’t clear is what was agreed in private. In exchange for the TPLF agreeing to stop making trouble, did the government for example, commit to stand aside when TPLF forces marched into Amhara; and, did Abiy commit to disarm the Amhara Special Forces in order to remove any military obstacle to TPLF regional ambitions?

Speculation perhaps; what is not in doubt is Abiy’s duplicity, the depth of his political weakness and his reliance on extremist forces within Ethiopia; whether they be Tigray expansionists or Oromo nationalists.

The TPLF were in power for 28 years, Abiy Ahmed was a member of the ‘coalition’,  through which they ruled. They are old friends then – Dictators in Arms we could say; partners in suppression and profiteering, with it seems a common enemy – the Amhara people.

Geographically the Amhara region is sandwiched between Oromia in the South-West, where the ethnic slaughter of Amhara people has been taking place, and TPLF thugs to the North keen to expand their kingdom, and politically Amhara politicians are being pushed to the fringes by the weight of Oromo extremists, Tigray tribal nationalists and an insipid duplicitous government led by a narcissist.

As the country hovers on the brink of another internal war, as millions wander homeless, displaced by fighting, and millions more live in utter destitution, Abiy is embellishing his genocidal reign by building a national palace (estimated $10 – $15 billion) – for himself, and luxury villas for his mates, and destroying cherished landmarks in the centre of Addis Ababa. It is sickening; he clearly cares not for the people or the country, is driven only by personal ambition and vanity and is not fit for political office of any kind.

Ethiopia is a diverse nation with dozens of ethnic groups, which for generations lived side by side in harmony. The internal conflicts taking place are not the result of community hatred and division, but flow from the hands of ambitious manipulative politicians, including Abiy and his Prosperity Party. Far from working for peace and social cohesion as they should be, the government are either perpetrating ethnic violence themselves, or due to political weakness and indifference to the suffering of Amhara civilians, are enabling the perpetrators.

 https://www.counterpunch.org/2024/05/03/ethiopia-beyond-pretoria-is-another-war-imminent/