Rough Draft: At Outsider's Agreement

Rough Draft: I will post sources after I get back from dance practice.  If you read, please comment.  It will be muchly appreciated.  (Yes I know muchly is not a word.  Shut up.)

January twenty fifth, 2011 was the first day that thousands of people took to the streets of Egypt to protest poverty, unemployment, and a corrupt government.  Over the past thirty years, Egyptians have been under the control of autocratic leader, Hosni Mubarak.(1)  “Living standards in Egypt are low by international standards and have declined consistently since 1990..Some 20 to 30 percent live below the poverty line.”(4)  Because the demands of people have not been met, their anger escalated into protests.  At first, Mubarak sent out police to try and contain the chaos, but they did not have enough force to do so.  He then shut off access to Twitter, Facebook, and eventually the entire internet and cell phones.(1)  The next line of defense was the army, which did little due to the fact that many men in the army are friends and relatives of those protesting.(3)  About one week later, regime supporters came out and began fighting with the protestors.(2)  Egyptian protestors are just in standing up to their government.  Those who say differently are not seeing the full 
picture.

Mubarak and his followers believe that nothing truly horrible has happened during his reign.  They think that if the protestors would just stop, then life could return to normal and there would be no major problems within the country.  If life returns to normal, nothing would have changed, and the people would have protested for nothing.  This would be pointless.  Mubarak “..insisted the massive demonstrations were part of a plot to destabilize the country”(5).  This is very far from the truth.  The Egyptians in the streets are protesting to create a more stable country with a stable economy.  Their needs have not been met because their leader does not try to appease them to get their vote in upcoming elections.   According to Mohammad Habib, “’His reign had positives but it was immersed in negative policies, including moving civilians to military courts, using live ammunition and rubber bullets against protesters and facilitating fraud elections’”(6). The fact that he has scammed these people by rigging elections so he always wins is very incorrect, politically and morally.  Mubarak has warned the protestors that “’There is a very fine line between freedom and chaos’”(5).  This chaos was very well organized in the beginning, at least before Mubarak shut down the internet, which was the source of this organization (1).  Slowly, but surely, the change these people want is coming to them.  Already, they have gotten Mubarak to agree to not run for elections in September.  If they keep pushing, they hope to get him to step down right away and, as a nation, form a new, democratic-style government (3).  Despite this wishful thinking, there is more to it than Mubarak simply agreeing to step down.

Mubarak has done little to aid the people of his nation.  Previous Prime Minister of the Uk, Tony Blair, believes “’People want a different system of government’” (7).  If this is the case, Mubarak should have took steps to form a type of government the people wanted.  Instead, Mubarak only took steps to increase and secure his power.  “His brand of despotism produced and authoritarianism that suffocated his people, a bureaucracy that corrupted the most mudane transaction and malaise that saw Egypt turn inward”(3).  Due to this government and it’s corrupt leader, the people of Egypt are demanding change involving other social issues.

Some of these issues include poverty and unemployment, which have gotten out of control during Mubarak’s thirty year reign.  “A significant number of poor Egyptians live in squalor, with poor and overcrowded housing, limited food supply, and inadequate access to clean water, good quality health care, or education” (4).  Steps should have been taken to improve the quality of life for this large number of Egyptians and the fact that they have not been taken, proves something is not working within this government.  “The middle and lower classes have seen their living standards erode since the 1980s” (4).  Mubarak first accepted the presidency in 1981.  There is a direct relationship between these two facts.  It is no wonder the people are not happy.  So many issues arise from a corrupt government and Egypt is a perfect example. 

Egyptian protestors are correct for standing up to the unjust behavior of their current government.  Those who have not been majorly affected by the government believe the protestors are making a big deal out of nothing.  This is because they do not understand the hardships the middle and lower classes have faced.   Poverty and unemployment are just two of the many social issues that Egyptians must cope with until their protests are heard and new government is in place.  Taking a step back, if there had been no corruption in the first place, Egypt would not be in the condition it is currently.