Just saw on CNN, a child of a wealthy Egyptian family, at a protest

[Duer 157099]

It looked like the protest was in DC or somewhere, and this well-dressed, articulate daughter of a wealthy family in Egypt was describing how worried she was about her family back home, how they are defending their upscale home and neighborhood with kitchen knives and golf clubs, and she kept saying how "unfair" it was that the government wasn't protecting her family.

I can't help but feel ambivalent about that, because on the one hand, I can relate to her, but on the other, she is exactly what the protestors are protesting against, the disparate share of the wealth in that country.

"Unfair!" she kept saying. "Unfair!"

Yeah, it is unfair, isn't it?

[Dennis Donovan]

1. I saw that (interviewed by Susan Candiotti)...

She showed NO concern for her compatriots, just for her home. Shameful...:thumbsdown:

[roguevalley]

28. unfair is poverty. I'm sure her family has their money in swiss

bank accounts.

[Name removed]

2. Deleted message

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[Duer 157099]

4. The thing is, she probably doesn't consider herself rich

By American standards, she probably considers herself middle-class, and probably a progessive as well. Just guessing.

[Brilliantrocket]

3. If this type of thing happened here blood would run in the streets.

I don't think many would loot in the U.S. considering the number of people who own guns.

[howaboutme]

8. I agree that it would not be pretty and it would not be easy

The difference between Egypt and USA is that Americans are armed in great numbers. Not only does it make us less vulnerable to looting, but also the USA government itself would not have carte blanche ability to run ram shod over the masses as happens in some countries without facing vulnerability and danger. That's the purpose of the 2nd Amendment.

[MineralMan]

13. Yes, and all political sides are armed. Not everyone

who bears arms is on the right. I wonder if the right-wingers are aware of that. I'm betting not.

We may be defending different things as individuals. An interesting concept, I think.

[MadMaddie]

14. MM I think that this where the other side is arrogant and ignorant

Just because we don't brag about what we have doesn't mean we don't have them. Have you ever wondered why these racist shooters don't go into a minority gang infested area with their automatic weapons? They also won't go into heavily Liberal areas either...Just sayin.....

[MineralMan]

17. I wonder. In a state like mine, it's expected that all sorts of

people have firearms. Hunting is practically universal here. But I really wonder if there's really much understanding on the part of the extreme right that they're not the only ones who keep and bear arms. Sometimes I think they don't really know that, from the disdain they seem to express regarding "liberals."

I know that I'm not going to be on their side, should they decide to come into my area and attack my neighbors, some of whom are recent immigrants and even Muslim. Not on their side at all.

[howaboutme]

5. I caught that too

and had similar concerns.

The uber rich are always part of the same club that enjoys the status quo, until it comes back to bite them. The world is quickly getting fed up with class societies (including the USA) that favor the privileged while discriminating against and squelching opportunity for the masses. Make no mistake that castes exist in the USA just as in India. We must demand an end and require that all Americans have opportunity instead of only the few that step on others to take care of their own.

http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/Robert-Reich-s-Blog/2010/0927/Uber-rich-get-richer-everyone-else-gets-poorer-and-Democrats-surrender-the-issue

http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/the-super-rich-are-out-the-uber-rich-are-in

[southernyankeebelle]

6. You bet. I mean you should worry about the hand that feeds you and not

help the lower middle class and working poor.

[Odin2005]

7. Fucking rich assholes!

[Cleita]

9. I really can't blame the children for what their parents do

and I so hope her family is safe for her sake anyway. She didn't do anything bad by being born into privilege. It's what she does with that privilege once she is an adult that matters.

[howaboutme]

15. Unfortunately those of privilege

mostly work the politics and policies to benefit only their own kind because they can. Wealth begets power and power begets more power. Some might throw some money into charity but even that is usually biased towards their own. (i.e. Charity for the Betterment of Beverly Hills / or Suburbs of the Great Pyramid ). Those without privilege have no voice.

[Cleita]

18. Still, they are children and have to be given the

benefit of the doubt until they prove otherwise. Also, the us vs. them mentality might also keep them in place just through fear of becoming one of the unwashed masses.

[patrice]

10. As long as the people are clear about who they are & what they need/want, they cannot be

corrupted by the rich, so, to the extent that the rich authentically want to help fix things, they should be allowed to do so.

[Traveling_Home]

11. She said the Govt had withdrawn police throughout Cairo...

and that there were gangs and looters; that the Museum was damaged. She said the Army was not protecting the people.

