Project for Philosophical Evaluations of the Economy |
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And now Egypt!
Dialog with the Alter Ego on the revolution in Egypt, drafted and published on Jan. 28, 2011
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Question by Alter Ego of Noah denkt™ (AE): Hey, a few days ago you apologized for being slow in endorsing the
popular revolution in Tunisia. And now you have a chance to redeem your and what do you do: You make the
same mistake again. Why are we still waiting for your endorsement of the uprising in Egypt? What’s the matter
with you?
Answer by Noah denkt™ (Nd): Come on, what’s wrong with getting a better take on an issue before taking a
stance on it?
AE: What’s there to fuss about? Either you are for democracy or you against it! And the protesters in Egypt
clearly want their freedom now! So, again, why are you slow in supporting them?
Nd: Because we do not want to endorse something that might later on turn into an Islamic republic that is even
less democratic than the current Egyptian regime is.
AE: But why are you so cautious about the democratic staying power of the Egyptian protesters?
Nd: Well, it seems to us as if Islamic fundamentalism is much more prevalent in Egypt than it has been in Tunisia.
So it isn’t at all unlikely that these protests will eventually be high-jacked by the Muslim Brotherhood.
AE: So far, however, the Muslim Brotherhood has been a relatively moderate force. So why be afraid of them?
Nd: Because their moderation may be just a front that they have put up in order to deflect some of the pressure
that the current regime has been piling on to them up to now.
AE: Granted, we may not know too much about the real intentions of the Muslim Brotherhood. The fact of the
matter, however, is that these protests have been carried out by young secular middle class people who get their
news from Facebook and Twitter and not from backward Islamic extremists. Should we therefore not empathize
with their uprising?
Nd: We definitely support the protesters’ fight for freedom of speech, for a non-oligarchic economic environment
and so on. And we would encourage the Egyptian society to move forcefully into that direct. At the same time
though, we cannot lose sight of the fact that the Muslim Brotherhood is the only organized opposition movement in
Egypt. Hence, it is rather likely that a potential political vacuum in that country would soon be filled by
representatives of this organization.
AE. In other words, you are siding with President Obama here, who is advocating in favor of a more evolutionary
approach that would leave President Mubarak in power at least for a transitional period of time?
Nd: Well, it may be too late, by now, for such a calm transition. It looks more, as if things will eventually take a
Tunisian turn that will not only affect the political situation in Egypt but in other Arab countries as well. And if that
should happen we would obviously wish all the best to the freedom loving people in the Arab world.
AE. In other words, you would then be willing to include them in your Hall of Fame?
Nd: Yes, we would.
Dialog with the Alter Ego on the revolution in Egypt, drafted and published on Jan. 28, 2011
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Question by Alter Ego of Noah denkt™ (AE): Hey, a few days ago you apologized for being slow in endorsing the
popular revolution in Tunisia. And now you have a chance to redeem your and what do you do: You make the
same mistake again. Why are we still waiting for your endorsement of the uprising in Egypt? What’s the matter
with you?
Answer by Noah denkt™ (Nd): Come on, what’s wrong with getting a better take on an issue before taking a
stance on it?
AE: What’s there to fuss about? Either you are for democracy or you against it! And the protesters in Egypt
clearly want their freedom now! So, again, why are you slow in supporting them?
Nd: Because we do not want to endorse something that might later on turn into an Islamic republic that is even
less democratic than the current Egyptian regime is.
AE: But why are you so cautious about the democratic staying power of the Egyptian protesters?
Nd: Well, it seems to us as if Islamic fundamentalism is much more prevalent in Egypt than it has been in Tunisia.
So it isn’t at all unlikely that these protests will eventually be high-jacked by the Muslim Brotherhood.
AE: So far, however, the Muslim Brotherhood has been a relatively moderate force. So why be afraid of them?
Nd: Because their moderation may be just a front that they have put up in order to deflect some of the pressure
that the current regime has been piling on to them up to now.
AE: Granted, we may not know too much about the real intentions of the Muslim Brotherhood. The fact of the
matter, however, is that these protests have been carried out by young secular middle class people who get their
news from Facebook and Twitter and not from backward Islamic extremists. Should we therefore not empathize
with their uprising?
Nd: We definitely support the protesters’ fight for freedom of speech, for a non-oligarchic economic environment
and so on. And we would encourage the Egyptian society to move forcefully into that direct. At the same time
though, we cannot lose sight of the fact that the Muslim Brotherhood is the only organized opposition movement in
Egypt. Hence, it is rather likely that a potential political vacuum in that country would soon be filled by
representatives of this organization.
AE. In other words, you are siding with President Obama here, who is advocating in favor of a more evolutionary
approach that would leave President Mubarak in power at least for a transitional period of time?
Nd: Well, it may be too late, by now, for such a calm transition. It looks more, as if things will eventually take a
Tunisian turn that will not only affect the political situation in Egypt but in other Arab countries as well. And if that
should happen we would obviously wish all the best to the freedom loving people in the Arab world.
AE. In other words, you would then be willing to include them in your Hall of Fame?
Nd: Yes, we would.
| © Landei Selbstverlag, owned by Wilhelm ("Wil") Leonards, Gerolstein, Germany. All rights reserved. Reminder: Noah denkt™ is a project of Wilhelm ("Wil") Leonards and his Landei Selbstverlag (WL & his LSV). Consequently, all rights to the texts that have been published under the Noah denkt™brand name are reserved by WL & his LSV. The commentary and the reasoning that was provided on this page is for informational and/or educational purposes only and it is not intended to provide tax, legal or investment advice. It should therefore not be construed as an offer to sell, a solicitation of an offer to buy, or a recommendation for any security or any issuer by WL & his LSV or its Noah denkt™ Project. In fact, WL & his LSV encourage the user to understand that he alone is responsible for determining whether any investment, security or strategy is appropriate or suitable for him. And to leave no doubt as to what this means we urge our user to also note our extended Legal Notice. |
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| Keywords: Revolution in Egypt, popular uprising in Egypt, prospects of democracy in Egypt, Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, Islamic republic in Egypt, sustainable democracy in Egypt, democratic protests in Egypt, demonstrations in Egypt, uprising in the Arab world |
