Guerrilla: A Veracious Revival Of Che?

Scanning the magazines section of Clemons Library for a photography magazine while on the phone with Omar, one magazine in particular caught my attention. On its cover, the unmistakable image of Commandante Che Guevara, or at least an impersonator for the image of the revolutionary hero has become iconic!
I couldn't believe how coincidental it was for this magazine to fall in my hands since I'd become a flamboyant revolutionary blogger, but I knew one thing was for sure: this was a sign! After picking up the magazine and flipping through it, I realized I was looking through FilmComment, a film critique magazine based in the universe's heart of art and film culture, New York City-specifically the magazine is published by the Lincoln Center Society. I had been anticipating the release of Che, which is compilation of two lengthy film series that document the life of Che Guevara. Luckily, a magazine that shed light on the choreographic art that was put into the documentation of the world's most revered fell into my hands. I've been following the news of this film for quite sometime and have been anticipating its release. I'm glad it hasn't gone mainstream and has remained underground in the independent movie sphere so that Che doesn't become another modern day fad, or even worse, a stigma if the movie movie demonizes him.
Before reading the article this magazine entailed, I was even more concerned that since this movie is an American production, the very essence of which is to generate money, and in a society where he is portrayed as a cold blooded killer, I worry that this may not be an accurate depiction of Che, but I have yet to put it to the test by watching it.
Now, flipping through the article, I happen to find its quite interesting as it takes an artistic approach towards evaluating the movie, i.e. is looks at the movie's film making on an epic scale.
Subsequent to the film's premiere in Cannes, Steven Soderbergh, the director remaks that his fascination with Che was his will. Che's willpower is virtue that I strive everyday accomplish. From the moment I awaken and I see his idealist, visionary eyes stare into the horizon rising outside my window, till the moment I pull the blanket over men and turn off the lights.
Obviously, one must take this film with a pinch of salt considering that Che is meant to live as a dream for all revolutionaries and cannot be holistically captured in some movie or poster. I must admit though, that it was subsequent to watching the Motorcycle Diaries with my father in the winter of 2007, 40 years since Che's death in 1967, I was inspired to pick up a diary of my own and pen my revolutionary ideas, so I can't completely rule out that a good film production does have a life lasting effect on someone. If anything, my readings of Che's biographies, where the like of Anderson truly try to conceptualize Che's supernatural being and drag him back from history to the pages of today are what inspire me to be who I am every day and write so devoutly as I do before your eyes. Just as I imagined myself sitting on a hammock in the jungles of Bolivia reading Che: A Revolutionary Life, just by looking at the amazing photography that the magazine displayed among me, I was captivated and swept off my feet to a far and distant land, where Latin passion for love of life and revolution burns vividly and to a time when the rattling staccato of AK-47s could be heard expressing the cries of revolutionaries worldwide!

Back to the article: halfway through I was quite disappointed with all the cinematography jargon and film industry gossip of how successful the movie was and how its rating was to turn out. I find it detestable to think of rating someone's life story at the expense of a movie. Any mishaps of the movie should not be reflected upon the life of the legend. That's the one thing about such biographical films, the director must meticulously emulate the divine spirit of the life that the subject led or else its a failure. Its all or nothing.

Now the review literally put me to sleep when discussing the financial aspects of the movie. "The definition of what is financial success for us in this country may not be good enough for people who write about movies, but if the movie does $5 million and then sells a couple hundred thousand units on DVD, we'll be very happy with those numbers." There is no doubt that there was no real motive behind the movie's production but sheer capitalism.

What a betrayal to the movie's subject. This contradiction to the Marxist sense of portraying Che truly disgusted me at this point of the article and I felt completely dissuaded from reading on. The only worlds that sprung to mind at this point were Che's own: "I have a fucking repulsion from money; its a fetish." But back to a more lightly spirit of portraying the movie, it is worth noting that the film was based on Che's Reminiscences of the Cuban Revolutionary War and Bolivian Diary. The actor is Benicio Del Toro, who I believe would have performed with a true conviction, for anyone who would be put in such a role would.