I think that whenever there are riots and widespread violence it is ultimately the poor who always suffer the most. No food or water stored to get by on; no communication; no special interests like the student have to protect them; NGOs unable to help. I also saw a report that the Govt strategy in withdrawing the police was to let chaos reign until the 'people' beg him to retake control of the city.

[Lucky Luciano]

12. True, no rich person has the right to be concerned over

their family and home.

:sarcasm:

[Duer 157099]

19. It wasn't that. It was her repeated use of the word "unfair."

That's what was bothering me, how she was upset at how "unfair" it was that the government wasn't available to protect her family.

[Lucinda]

22. x 2

[onager]

16. I lived in Egypt from 2005-2009

Can't say I'm a bit surprised by these events. During nearly 4 years of hearing from everyone from conservative soldiers to liberal college students to taxi drivers, I never heard anyone say anything good about Mubarak.

I'm not sure who was more unpopular - Mubarak or G.W. Bush. That was pretty much a toss-up.

Egyptians were really pissed when Mubarak began making it clear that his son Gamal was being groomed to take over.

One of my Egyptian friends in the military said: "We don't have Pharoahs any more. The leader can't just hand down power to his son. We're supposed to be the Arab REPUBLIC of Egypt." It was a very common sentiment.

Egyptians for many reasons don't trust Gamal. He spent a lot of time out of the country being a playboy. IIRC, he didn't marry until he was nearly 45 years old, which is very strange in the Egyptian/Islamic culture. (I'm a divorced geezer with no kids, and got some comments about that. But as a foreign infidel, I was expected to be weird.)

I could rant for hours about the economics over there (but won't). One statistic I heard - most middle-class Egyptians live on about US $75 a month. That has to cover rent, food, schooling for the kids, etc. etc. When I got a taxi in Alexandria (where I lived), it wasn't unusual for my driver to be a college professor or govt. employee, moonlighting to support his family.

My job commute every day took me thru a string of little farm villages in the Nile Delta. The daily one-way commute was about 90 minutes.

Those villages hadn't changed much since Pharonic times, except for some internal-combustion vehicles and some electricity. The most common transportation was donkey cart. Many people lived in mud-brick huts with...organic roofs. I saw whole families doing back-breaking work in the fields, all day long. Depending on the season, maybe planting rice (standing in knee-deep water for hours). Or working a cotton crop.

On the other end of the scale...I sometimes had to go to Cairo, and commute to a job site near the Suez Canal. On the way, just outside Heliopolis/Cairo, we drove thru a neighborhood with big signs announcing its name...

Beverly Hills. No, I'm not making that up.

These were Egyptian McMansions, with some real mansions, obviously being built for the elite and aspiring elite. The vast majority of the houses seemed to be either empty or still under construction.

And every Egytian knew who built and owned Beverly Hills - the President's brother-in-law, i.e., the brother of First Lady Suzanne Mubarak.

[jberryhill]

20. They'll be dragging her body through the streets soon enough

And she'll have no more complaints

[howaboutme]

21. She's another elitist in the USA

probably attending American University and she is rightfully worried about her relatives in Egypt. She won't be dragged through the USA streets or Egyptian streets.

The elitists are looking for another shill to continue Mubaraks (sp?)corruption and pay for play.

The real issue is whether this individual really understands the frustration that average Egyptian citizens feel while her elitist caste walks away with all the gold and privilege.

This isn't that much different than the USA where Wall St, the bankers, political elite, CEOs, Hollywood, celebrity, sports stars, etc get it all while 95% of us pay but get nothing in return.

Wolf Blitzer will explain exactly how it works, but listen with big time skepticism.

[Lucinda]

23. She called her home and neighborhood "upscale"?... How weird.

[JI7]

24. was she the one who works at Harvard ? she had a hat on i think

if it 's her it's weird she is there since the guy who organized the protest seems to be on the side of the protestors in Egypt who want the Government gone. Mubarak gone.

[howaboutme]

25. That's why CNN picked her

She represents the values and views of CNN, not the Egyptians who are on the streets.

[-..__...]

26. "defending their upscale home and neighborhood with kitchen knives and golf clubs".

Because disarming the citizenry (even the wealthy in this case), is the preferred tool of compliance for fearful and oppressive governments.

[howaboutme]

27. Those of wealth and influence would naturally prefer

to keep the huddled masses disarmed and vulnerable.

When I hear talk of the need for gun control in the USA it usually comes from those of privilege and those who prefer the status quo, and rarely from those who are in need of, or prefer opportunities. The USA today is not that far removed from countries such as Egypt where people are angry at government corruption, and increasingly a society that excludes them.

[nomorenomore08]

29. Kinda feel sorry for her, but what did she expect?

:shrug: