Friday 16 May 2008

Why Egyptians don't do Protests (well)



I think this quote explains the lethargy of the Egyptian citizen's reluctance to stand up to the corruption in their government:

"The genius of the Russian system was its appeal to people's laziness. They said, "Look, get drunk, don't do any work at all, we'll give you just enough money to live, and we'll take care of everything else." That's what Soviet Russia was all about: Live in your shitty village, we'll give you cheap vodka, and we'll take care of your medical bills, and you don't have to worry about all that other stuff. They counted on the fact that Russians would rather wallow in their own shit than organize and protest anything that's actually happening in their country. It is really kind of similar to what's going on here. People bitch and moan, but basically all they really want to do is sit in front of their televisions and watch the football game. Even people on the left who complain about Bush, when it comes right down to it, they don't really want to do anything. If they do go to protests, they go, and then they come home, and it's all over."

-Matt Taibbi, speaking to Salon.com in 2005.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

That was 2005, when the trinity of laziness and complacency aka football, fava beans and bread, was whole. Fast forward 2008, now we are only left with only football----presto a ticking time bomb.






Who will ever forget matt traveling with the john carey camp in a gorilla suit.