First Blood singer Carl Schwartz comments on Egyptian uprising
It has been nearly five years since I committed myself to the idea of creating "Silence Is Betrayal" the album for First Blood. Amazing how fast time can pass, and how much things can change in this world. It has now been almost three months since the album's official release.
The making of this record was quite an emotional journey for me, with few ups and mostly downs. The optimism I once held that society as a whole would inevitably rise up and challenge their corrupt governments and institutions slowly began to fade. The confidence I once held that people would somehow want to begin to make themselves more aware of the horrors wrought in their name everyday around the world, and then find a lasting motivation to try and create change, make sacrifices, inform others, stand by their convictions and beliefs, blah blah blah... All of these ideas seemingly became just hopeful fantasies in my mind; non-realities.
Maybe, by looking to my American friends and peers for revolutionary inspiration, I had it all wrong. In the words of the late George Carlin, "No one seems to notice. No one seems to care."
Then came Egypt.
Holy shit. Let it be known. My sympathy for government leaders and their false smiles can always reach new lows. But my faith in people and their willingness to rise up could not have been restored at a better time and from one of the most unexpected of places.
Surely, the uprising in Iceland and more recent revolts in Tunisia can be credited with igniting the flames of resistance in Egypt, but what we are seeing now in the streets of Cairo, throughout Egypt, and in many parts of the middle east is HUGE. HISTORICAL. This is a fucking wake up call to all the corrupt governments around the world, and this time the game is tilted in the favor of the people.
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What the fuck is happening?
After nearly thirty years of corrupt and repressive rule by Egyptian "leader" Hosni Mubarak, the people of Egypt are hitting the streets by the fucking thousands (with more and more people by the day) demanding that he and his cronies get the fuck out. The people are tired and fed up with the economic inequality and lack of opportunity. They are tired of political opponents being imprisoned and tortured for daring to dissent. The people of Egypt simply want a new government that truly serves the genuine interests of the people, and they want it now.
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Why is this so important?
For many people in Egypt, this is the single most important moment in their lives. We are seeing a corrupt and repressive puppet government of Egypt, that has received billions of dollars of financial and military aid from none other than the USA, being slowly ousted by an uprising of common people of all ages, across religions, for a common goal, and armed with the latest and greatest tools of non-violent resistance: The Internet, Social Networks, and mobile communications
Sounds like a fucking joke, right? Well, think about it. When it comes to organizing people and sharing information, the power of the Internet and social networks has changed the playing field forever. Facebook has enabled thousands of people with common interests to organize protests with no clear chain of command that government agencies can infiltrate and sabotage.
Videos of mass protests can now hit YouTube in minutes with the power the encourage countless others to rise up alongside those already in the streets. Uploaded images of defiance and real time status updates on Facebook and Twitter are now a chilling threat to governments around the world that have abused and alienated their people.
Technology has reduced the "price" of protest to the point where masses of people that are still "on-the-fence" no longer feel at risk to get involved and hit the streets along with the rest of their people. If these tools weren't so powerful, then why the fuck do you think the state of Egypt shut down the Internet and phone lines?
Here's another important question...
Why should anyone (especially in western cultures, cough... the USA) care about Egypt?
From the point of view of someone that was born in America and indoctrinated for years just like everyone else to believe in the "greatness" of the "land of the free", let me explain why the events in Egypt are so important.
It might take a little effort for many Americans to see the parallels, but if we could all shut off the "reality" TV and put down our ipods for a moment, we might just be able to see how similar we all are to the people of Egypt and just how bad we are being fucked...if not worse.
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Economic inequality
Americans live in a nation and tolerate the condition where the top two percent of the population own ninety percent or more of the total wealth. Millions of people are without jobs or underemployed. More people are on food stamps now than ever before in US history. During an economic crisis of bank failures and financial fraud, Wall Street executives still walk away with million of dollars in bonuses (paid for courtesy of US taxpayers) while the poor are kicked out of their foreclosed homes. Just like in Egypt, the American upper class and elite are living lavishly off the backs of the poor. The list goes on.
Political inequality
Americans endure a two party political system where each party receives funding from the same special interest groups, foreign lobbies, and multinational corporations. We might as well just call it the one corporate war party. Votes are routinely miscounted or not counted at all by electronic voting machines with no paper trail to audit. Elections are rigged, votes stolen, and candidates are "appointed" into office while receiving a minority of the popular vote. The list goes on.
I could go on about America having the largest per capita prison population in the world, patriot acts that steal civil liberties and rights to privacy, and an overinflated war on terror that diverts billions of tax dollars away from the nation to enrich defense contractors and weapons manufacturers while schools lose funding and domestic infrastructure crumbles. The list goes on. Have you made the connection yet?
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Why should we care?
Because American citizens have just as many reasons, if not more, to revolt against the same corrupt government that abuses them. Because we are young and we are educated. Because we have a level of privilege and access to information that enables us to follow in every empowering footstep with the protesters in Egypt.
What can we learn from Egypt?
Judging from the reports on the ground so far and steering clear from the forces that try to discredit the sincere efforts of protesters, we should be taking notes on the peoples' ability to quickly organize, often without designated leaders and chain of command.
The people on the streets of Egypt are...
1. United
This is not a muslim movement. This is not a Christian movement. Sure, members of the Muslim Brotherhood may cry "Allah Akbar" but the unified call that resonates loudest is "Muslim. Christian. We are all Egyptian."
2. Fearless
Eye witness accounts report Egyptian police forces firing live ammunition into crowds. Ununiformed thugs carrying weapons (including guns, knives, and batons) show no hesitation to use brutal force to intimidate the front lines of the protests. Reports of tanks and other crowd-control vehicles mowing through large crowds of protesters show the desperation of a failing regime to cling to its last bits of power. Oh, and don't forget about the near endless supply of tear gas canisters that now line the streets of Cairo by the thousands, bearing the label, "MADE IN U.S.A." (Remember that when you hear Obama and other American politicans voice their "support" for the people of Egypt and their cries for freedom.) If these methods of violence and intimidation along with other forms of state sponsored sabotage can't stop the protests, then nothing will.
3. Determined
We have witnessed what some experts say is the worst Internet shutdown ever in history. The government of Egypt has shut down mobile networks and even landline communications in some areas to stifle the peoples' efforts to organize. The state has also revoked the licenses of news agencies like Al-Jazeera from reporting to the rest of the world what is happening on the ground in Egypt. With all these obstacles, the people of Egypt remain determined, still on the streets with arms locked, still sharing media and information through any impromptu network connection available, and they are making it clear they will not stop until Mubarak is out.
Where do we go from here?
Don't sleep on this! For many people in Egypt, this is the single greatest moment in their lives. Learn from them. Witness their sacrifices and their struggle against nearly insurmountable odds. And most importantly, make the connection. Their struggles are not much different than yours.
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CONCLUSION
How can you stay more informed of what's happening on the ground during this historical event? There are several web sites that have kept me reading for hours on end to keep up with the events in Egypt. Here are just a few...
http://www.whatreallyhappened.com
http://www.antiwar.com
http://www.democracynow.org
Rise People Rise: The Global Revolution Is Upon Us!
www.veteranstoday.com/2011/01/28/ken-okeefe-rise-people-rise-–-the-global-revolution-is-upon-us
Get on google and youtube: egypt protest
Twitter: #jan25 #egypt
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Tags: First Blood, Carl Schwartz, Egypt
Jason Fisher February 02, 2011
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