Implanting Economic Dependency
The goal of impoverishing African countries is essentially manifested through the generation of a dependent economic system under the guise of modernization. Here transpires one of the major goals of the introduction and spread of Western education. By creating an elite enamored with Western taste and pattern of consumption, Western education, Asres maintains, undermines national production and economic self-sufficiency in favor of imported goods and techniques of production, the outcome of which is economic dependency. In a word, the objective of replacing traditional schools with modern schools is to change Ethiopia into a periphery of the West.
Unlike the traditional teaching, which provides the knowledge of Ethiopian resources, the external orientation of modern education has no concern for national wealth and resources.46 It simply teaches how to import techniques and goods at the expense of national means and resources. The so-called modernization has been nothing but the marginalization and neglect of all the techniques that Ethiopia had used so far to exploit its resources. Asres justifies his assertion by providing examples of neglected techniques and resources. For instance, consider the technique of making colors: “Ethiopia’s painters and writers did not work by importing colors from Europe.”47 They were using traditional techniques, which are now totally forgotten so that Ethiopia today imports colors from outside. Another example is perfumes: the Bible highly praises perfumes made in Ethiopia and exported to the rest of the world.48 Today Ethiopia imports European perfumes and the know-how is completely lost. Yet the ancient knowledge could be easily recuperated by reading old books written in Ge’ez. Hence Asres’s repeated advices to youngsters: “if you go back to Ge’ez, you will find similar wealth in great number.”49
Asres multiplies examples by indicating how Ethiopia had advanced techniques for the use of wood and animal skins, which techniques are now entirely lost. The same with the crucial technique of blacksmith, which leads him to say: “Ethiopians fought against powerful enemies and defeated them by manufacturing themselves the spear, knife, sword . . . they needed. Unlike today, they did not import arms from outside.”50 At times Westerners have directly intervened and blocked the use of native resources in order to introduce their own products. For instance, “when the Italians occupied Ethiopia, they eliminated the plant known as gesho. They did so, not because they knew the hidden virtues of the plant, but because they wanted to introduce their own ingredients for alcoholic beverages.”51
Asres mocks the naivety of Ethiopians when they think that Europeans will teach them the secrets of science. Because of this belief, many Ethiopians were sent to Europe for study and many foreign teachers hired at great expenses. However, all this effort has not produced “even 10 young Ethiopians capable of understanding the secrets of scientific work.”52 Asres reiterates his deep conviction by saying to young Ethiopians: “I want you to understand that European scientists will never reveal the wisdom of science to you.”53
Let there be no misunderstanding: the warning against the European unwillingness to share scientific knowledge does not mean that Asres is against the attempt to import European know-how or that he is opposed to modernization. Rather, he asks Ethiopians to proceed in a smart way in view of the European unwillingness to share knowledge. Instead of abruptly abandoning traditional techniques and resources, which only results in the loss of self-sufficiency in favor of dependency, Ethiopians should devise a smart policy of transition from the traditional to the modern. Accordingly, until modern industries are well established, Ethiopians should use traditional means and refrain from merely importing goods from outside.54 Likewise, instead of simply shutting down traditional schools, the best way is to educate a small amount of Ethiopians by hiring few foreign instructors. Once these Ethiopians graduate, they should be sent to the various provinces to educate other Ethiopians while foreign instructors are sent back to their country.55