Many, including myself, have written, talked, even dreamed of the desperate need for a drastic change of culture in Egypt. I thought to outline in this short write-up what I believe the meaning behind such a noble goal, one that, in my point of view, crystallizes what patriotism toward Egypt should mean.
All nations that made the leap from developing to developed have undergone a culture makeover, in varying degrees.
Changing a nation's culture never means doing away with its distinctive and proud customs and traditions. It simply indicates a nation's valuing progress by addressing its harmful and counter-productive characteristics ingrained in the people's psyche that must be pitched into the dustbin of history.
In my opinion, without a drastic and fundamental change in the culture of Egypt, no forward progress will be made and Egypt will continue to be trapped in the vicious cycle it finds itself in today.
A change of culture in Egypt means dealing as a matter of top national priority with below long-standing conditions, traits and issues:
- The belief that a nation can function on faith alone, when all evidences and facts point to the contrary.
- The belief that Egypt's state of affairs is God's will. A preposterous notion when considering we are talking about Egypt, the birthplace of arguably the greatest civilization mankind has ever known. Is it God's will to have Sweden, Japan, Canada and all sorts of countries be what they are today but not Egypt!? Is it God's will to have Austria enjoying an astounding quality of life but not Egypt!? Austria is one of many such countries in the world today, strewn with churches and other houses of prayer. State and church can and always will coexist, but they should never be joined in matrimony. They most emphatically must be separated for the good of the country, any and all countries.
- People's belief that God will cure them of their ills, and will do for them what they are unwilling or unable to do for themselves. When nothing happens, they sullenly resign themselves to waiting until they get it all in the afterlife. In late October, Pope Francis told a plenary assembly of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, “When we read about Creation in Genesis, we run the risk of imagining God was a magician, with a magic wand able to do everything — but that is not so...He created human beings and let them develop according to the internal laws that he gave to each one so they would reach their fulfillment...He gave autonomy to the beings of the universe....” In other words, God gave us the tools we would need to make it through life. He is not a micro-manager, it's up to us to craft the lives we want.
- The unwavering and unchallenged catering to man's preoccupation with sex by taking woman out of the picture, literally and figuratively, hiding them from view and forbidding them normal, productive roles in society.
- Men's inherent belief that men are superior to women, that subjugating women is sanctioned by faith and thus acceptable.
- People's resignation that they are doomed by:
- Their history. Egypt was conquered by the Ottoman Empire in 1517, was administrated as a province of the Ottoman Empire from 1517 until 1867, with an interruption during the French occupation of 1798 to 1801. Then, there was the British occupation, 1882-1952. After that, six decades and counting of lackluster military rule, and that brings us to present Egypt.
- Their geography. Egypt is in a highly strategic location at the crossroads of Asia, Africa and Europe, particularly in regards the Suez Canal, the fastest way to sail from Asia to Europe, hosting 10% of the world's shipping traffic. Precisely because the canal offers such a shortcut, it has historically invited sad chapters with foreign interests desirous of controlling it.
- Their poverty. This makes Egypt vulnerable to the meddling of outside powers that care little about their welfare.
- People's belief that they are destined to an unfulfilled life "no use," and that their reward is an afterlife with an abundance of everything they missed out on during their miserable lives.Generations of Egyptians have been going through life with one foot in the afterlife.
- People's belief that corruption is a given, a way of life allowing one to do better than thy neighbor - if I do not steal/cheat, someone else will.
- People's inclination not to work hard" It does not pay" - mostly due to being discouraged by the widespread and entrenched corruption.
- People's lack of understanding that population control is their task first and foremost.
- Government's lack of responsibility in regards population control, failing to aggressively point out the far-reaching consequences for generations to come, and obviously unwilling or flat out unable to come up with a plan commensurate with Egypt but one that would work.
- Egypt's Muslims believing that only they matter, that the welfare and well-being of minorities do not matter. A rather peculiar and offensive aspect of the prevailing culture considering the millions of Egyptian Coptics.
- Egypt's military believing that only they can govern, and that they have earned the right to dominate its economy to the benefit of their families and cronies and not the population at large. The 25 January, 2011 revolution supposedly was to take care of that, but due to immaturity and discord within Egypt's secular world, 2012 elections ended up being a runoff between the Islamists and the military; then when Islamists were ousted in 2013 by another revolution, the military emerged the winner in a 2013 election due mainly to people's fear of Muslim extremists and most importantly for the security of their country and their safety. Now, Egypt must wait for, as Abraham Lincoln said "a government of the people, by the people, for the people."Egypt under the control of its military is nothing new, the Mamluks, the military caste in medieval Egypt, ruled the country for centuries, before and during the time when Egypt was under the control of the Ottoman Sultans.
- The belief that focusing on security and stability precludes or obscures the need for development.
- People's arrogance, as emulating the West, Japan, BRICS countries (Brasil, Russia, India, China & South Africa) and other developing and industrialized countries is largely considered an anti-Islam social dicta.
- Government's lack of responsibility in informing the populace, drilling in the minds and hearts of people, that their best chance of an improved life, of a life worth living, rests largely on such emulation, expounding on what defines modern nations, and pointing out that the wheel has been invented.
- People's unrelenting expectation that the government is responsible for everything in their communities and the country as a whole, that the betterment of every tiny aspect of their lives will come only from the government.
- Government's and people's lack to urgently differentiate between stamping out terrorism (a dire necessity) and embracing dissent and open discussion.
- Having the media under complete control and censored by the government is the antithesis of a free society.
- Parliament and the judiciary made ineffective and inconsequential by decades of military rule, where one strongman dominated the landscape of the nation, politically, economically and even socially.
- Free education failed and backfired, valued education is not the norm today. High quality education is attainable only when it is competed for, and earned. All the money in the world does not make for an advanced and modern nation - education does. Saudi Arabia is a case in point.
Above outline is by no means all inclusive or comprehensive, the fact of the matter is that no nation has managed to progress and provide a better life for its people without undergoing some degree of change in its culture, taking its cues from countries that already are on the developed-nations ladder. History is replete with such countries. One rather interesting example is Germany. Konrad Adenauer, as the first post-war Chancellor of Germany from 1949 to 1963, led his country from the ruins of World War II to a productive and prosperous nation; and in helping to write the constitution of then West Germany, Adenauer unashamedly relied heavily on the US constitution, declaring that it is a good place to start.
While the man/woman on the street must ultimately do the heavy lifting, I hold the government, past, present and future, responsible as it had and has thus far chosen to be deaf, dumb and blind and not intercede in redressing this overarching need for a revamped and renewed Egypt. It all starts with leadership, one that is endowed with steely will and tremendous courage to withstand the unbelievable push-back they will encounter from all corners. Such leadership should introduce a plethora of programs/projects based on a clear-minded strategy and a leak-proof plan, all of which aimed to directly and indirectly chip away at said harmful characteristics.
Hussein
