I repeat for about the 7643rd time: politics sucks.

Jan 31, 2011 13:19

The worst thing is that it never exists on its own, and, being of varying extent of dirtiness, manages to soil so many other things.

I'm talking about what has been going on in Egypt. I've been getting glimpses and snatches of news now and then, and, to be honest, I was not that concerned. Of course it's always horrible when the death toll rises, but protests like that are generally a healthy thing for a society, and choosing to participate in them, even with all the risk, is a decision that one may get to make just once in one's lifetime. Even with all the risks, you know that you are defending something worth, well, defending, and that any sacrifices you make may well mean great things in the future. It may not turn out so, of course, but the feeling is still there. I'm not just saying that; I know it firsthand back from 2004, when I was part of similar events.

Looting museums and destroying artifacts, though... I do not want to sound too morbid, but a thought has crossed my mind that I'm really glad I went to the Egyptian Museum, because...who knows if I'll be able to see all those wonderful things again? The King Tut exhibition, the statues of Rahotep-the-moustached-Egyptian and his wife Nofret, of child Ramesses II holding a finger to his lips in such a cute childlike way, the majestic diorite figure of Khafre, and the chubby fellow Ka-Aper with his bright eyes, all those highlights of the museum tours are right now under threat of either looters or vandals.

I spent just a couple of minutes looking at the mummies; somehow, it felt awfully inapproppriate or something to come and stare at the bodies of people who had wanted and hoped to be left in peace in their tombs. However, I still remember a couple of them. It was a woman (who most probably died in childbirth) and her baby. When they reported two mummies destroyed during the break-in, I caught myself hoping it wasn't them.

The living have the will and the means to fight and to defend themselves, and the ancient high-and-mighty have left their mark in history and will not vanish from it even if their effigies do. Those countless nameless other, however, who also helped make history, only have little bits of their everyday lives to speak for them, and once those are gone, there will be nothing left of those people. For their sake, I hope it will not come to that.

egypt, rl, politics, rambling

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