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The Forum > Article Comments > Riots in Egypt are about food, not about 'freedom' > Comments

Riots in Egypt are about food, not about 'freedom' : Comments

By Sam Vaknin, published 1/2/2011

Egyptian crowds are only calling for freedom and democracy because they know it sounds good on international TV.

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The graphs in this article from the Oil Drum give a good picture of declining oil exports from Egypt (used to pay for subsidised food and fuel for the people), problems with obtaining enough food, and skyrocketing population growth. A 2% population growth rate, if it continues, will cause the population to double in about 35 years.

http://www.theoildrum.com/node/7425

No doubt motivations for protest vary, and there are people, especially middle class students, who really are primarily concerned about freedom and democracy, but that doesn't mean economic factors can be ignored. Most of you probably pay about 10% of your income for food and may be grumbling at higher prices. If it was 40%, as in many poor countries, the same percentage increase in prices might tempt you to take to the streets. The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation Food Price Index is at its highest level ever, even higher than 2008, when there were food riots in 34 countries.

http://www.fao.org/worldfoodsituation/FoodPricesIndex/en/

Andrew Elder,

There are many counterexamples to your position. Singapore, Taiwan, and South Korea experienced massive growth in living standards under authoritarian rule. General Park in South Korea, a military dictator, presided over the fastest rate of improvement in living standards in human history. China has done much better than India, etc.
Posted by Divergence, Wednesday, 2 February 2011 11:18:58 AM
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But is it not true that the French revolution was fueled, if not inspired, by "hunger and malnutrition in the most destitute segments of the population, due to rising bread prices (from a normal eight sous for a four-pound loaf to 12 sous by the end of 1789)" ? Consequences of mismanagement by undemocratic kleptocracies to the point that popular fear is overcome is surely a major engine of positive change, which can be self-reinforcing to bootstrap development in western terms.
Posted by gmoor, Thursday, 3 February 2011 1:24:21 PM
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Sam have you ever lived in Egypt or even visited Cairo? No I don't think you have, I think you are an armchair theorist who has read a couple of articles on the country. So how can you assume that the Egyptians don't want democracy and freedom?

I have done both visited and lived in the hot teeming city of Cairo. I know that the poor are wretchedly poor hardly able to feed their families this isn't new to Egypt. The difference between the haves and the have nots has always been extreme. They don't have a substantial middle class that usually acts as a stabilizing factor in a country. Yet what middle class they have are also demonstrating.

They listened to and saw how Tunisia disposed of their corrupt dictator. They saw the obvious rigging of their own elections and they were convinced that Hosni Mubarak was preparing for his son to take his position something that they were unprepared to accept.

So the riots aren't just about food, inflation and unemployment. They are also about freedom and democracy. They wanted a say in how Egypt appears on the world stage. The Arab League is made up of 22 countries and represents 360 million people. The head or Secretary General is Amr Moussa an Egyptian so Egypt has far more power and influence then its own population of some 80 million would indicate.

While you in the West was still living in a cave somewhere with no transportation, no homes, no government Egypt had one of the greatest civilisations ever created. Who would have thought then that the West would build huge cities and towns and the entire infrastructure that went with it and have the ability to discuss the representation of the people who if they mismanaged the country could be changed?

So kindly don't assume you have some magical power that can read into the hearts and souls of a truly great people that you know absolutely nothing about and attempt to map out their future.
Posted by Ulis, Friday, 4 February 2011 1:06:47 PM
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Actually I was in Egypt since this revolution started and until now.
I can say this is a full scale revolution which included the rich, the poor, the educated, the illiterate, christians, muslims, young and old.

Funny thing is that on the 25th of January, the protest wasn't about the regime. It was about the basics: oppression, freedom of expression, wealth distribution social justice and more jobs.

The government (which was sacked) was accused of incompetence, dishonesty and had slow response to the crisis. Ignoring the protests for few days added fuel to the fire quickly and millions went to the streets.

The lack of feedback mechanism and security paranoia made people reluctant to trust the new government. The surfacing of many large scale corruption cases is helping the trust although raising questions around accountability mechanisms: does a revolution have to happen to catch a thief?
Posted by Fellow_Human, Thursday, 10 February 2011 10:54:32 PM
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