Converting The Tyranny of the Majority : The Egyptian Example

[tcpip]

A coup d'état (or putsch, or pronunciamiento), the sudden seizure of governmental power by a small group, is almost invariably a detestable event. Typically a military event, as they have the resources to carry this out effectively, they are often associated with the overthrow of a popular democratic government by a military associated with an

Comments

[ddstory]

First of all, welcome back! Long-time-no-post

[tcpip]

It has been a while since I've made a full post, and my apologies for that. I might have more time now that I've dropped one of the three postgraduate degrees I've been doing :)

I don't think Egypt's internal problems are insurmountable, although they will be difficult. One of the real difficulties is - rather like the Eastern European conservatives after the fall of communism - that after decades of suppression the Muslim Brotherhood has to realise that they just can't have it all.

[telemann]

I might have more time now that I've dropped one of the three postgraduate degrees I've been doing :)

That makes me feel such the slacker :-/

But ditto the sentiments, great post !

[tcpip]

That makes me feel such the slacker :-/

I'm just a hyperactive B+ grade polymath with a penchant for collecting stiff pieces of cardboard.....

[luvdovz]

As for the Muslim Brotherhood, although the anti-Mursi protests and the actions of the military were largely supported by a broad array of political and non-political groups, the MB still remains one of the major players on the Egyptian political scene, with over 2 million members, the best organization, and lots of followers in influential positions throughout society

[tcpip]

... perhaps introducing young people from the "internet generation"

One of the very important components of the Arab Spring has been the access to Internet technologies by the youth, and their ability to communicate with people from other countries which has allowed them to do a compare-and-contrast.

Great write-up indeed.

Now that's two people who have said this! There's a few spelling and grammar mistakes, but I'm fixing those as I notice them. I wrote it all in twelve hours in between running a Linux workshop :)

[luvdovz]

One could argue that there's some similarity between this 21st century revolution (aided by access to information via the Internet), and the collapse of communism in East Europe (aided to a great extent by people in the Eastern bloc being able to make comparisons with the West in the late, more "open" stages of communism).

[htpcl]

Almost reminds me of our recent events down here at our Balkan backwater of a country. First we had a government, but then there were some protests, so the government resigned. Then we had an interim government, followed by a new regular government, but there are ongoing protests that started almost from day one, and have been going on for more than a month now. And it looks likely that THIS government will fall too.

Fortunately, unlike Egypt: no bloodshed in our case.

[tcpip]

Many years ago (c1995 iirc) the RAND corporation did a research paper on Mexico and decided that it was now ungovernable due to the Internet and the ability of disparate groups to establish solidarity protests in rapid succession. They were partially wrong of course, because democracy does have a wonderful degree of governance flexibility built into it.

The problem with Egypt is that the government tried to become an elected dictatorship. I am not sure whether that's been done before (excepting the strong-armed seizures of power in East Europe in the late 1940s).

[underlankers]

Ironic that you'd say you're not sure about that and mention Mexico: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porfirio_D%C3%ADaz. That guy is the true classical dictator by election. He solemnly promised not to run again every time and every time 'mitigating circumstances' intruded. Of course in the long term this led to the Mexican Revolution and a near-run large-scale war between the USA and Mexico, but that's a different discussion.

[tcpip]

Ahh, I must have had Mexico sitting in my subconscious and not coming to the fore. Yes, thank you for the reminder.

[johnny9fingers]

Recommended post: especially for the references to Polybius et al, which serve as a timely reminder of the failures of all political systems.

[tcpip]

*nods* Although I am not entirely convinced of the cyclical nature of political systems that was popular among the ancients, they certainly had an excellent grasp of how political systems could degenerate from the ideal (common, justice) orientations to those dominated by sectional interests.

[geezer_also]

(Wondering why this hasn't reached recommended status yet)

That has to be the best summation I have read, thank you!!!!

[nairiporter]

Because we're a bunch of lazy slackers, that's why!