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

Monday, December 17, 2012

Morsi's Sins beyond the Constitution

Click here to access article by Dina Amer from Jadaliyya

What recommends this piece is that the author provides the views of ordinary Egyptians from various stations in life. This is an inexpensive way of discovering what ordinary Egyptians are currently thinking instead of having to travel to Egypt and interview them yourself. Here is one example:
Aisha Ibrahim, a sixty-three year-old woman manning a kiosk in Cairo’s poor neighborhood of Sayeda Zeinab, has been struggling to keep her family afloat with finances dwindling since the revolution began. “It is a good day now when we make over fifty pounds.”
She has not participated in any of the constitution dominated demonstrations of the past week, but said: “Since we elected Morsi, we have not seen one positive decision that benefits the poor forgotten people of this country. I thought one of the demands of this revolution was social equality. He has not taken one step to realize that." Ibrahim has not read the constitution but said it is enough that so many people are opposed to it for President Morsi to take pause and address their contestations.