The moving powers!
There are three powers that are moving and reacting in any human society: religious power, law power and media power.
These three powers can build, develop and change the entity of the society; and the other face of these powers is destruction, treason, cheating and lying.
I mention these powers because in our daily life in Egypt, and through the launch of the Egyptian revolution, we live in a state of chaos. Religious interpretations aiming at attracting the biggest number of sustainers, in order to allow these currents pushing them to step on power.
Law is absent whereas criminals and gangsters imposed their conditions without any barrier! Media are oriented to serve ascending currents or influent people to serve their interests.
The analyst of all historical experiences of Egypt which is crushed since the revolution of 1952 notices clearly the impact of these three powers in determining the context and environment of the policy that is imposed by successive governments. The ruling people exploit these powers to serve their interests and vision, in order to convince the people and impose their policy with all moral and immoral means, and in all human and inhuman ways.
Before the revolution of 25th of January 2011, 30 years passed for the destroyed homeland, corruption was eroding the structure of the society. The law was designed and applied to serve influent people and exploiters. There was insecurity. Thefts were widespread to the point of kidnapping children and adults and imposing a ransom! There was increasing unemployment and sit-in. Production was obstructed and work suspended. The state did not fulfill the urgent needs of the citizen. There was a lack of essential services. Environmental context and natural potentials were destroyed. Dirtiness was widespread. Education and health policies failed. There was no trust between citizens and responsible leaders and among citizens themselves.
Scenario of ruling authority was characterized by lying to ordinary citizens, drugging them with good promises. All things were referred to religion and based on inspired law which is unique on world level. The cheating story was exposed by media. Esteem and salutes were addressed to high ranked people.
This is our situation and unfortunately, we continue in consuming currents which breaks moral spirit and push it to negativity and loss of hope in a near stable future.
The entity of the homeland can be reformed if we use the essence of these forces. Religion is searching for the absolute, religions are conforming beliefs to practices and living them constitutes the moral aspect of behavior. Religious behavior is sacred. It is lived by the human being through his positive behaviors, his respect of others, his opening to cooperation and solidarity. Many countries were developed because they separated religion from politics. Religion is considered a traditional and disciplined way of salvation. Religious beliefs differ from a religion to another. Credibility of the belief does not come by pressure, oppression, imposing by force, threatening, kidnapping and burning! Religion is a living testimony interacting for societal edification and peace with others, despite differences in beliefs.
The law is composed of clear criteria organizing human behavior to ensure social discipline and movement. The law is not designed for the governor or ruling elite. The official authority (policy) is established to impose laws and interpret them.
The law is a social phenomenon. It is an important mean of social discipline. The law represents the summit of social organization of human behavior, whereas it determines what the individual must do and must not do.
Mass media, with their positive definition, are the ways that can transmit an idea or an opinion to the biggest number of members of the society, through newspapers, radio, television, cinema, FaceBook, Twitter, etc. Media transmit certain types of messages and create impacts on culture and recreation. Unfortunately, media are usually tied to the authority of the government, of parties or rich people. Surely, each authority has its own vision and interest, it works to use the media to serve it, even if it is necessary to cheat and lie. This is what happened in the famous incident of Maspero on the 9th of October 2011 in Cairo.
Thinking about an intimate, positive and constructive relation between these powers is among the necessities of searching for political stability in Egypt after the great youth revolution of the 25th of January 2011.
Magdy Garas
November 2011
