Mekelle፡Telaviv, Nairobi, Pretoria, London, (Tigray Herald)
Stupidity as the Silent Enemy: How TPLF’s Degeneration Into Dynastic Ignorance Threatens Tigray’s Post-Genocide Recovery
A Strategic Warning on the Rise of Dangerous Mediocrity, Political Cultism, and Cognitive Decay in Tigray
Prepared by the Horn of Africa Geopolitical Review (HAGR)In Collaboration with Leading Regional and International Political and Security Experts
Executive Summary
Tigray’s post-genocide political landscape is increasingly imperiled not only by external threatslike the Eritrean regime and the Amhara extremist Fano militias or others but by an internal epidemic of TPLF stupidity. Unlike evil, which is deliberate and thusresistible, stupidity especially in positions of influence operates unconsciously, underminingTigray’s potential for peace, unity, and democratic renewal from within. This document issues astrategic alert to Tigrayan intellectuals, youth, reformist political actors, and internationalpartners: the TPLF’s cultural decay, dynastic nepotism, and ideological cultism have birthed adangerous generation of incompetent loyalists, whose stupidity now threatens the very fabric ofTigray’s recovery.
1.The Forgotten Enemy Within: Stupidity as a Political Weapon
“Stupidity is a more dangerous enemy of the good than evil.” Dietrich Bonhoefer, Letters and Papers from PrisonAs the world struggles with authoritarianism, populism, and post-truth politics, Tigray faces itsown version of this global plague. The criminally entrenched faction of the TPLF, particularly theDebretsion Gebremichael-led cultist elite, has solidified a political culture of idiocy, whereconformity trumps competence and blind loyalty replaces wisdom.Stupidity, in this context, is not a lack of formal education. It is:The inability to critically reflect, revise, or question authority;An overconfidence in shallow understanding, enabled by groupthink;A refusal to adapt, despite catastrophic outcomes;Emotional obedience to party narratives instead of strategic reasoning.Unlike evil, stupidity does not know itself. This makes it far harder to confront. Stupid politicalactors believe they are righteous. They promote destructive policies while imagining they are“saving the people.” Their danger lies in their sincerity without insight.
2️From Ideological Slavery to Mob Culture:
The Decline of TPLF Thought
The TPLF, once a liberation movement shaped by revolutionary thought, has devolved into aninward-looking, narcissistic, and intellectually bankrupt mafia-state network. Post-genocideTigray was a chance to cleanse the system. Instead, stupidity fueled by the party’s so-called“ልምዓት ጉጅለ” (Cult of Political Loyalty) has entrenched itself.Key symptoms of the TPLF’s intellectual and political degeneration:Dynastic appointments based on family and faction, not merit;Mob culture dominating decision-making, with no tolerance for dissent;Ideological slavery: youth cadres repeating slogans without context;Criminal complicity in gold smuggling, war profiteering, and sabotage of the interim government;Stupid obedience to failed elites, even when reality contradicts their claims.The result is a political class immune to truth and accountability, yet deeply committed toemotional manipulation of the masses.
3️Philosophical and Psychological Foundations: Why Stupidity is Deadlier Than Evil
Evil can be opposed. It is visible, intentional, and legally punishable. Stupidity is camouflaged,sincere, and dangerously loyal.•
The Dunning-Kruger Efect
Those with the least competence are most confident in their positions. This is rampant withinTPLF-supporting hardliners, who despite catastrophic failures continue to act as guardians ofTigrayan destiny.
Groupthink and Party-Oriented Idiocracy
TPLF structures encourage conformity over courage, loyalty over learning. Independent thinkersare sidelined, and a false consensus emerges. produced not by deliberation, but by fear andmediocrity.
• Confirmation Bias in Propaganda Loops
Digital media has been weaponized. Through echo chambers on Telegram and Facebook,stupidity is amplified as TPLF followers consume only reafirming content, dismissing reformistthought as “traitorous.”
4️When Power and Stupidity Combine: A Fatal Formula
Bonhoefer warned that stupidity becomes most dangerous when paired with power. In Tigray,that convergence is not hypothetical it is the daily operating principle of the TPLF splinterfaction.Real-world implications include:Deliberate obstruction of the Pretoria Peace Agreement for fear of exposing past crimes;Attacks on reformist figures, including assassination plots against Tigray Interim PresidentGetachew Reda;Weaponization of popular ignorance through false martyrdom narratives and tribalist propaganda;Manipulation of grieving survivors of genocide by turning them into political pawns instead ofempowering them with truth.In other words, the stupidity is organized. It is not passive. It is directed and exploited by evilactors, turning unthinking followers into enablers of chaos.
5️Education, Media, and the Collapse of Critical Thinking
“The main danger to democracy is not evil or extremism but the epidemic of stupidity causedby the collapse of critical, informed media and education.” Strategic Insight, HAGR Intelligence UnitTigray’s educational collapse, post-war trauma, and broken civic infrastructure have madesociety ripe for intellectual surrender. Schools are underfunded, media is polarizing, andsurvivors are fatigued. Into this void walks the TPLF’s dumbed-down demagoguery.Without a resurgence of critical education, Tigray’s next generation risks becoming morefanatical and uninformed than the last. Not through malice but through inherited ignorance.
6️Building Immunity to Stupidity: What Must Be Done
1. Break the Cult of Obedience
Dismantle the ideological monopoly of the TPLF faction by legally restricting cultist politicalpropaganda in schools and public institutions.
2. Reclaim Education and Media Integrity
Invest in critical pedagogy, digital literacy, and civic education from primary school to university.Promote independent Tigrayan media platforms with editorial freedom.
3. Empower Independent Thinkers and Reformists
Protect political and intellectual figures like former President Getachew Reda,GeneralTsadkanGebretensae, and other technocrats from assassination and defamationcampaigns.Form truth and reconciliation commissions to document political stupidity and its social harms.
4. Criminalize Abuse of Power by the Stupid in Office
Introduce performance-based public ofice criteria: remove individuals who repeatedly obstructpeace, commit corruption, or incite division regardless of intent.
5. Cultivate a Political Culture of Humility
Institute public accountability forums where leaders must admit mistakes, confront criticism, andchange direction when proven wrong.
Conclusion: Stupidity Is Not Innocent-It Is a National Security Risk
In post-genocide Tigray, evil did not end with the bombs. It now hides behind party flags,nostalgia, and false heroism. Yet the most insidious danger is stupidity in power a danger which silences better minds, disables recovery, and leads nations back into ruin.If the people of Tigray fail to confront stupidity in all its forms familial, political,institutional they will lose the promise of peace to the false comfort of familiarity.
The futuredepends not only on justice for past crimes, but on protecting society from those who mean well,act poorly, and refuse to learn.“In the face of evil, resistance is possible. But against stupidity, we are defenseless unless wechoose courage over conformity, truth over tribalism, and wisdom over noise.” Horn of Africa Geopolitical Review, 2025
References
Bonhoefer, Dietrich. Letters and Papers from Prison, 1943Kruger, J., & Dunning, D. (1999). Unskilled and unaware of it. Journal of Personality and SocialPsychologyJanes Defence Weekly, January 2025. TDF Leadership under ScrutinyHAGR Digital Intelligence Reports, 2024–2025Orwell, George. Collected Essays, Vol. 4Horn of Africa Geopolitical Review Strategic Advisory Panel
