A recent cover of Time Magazine issued in Egypt called Egyptians "the world’s best protestors” and “the world’s worst democrats” which suggests that elections equals democracy, a ruse used by Empire operatives all over the world to establish and legitimize governments that serve their neoliberal agenda. The author's analysis demolishes such arguments, and then concludes with these profound insights:
Bread, freedom, social justice. It is possible. The solution, though, is not simply representative democracy. Egypt requires, at the very least, a radical overhaul of the state, the dismantling of the military’s supra-state, the democratization and decentralization of local politics, extensive land reforms, cooperative partnerships with neighboring countries, a progressive policy on Israel and a completely new set of international political and business relationships, beginning with cancelling the debt accrued dishonestly by dictators.This last paragraph spotlights the most important insight of all--neoliberalism is a global phenomenon. Thus, the only way to defeat it is with a global revolutionary effort. The revolutionary solution to the suffering of Egyptians is inextricably connected to the revolutionary success of Greeks, Bulgarians, Brazilians, Indonesians, and the people of Detroit, etc. Although we must all act locally according to local conditions and their legacies, we must also think globally by learning from each other and coordinating efforts when desirable.
These goals will never be achieved by any of the corrupt and compromised elite currently playing politics at the national level. These goals cannot be achieved in isolation — the domestic and international regime are so intertwined that everything has to be fought at once. The Egyptian revolution must couple with the revolutions that began across the world in 2011, and are still kicking and fighting today. The road ahead is long and hard. The revolution continues.
