Protest like an Egyptian

[ed-rex.livejournal.com]

Lessons from Egypt

Barack Obama is the probably the best possible President the United States could have, but all of his genuinely good qualities don't make a damned bit of difference in terms of U.S. foreign policy. There is a very simple reason for this: He's not the boss. The real boss, of course, is all of that fucking money, all of the profits to be made, and which have to be made because that is the criteria according to which corporations — and hence the U.S. economy itself — lives or dies. Profit must be made, and it is not made exclusively, or even primarily within the U.S. but outside of it, all over the world. That is the necessity that governs U.S. foreign policy. Not morality, not justice, and not Obama. In that sphere he, like any other President, more closely resembles Stepin Fetchit. Thomas Dow, via email.

It's been getting harder and harder for anyone in the Western world to pretend we live in a genuinely democratic society. Ironically — but also tellingly — our rulers have felt in ever-less necessary to hide the fact that they hold "the people" in contempt, just as they hold in contempt the idea of democracy itself.

As a Canadian, last summer's government-sponsored riots in Toronto (see "Dominion of Fear" from last July) tore a lot of the proverbial wool from my eyes, but not all of it. I think it Tony Blair's calmy racist para-logical contortions in support of anything but democracy for the Egyptian people to bring home to me the fact our own democracy is little (if anything) more than a potempkin voting booth.

Which prompted the following, an editorial first published in this past Friday's True North Perspective. Long story short, there are two lessions for those of us in the West to learn from the courageous men and women facing down the thugs in the streets of Egypt.

First, it's not our place to manage Egyptian affairs. Even if we accept the myth of Good Intentions, the result is almost always a torturer like Mubarak.

And second, we need to take back our own democracy; the men in black body armor are at the ready any time we step out of line.

Click here for the rest (behind the fake cut).

Comments

[whoasksfinds.livejournal.com]

No, I was exaggerating, but only by a little.

in other words, you were being intentionally dishonest in your assessment.

I disagree that its not the more profitable.

only if you ignore the long and short term costs associated with funding dictators.

provide any kind of quantifiable economic benefit

only if you ignore the role that marketing and perception play in economics.

ensuring that the Suez canal remains in the hands of a friendly government.

thats assuming we have to support a dictator to keep the Suez canal in the hands of a friendly government.

maintaining that control is a lot more important than making Egyptians and Arabs increase their approval of the U.S. by a few percentage points.

probably to the old guard. not so much anymore.

[mrsilence.livejournal.com]

in other words, you were being intentionally dishonest in your assessment

No. I exaggerated, unintentionally. In hindsight, the word "never" was indeed overstating the case, as you yourself pointed out. But as I pointed out, only by a little.

thats assuming we have to support a dictator to keep the Suez canal in the hands of a friendly government.

Well the thing about dictators and economics is that predictability is key. Dictators tend to be reliable and if not, well, they can be replaced. Democratic governments, on the other hand, are a entirely different kettle of fish. Replace 1 guy and you still have to contend with dozens or even hundreds of others. And any democratic government is always liable to have politicians who aren't willing to comply with U.S. desires, if they think it isn't in Egyptian interests. And thats a problem.

As for the rest, personally I think we can safely sit back and watch what happens. What is the current administration doing?

[whoasksfinds.livejournal.com]

the logic you are using is precisely the reason we are at this point today. and what we are in fact seeing, is that over the long term, supporting dictatorial regimes because they are easier to manage, does not work. that is the problem.