Questions That Might Kill You

Questions That Might Kill You

It's been over a year, since the Arab uprising started. There are still questions unanswered, there are questions that we might never actually find answers for. But we're still looking. And like we've always been told: It's not the answer that makes you smart but the question.

I'm not sure this post will make things look better nor will make me, personally, feel better. But the questions are a must and are glued in my mind. I'll first start with the 5 whys that will lead to this post

1. Why are there still people who believe that revolutionaries are a threat to the society? Because a happy slave doesn't know he's enslaved.
2. Why are there still slaves? Because the State Tv is still broadcasting the same old shit.
3. Why is the State Tv still broadcasting lies? Back to question one + Because it's easy to manipulate developing countries.
4. Why is it easy to manipulate these countries? Because their dictators are born and raised by the filthy minds of the sick world rulers, who are nothing but slaves of money. Which leads us to a point where we can say that we're all slaves, but to the wrong object/person.
5. Why are dictators raised by world rulers? Because as human beings, we need guidelines before we grow rich/successful. And to be that there must be a rule model. And role models never die. Which means evil will always exist as an element of life just like its opposite.

Now:

• Why do idiots/slaves/dictators never know they're that idiot/enslaved/stupid?
• Does the verb "dictate" have anything to do with the noun "dictator"?
• Why does the poor have to be handcuffed in jail while dictators walk like they're going on a field trip?
• Does Mubarak move in a helicopter because he's a pilot? If yes, then I wanna be a parachute woman!
• What's the point behind never having enough?
• Why haven't we attempted occupying Maspero until now? (State tv owned building)
• Why hasn't the economy recovered since the revolution but the couple of days when the internet connection and phone connections were blocked, the economy was perfect?
• Does the manipulated know he's being manipulated? If so, then does the manipulator also knows when he's manipulated? (Colorblind theory, I guess never)
• What's with procrastination? No no, I mean the filthy kind of procrastination. I guess governments too suffer from it, not just the average citizen.
• Why does the coward judge without being in the scene? Other than being a coward I mean.
• Why do we read the same questions but never the same answers?
• Where has "moderate" gone?
• Why do words never end, yet silence is stronger?
• Based on the previous question: If writers write because they want us to know we're stronger than that, why wouldn't writers not write?
• And, if silence works with everything, wouldn't the world be a beautiful place if everyone just shut up?

Cuase I'll do.

The Five [Egyptian] Stages of Grief

The Five [Egyptian] Stages of Grief

If you're familiar with psychology studies, those words are not new to you.

Briefly, Kubler-Ross model, or better known as the five stages of grief, is basically a model of coping with death, from the denial stage to the acceptance stage.

The five stages are Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and Acceptance. And to be quite frank here, this model is applicable in our everyday life, though on different levels and scales.

For the past few days I have been meaning to dedicate this blog to some politics, basically to vent some thoughts and reflections and to apply what I know in psychology on the Egyptian society and what we have become in those past few months, or maybe the whole year since the overthrown dictator.

So, let's try to apply this model on the developments of the revolution and the consequences and so on. Let's take for example the ongoing and the never-ending, in my personal view, clashes that happened in the 25th of Feb, 9th of March, 8th of April, 15th of May, 28th of June, 23rd of July, 1st and 3rd of August, 9th of September, 5th and 9th of October, 19th of November and last but probably not least the 16th of December.

Let's start:

