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 1/2/2011Egyptian crowds are only calling for freedom and democracy because they know it sounds good on international TV.
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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.