I am frustrated that I cannot seem to find decent coverage on what is happening in Egypt. What is happening is huge. Thankfully Al Jazeera is reporting with Live Stream Video.
Why the protests?
It appears the big reason is the price of food and energy that is out of reach. Plus, there is inequality. Egyptians are very rich or very poor. According to Earthtrends, in 1999-2000 44% of the population lived on less than $2 per day. That percentage is likely higher today. The government in charge, Mubarak et al, represents the callous rich.
A lesson here would be to policy makers in our nation that it might not be in your long-term interest to widen that gap between rich and poor and to reduce services while reducing taxes for the wealthy.
The Egyptian people are teaching the world how to say, "Enough is enough."
the vast majority of Egyptians have not participated in the rise of the global economy that's occurred over the past forty years, and now they're p.o.'ed.
ReplyDeleteGo figure.
And that blasted internet shows them all the stuff they are missing!
ReplyDeleteAmen John. Just yesterday I saw how a Senate committee was complaining how our economy is worse off than previously thought, so their solution was to cut more programs for the poor and working poor. Not one of them blamed the mess we're in on tax cuts. Perhaps if we had that revenue then maybe we'd be in a lot better shape. Their disconnect is frightening.
ReplyDelete