1. Much of @AbiyAhmedAli's ideas find their roots in Prosperity Gospel. The reason we see him passing neoliberal policies, get enthused about billion birr parks or encourage such mega projects isn’t b/c he’s unaware that he’s doing this in one of the poorest cities in the world https://twitter.com/TakeleUma/status/1260518304470511618

2. but b/c he believes God shows his favors through material blessings, thus wealth or its unfair distribution can easily be justified. In other words, wealth is good... The Prosperity Gospel is not necessarily rooted in the bible, but more in the New Thought movement

3. which began in the US in the 19th C, which promoted ideas such as the divinity of the individual and harnessing mental energy to achieve financial success (today we see it in books like The Secret). This is why the PM promotes Dr. Mehret’s ideas on “Mind Set”

4. and tweets about individual innovation & dreaming big. These ideas aren’t bad in & of themselves, what makes them both bad & dangerous for us is that we are a poor nation whose ills can’t be cured by positive thought & great aspiration.

5. Our problems are systemic & require systemic solution. The solutions we need, need to be based on justice; on the idea that real prosperity is dependent on the prosperity of the weakest & poorest of us. You can make AA the next Dubai,

6. but don't call that "prosperity" when in the process you're doomed to neglect & disenfranchise the overwhelming majority of your population.

What a sad state of affairs.

#Ethiopia