Sunday, July 22, 2007

On the eve of the revolution

On that day in this moment from 55 years ,the Free officers were preparing for their coup that changed not only the course of this country's history but the history of the region , in this eve no Egyptian except of course those few young men ,knew that next day there would be coup and no Egyptian except also those few young men wanted a coup or revolution ,the only wish most Egyptians had was to have back the Wafad back in cabinet
Yet after 55 years from the revolution and radical transitions Egypt faced since it had taken place ,Some Egyptians now wish for another revolution !!
And believe me it is not the some but I believe if any coup or revolution is going to take place ,most Egyptians will welcome it even more than the welcome of those who lived 1952, despite they know very much that the revolution days were not the best nor its decision , they know very well it is not the best option for democracy but there is one thing they want this revolution to happen that is :Nationalization
People will welcome Nationalization again
Yes despite all its bad results
here I am not talking about the fancy high class or the educated high middle class, here I am talking the low middle and low working class ,the real power of this country
In the last three years Mubarak and Son sold almost all the sectors to foreign investors just like before the revolution ,say Good bye to the national capital money
Quick look ,very Quick look to the Egyptian economy and you will know what I am speaking
Thanks to the Egyptian Cabinet decisions most Egyptian banks were sold to foreign banks , I think there are no more Egyptian National Banks except three : The C.I.B ,The National Bank of Egypt and Misr Bank , the last two are public banks "there were silly jokes that they were going to sold the NBE but Mubarak denied it himself"
The Egyptian Banking sector is now dominated by Foreigners , mostly French and Lebanese !!
I know very well that most banks that were sold were already going to be bankrupted because of the corruption and bad loans , but let's speak the truth most banks scandals from loans by billions that were stolen and now are deposited in Bahamas took place in the first place because of the NDP members or those who are related to them using their influences to push and to bribe the bank managers , just look to the famous case of "Cairo Bank" or "Banque De Caire" which is going to be sold after a storm session in the parliament
There is a very healthy solution that could remedy the Egyptian banking system that is Merger , merger the weak banks with the strong banks , or even merger the weak banks together trying to make one strong bank
Forget about the banks , let's go to the industrial sector , Privatization can be a good solution , but there are other alternatives , first of all you use the stock market ,let your own people own shares in these national factories ,it is the same like privatization
Now to the back disaster
On that day the 22nd of July 2007 I found this disturbing news in the newspaper in the front page of Al-Ahram "they are really enjoying teasing people in the morning "
For the first time , the permission is granted for the private sector to establish and operate irrigation projects  in a bill to develop irrigation and cultivation of 925 thousand acres in western Delta , The investors have the right to a concession period of 30 years after which devolves projects of the State
They are privatizing the irrigation sector ,I can not believe it ,just like the old days before the revolution
I thought that the water and irrigation is from the national security , yet it seems not anymore
I don't know why I suddenly remember the image of the controlling evil irrigation engineer who used to appear in the Novels of Taha Hussein and Youssef Idris and how controlling he is in the villages he used to work in and how he was considered the most important personality directly after the Sheriff himself -a side remark
Ok we leave the irrigation decision which came right after the water crisis people are still suffering from in the middle of the summer in the same Nile Delta and go for another strange privatization decision
They are going to privatize the Metro , oh yes the underground is going to be sold too
It is too common to hear some Egyptians wondering when the regime starts to sell us too in auction but come on the government already did so with the agreement to export Egyptian maids to Saudi Arabia
These are the only exams I can remember today but the list is too long and the examples are full of details that surely will make you sad on the valley of the Nile understanding why some want another revolution with another nationalization and the majority will say no
Do not think for a second the people want back the nationalization or revolution because of their glories again more they are acting according to the Egyptian proverb
 "what pushed you the toward the bitter stuff ?? the more bitter stuff"

6 comments:

