The Revolution is Underway in Egypt
Downtown Cairo is essentially shut down. As our correspondent in Cairo suggested last week, public expressions of displeasure with the government have at last gone big in Egypt, with tens of thousands marching in the streets today. There are many pictures on the organizing Facebook site; people are using Twitter as well to share information about how to circumvent government Internet censorship and access information. The protests have turned violent in places, as police push back against crowds; they are using teargas and water cannons, and batons as well. From the AP: "Mothers carrying babies marched and chanted, 'Revolution until Victory!' while young men parked their cars on the main street and waved signs reading 'OUT!' inspired by the Tunisian protestations of 'DEGAGE!' this week. Men were seen spraying graffiti reading 'Down with Hosni Mubarak.'" Protests are also taking place in Alexandria and other cities and in Lebanon. The Egyptian minister of the interior has issued orders to "arrest any persons expressing their views illegally," which is pretty much everyone.
Democracy in the Middle East! Surely, the US government must be ecstatic about this, right? Er…
Once Twitter gets involved, you know shit is getting serious.
It's true. That's how I knew Ashton Kutcher was the real deal.
Hard not to be bit worried about what comes next. Revolutions are messy things.
pakistan. pakistan comes next.
What could go wrong! Not like they have a nuclear weapons program or an ongoing border conflict, right?!
What would come next? Is there a more democratic leader waiting in the wings…or a more reactionary one?
That's my worry, hockeymom. More democracies in the Middle East – excellent. More Iranian-style religious "democracies" in the Middle East – quite a bit less excellent.
"…waved signs reading 'OUT!'" = different parade.
the Egyptian government better pray Janet Jackson gets hit by a car this week.
Be careful what you wish for. According to the American government, Mubarak is one of the good Arab dictators. Egypt is one of the biggest recipient of US foreign aid for a reason, he is viewed as a stablizing force in the region. A more democratic Egypt will not necessarily be a good thing for Israel, nor for the Christian minority Coptics of Egypt.
Now if you really want to know who is driving this civil unrest in the region, the answer may surprise you. It's Ben Bernanke. If things continue on the current pace, there will be more civil unrest around the World, and not just in the Arab world, and all roads lead to the Federal Reserve.
I don't know man, you're making it all sound like a giant pyramid scheme.
Nothing nefarious other than QE2 at work. Ben Bernanke does not seek revolution, but it is a natural result of his monetary policies.
Have you noticed how prices have gone up at the local supermarket while the packaging has gotten smaller? Annoying yes, but not that threatening to the social order at this point in the West. But in the majority of the World, where people live on less that Ten Dollars a day, the doubling in price of most foodstuffs and basic commodities decimates the poor and the "middle class" in such countries. Inflation and monetary policy are drivers of social change.
The Fed's loose monetary policy to save the bonuses and bottom lines of Wall Street banks has encouraged the explosion in commodities that is currently nudging the social unrest around the world. Riots in Greece, Tunisia, Egypt and elsewhere are not so much a demand for democracy, but a reaction to the broader collapse in the world economic order.
"According to the American government, Mubarak is one of the good Arab dictators. Egypt is one of the biggest recipient of US foreign aid for a reason, he is viewed as a stablizing force in the region."
Mubarak has impoverished Egypt over the last 30 years. His administration has pushed through the standard neoliberal privatization and de-regulation packages, and as a result, Egypt pretty much lives on imports, is highly dependent on U.S. aid, and has a real unemployment rate of more than 26%. He's also aided and abetted Israeli apartheid and the collective punishment of everyone in Gaza. A "good dictator" indeed.
It seems like the military is supporting him for now, so I'd be surprised to see this go anywhere, but you're right that revolutions are always very, very dangerous, so one can only hope that whatever happens doesn't become violent and out of control.
thanks for mentioning this, I'm pleased that the Awl is covering it. I just got back home from the demos and they are still going strong. It's been an incredible day here, and unprecedented, really.