Surviving Capitalism (Not) : The Egyptian revolution establishes a new social contract and values

We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

The Egyptian revolution establishes a new social contract and values

by Nawal El Saadawi from Bikyamasr. From Wikipedia we learn that "Nawal El Saadawi (born October 27, 1931) is an Egyptian feminist writer, activist, physician and psychiatrist. She has written many books on the subject of women in Islam, paying particular attention to the practice of female genital mutilation in her society. "

She provides a very poignant description of the people power that is behind the uprising in Egypt.

“We are a popular revolt that establishes a new social contract, not just demands, and our slogan of this revolution is ‘equality of freedom of social justice.’ The people who made this revolution are the ones who should put the rules for the new governance, choose the transitional government, select a National Committee to change the constitution, the committee of wise men of the revolution, so as not to allow opportunists (the owners of wealth and power) to impose on us committees of wise men who did not participate with us in this revolt.”

These people are up against the rulers of the Empire, and particularly the Zionists, who will do everything they can to steer the energy and spirit of this revolutionary struggle into phony "democratic" reforms that are acceptable to the Empire because, then, essentially nothing will change.