tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35137734.post4632029707987825559..comments2023-10-10T10:50:56.735+02:00Comments on Inanities: April 6thSarah Carrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02146943046266549277noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35137734.post-76920021783083947352008-04-15T15:28:00.000+02:002008-04-15T15:28:00.000+02:00[Delayed and protracted response ahead.]"Protest a...[Delayed and protracted response ahead.]<BR/><BR/>"Protest against Oppression & Corruption<BR/><BR/>Tomorrow's peaceful strike, Sunday April 6, 2008<BR/><BR/>Cairo, April 5 2008,<BR/><BR/>No Work<BR/>No University<BR/>No School<BR/>No Selling<BR/><BR/>We need Just Judiciary<BR/>We need Enough Salaries<BR/>We need Work<BR/>We need Education for our Children"<BR/><BR/>The first two paragraphs of the pamphlet above sound silly: No work? So don't go to work. We need education? So don't go to school. And as for the judiciary demands, you know (or I feel so) they are being pushed in support of a faction that has shown itself to be political and demagogic, rather than one more willing to work quietly behind the scenes for the same just demands, which I'm not so sure is an entirely good thing.<BR/><BR/>The demands above may not make sense if you merely look at them from the onset, but only if you ponder on them from a deep metaphysical sense. Is it a good idea to send a message across? Perhaps. But as a working formula? I haven't figured that out yet..<BR/><BR/>And excuse my own cynicism here, but my deepest mistrust of this strike comes from the organizers behind it who have sufficiently demonstrated their sympathies with the poorest of Egyptians ("the pigs") when they were attacked at the border last January. One moment they are halal bacon, and the next martyrs of the evil regime.<BR/><BR/>It sounds like political expedience to me.<BR/><BR/>And speaking of expedience, I guess this is what happens when such an undefined strike spirals out of control. What happened here? I thought it was supposed to be peaceful. And as Con says to your post above, the food inflation is related to – besides our uncovered local bread smuggling corruption, and disastrous agricultural mismanagement – a global chain of events that is not entirely in any single government's hands. So back to expedience, I would understand if the strike organizers knowingly use it to play on the real economic suffering of the Mahalla workers and residents, but worried if they believe in their own scenario.<BR/><BR/>I like what this paper salesman said of the strike over here:<BR/><BR/><I>"Al-Ahram newspaper says that some prices have decreased by 20 percent. The strike is good if it has a positive effect. It is like a candle, it can either light up a room or else it can start a fire and burn down a building. One needs to be careful."</I><BR/><BR/>Here's to hoping for a future opposition that is more Egypt-focused, and more interested in lighting up the room than burning down the torch.<BR/><BR/>(Sorry for the delayed dosage of 'negativity', but I felt I had to say it. <A HTTP://THECAIROCALLS.BLOGSPOT.COM/2008/04/STRIKE-THAT.HTML HREF="" REL="nofollow">Here</A> are some more economic points that I suppose one should think about.)<BR/><BR/>And I guess Mahmoud Amin El-Alem didn't "have Alzheimer's" after all...<BR/><BR/>All that said and done, maybe the wake up call to the government's mismanagement and corruption is a good thing, but I hope it remains at that...Seneferuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06156245757294970589noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35137734.post-72478505301653734902008-04-05T22:38:00.000+02:002008-04-05T22:38:00.000+02:00Best of luck Sarah! I'm sure you'll do a great job...Best of luck Sarah! I'm sure you'll do a great job in Mahalla.. I look forward to reading your reports..Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35137734.post-62542060837465725722008-04-05T22:17:00.000+02:002008-04-05T22:17:00.000+02:00"the bravery of these men and women, who have so m..."the bravery of these men and women, who have so much to lose, is incredible."<BR/><BR/>It is incredible and I'm grateful to you for bringing it to our attention.<BR/><BR/>The history of most countries with labour laws is littered with the struggle and sacrifice of such ordinary people and it's something more people need to remember.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com