Tag: sacrifice
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The Gettysburg Lesson Eritrea Never Learned
What separates genuine leadership from the exploitation of sacrifice? Using Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address as a historical reference point, this essay examines the moral power of leadership during times of national crisis and contrasts it with Eritrea’s post-independence experience. It explores freedom, citizenship, remembrance, national unity, and the responsibility owed to those who sacrificed their…
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The Extraction of Heroic Capital in Eritrea
Abstract: This essay examines how the Eritrean state converted the moral authority of the armed struggle into a durable political resource. It argues that the category of tegadalay (fighter) flattened unequal wartime experiences into a single claim of equal sacrifice, allowing ruling elites to extract legitimacy from the suffering of ordinary fighters. By separating fighters,…