The old Greek words ‘demos’ and ‘cracy’ mean ‘people’ and ‘rule’, respectively. Even though the whole idea behind ‘democracy’ was to have a ‘rule of the people’ in practice substantive democracy has been eluding the world ever since the ancient Greeks coined the word itself! Electoral democracy, as a substitute or a proxy to the ‘rule of the people’, has fallen short of delivering the intended ideal of democracy. Recently, electoral democracy became a legitimate cover to those special interests whose interests are diametrically opposed to the wishes of the people. In late modernity, however, electoral democracy is facing new challenges due to increased awareness of the sheeple (human mass) as well as from advances in the ‘technics’, to use the preferred word of Jacques Ellul, probably the first serious critique of the steamrolling ‘techno-sphere’!
The delegation of real power to elected individuals via ‘electoral democracy’ has proved problematic, particularly after the industrial revolution. Special interests and their parochial pursuits, facilitated by the system of capital accumulation, have been posing protracted problems to the very kernel of democracy. Principles that have been operating outside the sphere of ‘political democracy’ continue to undermine the spirit of democratic rule. For instance, any objection against the dogma of ‘accumulation by any means necessary’ is not subjected to democratic rule, no matter where. For example, whoever gets elected cannot touch the ‘money system’ or can hardly stop the deep state’s operations, etc., etc. Such activities have now superseded the authority of democratic governance itself. Therefore, the question becomes why ‘electoral democracy’, when it obviously cannot deliver what the majority of the people want?
The ongoing French rebellion or what is called the ‘Yellow Vests’ movement is trying to deal with this problematic. In fact, they have gone as far as proposing that certain critical issues must only be decided by the people, not by proxies (elected officials). In other words, ‘direct democracy’ should replace ‘electoral democracy’! For example, why should officials, some of whom are not even elected by the people, decide on wars the can potentially seal the fate of humanity? It is obvious that many of the warmongering politicos do not have loyalty to the people and are, by and large, at the service of the military-industrial complex. Or more comprehensively, one can say many of the politicians in the powerful states of the world system are under the thumb of the deep state (deep state = military-intelligence-industrial-banking-media-complex). In the same vein, one can logically argue that those politicians who vote for wars should be the first ones to enlist!
Another crime of the globally established order involves the finance sector, which by extension means, all economic sectors and activities thereof. This monster is ‘Fractional Reserve Banking’! FRB keeps on destroying, both the world of humans as well as nature. This criminal act of immense proportion is not amenable to modification by democratic choices. Global polarization is fuelled, primarily, by FRB. It is the root cause of massive global disenchantment that is destroying the prevailing globalization and ushering new movements like ‘populism’, extremism, etc. As FRB prints money out of thin air and distributes it to connected cronies in the private sector and to governments, the working stiff gravely and silently suffers from the inflation this printing causes. This economic crime prevails all over the world, from the very poor countries like that of Ethiopia to the very powerful ones of the EU and the USA. Late modernity has transformed the global economic system from productive capitalism to financialism or parasitic capitalism. Financialization is the main mechanism by which wealth is transferred from the working stiff to the criminal oligarchs and their accomplices. Today, no functioning ‘democracy’ in the world can or is trying to stop such blatant abuses. As we never tire of repeating: FRB is the (non-violent) worst organized crime of the millennium! See the articles next column, on pages 36 & 37.
It is now clear that election theatrics is undermining the ethos of democracy in our world system. These recurrent parodies have become quite the entertainment, not only in our parts of the world where caricature is the way of life, but also in advanced industrial countries like that of the USA. It is hoped the 2020 US election will clearly bring out the critical shortcomings of electoral democracy. The capture of the whole electioneering project by powerful interests, though obvious to the initiated, might start to sink in the psyche of the uninitiated. ‘Democracy is the system by which an organized minority governs an unorganized majority,’ Vasily Rozanov (a Russian Philosopher). Here is another one from a Russian-American-Russian philosopher who was exiled back to her ancestral home (Russia) from her adopted country of the US. “Politicians promise you haven before election and give you hell after. If voting change anything, they’d make it illegal.” Emma Goldman. Good Day!
RETHINKING DEMOCRACY
Total Ethiopia to road safety and zero accident
Total Ethiopia invested 1.3 million birr to provide road safety cube materials to be distributed to primary and elementary schools in and around Addis Ababa in the presence of Dagmawit Moges, Minister of Transport and Mulu Gebregziabher, State Minister of Transport.
The cubes will be distributed to children at elementary schools in order to help them take precaution against road traffic accidents.
Road safety cube is a tool whose objective is to help in deploying a road safety awareness campaign for children in school and support the actions to minimize road accidents.
The project is said to be Part of the social responsibility of Total Ethiopia and in collaboration with the concerned stakeholders.
Total has prepared 36 safety cubes to distribute to primary and elementary schools located in the risk zones of Addis Ababa and Oromia region located around Addis Ababa.
On February 14, 2020 Addis Ababa Education Bureau received 10 safety cubes and Oromia Education Bureau received eight safety cubes. Beside the education bureaus, other stakeholders working on the road safety issues including World Vision Ethiopia and Plan International also received the safety cubes.
“The program will help to emphasis awareness of children’s and youngsters about the danger on the road as well as to help them acquire the understanding about road safety rules and regulations with visual identities” said Hayleyesus Assefa, Corporate Communication and Social Responsibilities Director of Total Ethiopia.
This safety cubes will also be used as reference and teaching aid in the primary elementary schools. With this 36 safety cubes more than 7,200 students are expected to be trained.
10 of the 36 safety cubes are English version imported by Total Ethiopia to scale up the project and the rest 26 are made locally in Amharic.
