Taking a break from the educational side of this, but I may post an article about early childhood development next week.
In light of the chaos taking place in North Africa, there looks to be a common thread weaving its way through the madness. In short, it is that citizens have felt oppressed and voiceless. While similar situations have existed for thousands of years, it is interesting to see how the influence of Facebook, YouTube and Twitter have allowed these people to speak up for themselves and get their message out to the rest of the world. Tunisia and Egypt have managed to overthrow their leaders and Libyans appear to be close to showing Moammar the door. But how does a revolution start? In Egypt, it appears that the citizens got a look at the success their neighbors were having and used the social media as an outlet to "Just Say No!" In the end, Mubarak and his multi-billion dollar empire was left with no choice but to resign.
The concept of holding a revolution in Egypt was not unique; in fact, the 2011 uprising was the fifth to take place in modern Egyptian history, although the first since 1950. In the wake of the civil unrest and consequent successful overthrow of the Zine El Abidine Ben Ali leadership in Tunisia, the stage was set for the oppressed citizens of Egypt to make a move. In reality, the seeds for the movement may have been planted as many as ten years earlier. The successful outcome in Tunisia helped to give Egyptians hope that their movement would also accomplish its objective. For 18 days, beginning on January 25, scores of protestors took to the streets, under mostly peaceful circumstances, to denounce the leadership of President Hosni Mubarak. At first, Mubarak offered to not seek re-election, but after further protests, the president of 30 years resigned.
Reasons for fighting back
There are many reasons for the revolution, and most of the reasons focus on economic, as well as political issues. In the end, an Egyptian people tired of being held back decided to retaliate. Mubarak, like many other African dictators, headed a corrupt system. Free elections were not a reality in Egypt and freedom of speech was frowned upon. The unemployment rate was excessively high, while Egyptians, who were able to work, did so for low minimum wages. Many Egyptians work for less than $2 a day. The price of food was uncharacteristically expensive and police brutality ran rampant on the streets. While many Egyptians toiled in poverty, the Mubarak family amassed a fortune, known to be as high as $70 billion.
Larger Issues
The issues which sent Egyptians to the streets were not unique in the Middle East. The problems which have been forcing uprisings in countries since the Tunisian and Egyptian takeovers are tied to the broader issues of capitalism within the region. Two are of particular importance. First, the global economic recession and nature of neoliberalism in Egypt are causing concern as the country becomes more dependent on American capital investment, while shifting to single crop production for export and the privatization of public companies.
The second issue is the role which Egypt has held in fostering American dominance in the Middle East and North Africa. Many Egyptians felt as if Mubarak was more concerned with his country’s relationship with the Western world than his own people, profiting from American business contacts while the gap between the wealthy and the starving widened.
Social Media
Although many Egyptians lived in an oppressed state, there had been no means of mobilizing the masses to protest. This changed with the advent of social media outlets, such as Facebook and Twitter. In one well known occurrence, Wael Abbas “tweeted” his arrest while being moved to jail, and found hundreds of protestors outside the police station upon his arrival. While the movement in Egypt was uncoordinated from a planning standpoint, the ability to transmit moving images to a fixated public put the upheaval as the lead story on many news outlets.
Timing Was Right
In the end summary, the timing was right for an Egyptian revolution. The negative economic and social factors came to a boiling point just as the Tunisians were overthrowing the Ben Ali regime. Looking for an example to follow, the citizens of Egypt learned of people like Mohamed Bouazizi, a Tunisian who set himself on fire in protest of the Tunisian regime, or Khaled Saeed, an Egyptian who was brutally beaten by police for refusing to pay a bribe. Using modern technology, the Egyptians quickly crafted a message and sent it out for the world to see. After 18 days of protest, their mission was accomplished and President Mubarak resigned.
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