Good Luck, Egyptian People!

Well, everybody’s reporting that Mubarak is going to step down tonight so I guess it’s true.  I am happy with the development and guardedly optimistic.  It is a victory for the people in the streets, a come-uppance for Mubarak, a slap in the face to the U.S. foreign policy of giving military aid to both Egypt AND Israel, to be used in Egypt’s case basically for the suppression of its own people, and a vindication of sorts for Julian Assange and Wikileaks.

Whether it will be a good thing in the long term, I just don’t know.  It could lead to the blossoming of a democracy.  There are certainly a lot of people who are working passionately for that outcome.

It could lead to an Islamic theocracy which would be a human rights disaster but, like in Iran, there’d be nobody to blame for it but the U.S.A.  If we had just let Mossadegh nationalize the oil companies in 1953, the world would be an immeasurably more pleasant place today.  It could (and this is likely) lead to a military dictatorship, similar to Mubarak’s reign, but with someone else (Suleiman) at the top.  I don’t know.  I’m not an expert on Egypt.

I was there in about ’92 or ’93, something like that.  We went in January or February, thinking that would be a good time to visit Egypt, and it was like their coldest winter ever.  Lots of Egyptians greeted us by saying “welcome to Siberia.”  It still wasn’t what you’d call cold by northern standards but since none of the rooms had heating of any kind it did get kind of uncomfortable at night.

We had a fantastic time.  We saw the Pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx, the Pyramids of  Saqqarah, gave to some of the beggars and fought off others.  I mean that metaphorically, not literally.  That was the thing that amazed me.  Despite the intense poverty, we never, ever felt threatened and nobody even tried to steal anything.  The shopkeepers in the Khan el

Khan el Khalili Market - a unique shopping experience

Khalili market may have been trying to swindle us a bit, but we bargained enthusiastically, drank a lot of tea and walked away with some nice souvenirs.

I didn’t know who the ruler of Egypt was or what form of government they had.  I never asked and it never came up.  Real life is like that.  People have other things than politics on their minds.

So, in the short term, after Mubarak leaves, people will go back to their jobs if they have them, students will go back to school, soldiers will go back to their barracks and things will return to normal.  After a few weeks, the tourists will begin to drift back in as well.  After all, they have the Pyramids, and the Valley of the Kings.

I wish them all the best.  They are lovely and hospitable people.