The media and American public have hailed the revolution in Egypt as a triumph of democracy, a victory of good over evil. I'm not so sure.
If you believe the bloggers and commentators, this was a revolution made on the streets of Cairo, an inspired insurrection of the plain folks using weapons like Facebook, Twitter and Google against the might of the government.
And the good guys won. Democracy has come to Egypt. And soon it shall spread throughout the Middle East. Who knows? Maybe even to China. Power to the people.
Forgive me for being skeptical.
Mubarak was a thug and a grifter, a corrupt dictator who looted the country. But he was our thug for 30 years. The United States government supported him, providing weapons and financial aid because he provided a measure of stability in the Middle East and was one of the few nations in that volatile region that was at peace with Israel, one of our allies.
Now that he's gone, I'd be surprised if Egypt turns into anything resembling a democracy. The military is running the show now. There are powerful religious, military, financial and secular forces working behind the scene to grab the levers of power in Cairo. Anyone who thinks the interests of the Egyptian man in the street will prevail in the days, months and years ahead is living in a dream world.
I have no idea where it will all end. I don't think anyone else can say, either. One thing I am pretty sure of is that "democracy" - however you define it - is no answer to all the woes of the Egyptian people. The haves aren't giving it up to the have-nots that easily.
This is very similar to what happened in May 1998 Riot in Indonesia. The then President Suharto stepped down after sitting on the throne for 31 years with his dictatorship and corruption. Everyone thought after he stepped down, the country will be better. Ha! Ha! Now, 13 years later, not much difference. A lot of people feels that they were better off financially before that riot. At least a dictator can quickly make a new order/rule and control the controllable.
ReplyDeleteOther than that, I have no comment... as I am not much into politics.
One funny thought: When Prissy was in 2nd grade, her class was memorizing US president's name. (You know... Washington, John Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, bla bla bla...) I remembered I had that lesson too when I was in grade school. The difference was I didn't have a list. We only had 1 president since I was born till after Prissy was born... hahahahaa
ReplyDeleteName the presidents. Sukarno! Did I pass the test???? Even I remembered that name.
ReplyDeleteBut you are right about nothing ever changing. That's probably why most people don't care about politics. They know deep in their heart things are not going to change for the better.
Why waste time on politics. The deck is stacked and the cards are all marked. And the dealer always wins in the end.
Where's a new blog??? Your fans are waiting!
Hahaaa... WRONG!!! hahahahahahahahaa
ReplyDeleteSukarno was Indonesia's FIRST president, from Indonesia's Independence in 1945 till 1967. He passed away in 1970 before I was born so the president I was referring to was SUHARTO. How similar right, they both have no last name, just like me. :P So basically from 1945 - 1998, Indonesia had 2 presidents... Sukarno 22 years and Suharto for 31 years.
Okay, I will write a blog today. About... gee... I don't know yet. I will think of something, ok... It's raining heavily outside so I am in one of my happy mood. hahahhahaa