A MUST READ! Loubna Olama September 8 Our Mama and Papa Egyptians boast of their dignity, independence, self determination, yet continue to watch from the sidelines as the government disguisingly begs other countries for funds to cover Egypts ever increasing deficit. As if its not their business. As if its not their pride thats on the line here. Never mind the pseudo-grace by which its being done, the fact of the matter is, Egypt has been reduced to begging to stay afloat. Whats alarming is that this hideous, six decade old practice has become so ingrained in our psyche that we have gotten so accustomed to this indignity, that it has ceased to be one. We dont feel were begging anymore; its become a birthright owed to us by richer countries and sometimes a payback for allegiance. What remnant pride we have is only demonstrated in the lapses of indignation when we feel manipulated, our arm twisted to repay in kind, services rendered. But we have ceased to mind our extended, begging hand. Until when will Egypt rely on other nations benevolence? We curse our governments, all our governments. Every single one of them without exception, albeit after a short-lived honeymoon. And for good reason. They have always failed us. Miserably. They dont, cant, satisfy our needs. Were spoilt brats of destitute parents, and we resent their poverty. But our parents have been trying to get out of the bottleneck, struggling since the 50s (can you believe we started on our development path with Korea?) and still didnt manage to find our true calling. We are still struggling. We are still developing. And our infant industries remain that. Infant. Over the last six decades weve been given financial transfusions via grants, aid, soft loans by divergent regimes ranging from the extreme left (USSR) to the extreme right (US) and others in between (Gulf countries and Europe), as we oscillated between socialism, capitalism, social-capitalism until we settled to our own formula of a lopsided system with makeshift solutions that keeps the country in a vegetative state, on life support. We dabbled with various medium and long term plans which were never completed to fruition or showed real returns. We hobbled through the 20th Century, are midway through the first quarter of the 21st, and were still colorless, character-less and purpose-less. Were not following a concrete plan or national project, only ad hoc ideas with questionable feasibility that spring up, pursued with zeal only to be shattered after execution. Does Toshka sound familiar? And although the country is rallying its forces and gaining momentum under its new leader, it still has to rally under a dream, an objective for which it will sacrifice current consumption to invest in the future of our children and grandchildren.. Sacrifice now, enjoy later. Thats the making of success stories of other nations. Thats what we have to do. But were distracted by priorities. The only urgent course of action at hand is counteracting the cancerous religious extremism that is threatening our very existence, while scurrying to cover our deficit to satisfy basic needs of masses to fend off a revolution of the hungry. You want the truth? The Egyptian government is in a fix. Revenue from tourism is dismal at best, taxation leaves a lot to be desired (tax evasion at all social and income strata is a gloating accomplishment and an art), oil is drying up, the Suez Canal and workers remittances barely keep us afloat. The government coffers are empty, and time and time again it has relied on our Gulf brethrens generosity to bail us out. Sometimes out of the goodness of their hearts, other times out of self interest. And amidst this all were hammering for better governance, democracy, social justice, freedom of expression, human rights, an end to corruption, better income distribution and other high principles of decent living with dignity.. in short a revamping of our Social Contract. And not withstanding or undermining the great principles which many of us sprung to uphold in the Revolutions of 25 January 2011 and 30 June 2013, theres serious breadwinning to do. And win our bread we must. But the government cant tread this path alone unaided. It just cant. Its time we all do some serious tightening of the belt and chipping in. Growing up in the Nasserite era of the late fifties and sixties, our generation was deprived of luxuries, even necessities at times, but we later binged with Sadats Open Door Policy in the seventies, and have never looked back since. We undeservedly spoilt ourselves with luxurious goodies that no developing nation should treat itself to before it achieves real growth and development, and only after an arduous path of sweat and tears. Oh yes, after several years of war we did shed many tears, but there was not much sweat on our production lines. Productivity rates plummeted as the spoilt brats relied on their parental government to subsidize them, even if they didnt work, had no work ethics, or produced shoddy products. Where do we stand now? The top 10% echelon in Egypt is practically supporting, directly or indirectly, the remaining 90%. Directly by employing them and indirectly by providing tax revenue for the government so it can subsidize the close to 50% of the population who are subsisting under the poverty line. But the rich arent doing enough and the poor are getting restless, and with good reason. The super rich live in opulent mansions in gated communities, while the super poor live in the dark ages in mud huts with no clean water or electricity and still sun-dry cattle manure to use as fuel to bake their bread. This income inequality cannot continue and the social bombshell is simmering to explode in our faces. We have to help our Mama and Papa. If we dont want to give back out of gratitude, patriotism, piety or any other altruistic reason, then how about selfish preservation of lifestyle? Because if the country goes down everyone will go down, and there wont be any lifestyle to speak of. But its not just about money. In the past we have all chosen the easy way out by donating to charities which we never bothered to scrutinize or monitor. And they used our money to brainwash, and their devious activities are now only too apparent to all. Time to make an effort. Start with our inner circle and distant relatives and upgrade their lives. Education is key; finance a better education of our extended family youngsters. Teach them a skill to improve their employment chances. We can then move outwards. Encourage our maid and doorkeeper to send their kids to school, especially the girls, and pay for it. Find a reputable NGO working at the grassroots, and help it. It doesnt matter if we cant volunteer our time or work with them in the field, we can help fundraise - even if its just by word of mouth - to build a school or a clinic in remote villages or random areas, fortify peasants mud huts and put a roof over their heads, introduce potable water, electricity and sewage systems. Lets try and make a difference and help in real development of this country, one small step at a time. Lets help our Mama and Papa take care of our brethren and close the gap between us so that were able to co-exist in the same land, and belong to a country were proud to call our own.
Posted on: Wed, 10 Sep 2014 12:31:32 +0000
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