  1. Hey
    long time reader, first time to comment.
    Did you read about Mubark speech for al SAWRA celebration? if not please go to Al-haram.org.eg, and read the first page. it will make you sick because every word he said is the opposit of what we living.
    I just wanna say congratulation on your great blog
    raafat
    New York

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  2. @Rafaat,first of all I am happy that you commented and thanks for the wonderful words
    second , yes I read the speech ,I don't know if he already knows that he is lying or what seriously there is no sane person will believe what he says
    I don't know if he does not understand the speech ,but those who wrote it for him do they know that he is going to say it to the Egyptian public ,and most of those Egyptian public are adults with brain to think
    it is a black comedy

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  3. First of all Zeinobia I would like to complement you on your exquisite taste, your new background is simply amazing.

    Now to the task at hand yes it was a coup consisting of a few rogue elements in the royal army(you can call them free if you want.) A true revolution stems from within the people but in this case the people woke up to find that their rotund Italophile Tobacconist Ottoman King overthrown by a mailman's son.

    Now I know that all you Die hard Gamaliacs will crassly bellow and forcibly emphesise the fact that the definition of a revolution is a forcible overthrow of a government or social order, in favour of a new system. But we all know that the populace had arisen the next day to find a rag tag outfit of soldiers in charge of our beloved Egypt. And sadly enough everyone decided to play along and call it a revolution because of all the promises made by the coup leaders.

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  4. well, I agree with you in many points. I am also so impressed that you could provide us with all those historical details. The principle of any revolution is: When any regime became monotonous and does not change to deal with the changes happenening in the world, can not cope with the people's problems a gap develops between the interests of the regime and the interests on the people. The people no longer feels the regime is respresenting them and they starts to arrange for a revolution. If you could totally isolate the people from the world ( eg North Korea) the people lose the feeling that they need a change and the relation between the regime and the people becomes a relation between god and slaves.
    The only thing I disagree with you is that Nationaliazation is a wish or is a solution to the benefits of the people. Nationalization is a torn out economic policy that was an integrated part of communism and now communism is already gone. I am living in a Country where everything is private, literally EVERYTHING, imagine? From the water supply to the banks to the road toll to the power supply ( gas and electricity). The only thing that is controlled by the Government is the Military power. Still you can apparently tell how the economy is powerful in USA. They are not only financially support most of the Countries, they also feed them. In this era Nationalisation can not be laid down of the table. The only two things - I think - that are stopping the people of Egypt from starting a revolution are: 1- Loss of loyality to the Country and the increased feeling of individualism secondry to the unloyal policy of the regime toward the people. 2- Fear that a fanatic radical group might come up to power and no one can stop it. I dont think in the current circumstances that a revolution in Egypt might happen.I dont think either that there is good circumstances in Egypt to even take Mubarak out of power

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  5. @ Howa we Heya


    You remind me of my father, who was absolutely enamored with the United States (so he says I wasn’t born) when he joined the United Nations in the 70's.

    I was born in the United States and not every society is peaches and cream. I respectfully beg to differ with your completely rosy picture of our society (USA). The military has been flirting with corporate America since the early 20th century. One of the first military men to be the face of so called "free enterprise" was General Smedley Butler. He penned his atrocities in a book called War Is a Racket people like Smedley Butler make Nasser look like an angel.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smedley_Butler

    And yes it is still going on today…
    Read confessions of an economic hit man where we (the US) swore to shackle Saudi Economic interests with those of our own. After King Fasuil (ala yer hammo) had his oil embargo

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  6. @Zerocool ,it is a movement , a coup promised the people with heaven's fruits that they never saw
    if you say movement ,you will find them saying it became a revolution after the people acceptance !!

    @Dr SR , are you comparing Egypt to the United States !!?? this is not a correct comparison at all , do you know how much the average income now in Egypt for the regular Egyptian ??
    this is not a logic comparison at all

    just like Zerocool referred , I want to look to New Orleans and the tragedy that happened there and remember this happens in America

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