What pleases me was that the script was written by a contemporary of Che, Terrence Malick, who had been to Bolivia to work on a story about Che's revolutionary struggle as it was happening in 1966. Malick was even involved in directing the movie, which makes it more so true to its part. The movie's script dealt with Che's adventures in Bolivia, Cuba, NYC, and Mexico City and covered the different events that saw Che on the forefront of the political arena to that of the revolutionary and guerrilla one. I find it humorous that the custom-made camera prototype made for filming the guerrilla warfare scenes was dubbed "The Red One." So at least the camera stayed veracious to Che. The film's production also reveals fascinating facts about the guerrilla lifestyle, which is that the guerrillas had lived in the wild for almost two years during the Sierra Maestra Campaign. The movie also goes inside the daily life of the guerrillas by showing daily activity on the ideological and emotional level and not just the historical events that count. Something that I have to rave about was that Che, although the nucleus of the story, was never focused on alone and this was truly veracious to his comradeship attitude where Che's image was one that was one among others representing the true essence of the collective struggle. The director described this motif as "It never occured to me to isolate him the way you would in a normal movie because it felt, frankly, un-Che-like. His attitude was that this is a bigger than any of us individually. And therefore, to isolate him in close-ups is in ideological opposition to his entire set of principles." I love how this loyalty to Che sinks in on those who learn more about his enigmatic character. I sometimes feel the Che-ism has become an ingrained sense of morality and code of life that I have come to live by. Another saying of Che that comes to mind is that, "If you shiver at every injustice, then you are a comrade of mine."
In response to a very touchy issue, which is the whole "Che's a murder" bullshit that people spill all over the place, the director cuts out the executions at La Cabana. When asked whether he thought all the people Che executed in the military tribunals were innocent, he says no. The same exact Anderson gives in his biography. This quote really drove the point home: Does every regime when it feels threatened at some point act excessively? Yes. The firebombing of Japan? The dropping of a second atom bomb? I think those are excessive." This springs to memory that I need to write a diary entry on the showing of Dr. Atomic that I attended this weekend at the Charlottesville's very own Paramount Theater, but back to the director's response: "I think those are on a par with the kind of thing we’re talking about. Che says in his speech to the U.N., ‘This was necessary for our survival.’ Would that have fit your definition of due process? Probably not. You could say that in a lot of trials in the United States prior to 1964, due process was something that only applied to white people.”
They omit Congo, but I feel like it is essential to include because one cannot fully fathom the determination that Che underwent to launch another campaign in Bolivia after such a miserable failure of the Congo. Che was self critical and that is what led the director to believe: "His ability to sustain his outrage is what is remarkable to me. We all get outraged about stuff, but to sustain it to the point of putting your ass on the line to change what outrages you, to do it consistently for years and years, and to twice walk away from everything and everybody to do it, it’s not normal." The movie ends with the Jesus-like figure that defines Che's death. Soderbergh's mere conception of Che that brings him back to life once more; I personally like to think of it as the Second Coming, if you will.

Leftist Egyptian Revolutionary Art

I've been blog-hunting all night and I ran into some real talent. The Leftist Egyptian 's gallery on flickr is some of the most creative graphic design related to modern revolutionarism I've seen yet. He goes by the theme of promoting art against the system or establishment. He uses stencil and graffiti artwork to get the message across and his work reminds me a lot of that of Banksy, except his graphics have an oriental twist as he makes use of classical Arabic calligraphy and naturalistic design. The revolutionary gallery on display is pretty hard core communist, anti-capitalist, and very critical of the authorities in Egypt. I'm not surprised to see this kid to be behind the General Strikes of may 4th of 2008, but you've still got to give this kid props. Check more of his blog at gaberism.net.

The Anthology of A True Romanticist

The Green Book of Che-One of the last possessions of the world's greatest revolutionary was released by the Bolivian authorities (namely President Evo Morales) as Argentina declared Che to be their greatest historical figure. This is an anthology that inspired Che's profound romanticist conviction. 

The notebook was merely a cheap spiraled notebook Che bought during his stay in the Congo in 1963. His recess from the revolution was to retire on a tree and write emotional poems that dealt with politics. The poems include 69 poems are by some by Chilean Pablo Neruda, one of the greatest Spanish-language poets of the 20th century, Cuban Nicolas Guillen and Peruvian Cesar Vallejo.

Che needed to put this anthology of his favorite poetry since carrying books in the Bolivian campaign was an impossibility. 

The release of the Green Book of love poetry is evidence that as one his last two possessions, Che was true romanticist who lived and died in romance. Che's passion for poetry was limited, as he humbly admits. He tried to write poetry but protested that it was unaccomplished. This is reassuring as I am a tragedy when trying to emulate the poetry of the likes of Rumi, Wordsworth, El-Khayam, and Coleridge. 

The notebook is only more evidence that love is the catalyst behind any revolutionary soul. It is in this spirit that it pleasures me to submerge myself into poetry every now and then. In any case, a sneak peak from Che's green book is a poem by Cesar Vallejo titled The Black Heralds and it reads as follows:

There are blows in life, so powerful . . . I don’t know!
Blows as from the hatred of God; as if, facing them,
the undertow of everything suffered
welled up in the soul . . . I don’t know!

They are few; but they are . . . They open dark trenches
in the fiercest face and in the strongest back.
Perhaps they are the colts of barbaric Attilas;
or the black heralds sent to us by Death.

They are the deep falls of the Christs of the soul,
of some adored faith blasphemed by Destiny.
Those bloodstained blows are the crackling of
bread burning up at the oven door.

And man . . . Poor . . . poor! He turns his eyes, as
when a slap on the shoulder summons us;
turns his crazed eyes, and everything lived
wells up, like a pool of guilt, in his look.

There are blows in life, so powerful . . . I don’t know! 

Where It All Began

I recall the first time I ever engaged in activist blogging. I've always sought a revolutionary outlet to express my political views. My first exposure to blogging was actually on facebook. 

It was the winter of 06/07 and I was visiting family in Istanbul. I had been on facebook for only a couple of weeks then and was amazed by the virtual freedom of expression that facebook offered, but I found it to be more of a social scene than a political one. What I really sought was a democratic platform of expression that would allow my revolutionary views to flourish. This type of blogging offers that. Anyways, back to the story: So I was fiddling around with facebook, I happened to stumble upon a group titled Absolut Cairo. Now I'm guessing that the title of this blog is merely a play of words to replicate Absolut Vodka. I think that the Cairo Tower in the background even represents a vodka bottle. In a word, I don't think the creator of the group expected the group to transform into a platform for political discussion, but it was prompted with the notion behind the group's description, which is "In 1925, Cairo was the cleanest city in the whole world. Today it is one of the top 20 polluted cities worldwide. [To be specific, it is the second most polluted in the world]. Corruption is everywhere. Let's all try to make Cairo one of the best cities again as it used to be." 

