The success story of the Egyptian Amber’s Alert

Yesterday’s result of the Egyptian referendum for constitutional changes is a classic example of a successful Amber’s Alert.

The Egyptians’ will has been kidnapped by the masses of the Tahrir square for a few weeks now. Despite the legitimacy of most of the demands expressed in the square, some of the demands were not necessarily representing the entire population.

There were several achievements along the way that were totally acceptable by the majority of the 85+ million people. However, the vocal minority in the square was able to voice their contradicting views and was the fortunate cast for the media, local and international, on a very dramatic stage. The Tahrir square was not always in line with the people convictions.

The first major milestone that reflects my theory (the missed opportunity as viewed by some) is the announcement of Mubarak, among a list of other concessions, to delegate his authorities to the VP till September. I would debate for this missed opportunity but this is not what I am trying to communicate here.

The second milestone was going overboard to ask for the removal of the freshly appointed Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq. For most Egyptians, he was worth supporting. But the Tahrir square could not see that. Again, I would debate against this irrational move but this is not what I am trying to communicate here neither.

The main difference between the two view points (the masses’ and the square’s) was the level of trust. The square was not willing to show any level of trust in the process. It was calling for distrust all the way. And it could have stayed like that forever (and maybe some people will) and they do have their reasons for it, they also have their willing and (theoretically) able supporters.

But reason imposes the need to establish trust at some point. And the magic formula is actually trust, vigilance, and accountability rather than distrust and paranoia.

After all, a revolution is to replace ideologies through the elimination of “some” people and driving powers. A revolution should not be based on replacing everyone that had a function in a system. To some extent, every Egyptian had a function in the old system and had to “accept” and adopt some of its ideologies in order to survive.

Once we understand that, it is obvious that if you shift focus from eliminating the ideologies to eliminating people, you run the risk of eliminating:

a) All Egyptians

b) Every one with a political, logistical, or economical value

c) The “state” rather than the “regime”

d) All of the above…

And who exactly wins then?

Back to the Amber’s Alert and the successful freeing of a nation from a hostage situation, I salute the Egyptians who were capable of performing this recovery through the ballot box. I salute their ability to be trustful, vigilant, and to hold everyone accountable for their actions; government and all.

I trust the collective will of this people and hope it is always the driver of things. I salute the army and the current government for trusting the people as well. And I thank them for giving us the Amber’s Alert in Egypt ;)

Monochromacy, a roadblock in the path to democracy

Sigh, regime toppled, people happy, but the road to democracy is not that easy.

Black lists and white lists are being written, and monochromacy (seeing in black and white) may become epidemic in this society.

Let us not forget, at the core of democracy is one's ability to respect the other's view point. It is the ability to express your view while resisting the urge to impose it. Because it is just that, a point of view, among an ocean of other possible points of view, a rainbow of ideas that cannot be seen in black and white.

Egypt beware, democracy means seeing in colors, not in black and white...

Corruption abatement strategy - Egypt

January 25^th Egypt, what are the values to adopt going forward?

This "revolution" erupted under the pressures of corruption and injustice. The momentum it is creating is filled with anger, rage and revenge. Beware.

Historically revenge has never been a constructive force. It is a force that destructs its beholder far more than it does its target(s). For Egypt, this will prove very critical as it starts to deal with corruption.

The economical injustice in Egypt places most country resources and capital in the hands of a minority that is at best estimated at 5% of the population. This capital has been mostly acquired through unjust and unlawful actions of power and authority misuse. It is this capital that is behind all economic indicators coming out of this country such as GDP.

If we start prosecuting (or even scaring) every capitalist in Egypt (or most of them) we are bound to lose the pillars of our economy and the trust we need to bring this economy forward in the international economic arena. Yes, we may be able to recover some of the wealth and reinvest it back, but to disfigure all business and capital faces we would be bringing the economic engine to a halt, let alone provoking needless pre-emptive defenses capable of committing crimes against the society to get away from the forces of reform. The demonstration sabotaging with staged clashes and the camels are a good example of these crimes.

Hence we recall our first argument of revenge being a destructive force, with its opponent being pardon. This pardon needs to be accepted from the people in order for it not to be construed as double standard reform which would backfire in the form of distrust to the new government. And this public acceptance is step one…

Step two in implementing acceptable pardon is to provide the right exits (mechanisms to earn the pardon) for businessmen (the taboo word in Egypt right now) to come forward with concessions (returning the people money, investing back in the society, CSR, etc…) which will grant them the pardon. Prosecution of some corrupt figures is still a must, but we should not take everyone with the same sword. And this is step two… Give them a way to earn the pardon of the people…

Step three (in parallel with 1 and 2) is to fight corruption that is widespread in the society; the petty cash corruption. The fight against petty cash corruption is not only through the judicial system, it relies a lot on providing people with the decent income that would support their lives without having to look for dirty money. And by developing the work force to earn even more and contribute more to the society. By giving people the sense of worth in the society.

Egypt beware, revenge is not the answer; it would be a disaster.