A group of men surrounded our young Ride driver, threatening his livelihood. “You’re working with the car your father gave you!” one of the men screamed in between the profanity he slurred. These were men who drive the old blue taxis in town. They are angry that the Ethiopian version of the Uber-pioneered new ride-hailing technology has arrived in Addis Abeba, and the new business model is not to their liking. The young and more tech-savvy drivers of these new ride-hailing companies, with their newer cars, are a threat to their old business model, and they are doing everything they can to stop them. Unfortunately, that includes illegal means like violence.

These young men were holding on to their victimhood as tightly as the khat tucked into the right corner of their mouths. They feel disenfranchised. While their frustrations are understandable, their reactions will not render the result they are hoping for.

We are brewing an angry generation. One that has learned to crave a past they never knew, unable to breathe in the existence of today. This discontent has been brewing a version of a future everyone would like to attain but not work for.

The International Crisis Group recently issued its list of ten conflicts to watch in 2020. This is a list they compile every year showing the countries of the world that are in the middle of serious conflicts that they advise need to be closely watched. Ethiopia is third on this year's list next to Afghanistan and Yemen. While those of us living in this nation would like to believe otherwise, the reality is the country has been unstable for a few years now. Many in our communities are learning to use violence as an option to bring change.

While living in Hawassa, I heard a Bajaj driver talking to passengers about tariffs casually mention, “We demanded a change to the fare, and if the government does not react, we threatened to burn down the industrial park.” The nonchalant manner in which an action clearly detrimental to the country’s economy was being mentioned was all too shocking. This was not the first or only time I have heard such statements.

As citizens are learning new ways of gathering information and communicating in the new media world, they are being slowly pulled away from the social norms and values they had in their communities. They are being desensitised to actions that used to be frowned upon before. The gap being created among people is widening as uncertainty looms.