I believe this message prompted most of the group's members to question what they can do to contribute to help fulfill the message's aspirations. Subsequent to contemplation, members begun expressing themselves one by one. I hope to document this historical moment in my blogging experience by shedding light on the dialogue that took place and that inspired to me to blog to this day. The discussion begun as follows:

-Omar EL Badrawy (Egypt)
First, thanks Ahmed for the group...It's a great idea I hope it would help...I get really angry whenever i think of what this country had become pollution speaking, cleanliness speaking and most certainly politicaly speaking, It all comes down to corruption i think...Anyways i hope this group make a difference...
Salma Mousallem (McGill)
I think this group can make a difference but i think we all need to take initiative. i mean even if its just in terms of littering.....a large portion of people in egypt litter..and what are we doing about it? i think word of mouth is a great way of reducing it, i dont let people litter when they are in the car with me, throwing things out the window is not the way to get rid of trash. i dont mean to be harsh, and i dont mean to embrass people, but the fact of the matter is, that cairo is becoming less attractive.
Tony Menias (Chicago, IL)
It's the people in this country man...the only word for them is ignorant...The government is screwin everyone over...I don't think anything will change
Omar EL Badrawy (Egypt)
I'm with you man...I think Egypt has more to think about than littering and trash...If you read newspapers pro & anti government for maybe 2 weeks you will feel how deep in shit we are and how huge the problem is...
Mohamed Imam (AUC Egypt)
I think that the core of all the problems in Egypt is because of the free governmental education, it's a disaster and it produces out masses of ignorant people who canno't use computers, understand science of even good in any kind of hand work
Salma Mousallem (McGill)
First of all, I think that no one is going to get anywhere by being passive. After all, we are the youth of egypt and that's where change begins. Second of all, i think if this is group is to have a purpose it should be how to make egypt cleaner environment as stated in the description. While free university state sponsored education may create problems, it by no means creates ignornant people. Regardless, i dont see how this relates to the effects of pollution, and its dangers? Yes Egypt has an abundance of problems, corruption, politics, the whole thing...but is that what we are discussing here? I really think we should brainstorm over solutions over how to make egypt cleanier. instead of looking at the causes, we should look at alternatives and make a difference! because we can!
Hany Bassiouny (HKU)
hey.. I also wanna add my voice in thanking mohamed for starting this group.
what's more important though is exactly what salma is saying.. we cld all very easily just add this as a group, talk a lot, and check what other ppl r saying every once in a while when we're bored.. just like every other group..
or we cld do smthg..
I'll add a new topic on this forum (called 'This is how we do it.'), n put up some ideas on how we can move forward n get smthg done.. for those interested in getting Cairo moving, take a look n lets see if we can do this.
Ahmed Khairat (AUC Egypt)
okay...yh egypt has problems: free EDU, the unsanatary conditions of many areas, poverty, pollution, over population, weak economy market, huge gap btwn the rich and poor, i could go on forever...However, i believe that there is one MAIN problem at the core of all these and it is: CORRUPTION. corruption is destroying egypt leading to all the aforementioned problems...The leaders of the nation (those in responsible governmental positions) are not paying attention to the problems, they are ignoring them, while concentrating on how much money they can steal from the government. Egypt lacks the fund to improve its current situation because the CORRUPT officials take the countries fucking money...If change is to be observed, then the current government must be flushed (yes, completely flushed out )and a new more liberal modern, SP (secular progressive )representative government, and adequately educated government should be established...In addition, (no more space, continue l8r)
In response to Salma Mousallem: B4 we can look at the alternatives, we must comprehend the problems of EGYPT and attempt to identify any patterns so that we can more easily and more efficient come up with alternative resolutions that will solve these problems. Thus, i URGE every1 here to commit a post for one problem and if ppl would like to elaborate on a prior post about a particular problem plz do, but try to describe as many problems as possible so we can achieve our goal of resolutions
Omar EL Badrawy (Egypt)
Ahmed Khairat...man u took the words out of my mouth...thanks for saving me some typing time...if i may add corruption is like fungus, it can ruin everything around it...the flushing should start with the (mekhaleleen) politicians, the ones that have been in office for more than 10 years, and we have a lot of those and they are rotten to the very core and spreading their germs all over the place u can almost smell it in the air...
Yaseen Kafafi (Egypt)
this is a response to those addressing free governmental education (on university levels) as a problem. first of all we should be clear on one thing. is it the concept of free education thats wrong? or is it the way that it is carried out thats wrong? because the concept, in my opinion, is non negotiable in terms of right or wrong. plus i should bring to your attention that a significant percentage of the students at cairo university are still having problems paying the fees today. and when the fees got jacked up a while back, the students revolted and demanded their rights. my point is that the tuition fees + textbooks (which should both be free) are an obstacle enough as is. i would also like to add (and this i knw from personal experience) that some of the best and most talented professors at cairo university could not have gotten to where they are today if it werent for free education.
now im not saying that cairo uni is top notch, but what i am saying is that making the students pay thousand of pounds a year in order to generate some cash flow into the university is definitely not the answer. yes i agree, the problem with cairo university is the lack of funds. but that's because the the intended source is not there anymore. and THAT is the problem. believe me there are professors there who are doing everything in their power to aid the system, but there's only so much they can do. i just want to stress on the fact that public AND private universities should not be profit oriented. another point i'd like to discuss is the fact that private universities are not fulfulling their intended purpose. let me explain, from what i understand is that private unis were established in order to fund and develope itself. meaning, students pay their tuition and in return facilities are provided and so on.
