Much of what I feel will have no impact on the course of matters, but I feel it anyway. The amount of adamant denial displayed by a people so desperate for a savior is beyond belief. It saddens me that people cannot see injustice even as it looks them in the eye.
I do not blame the army for protecting Mubarak, I do not blame the army for protecting Safwat, I do not blame the army for protecting Serour, I do not blame the army for keeping alive an evil that has run the country into ruins. I do blame the people who deserve to be oppressed and are oppressors themselves. They do not only want to suffer the oppression but blame anyone standing up for it. They praise the oppression if it comes in a uniform and condemn rights if it comes in civilian clothes.
The Egyptian silent majority are really ignorant, or enslaved in a form of thought that has completely weakened them. I’m sad to say that they are not in business for a fight for freedom, but they are trying as best they can to serve a slavery sentence. They have accepted their masters, the army, with open arms and complete surrender. They speak to revolutionaries as if they were slaves, but they do not realize that they are free. Yes, the slaves do not realize that the revolutionaries are free people whose fight for freedom will not be mandated by the slaves, nor by the masters.
Let’s think about the future of Egypt, they say. They remind me of Jews who resented Moses’ attempts to set them free. They blamed him for demanding their freedom.
I cannot blame them. They would rather live as slaves than die as free people. The rationalization behind their denial comes in various forms and seems to them impeccable. Yet their escape from the reality of what’s around us is saddening. They would sooner disbelieve their senses than believe something contrary to what’s in their head.
I will not claim a superiority here, I will claim that I don’t see things their way. The good intentions of the army make their actions hard to justify, but assuming a sinister intention, they become easy.
All these excuses are because the army is wearing a uniform. If other groups of people killed to their advantage, the people would be angry, but because they wear a uniform they are given excuses.
The same people who ask me to shut up about violations have once spoke of justice, of truth. Yet why is it that everyone is a bloody politician now? Why do we have to tolerate the same violence, torture and killing of the previous regime just because there’s a new face? Will it take 30 years for slaves to realize they’re enslaved?
You’re enslaved to the army now. If you believe their lies, if you believe that people don’t have the rights they were universally given. Pseudo intellectualism is more dangerous than ignorance.
At the end of the day these are just thoughts. It’s hard to convince someone that one plus one equals to two if they tell you that in the long run, we should assume it’s four. How do you argue with that?
Somewhere along the line, some will be offended. I would be too if what I read disagreed with my thoughts. But I don’t think that I can lie about my feelings so as to not lose friends. I do believe in the principle of honesty, something which others have difficulty with.
Never has standing up to something wrong been incorrect. If you want to play politics then forget values you’ve been taught. Play it dirty, and stay out of my way. I do not desire your weakness and your denial. I do not desire your immoral route to salvation.
2 comments:
It's a long time since I almost started crying by reading a blog. Well. Now I do.
You are very accurate in your descriptions, and I share your thoughts all the way.
Yes. They do prefer the slavery. I believe they prefer it because they know it well. It's like the abused wife that stays with her abuser. She know's so well the hits, but she believes deep inside her that one day he will stop, and start treating her with the respect she deserves.
The degree of abuse the Egyptian people has lived through is nothing less than amazing.
You deserve your freedom. More than anyone.
It's not 30 years of abuse we are talking about here. It's 7000 years of serial-abuse. It's about time it stops.
Long live the free Egyptian people. You all deserve it.
Hi Will,
My two-cents:
A revolution is always a process of demolition and regeneration. And that is painful. My house may be old and decrepit but if you're going to blow it up, I better see a bright new picture, schedule and plan pronto for the new house you're going to build me. While I am still homeless, I won't want to listen to you tell me at great length how bad the old house was, what a great favor you did me and how much the guy who built it cheated me.
After I see the new house though, I may start thinking wow, the guy who built my old house really was a criminal because look what this new guy gave me for the same money. And then I may want to take the old guy to task.
Be careful. The worst thing any political or reform movement can do is to paint the public as the problem. The public is your customer - and the customer is always right. If they haven't bought into your vision, then it is because you're not selling it right. Attacking your customers for not buying is self-defeating. So is refusing to listen to them. Both will only result in your product remaining on the shelf.
In this case, it seems to me that the public is nostalgic for the 'devil they know'. That only happens if they feel they are being presented with a choice between 2 devils. Work harder on showing them that it is not the case. That you really have something new to offer that isn't just business as usual by different people.
Again, be careful. Don't turn yourselves into an elitist, irrelevant fringe movement that thinks it is better than it's public. Without the public on-board, you don't stand a chance against those who have the guns and the money. And you have achieved nothing more than creating a vaccum at great cost to yourselves and your country, only to have it filled with new devils.
Don't worry about others and their strategy. Focus on your own strategy and on bringing your public on-board. Act instead of reacting. Move from opposition to leadership. If you achieve that, you will no longer have to waste your energy fearing others. You will be the force on the ground and THEY will be the ones who will have to adjust.
This is my outsider perspective.
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