Total Ethiopia is working to minimize road accident in the country. Total has installed dual on board camera computer on trucks. According to Hayleyesus, there are around 600 trucks in total. 
“Even if the installation is expensive, Total gives more attention to human lives,” said Thibault Lesueur, Managing Director of Total.
On February 5,2020 Total has celebrate two years of anniversary of “Zero Death Accident”, which in the stated period trucks of Total were not involved in death to a human life.
“Every sector of the country should take such kind of experiences as example to minimize the rising number of road accidents in our country,” the MD added.
Reports shows that Ethiopia loss tens of thousands of lives due to road accident and millions victims directly and indirectly from the accidents. Lack of road safety education, unfavorable traffic condition and speed are some of the reasons for the high traffic accident in Ethiopia. 
Revenue ministry announced implementation of excise tax right after parliament approval
The Ministry of Revenue (MoR) announcement that the ratified excise tax proclamation no. 1186/2020 has become effective the day after the ratification of the proclamation by the parliament, was dismissed by businesses who argued that it is against the country’s law.
The revenue collection body announced on February 13, the same day of the ratification of the proclamation by parliament; the new law will be in place as of February 14.
MoR in its announcement published on its social media page stated that the tax calculation will become effective immediately, however the business community expressed their confusion about the announcement.
They said that according to the country’s law, the implementation of the proclamation should wait the publication on Negarit Gazette.
They said that the proclamation stated that the calculation will be applied when products come out from the factory but sometimes products will come out from the factory and stored at different warehouses in the country.
“For instance a company that has a water bottling factory about 200km from Addis Ababa will have a warehouse at the capital, which is the major market area, and it should have transport the product here,” Ashenafi Merid, General Manager of Ethiopian Bottled Water and Soft Drinks Manufacturing Industries Association, explained, “transporting the product from the production centre to the warehouse does not mean sales.” “But MoR considered that as a sales and look for their tax,” he added
He told Capital members of his association shall face challenges regarding this.
Final version
The final document of the proclamation has given more room for used small cars that were in service for less than four years.
The document of the excise tax proclamation no. 1186/2020 indicated that a used car for not above two years with less than 1300 CC will have the excise tax of 55 percent. On the draft proclamation it was 80 percent. At the same time the final version of the proclamation reduced the tax for up to less than four years used car of the same cc to 105 percent from 130 percent that was tabled on the draft document.
Lemlem Hadgu, Chairwoman for Revenue, Budget and Finance Standing Committee at the parliament, explained that the percentage has reduced on the aim to reduce the impact on middle class of the society.
Lemlem said that such kind of cars are accessible for the middle class and the former percentage that was tabled on the draft documents shall affect them, “due to that the percentage was revised to address the middle class of the society.”
The proclamation is also dropped the percentage of the brand new and locally assembled less than 1300 cc cars to 5 percent from 30 percent of the original rate.
The excise tax for cigarette has been proposed to be 30 percent and five birr per packet that has now climbed to eight birr per pack.
New excise tax rates reduced minimum taxes from 10 percent to five while the highest tax will be a whopping 500 percent.
The last time excise taxes were set it was 2002 and the minimum rate was 10 percent.
President of the European council visits Ramsay shoe factory
Charles Michel, President of the European council visits Ramsay Shoe Factory on February 10, 2020, one of the partners to the project of stemming irregular migration in northern and central Ethiopia /SINCE/ implemented under the European trust fund for Africa, on the sidelines of the African Union Summit.
The main focuses of SINCE is to enhance the employment skill of potential migrants and returnees focusing on women and youth in the target regions managed by the Italian ministry of foreign affairs, embassy of Italy in Addis Ababa and implemented in the four most migration prone regions of Ethiopia and in the city of Addis Ababa by five NGOs led partnership together with private sector, technical vocational training centers, regional bureau and CSOs.
SINCE project in Addis Ababa works on training and enhancing employment opportunities for youths on leather products, metal work and construction sector.
Ramsay shoe factory is one of the partners working on the project by actively hosting trainees under the SINCE apprenticeship.
“I have visited the Ramsay Shoe factory, I met with many women workers who look to the future” said the President.
The 25 years locally owned company currently hosts more than 19 trainees and previously Ramsay has provide employment opportunities for about 13 trainees of SINCE.
The European emergency trust fund for Africa established at the Valletta summit on migration in November 2015, to address the root causes of instability forced displacement and irregular migration and to contribute to better migration management. The first program signed under the trust fund was SINCE an action that aims at contributing to the reduction of irregular migration from the northern and central Ethiopia by improving the living conditions of the vulnerable population through decent job opportunities by financing 20 million Euros for the four years and nine month project.
Starting from 2016 SINCE has planned to responses to facilitate wage employment to 8,200 people through the provision of training courses relevant to private sectors needs until the end of 2020, the program works to create employment opportunities in six labor intensive value chains such as leather products, construction, metal work, textile and garment, agribusiness and hospitality.
Currently, beneficiaries from the project reach more than 3,000 youth, women and returnees, 28 small and medium enterprises have been created and supported within the last four year.
“We are not only benefiting the trainers rather this project is working to mutual benefit for both of us, since we are getting trained work force it minimize the time it took to train the employees” said Zelalem Habte, Managing Director of Ramsay.
Beside his visit to Ramsay, the president has also visited Addis Ababa University and Sunday Market of Shiromeda.
The president travel to meet with the African leaders on the 33rd summit of the African union held in Addis Ababa and had series of bilateral meetings with African leaders.
“Europe is Africa’s main partner for trade, investment, cooperation and development” said President Michel.
