EGYPT REVOLUTION

As we enter February, the past week has seen mass protests and demonstrations throughout Egypt. The 25th of January is a day not to be forgotten as it has moved a nation now at a point of no return.  But why is this happening now?

One reason: complacency

The Mubarak regime took the Egyptians for granted. To go back into the past, The scale of the 1977 protests was bigger than this one..people literaly went mad and charged tanks on the street. The main driver for those protests -the economy, especially the price of bread..sounds pretty similar.

Sadat survived becuase he had the respect of the people…Mubarak had zero respect to start with. Mubarak forgot the main lessons of dictatorship 101..which are to keep the people fed and entertained(distracted) and they will not revolt.

I’ve discussed this before with friends about the lack of civil activism in the Arab world. But this is characterized by the people at the heart of the Arab world, the Egyptians, being generally docile politically, and apathetic towards dictatorship. It is a characteristic seen throughout the region…

Today, there was a million man march in Maydan Tahrir in Cairo. Biggest protests in this latest saga of revolution and it was definitely a moving image. Mubarak later came on TV to give another speech to say he is not leaving until the elections in September and will not run another term. Unfortunately for him, he still does not realize that his people want him gone ASAP… and this ending… has the makings of a bad one. But I hope my gut is wrong.