I’m kinda just tired of this whole Egypt thing.
Last night, admittedly in a drunken haze, a friend of mine said “I’m kinda just tired of this whole Egypt thing.” I thought to myself, Holy shit, holy shit, what an idiot.
To be fair though, his opinion is relevant. And he’s actually a very intelligent person.
Before I go on, let me just state that I am as unqualified to have a relevant opinion on politics as the average American. I took some politics classes in college, and have always been an avid news reader, but my knowledge is greatly limited. I’m extremely liberal in ideology and my two main new sources are The New York Times and The New Yorker (The New Yorker especially; I read it cover to cover weekly, with the exception of the fiction and the poetry, which I find totally conventional and uninteresting—but that’s another rant).
For the past few days, I’ve been convinced that right now is the most important moment in my lifetime. And I’ve been baffled that nobody in my immediate social circle seemed to care about Egypt. For years, the West’s approach to the Middle East has been to try to encourage and expedite peace and cooperation through whatever ways it thought necessary (usually very bad ways). The underlying principle in the West’s policies has been that, if left alone, the Middle East has very little hope of an organic revolution by the people, for the people. That is the arrogance of the West, in the most general sense (many exceptions exist, many that I’m sure I don’t even know about). But in the past ten years, as Iraq and Afghanistan have shown us, there’s no such thing as coercing something into democracy. There’s only coercion.
Maybe some disagree, but it seems to me that the best opportunity for “peace in the Middle East” is a series of organic grassroots movements. Egypt (and Tunisia) is the precedent and encouragement that other oppressed people in the region should be emboldened by. Now is the time, if ever.
I understand that Egypt has almost no relevance to the everyday lives of Americans. And this is why it’s perfectly understandable that nobody (and by nobody, I am talking about my immediate social circle, so maybe that’s just my own fault) gives a shit. But I’d like to suggest that this attitude of “I’m kinda just tired of this whole Egypt thing,” is a perfectly legitimate starting point. It’s one that suggests that the person who said it has not thought about the importance of Egypt.
The more we talk about Egypt, the more things will be discovered. The more we have a dialogue, the more likely it is that we can find ways to help. And the more we write about it, the more likely Egyptians are to know that the world is watching, and that the West wants Egypt free as much as the Egyptians.
Maybe that sounds corny as hell, but I don’t really care. You know?
I’m kinda just hoping the American president hits our internet kill switch.
Are you also kinda hoping that thousands of jobs disappear?….because that’s whats gonna happen if they hit the kill switch.
I think Melissa was joking.
I guess my problem is that revolutions don’t always lead to more freedom. Revolutions are incredibly unpredictable.
While I agree with this observation, I think if we are weighing the two, revolution wins. For the 25 year old unemployable male Egyptian, the status-quo is not cool. I come from a background of what I would call great privilege, and I would think that my peers in Egypt, Israel, China, South Africa, and wherever have the right to demand some of the things that I take for granted. If by unpredictable, you are also suggesting that a revolution is not worth the risk of losing one of the most consistent American allies in the region, I would also say that as an American I think it’s a small price for us to pay.
Yes, a new regime could lead to new ways of oppression. But the status-quo was not working. What’s your solution? More of the same? Or maybe America can hand-pick a successor? Maybe that wouldn’t be so bad, but there’s almost no historic precedent to suggest that to be the case.
I’m just sayin’, not really offering any solutions. More of the same is better than a NATO, UN, or God forbid, American intervention. It’s also better than a different general, or a religious cleric. There are also minority groups in Egypt that could be targets for persecution. I mean there is just a lot that could go wrong. I guess I’m more into slow political change unless the circumstances are more dire. I’m all for a change in Burma, Sudan, Iran, for example…
I care about Egypt.
And, for what it’s worth, my immediate concern was the pyramids. Freedom of expression is up there too.
Dan, I am in your social circle and we spent 20-30 minutes talking about Egypt yesterday before you even got drunk. Don’t be ridiculous.
The pyramids are the real issue her. They violate all kinds of building safety codes and tenant protection laws.
This makes me sad.
Stop it, D-boy. And get better, please.
HOW WILL THEY KNOW WE’RE TALKING ABOUT THEM WITHOUT INTERNET?!?!?!?!
Watching CNN video podcast. This whole thing is incredible.