“Egypt, Egypt – Will Be Free!”

by Frank Gormlie on February 6, 2011 · 6 comments

in American Empire, Civil Rights, Organizing, Peace Movement, San Diego, World News

Late in the afternoon on Friday, February 4th, approximately 200 people gathered to show solidarity with the people of Egypt, and stood before the Federal Building in downtown San Diego.

One of the main chants: “Egypt, Egypt – will be free!” After several rounds of this, our chant leader would then move on to other Middle East countries, such as “Tunisia, Tunisia – will be free!” And the crowd would repeat it. Another one I helped to start: “Mubarak must go!”

{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }

Gary Ghirardi February 7, 2011 at 6:15 am

These protests are without perspective other than an empty invective against worn-out U.S. client state dictators. Why are we glorifying media sheep behavior? Remember the Suez Canal? Who’s interests are served here? Remember Sadat’s assassination under mysterious circumstances and the rise of Mubarak? We are being led down the path to another velvet revolution with signs in English in foreign countries and tightly cropped television images to avoid showing the lack of people in the protests. These are not the struggles for Americans at home. Is CNN in the business of informing us or shaping U.S. opinion? We need to focus on where we lay our heads at night and leave other countries alone.

RB February 7, 2011 at 7:38 am

“Tunisia, Tunisia – food prices will be going up!”
“Egypt, Egypt – commodity prices are jumping up every day!”

It will probably take a couple of more uprisings until people figure out it is food prices not politics at the root of the discontent.
http://www.mongabay.com/images/commodities/charts/chart-index_ag.html

Frank Gormlie February 7, 2011 at 9:22 am

RB – go to Tahrir Square – called “Liberation Square” by protesters who’ve been camped out there for 13-14 days and tell them that. They don’t call it “Good Prices for Food Square”. It is true that food prices are part of the mix. But ever since revolutions have been studied by sociologists and other revolutionaries, we have found that starving peoples do not revolt. It is people who have been shown a little bit of freedom and then are suppressed who rise up. This is politics and it has been this way since the French Revolution. The French peasants who revolted were some of the most well-off peasants in all of Europe at the time.

RB February 7, 2011 at 10:07 am: I don’t doubt the people in Egypt and Tunisia blame the government for their problems. I also think the people have every right to try a new government or new leaders. I am merely predicting that the discontent will continue in multiple countries and will be independent of their type of government or the style and tenure of the leader.

I know most people including most people in Egypt believe this is about politics and government. But I will continue to believe it is about food price inflation and jobs in a new world economy. Note; Russia and India have already restricted export of food commodities and the there is a rumor that China will start export restrictions later in the year.

Reply

mr fresh February 7, 2011 at 9:32 am

Now that most finance companies and international speculators have ruined the property market and can no longer leverage their profits from the burst bubble, they are turning to food commodities. UN reports indicate that up to 70% of business on commodity markets is speculative rather than trade.