but where do the professors come from? they are either foreign or professors from public universities, and not regualr professors, usually the best. there is no doubt that that approach is incredibly wrong. what i meant when i said that private unis should develope themselves, i meant that graduating students should be encouraged to continue their studies. the uni should send them abroad or locally to achieve their masters and phd degrees and hence reacquire them as professors. also a very important factor which is not in consideration, is that it must be a requirement and a necessity that every year a certian amount of scientific researche papers are produced by the uni and published worldwide. that is another source of income! this will encourage the industry to also supply funds for patents and researche papers. it is pretty obvious that in egypt as a country, we lack that connection between the industry and academia which is essential and extremely beneficial for everyone.
im interested in what everyone thinks about my comments. after all this should be a real group and not just another name on the list..
Mohamed Imam (AUC Egypt)
The problem about free education is in the teachers, they get a very very low salary, so they dont teach students what they are really supposed to know ( school wise not university wise ), students end up taking private lessons, their parents - who are from middle lower and lower classes - get screwed because they have to pay a lot in these private lessons, another point, students waste a lot of time in prvt lessons after school time (which probably they escape from and go to smoke or play street football or follow girls in streets)... I think if the education was for a higher price, say 1000 a year (which is actually the average amount paid in all private lessons allover all of the subjects) teachers might get a higher salary and teach them BE ZEMMA Shewaia, then students would have time to actually study and play sports, and corruption between teachers will decrease to at least half, and thats what I think...
& by the way yaseen, when a scientific research is published the government pays something like 70 or 80 LE as a reward :) which is ironic
Tarek Hegazy (AUC Egypt)
There is no educational system in Egypt. Schools are overcrowded, curriculums are way behind, teachers are less than qualified & their salaries only come next to nothing....its kinda absurd some kids even go to high school without properly spelling their names correctly...the key to the rise of nations is education...I won't get into the public/private education dilemma cause its too tricky, mainly cause Egypt has one of the lowest literacy rates worldwide, specially for females..Anyway, guess a good suggestion to eliminate illiteracy might be the introduction of some sort of community service instead of the regular military service where you can teach 10 people alphabet and the basics of math instead of the current service.. guess the annual number of newly recruited soldiers is pretty high, this way we might reduce our illiteracy rate, which is very important if this country would ever have a chance to make it?
Ahmed Khairat (AUC Egypt)
tarek hegazy...i agree with portions of your argument; however, there are some flaws, which must be addressed...First of all, i don't think that Egypt has the lowest literacy rate in the world...Your suggestion for community service is excellent and quite optimistic; however, again refering to my idea of a central problem, there is tooooo much corruption for this to occur. The conservative lazy government would not like to experiment and try this new community service plan. In addition, after a short period the community service program would become corrupt with ppl getting wastas (connections) to get out of serving. Furthermore, who do u think would lead this organization? Unders what ministry do you think it would fall under? - Would it fall under the out-dated, conservative idiotic and (may I add) pointless and unbeneficial, Ministry of Education? Moving on, your idea is more of a twig of hope instead of a branch of hope..What is mean is:
tarek hegazy (part 2): what i mean is that there are more important topics to be considered before your plan is to be discussed. If and only if the egyptian government can imrpove, your plan is feasable, but it will take alot of time...Back to the literacy rate, i think (too lazy to research) that Egypt's literacy rate is higher than other 3rd world countries: african countries, some Asian countries, and maybe other Arab nations, i urge you to find it out and post it on the wall...I would just like to state that i have nothing against your plan and i believe that it is partially true...By any chance are you related to Taha Hegazy in American International School?
-Mostafa Allam
Yo... Khairat... I don't believe refering to the gov. as "lazy" and "corrupt" is very appropriate, considering that we are who we are because of the government. Furthermore, I believe your parents and mine, as gov. agents, are contributing to the improvement of Egypt's government abroad. So as long as they and others like them endeavor, I assure you that it could be the gov. that could lead to a top-down, trickle down improvement effect.
Tarek Hegazy (AUC Egypt)
Dear khairat, thanx for ur comments, anyway, I said egypt has one of the lowest literacy rates & not the lowest one, I just checked the UN list and it says Egypt is in the 151st place with 55.6% literacy rate... Yemen is the only arab country below us at the 157th position....which is another clear message to anyone still living the myth of egyptian superiority over arabs or even african nations...its really sad how much we've fallen behind:)
Hany Bassiouny (HKU)
talk is cheap.. instead of complain about the government why don't u go work for it n make it change! y do u expect someone else to do it for u?
Amr Bassiouny (Egypt)
Thank you Hany, these have been my words for a while (read the note on my site). Stop complaining, go join the Hizb el Watani (or brotherhood if you're into that) and start participating (policy-making/politics).

OR

You can sacrifice a high-paying job in a foreign country (referring to those who work) and work day in and day out doing government work and helping to implement the policies created by the hizb (public administration, and the policies are actually quite good now).

Until you start doing that, as Hany said, talk is cheap.

