Egypt

[bovine]

The ruler of Egypt has been in power for about three decades and now there is a large amount of the population rioting.

What do you take from all of this?

Bovine thinks that the conservative movement that has had a large resurgence in the past decade has caused increased economic disparity between the rich and the poor, and the people in power are invoking religion as a way to keep people down and themselves in power. This is a case where people are banding together and fighting that.

Egypt is a big player in international trade, so this is a very interesting situation to see how international powers will react to this (China, Europe, and the US).

[Zeus]

I was in Egypt last year and, as a fellow Arab, let me tell you something about Egyptian people: they deserve everything they get. Every one of them would gladly trade your life for 1 ginae (about 22 cents), that's how little they care about you. Fuck 'em all

[Imakeholesinu]

This is what happens when you turn off the internet. If I can't get to my porn I'd overthrow the government too!

[Flip]

Egypt is a big player in international trade? I always thought they were mainly a big player in illegal smuggling to the gaza strip...

[bovine]

Egypt is a big player in international trade? I always thought they were mainly a big player in illegal smuggling to the gaza strip...

This is actually a big event in the sociopolitical framework of the middle east. Tunisia was first and Egypt's turmoil has come from that.

Egypt controls the Suez Canal. That is why Sadat and Mubarak were allowed to put the tight controls on their populations. Egypt is still struggling with a lot of Cold War hangups, and they saw how relatively simply Tunisia was able to overthrow their own government.

[Zeus]

Egypt is a big player in international trade? I always thought they were mainly a big player in illegal smuggling to the gaza strip...

They have a significant amount of oil in the country and have been politically aligned with the US/Israeli coalition in the area (why do you think you never hear anything bad about them or, say, Saudi Arabia?), so they have a little bit of say. They're still Arabs so they can't exactly be completely anti-Arab, hence the smuggling in and out of the largest prison in the world. But don't for a second think they're the darling of the Arab world.

[kali o.]

I was in Egypt last year and, as a fellow Arab, let me tell you something about Egyptian people: they deserve everything they get. Every one of them would gladly trade your life for 1 ginae (about 22 cents), that's how little they care about you. Fuck 'em all

That's weird, because if there is one thing the struck me about them as a people (besides being scammers if you let them, lol) is how passive and demure they all are...despite all the poverty around. I thought it was pretty fucked up I could walk around in those off the road ghettos/makeshift homes and still feel relatively safe.

I mean, stick western people in the same scenario and there would be a hell of alot more crime and the population would be rioting.

PS - second time I've heard about egypt this morning, guess I should go read the news.

[Zeus]

Kali, that's all an illusion. The only reason they don't rape and pillage you every chance they get is 'cause of all the security that you do and do not see. Hell, when we were there, we actually had to pay a security guard to be our escort the entire time. Trust me, your life is completely meaningless to them and the fact you're a tourist makes you little more than an easy target.

[kali o.]

Kali, that's all an illusion. The only reason they don't rape and pillage you every chance they get is 'cause of all the security that you do and do not see. Hell, when we were there, we actually had to pay a security guard to be our escort the entire time. Trust me, your life is completely meaningless to them and the fact you're a tourist makes you little more than an easy target.

Oh, I have no doubt the fact that tourism is so important to Egypt plays a big role in the relative safety of tourists. Complaints and crimes are taken pretty seriously by the government, to the point that egyptians would rather eat a loss than deal with authorities for their scammy behaviour, if it goes that route.

But even that said, I still found the people on the whole very timid. And I can't really ever say I felt unsafe, except when I travelled up to Mt Sinai, but that had more to do with the hightened alert at the time and the military check points.

The only danger I ever felt was on behalf of my wallet

[Julius Seeker]

If the King of Egypt is stripped of power, as long as the Egyptians and the Greeks don't start a series of back and forth wars, it's not the end of the world.