Crank Bait says:

*A really good post over at BlueRootsRadio.com
by Crank Bait..

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The demonstrations in Egypt have captured and held my interest since their inception. Today I wondered why.

Sure, it is current events and falls squarely in the wheelhouse of political geekdom, so there’s no surprise there. The Arab/Persian world is the new Evil Empire according to people on my right, so I feel a certain obligation to pay attention to any news from the eastern Mediterranean to Afghanistan, but my fascination goes beyond Mideast affairs.

It’s simply this: The many are making changes without guidance from a few.

Ten days of demonstrations in Egypt is the exception to the rule that cats can’t be herded. Even better, they don’t need a shepherd. Egyptians are doing what all of us wish we could do to oppose corporate powers. Egyptians are doing what all of us wish we could do to oppose political nonsense. Egyptians are doing what all of us wish we could do to oppose stupid wars.

And they have agreed amongst themselves to do it peacefully. They have attacked an unwanted system by using the most righteous weapons possible: Numbers and publicity and determination.

That’s the key fascination for me. Egyptians are turning their frustrations into something tangible and effective. My frustrations simmer. My frustrations are expressed in a voting booth, or with a phone call or email, or by trying to explain complexities to someone who is poorly informed or apathetic or both. None of it is tangible or effective. Tomorrow I will be as frustrated as I am today. I am one voice howling at the moon.

But numbers, ah, numbers…with numbers demonstrating for days on end, something happens. It might not be a “better” something but it will be a something of their own doing…without instruction from above.

*The recent events in Egypt are an example of what rarely happens yet what everyone wishes would happen more often:

The few openly confronted by the unyielding many. No blood lust. No threats beyond “We will all stay right here, as a unified group, until you go away.”
My fascination is constructed of my own frustration and cynicism.

“Yes, Virginia, there IS a Santa Claus.” …and he lives in Egypt.
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Thank you Crank Bait! - ToniD

http://bluerootsradio.com/?p=5448

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