To say something about education funding...Recently (a few months ago) the PM added 100LE to the salary of each teacher. Considering we have about 1,000,000 teachers in Egypt, that's 1,000,000,000 EXTRA Egyptian pounds spent per MONTH to pay for teachers' salaries. Can you begin to realize how much money we're talking about here?

Now considering that we have serious issues with housing and water, which is more important? Giving ppl clean water to drink, or spend billions every month to teach the kids? The questions won't be easy if you're sitting on the chair, and the decisions will never make everybody happy.
Malak, take it from somebody who actually works with these people you speak of, most of them are taking serious action now, more than you can imagine.

As for your last point, if you ever go to maglis il sha3b (the lower house of the parliment) you will see what kind of people our people elect. It is the most depressing thing about the gov't, and they are the worst part of it. They are uneducated, greedy, have no manners, and unfortunately actually represent the people! I speak out of experience and every time I go to parliment i get depressed and leave. Democracy isn't the answer when it comes to uneducated developing countries. Uneducated people will elect uneducated leaders.

I want you to take a look at the countries of SE Asia and see what they did without democracy. China, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, and so on.

-Tarek Hegazy (AUC Egypt)
Too bad this wall has turned into a place for promoting the so called (hizb) ideas instead of saying something useful ....its even worse some ppl r denouncing democracy in the 21st century as if we have real meritocracy in Egypt... this is really funny...oh god plz help me, am just a poor little blogger..don't wanna turn into youtube material soon....

Ahmed Khairat (AUC Egypt)
Hany, you previously stated that our, as in the group's, "talk was cheap"...First of all, i believe that is completely wrong. We are attempting to brainstorm, discuse, and analyze, the current problems and their solutions. Some of us are still in university and high school, so all we can do is brainstorm...Being that your the one of the anti-"cheap talk" what do you want us to do on this facebook group???? It is up to the current young (30+) educated UNcorrupted men & women of egypt to attempt to reform the government and its officials...Thus, i believe calling our discussion cheap is completely unacceptable and uncalled for...

Tarek Hegazy (AUC Egypt)
ah, you mentioned malaysia and SE Asia...u say they made it without democracy... what about us then? did we have democracy? HELL NO.... then lets try it for a change...guess some nations made it with it already.... these ppl tried for so looooooong already.... anyway, I prefer reading GOMHOREYA NEWSPAPER, it might have more legitimate arguments denouncing democracy and promoting the current TEHCNOLOGICAL government, enough said ;)

Mostafa Allam
I think people should wake up and realize that it is not only the domestic problems that have caused Egypt's decline, but give the country a break considering it is placed in the region with the world's longest on going conflict that involves mainly economic interests (namely, oil) and ideological clashes (Zionism vs. Arabism and (Democracy vs. Authoritarianism) and (Secularism vs. Rule-by-religion). I don't think its feasible for everyone to pinpoint the problems at domestic problems and say they are the sole culprit of the problem. Enlighten yourself, raise awareness, know what you are talking about from an intellectual perspective, and then take action. Don't just complain because Egypt isn't ideal for your selfish needs, but investigate how Egypt could be improved for the common good.

Hany Bassiouny (HKU)
Ahmed.. when i said talk is cheap.. I'm not pointing a finger at u directly.. my pt is general at everyone who's complaining n not doing anything about it.. we know the problems, we've discussed n brainstormed them a million times.. yet we do it again.. that's never gonna get us anywhere.. (obviously it still has to be done, though it shld'nt be the ONLY thing being done).. that's my pt.
Salma.. i deleted it.. i still believe that's the best way to see something happen.. I thought this group wanted to do smthg.. but it appears that it's become a forum to complain about corruption, flawed government policies, and why we're not like the rest of the world. frankly, I hear enough complaints on the street as it is.

Dina Makram-Ebeid (LSE)
Well I've 2 simple comments. 1- u don't ve to be 30+ to make a difference. In fact, if u look at history, from France in 1968, to student protests in Iran in 1999, to U.S student activism against the vietnam war , even to Egypt at different times...it was YOUNG PEOPLE, who rallied, called 4 things, named & shamed their governments, & undertook all sorts of activism. Some were creative, it's not just about demonstrating. They were playing music, organizing concerts, writing, doing films, publishing...everything. So basically, yes, u don't ve a job that can influence decision making but u ve the enthusiasm of the youth & u have less costs 2 bare. 2- Nothing makes me enraged more than Middle/Upper class Egyptians who keep on talking about change as if it'll happen alone. Well change is the responsibility of each & every one of us who is "protected", who has an exit. And if Egypt doesn't change it's because me & u r not doing anything abt it & ve decided to become observers!!

Amr Bassiouny (Egypt)
Tarek Higazy, I am not here to promote anybody, I'm here to give you the insight which I have gained recently working in this field to help you understand how this government works and what you can do to help. I am in the gov't now, and tommorow (literally) I will go join the hizb. Don't fight the system, it won't get you or your ideas anywhere but will only create resistance, work with it. Learn to use it in your favor and create something good out of it.

There is potential for both extremes in this gov't, so I hope we can start putting more of the good and less of the bad.
@ Yaseen

I beleive in this country and I beleive that change is at bay and that this is the time things will get better. I won't sit on the side and remain a spectator. I beleive in this country, and I beleive in my ability to influence its direction. Right or wrong, I'll take the many risks involved and do what I can. Sombody has to do the work, there's no use waiting till somebody comes to do it for me...I'll do it myself.

