Inshallah

Just as humans have dammed the great rivers of the world, so too have we constructed governments for the worlds great populations. And just as dams only function for a specific time and then are washed away, so too with the institutions. Today their are some people in Egypt, Tunisa, Jordan and Yemen that are trying to break the dam and let the flood of change wash over the land.

Spinoza once commented that "Emotion, which is suffering, ceases to be suffering as soon as we form a precise picture of it". Indeed the Arab world suffered a great deal and now seems to be seeing things clearly. Their centuries of suffering and subjugation have finally come to this cathartic moment where for some dying is preferable to living under the current circumstances. I feel for those people who are prepared to take that plunge, especially when one considers how very common extreme violence is in Arab culture.

The thing that saddens me about this situation is that the Egyptians are living in a cell which is just one of many in a massive prison that is the modern world. Already the instability is leading to bread shortages, looting and capital flight. Even if they manage to oust Mubarak, they can't really do what they want because they are dependent on the global economy to feed them. That system is itself reliant on the Suez Canal. They are caught in the straight jacket of modern interdependency, and so sadly their revolution is in the long run just an exercise in futility. Just as the great dam at Aswan can't be destroyed without destroying most Egyptians, the same goes for the modern Capitalist system. I believe though that these things must at least be attempted because 'those who do not move do not notice their chains'. It is also important in my mind that we keep trying and failing if only to add another footnote in the long saga that is mankind's struggle to live with itself. We have so very much to learn so we desperately need lessons such as these to teach us.

Here is a quote from Sayyid Qutb that I feel speaks to the current situation- " Indeed our words will remain lifeless, barren, devoid of any passion, until we die as a result of these words, whereupon our words will suddenly spring to life and live amongst the hearts that are dead, bringing them to life as well."