BK: Btw, did you hear about Nazif being interrupted at Cairo University while giving a lecture by a student? Google Nazif+Cairo University and I think you should get a blog posting from Arabawy. There's a video too.
E: Yeah I heard! And the student was only arrested for a half hour, wasn't tortured, and nothing happened to his family. Impressive.
BK: Well, he was apparently detained at Cairo Uni's security office for a couple of hours until a big group of students went and stood outside the security office until they let him out. Me and Princess yesterday were saying that the government's "control" on such things have recently become significantly cruder.
E: That's a different version to what I read. I'm inclined to believe you as that is more typical of gov behaviour. Sigh… what to do BK?
BK: Well I was thinking about it yesterday especially with regards to my work and I realized that the reason why people have been so keen on critiquing the government also has effect on the type of people the government attracts. Y'know the more and more people really stop working with the government the worse off they will be qualitatively and then maybe they'll have to listen to people or be more accountable just to ensure its survival.
I mean think about it. If I for example, an AUC graduate going to Columbia for an MA come back and I'm a prime candidate for a job with the government. Have good Arabic, excellent English, some French, graduated from Ivy League, creative, blab la bla and I refuse to take a job with them, they lose out. They lose out on the quality students who are my same protype because these youth have been brought up in an environment where they've chosen not to sympathize, take a chance on, or care about their government. The government really loses out as these youth start up their own NGOs, businesses, investment firms, etc and choose not to work directly with their government. Rather, most of them will want to work with more "independent" organizations and will creates dependencies on them, like the millions of NGOs that depend on Ford rather than the government.
You don't have to read all that. Just food for blog.
E: So in essence, if we ignore the gov and are self-sufficient, we'll be better off because the gov will have to give us incentives to listen to it?
BK: It's not that we're ignoring the government but it's more like when yorr day-to-day life is just punctuated by stories of the government's repression, their history of corruption, the circles of people that hover around them and how crude you are, you just don't want to work them. It doesn't strike you as the most rewarding option if you're a person who's excited to be creative and really grow somewhere by developing great proposals and have the space to really self-develop. That's why you have Nahdet al Mahrousa, that new Egyptian NGO that's everywhere in the media and going really strong. They've got good relations with the government and everything, but they don't work for them. They resort to other sorts of funding and support. These individuals are finding that the innovation and new ideas they're introducing into the political arena and development arena in Egypt would not have been possible if they were working for the Ministry of Social Solidarity or Ministry of Education or Ministry of youth, y'know.
If these top level people continue to follow in this direction (which I feel is happening), the government will only get the 2nd rate individuals. This, in my opinion, isn't sustainable, especially if the 1st rate people outshine their government internationally. J That hurts the government….bad.
Yeah?
E: Agreed. Although if it's the 2nd rate who are in power for a prolonged period, they'll suppress the first rate till they either snuff them out or force them to emigrate. So then there will be no 1st rate left.
BK: Isn't that kind of what's happening now? Although I think some of the 1st rate still benefit their country by shining abroad (Zewail is one of the many examples) and then some have been insisting now on returning to their home country and working from here, regardless of the consequences.
And that's my first blog posting. Although it's kind of political to start of with. What do u think?
E: Beautiful. Perfect start.
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1 comment:
hey dears :) loving the Diabloguing here. but BK i disagree with u in regards to the effects of the split between 1st rate individuals and 2nd rate ones (while i disagree with the rating system, i'll just play along). i think that it will further alienate the government from its people; especially the ones who do have the tools to affect some change in Egypt. i think it's a bit naive to think u can change anything from outside. change needs to be from within.
if those 1st rate individuals would work for the government now. as little rewarding as it is and despite the fact that they will be working under a system they disagree with; in time they will be the ones who are more likely to reach higher positions and really achieve that change we all want to see.
i am not saying we should all sell out, i am saying we should assume good intentions on both sides. while we might disagree with many things that are happening, this does not mean that the ruling elite are clearly defying the will of the people, maybe they lack vision, and maybe we do. so i say join them and change them from within.
beace ;)
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