As for our beautiful cairo, the best time is actually imo sunny friday mornings, before the prayer. Just go driving or take a walk anywhere in Cairo and you just can enjoy a traffic-less, empty, clean cairo. It's my favorite time for a joy-ride in my car :-)

-Mostafa Allam
I think that there has been a lot of dispute concerning the purpose of this group. Some have argued that talk is cheap and that we should go out there and take action. Others have argued that it is beyond our capability to take such action. I think that we should compile the excellent remarks that pinpoint the Egypt's problems, brainstorm to solve them, and express our ideas in a social contract binds people and their elected government through a code of conduct that stipulates what each party has to do. So lets come up with ideas of what we citizens have to do in our daily lives. As a starting point, I say that each member comes up with a few obligations that citizens and gov. officials should respect in his conduct in a letter that we can compile this into a manual for social governance. I believe that this project is the true intellectual enlightenment that Egypt needs at this point.

-Amr Bassiouny (Egypt)
@Mostafa
Manual for social governorance? Are you proposing to completely renew our legislative, executive and judiciary codes and laws (including all the legal codes), as well as create new systems for each part of the gov't? Do you have any idea how big that could be, and how much experience/knowledge you need to even begin doing it?
Find those who will listen...

-Minardos Metri (New York, NY)
im here to listen....... whats up with the political reform talks of Egypt lol. Why do I sense a rebellion and revolution, in order for Egypt to abdicate its current constituencies and replace their old systems of legal precedings with new ones ?

-Amr Bassiouny (Egypt)
Alright well, if any of u really think that writing a new social contract will do anything...I'll personally send it to gamal mubarak or the PM or somebody big and you'll realize that you wasted your time doing it. So go ahead and I'm in with u, but don't say I didn't warn you.


-Mostafa Allam
@Amr. I believe that you misunderstood the intentions of what I proposed to be a “social manual.? I am not changing anything, I am just proposing a code of ethics, which we have obviously lost. Essentially, what are laws made for? For the betterment of society. We need the moral that makes people’s behavior carry the spirit of the law. There are societies where the individuals behavior manifests the law. There are societies where people where people need the law to guide their behavior. There are societies which have no respect for law and see laws made to be broken. We have to decide which society we want to be.
Also Amr, you mentioned that such a project would require a vast amount of knowledge and expertise. As member of such distinguished academic institutions worldwide, we have opportunities and responsibilities that others do not have, so we should be able to make a difference in our way, even if we don’t have all of the experience and knowledge that you might think. The worst thing that is happening in our country now is the indifference among people. I believe debating and criticism is what will stimulate our progress.
What I was talking about was a manual, and not the law. When you buy a device, you obtain a manual of how to use it. It does not necessary mean that you need to change the system. What I am proposing is a practical way to avoid arguments and talking and get to specifics by looking into ourselves as citizens so that the government could know our exact demands.
Egypt at this point is going through a process of labor in which Egypt is looking for a new order to be born so this is our opportunity to be part of the solution, not the problem. Even if such a project is a waste of time and energy, I am willing to exert all of that is in my power to see such reform. Our society is filled with hidden goodness. This society that build such an ancient civilization. We must pull our true potential. Others have made it. Today, it doesn’t matter whether you are rich or poor, big or small, all that matters is that you follow the prescription for success. Look at Singapore, UAE, Qatar, and even China with 1.3 billion are able to succeed in a matter of one generation . We should not lose our will to make it. Because if there is a will there is a way.
Karim Khalil (Egypt)
no matter how corrupt, polluted or just plain fucked this country might be, it can be solved, its been done throughout history in much worse situations where nations have rebuilt themselves from absolutely nothing...believing that it is possible is a step, but when you have the entire population saying fuck it cant be done, its the governments fault...you're doing as much harm as the politicians, by not doing even the slightest effort...we can change, it wont be easy, but a country full of apathetic people has no hope...

-Mohamed Imam
every citizen can easily have a million or half a million, yesterday I was standing infront of my cousin's place with some friends and then a guy passed by asking for the place of a restaurant that shut down like 4 or 5 years ago, I asked him who are you? he told me that he is a representative from the Taxation place... after a chat I knew from him that they collect yearly on average 30 billion Egyptian pounds :) now divide this number on 80 million citizens just one time and lets see how this country is going to be like :)