1. Denial: At first when the Police and CSF withdrew from the streets and the army took to the streets to (protect) people, everyone was happy; and you can't really blame people because everyone thought nothing would be worse than Hosni. So when the Army first attacked protesters on the 25th of Feb, everyone denied its happening and here was the first uses of the word thugs to justify any inhumane acts.
2. Anger: Moving to the 9th of March when the disastrous issue of the virginity tests took place and everyone was angry and furious. And later on when only one courageous lady decided to speak up and defend her rights and sue whoever gave orders and/or did this. Not to mention the ongoing detaining of civilians and throwing them in military prisons. Which never stopped to this day.
3. Bargaining: Now let's make a deal, we'll appoint Kamal El Ganzoury as a new Prime minister so you people can go home and we'd get this whole thing over with so everyone can sleep at night- despite the innocents' questions about the blood of the martyrs and the beating of the protesters and detainees. Ganzoury is appointed, old people are satisfied because they thought like Shafeek and Sharaf, Ganzoury too should take his chances and we shall wait for him to do an action. [But nothing new ever took place]
4. Depression: We're close; we've injected the nation with so much depression that hope is almost vanishing and everyone is starting to just whine about their personal experiences and sufferings since this revolution started, but no one is happy because at least now we have a voice. This seems to be coming to an end anyways. Let's just sit home and weep for the martyrs and the economical conditions of the country, and wait. I'm obliged to mention here that when the internet and phone services were cut off, the government made a huge move that caused it the loss of millions of dollars, if not billions. None of the ignorant ever remembers this.
5. Acceptance: We've made it, by the end of 2011 everyone at home, specifically those who never bothered to go out and join the sit-ins in Tahrir or even the protests, everyone accepted Ganzoury, Tanwaty, the army, SCAF (Supreme Council of Armed Forces). I mean, what can we do? It's just 6 months and we'll have our own president finally, the one that we will vote for, the one that we will choose. Yeah right, because we're dreaming. Let's just accept this and go home.

مات الجدل

مات الجدل

أعلم أن المسألة قد ماتت في الأذهان و سقط الجدل و ماتت أساليب النقاش المقنعة ، و غرضي ليس الإقناع ولا التحايل ولكن مجرد استفسار بسيط جداً:

الكثير و الكثير من محبي الإستقرار و عبيد الديكتاتورية كانوا يطرحون نفس التساؤلات المبتذلة و التي نسمعها يومياً ، ولكن أكثر الأسئلة التي كنت أتمنى الرد عليها رداً يُخرسهم حتى تحمر وجوههم هو: هما أصلاً إيه اللي خلاهم يعتصموا و يوقفوا حال الدنيا؟

منذ قليل فقط ورد في مخيلتي هذا المشهد البسيط:

كلنا نواجه المتسولين و الشحاتين في نفس الأماكن كل يوم و كل أسبوع و يظلوا في نفس المكان لأعوام و أعوام دون أن يكلوا أو يملوا ، فيصبح وجودهم "ديفولت" في المنطقة و لا يعيرهم اهتمام المارة و ينشغل الجميع بالذهاب إلى أعمالهم كل يوم بدون أن تختلف نظرتهم لهذا الشخص أو الجماعة.

في نظري فهؤلاء حالهم شبيه إلى حدٍ كبير بالمعتصمين، فالكل يطلب شيئاً ما، والشحات مهماً كان كاذباً أو مخادعاً أو ما إلى ذلك ، فإنه إلى حدٍ ما فقير، و فقره هذا كان نتيجة لمجتمع سافر لا يبالي بالإهتمام بالفقراء، لذا فيصبح مطلب المعتصم هو نفس مطلب الفقير (على الرغم من أنه واردٌ جداً أن يكون المعتصم "ابن ناس قوي") ، و المطلب هو العدالة و العيش بكرامة.

عامةً ، ليس هذا ما أود قوله؛ إنما أود أن أشير إلى أن الفقير قد أصبح شيء مُسلم به في الشارع و لا أحد يعيره الإهتمام، بينما يُشكِّل المُعتصم أزمة مالية و إقتصادية و سياسية و خراب عجلة إنتاجية للبلاد. كيف؟ كيف و إذا كان المُعتصم هو طالب حق لا يعيره أحد الإهتمام حتى يكاد يكون كالمثل القائل "بنؤذن في مالطة"؟ كيف و قد ظل هذا المُعتصم يبيت في العراء و البرد القارس ليلاً يبحث عن سبيل للحرية من أجل الآخر النائم في العراء أيضاً ولكن دوناً عن إرادته؟

لقد أصبح المُعتصم يُشكّل خطراً للدولة بينما بات الجائع الفقير المتسول شيئاً مسلّم به في المجتمع حتى أصبح وجوده أو عدم وجوده أقل من عدد في إحصائية ليست لها أي فوائد إجتماعية.

الكثير من التساؤلات ، و الإجابة واحدة: مجتمع فاشي...