This day will be remembered in history as the day the people prevailed over the government. When the people of Egypt demanded that Mubarak relinquish his office, he initially refused. He attempted to convince the people that the government rules the people and that they must listen to him, not the other way around. When that didn't work, Mubarak resorted to threats. But the people of Egypt stood fast and refused to leave until he stepped down. Finally today, February 11, 2011, Mubarak gave in and complied with the people's demands to step down.
What will happen now is anybody's guess. The end result will not necessarily be good. It won't necessarily be bad. That remains to be seen. But regardless of where Egypt goes now, today is a good thing, because the will of the people prevailed. A regime cannot be allowed to ignore the demands of the people of its country. No matter how bad things may get if Egypt takes an unfortunate direction from here, it will not be as bad as it could have been, had they allowed their government to ignore them.
4 comments:
Very well said. The American establishment is quaking in their boots: all I heard today from the talking heads is how we have a system that lets our voices be heard. HA! What a crock. They are afraid now, as they should be. But, sadly, too many people still believe they are heard by government. I don't expect any real uprising here until the soccer moms are forced to scratch for food...
i don't know how that would work here. ed assner and "world can't wait" tried to get a similar agitation going here, during the bush years. the bush haters were louder and more forceful than the years and years of clinton haters that came before...
they did manage to oust nixon. the senate didn't dare convict clinton, when faced with the prospect of an algore presidency. the agitation to remove bush subsided when they realized they'd better try to get rid of cheney first...
things must have been pretty bad in egypt for them to do this. (or; you can fool all of the people, some of the time)
Sorry, Tracy, I can't jump on this bankwagon. You see liberty in the streets; I see the French Revolution with its guillotine. You see a bad guy tossed out; I see the rising of a rough religion that has perverted freedom for 1,500 years. You draw hope that things will get better; I shudder in the knowledge that things can (and usually do) get worse.
In fact, Mitchell, I was thinking of the French Revolution when I wrote this. And I don't really draw hope that things will get better; I agree with you that things can and usually do get worse. But that is not because of the ruler being tossed out on his head. It is because of the basic stupidity of the masses who cannot then do what is necessary to create something better. They never seem to look to themselves to make a society work: they just look for a new hero.
I cannot uphold a regime that attempts to ignore the will of its people, and I applaud those people when they toss the regime out. If they proceed then to throw away the opportunity to do it right this time, then they get what they deserve.
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