-Hany Bassiouny (HKU)
@mohamed imam..
just to correct u.. seems u were seriously misinformed, n the tax collector doesn't know what he's talking about.. the actual numbers are.. Pre-new tax law: 500million collected.. n post-new tax law: 3.5billion.. the problem is that people used to bribe the tax collectors.. but now they can't cause tax collectors have to sign on every paper they approve, n cld face long prison sentences if an auditor discovers anything wrong.. so definitely no where near the 30billion.
also.. if ur idea of making ppl better off is just giving them the money, i think it wld fail in a day.. then how do u invest in infrastructure? water stations? roads? sanitation? paying wages? subsidies? education? healthcare? etc etc etc etc// obviously the money isn't even enough to cover those.. u want them to give it away??
I'm a believer in the saying "give a man a fish, he'll eat for a day.. teach a man how to fish, he'll eat for the rest of his life"..
so the pt of giving ppl the money is out of the question.. u might as well burn it.
so when u reduce subsidies on gasoline to channel it to education n healthcare.. STOP COMPLAINING.. ppl only look at the bad side n completely forget there's another side to it.. electricity bill got higher, water bill, phone bill, etc etc.. that's cause the more u use these utilities the more they become a luxury.. so it's wise to not waste the government's money (YOUR MONEY) on these things, n re-allocate them to public education n healthcare so that the ppl who need it the most actually see it.. to make our country a better n safer place for everyone.
I'm also a big supporter on imposing more taxes on tobacco n alcohol.. especially sheesha.
what ur saying is right.. but ur missing smthg.. what do u think subsidies are?
plus.. if u see the president's program for this term, u'll see (and this is for a fact taking place) that the ministry of housing is giving grants of upto LE15,000 to low-income people (priority to fresh grads) buying appartments in new cities (such as 6 October, sherouk, obour, S.Zayed, 10 Ramadan, etc etc).. n also offering easy payment schemes.. this is all a way of giving it to them wisely so they can use it in the future for whatever investment they like.
u may argue that 15,000 is not enough.. but nothing will ever be enough.. n there's a million other things ppl need too.. so u cld either give LE15,000 to say 1mn ppl, or give LE100,000 to 200,000ppl, or give LE1mn to 10,000 ppl.. money doesn't come out of thin air.. so u need to see if u wld rather give more money to less ppl, or less money to more ppl.. it's a real issue being faced, so u have to think about it.

Now the blog has 1,073 posts, but the substance of the political dicussion has everything but died. I have compiled this dialogue as evidence that there is a professional dialogue among Egypt's youth and that revolutionary ideas are bubbling. I've always had the vision of compiling these thoughts into some sort of social manual to hand to some government official so that the government could get some fresh perspectives on how to run the country. Although the debate has died down, I believe that this is an ideal snapshot of a healthy dialogue of different perspectives. Unfortunately, I have not seen anything it like it since, but all we can do is pray for a deja vu!

Communism is alive and kickin'

After skimming through the net, it hit me that socialism is all around us. Let me just point it out from the beginning that I am by no means expressing my allegiance to left by writing this entry, but merely expressing my readings on contemporary events and Marxist philosophy.

There seems to be a common misconception that communism is buried for good and that capitalism hit the last nail in the coffin of Marxism. I find the contrary to be true.

Sure capitalism may have suppressed Marxism. Now isn't that what former is created to do. I am not preaching that communism need be enforced on people, but it needs to be given a fair shot. It disgusts me how America demonizes with its propagandistic techniques. If the masses reject communism, then by all means keep it buried, but give it a chance! If this chance is not given, the the forces of communism will have to force their way through by any means necessary. This is why Marxism is inherently violent. It is impossible to rid one's self of draconianism without having the sour taste of vengeance in one's mouth!

Around the world we see that once given the chance, the masses realize the egalitarianism that is at the foundation of communism. Recently, an article titled "Thai crisis exposes class struggle" shows that when the masses push for the determination of freewill, they can shift government policies, one by one, until they eventually become the government, i.e. the State, which is due to represent them. The days of militarism and violence in terms of forcing change are over. In this new era, its a matter of effective activism, campaigning, and unfortunately bandwagoning in order to raise support and to bring the government at the masses' feet. I think the most evident example of this is Nepal's courageous long standoff by Maoist rebels to finally seize power and bring justice.

What really got me fired up to write this entry was my discovery of arabawys lenosphere! I feel like there is an underground movement of intellectuals that is destined to have some impact on these splinter movements worldwide.

Let me reiterate that I'm not necessarily a proponent of communism, but I feel like we are soon about to be watching history go back to the cold war.

A Discussion With The Angry Arab

Tonight, I attended Palestine Week's lecture by Asad Abu Khalil, who is a renowned scholar on the Arab-Jewish conflict and on Middle East politics. He is a Professor at Berkeley and Cal State. He was featured CNN and Al Jazeera numerous times and has a blog titled The Angry Arab. I've added it to my bloglist and urge you to check it out. His talk was truly captivating and centered on the Obama and the Middle East.

Personally, I've always been skeptical of Obama and never really fell for this whole Obamania that seems to have infected everyone I know. Even those who said they wouldn't vote for him, ended voting for him. His popularity was simply a reflection in his excellent marketing and campaigning. The only thing that may have attracted me about him was his socialist background, but he shun away from that, so I'm not so sympathetic with him. Anyways, I don't want to focus on Obama, but on the Angry Arab.

Professor Khalil started his lecture by notifying us by the current paraphernalia that has struck the Middle East, where we have come to envision him the next Mohamed Ali (i.e. the boxer) who will sympathize with the Arab and Palestinian cause, an image painted by the neo-conservatives to withdraw votes from him. Ironically, Obama is nothing of the like and tries to distance himself from the Arab/Muslim nation at all. Khalil went so far as to predict that Obama will attack another Arab/Muslim state as evidence of disassociation with anything Arab. I disagreed with Khalil on this point and brought it up during the discussion, by telling him that Obama's suck up to APAC disgusted the Arabs and his support of bringing up the sensitive topic of the Armenian massacre led to his detestment in Turkey as I experienced from confabulating with Turks over this summer. He agreed with me, but told me that the Arab media is propagating otherwise. He urged me to read Arab sources. I shall, but I don't think they'll be representative of the masses.

He then pointed out then pointed out Obama's hypocrisy by indicating that although saying, "None have suffered more than the Palestinians," he withdrew his comments and never mentioned the topic again. He then hired Rahm Emanual as his first member of his new cabinet, who was involved in the Israeli Army. Concidence?

