Egypt: Change Without War

OK, did anyone have a ‘moment’ when first hearing the news about the people of Egypt protesting the continuation of their government?

It was almost surreal and stirred a kind of a feverish thingy inside. Seeing the change come to Tunisia and Yemen in an act of redress just a few weeks before had already given me an ‘ah ha’ moment.

I thought, my goodness, this represents a change in how people want to be treated in these countries, and shows that they are really fed up with their leaders and were just not going to take it anymore.

Knowing they were living under a dictatorship and to band together in a protest for change, I felt their pride, mixed up with fear, surprise, and anticipation on the intended outcome for them. It was hard to walk past a television set and not stop for a while to see what was happening. And now we see the fever bringing about a change in Egypt.’

I mean, this country is on the big list of friends and allies for the benefit of our country isn’t it? When the images of citizens getting rid of their government because they were dissatisfied played over and over, didn’t that make you think “Good for you Egyptians and Oh My God” all at the same time?

Watching it all unfold drove home the message that these were the actions of citizens who are “tired of feeling scared and unstable and afraid of the change they see coming.’’ Wow! This was a really big ‘ah ha’ moment.

And then I think about us—we the citizens of the United States—and I wonder if our anger at our government is on par with the issues facing the people of Egypt?

We’re willing to make our voices heard by our votes and by our freedom of speech, which too often is used to defame or coerce and for the most part, we accept change.

But the citizens of Egypt, with no voice in the dictatorship that governs them, were willing to do something that forces their government to accept responsibility for the fever of the citizenry and to act on the united request of the citizens to have a chance to live a better life. Wanting to know you will have food to eat, a place to live, health care, insurance, a method of transportation and a place to work provides stability to a citizen accepting their fate under a particular rule of law.

We have experienced that fever in our country before and we have had revolutions by and for the people before. I look at the revolution happening in Egypt right now, and somehow just know that the fever will spread.

Global communications and travel have been instrumental in spreading the word about democracy allowing others to see a citizenship in democratically run countries and they are getting the fever.

We never thought we would ever see dissent from people living under a dictatorship in the form of a peaceful united protest. But they wanted change in how their government was treating them and they are using as a model example how WE choose our government leaders and how we enjoy the freedom to live under our ideas. I see the citizens’ revolt as a ‘had enough ah ha moment’ for them and reveling in the prospect of being able to live under a democracy.

The world is tilting on its proverbial axis. Change is coming. We see that in the weather. The mental health of the country and the populace is changing. We are a great country and we sometimes forget our fortunate circumstances. We need to work together to bring about and maintain stability in our country and our home towns and not find ourselves fighting, calling each other names and reminding detractors that we have Second Amendment rights. I’m anxious to see the outcome for Egypt and whether they can bring about change without war.