Monday, January 20, 2014

Egypt---is there no 'middle way' for this country?

Egypt seems to have either had a despotic military Government or an extreme Islamic version (albeit for a very short time) during its recent history. Prior to that, it was a colonialist rule that dominated daily life. Apart from a very short 'Arab Spring,' when the majority of Egyptians dared to hope for a better future with a real stake in a democratic system, the people of this ancient land have suffered fools, megalomaniacs or narrow-minded religious zealots; hell-bent on maintaining the status quo or thrusting a way of life that disenfranchises vast numbers of people.
Egypt faces a dilemma; having to endure one of the above forms of governance. It goes without saying that the military will never let an Islamic form of Government threatens their stranglehold on the treasury benches, or a democratic government supported by the majority of the people, if that means they do not have control as they always have. It is a 'truth' that those who have power will do almost anything to retain it and those who answer to a 'higher being' will always justify their actions as coming 'from above,' thereby imposing their will on a population in the 'middle' who do not have the same impetus to fight for their beliefs. 'They' just want to get on with life, caring for their families, much like those of us lucky enough to live in  nations where the transfer of power is an accepted 'pillar' of our beliefs. Egypt will continue to suffer those would be and righteous-minded leaders, until the 'people' find it within themselves to hold on to even small gains. All power to the people of Egypt.

'How's your day been, sir,' he said , meaning every word of it1

I know it's just words, but it does make you kind of feel good, even though they say it to everyone. It is one hell of a lot better than getting a complete ignoring of your presence in a shop. Of course,. one must say that the day has been good---who the hell wants to now that you are sick of seeing chaos in the Central African Republic, Syria and the myriad of nation s around the world who, let's face it, don't enjoy the relative 'wonderfulness 'most Kiwis enjoy.
So, yes my day is good and I wish all shop attendants the best too as I contemplate going back to work for the year. It sure is a good feeling knowing that we can leave our places of work and not worry about actually making it home without being in the 'wrong place at the wrong time,' facing bombs or terrorists. When ever will intolerance in all of its guises leave us---religious, political or just plain greed, because that is what underlies most of the ills of this world. Spread the wealth a bit more and some of that will go the way of the bombs! 85 of the richest people in the world own as much as the poorest 3.5 billion. AND we wonder why the world's fecked!

Roskill----download kindle version from Amazon whlie my site is down.

Until I get my 'hacked' site back up and running, please download Roskill by going to Amazon and putting in Roskill by Neil Coleman.
Thanks for your support.
Neil