After thrashing Obama, which was truly a ironic scene since he was actually guilt tripping all the Arab Americans in the room since it was evident they'd all voted for him, he then went to indicate that whether they like it or not, the Middle East will always pop up on the American President's agenda. I argued this point by pointing out that the M.E. doesn't just "pop up" on the U.S. agenda, but is deliberately there and will be there for some unforseeable future. America will only withdraw when it is stretched too thin, public opinion goes down, and its interests in the region wane, but other then that, its there to stay. America needs to identify a common enemy to rally support at home and justify its war crimes abroad. Simply put, America needs enemies to survive and after triumphing over the Nazis and Communists, the US has identified the Islamic civilization as its new enemy so that it can "legitimately" access the region geopolitical resources at complete freewill. Russia is smart enough to realize by installing its own missile system to couteract that being launched in Poland and Latvia by the US.

I believe the message the he drove home was that the US should halt its intervention in the Middle East and let them write their own history. I believe this message resonates the true aspiration of the Arab masses. Unless the US decides to do so, the turmoil will not end and the Americans shouldn't be so foolhardy to question "Why do they hate us so much?"

Anyways, the discussion dragged on and on, but I was truly intrigued by the radicalism of the Angry Arab and he actually revived feelings I had during my Guevarism phase. Anyways, I'll be following the blog and am keen to see how true his predictions of Obama will be. If there's one person that was convinced by his views though, it was definitely me.

Bridging The Gap Between Existentialism and Marxism

Skimming though Critique of Dialectic Reason, sipping on chamomile, listening to Bach in the background, imagining myself philosophizing in the intellectual ambiance of a Parisian cafe, I found the pertinent desire to draw the manifest relationship between the existentialist preachings of Sartre to the Marxist ones of Che. I have just completed the highly insightful Marxism of Che Guevara, where I grasped the true essence of Che's philosophy as an intellectual and renaissance man. As I flipped through the pages of Sartre's work, it hit me that to achieve the true freedom of the existentialist school, it is essential for men to come together through the collaborative effort, with hammer and sickle in hand, to construct a society where the notion that "hell is people" disappears. The only motive behind hell being people is entirely due to the fact that capitalism infests every corner of our society. It is imperative to eradicate every capitalistic belief from the hardwired human mind. As Che preaches, if brainwashing educational programs is what it takes, then let it be.
Factoring Sartre's philosophy, that aims to bridge the gap between the two philosophies, it is evident that in a world where the environment is the sole determinant of our cognitive and behavioral composition, where "existence precedes essence" that since our socio-economic status in the world is beyond our control. It is in this spirit that since we are morally responsible for our position in this world, creating this utopia people define as communism, we must work together in order to build a society that is harmonious. Otherwise, "hell is people" in a society where everyone is out to serve his own interest, as capitalists breach. Moreover, both Marxism and Existentialism preach rejection of the moral structure that the bourgeoisie have subjected upon the masses.
Sure, Marxism and Existentialism may be diametrically different at their core as the former preaches collectivism while the latter preaches individualism, one could also perceive them as being complementary where the latter is a subset of the former. Existentialism advocates absolute freedom for the individual. Isn't that the ultimate aspiration for Marxism? Isn't Marxism at its core the shattering of the proletarian's shackles?
Once the individual's struggle to liberate himself from societal oppression, what could be more benevolent but to share that freedom with society, by forgoing individual freedom for the greater good, which is ultimately what socialism preaches. In a society where there is no rule imposed upon the individual by others, the individual has fulfilled his existentialist aspirations and while giving his fellow man the opportunity to do likewise. Similarly, socialism requires all men to give up their individual freedom for there to be universal freedom so that all could share their part of the freedom pie. It is thus manifest that existentialism cannot exist without socialism and vice versa. The two are complementary. History has not seen this, but the only way for the individual to experience complete freedom is for all of the human race to be free.
Some may advocate that it is too idealistic to achieve this vision, but the writer does not see this to be in the too out of reach. It is possible to achieve absolute socialism within a capitalistic framework. The elite and the intellectual, which govern the masses, have always been groomed to guide the latter. It is through the open dialogue between the two societal forces that the proximity between the two forces can be shortened to achieve an egalitarian society. This will not be a one way dialogue where the elite preach down to the masses, as has been the case throughout history, but so that a knowledge trickle down effect to the masses can take place so that they can learn the essentials of leadership, justice, education, and the other virtues that being an intellectual entail.
Now one stark distinction needs to be drawn. When Sartre preached for the overthrow of the government, one must consider the exact context in which he preached such a communique. Socialism preaches that the state is the ultimate power in the hierarchy, simply because it is a pure representative and protector of the proletarian. The state is made up of the proletarians; therefore, in an ideal socialist environment, there would never be a conflict between the government and the masses. The writer wishes to now draw your attention to the fact that Sartre's denouncement against the government was due to the French student protests of the 1968, which saw the true draconian nature of the bourgeois government. From the regency, to the Church, to the government of De Gaulle, the French government has always been one that is suppressive and coercive, and thus justly condemned by Sartre in La Cause De Peuple.
In conclusion, the writer believes, that existentially, it takes one person to realize the significance of freedom for its virus to infect others. Once the true realization of freedom is sought, the New Man will be born. Only then will this usher an era where the gap between the individual and society will vanish.