Socialism or Barbarism in Egypt and Beyond: An Open Question

Posted on by asitoughttobemagazine

also republished as “Revolution in Egypt?  What Revolution?” on Pambazuka on 16 February, 2011

and on ccarrico.wordpress.com

Pambazuka summarized my argument as follows:

Whether Egypt’s association with US-backed capitalism has been disrupted is a question that factory workers might yet decide, writes Christopher Carrico.

“Everyone should start forming unions & labor associations now. If we don’t build those now, we’ll be fucked by the regime soon.”  — Hossam el-Hamalawy on twitter, Sunday, February 13, 2011.

Let us be clear from the outset. There has been no revolution in Egypt… yet.

Hosni Mubarak has been President of Egypt since October 14, 1981, and his government has consistently acted on behalf of the country’s economic, political, and military elite for the almost three decades since.  Mubarak resigned as head of state this week: on February 11, 2011. Vice President Omar Suleiman announced Mubarak’s resignation to the Egyptian public and to the world, and state power was handed over to the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, a body of the 18 highest-ranking officers who head the Egyptian military. As of today (Sunday, February 13, 2011) the Egyptian military has dissolved parliament, suspended the Constitution, and imposed a military junta that has declared itself an interim government responsible for overseeing an “orderly” transition to civilian rule in six months time. READ MORE

SATURDAY POETRY SERIES PRESENTS: SARAH LAW

Posted on by asitoughttobemagazine

FALL INTO PLACE
by Sarah Law

You love the way my hair falls
over your bones, your prone body, how
I choose to cover you with words
so close to your own. From here
I can’t imagine why we ever worried,
even the span of my hand, small
compared with yours, fits to your plan. READ MORE

Flash Fiction Series: David Bowen

Posted on by asitoughttobemagazine

One More Banana

by David Bowen

 

Cheetah’s sister, Marie, chose a banana from the kitchen table, where Tarzan had thrown the day’s take. He fell into his easy chair with a growl and a wave of his hand. Marie repeated the dismissive gesture with her banana, but silently.

“I’m sick of it too, kid. Banana stew, mashed bananas, banana chowder.” Tarzan held up his hand. “Jesus—I think my skin’s turning yellow.” READ MORE

Unworkable

Posted on by asitoughttobemagazine

Unworkable

I should be more excited about the prospect of gainful employment, I realize this. After benefiting from Obama’s  unemployment extension I should be refreshed and ready to rejoin the workforce. Frankly I feel like I never left it: the unpaid work of running a household keeps me quite nicely busy, available as I am for family members, friends  and the community which happily accepts my volunteering hours at my kid’s middle school. I didn’t feel the slightest bit of guilt drawing unemployment — call it my own small contribution to keeping federal money in the country rather than exporting tear gas to dubious foreign regimes at the taxpayers’ expense. Perhaps I’m just conforming to type here, one of the infamous slacker generation, but this would be too simplistic, because I have been applying for jobs, many, many types of jobs, all of which I seem to be unsuitable for. Strange really when I have so much work experience my true resume would cover pages. READ MORE

Flash Fiction Series: Paul Crenshaw

Posted on by asitoughttobemagazine

Tall

by Paul Crenshaw

 

I am four feet two inches tall. My bed sits sixteen inches off the ground. My dog is two feet tall, although I dont know if you say dogs are tall like you say humans are tall. The flower outside my window is nine inches tall. The yellow bird that landed on the windowsill is four inches tall. My Ben Kenobi toy is three inches tall. His light saber is three quarters of an inch tall. My father used to be very tall, but now he is not so tall. He slumps around in his chair. He is no longer as tall as he was. The tree in our front yard is sixteen feet tall. I measured it by climbing up as high as I could and dropping the tape measure. I had to guess a little. READ MORE

Book Review of Liam MacSheoinin’s GEORGE W. BUSH BUYS COKE IN MID-ETERNITY

Posted on by asitoughttobemagazine

An Agenbite of Inwit & Other Wits as Well

by Duff Brenna

“Hedonic Engineer” Brian Jordan has wandered off the straight path and is nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita (midway along the journey of life), when he falls madly in love with the luscious Rachel, a woman who should have a warning sign stamped on her gorgeous behind that reads Lasciate ogni speranza, voi ch’entrate: Abandon all hope ye who enter here! Upon her tail hangs the tale of MacSheoinin’s wildly-word-rich, rollicking satire. READ MORE

Queen Eileen and the Twisted Knickers of Feminism

Posted on by asitoughttobemagazine

As soon as I read Susan Faludi’s essay American Electra: Feminism’s Ritual Matricide (Harpers Oct 2010) I felt a little uncomfortable bunching in my undergarments. Faludi tells a lamentable tale concerning the history of the feminist movement where every succeeding generation denounces those that went before. Her premise is that there have been three significant “waves” of feminist activity and thought: the First Wave who were truly hardcore and suffered incarceration, force-feeding and widespread derision to win the vote for women: the Second Wave who emerged in the ‘60s and ‘70s and worked to establish sexual equality, sexual liberation and rights for women and children: finally the Third Wave who have championed gender issues and delved into race, gender and pop culture studies and scandalized their predessessors by proclaiming  Lady Gaga as the future of feminism. READ MORE

The Trouble With Egypt

Posted on by asitoughttobemagazine

The Trouble With Egypt

by Karim Abuawad

Since the night the Tunisian people forced their dictator to flee the North African country, I’ve been hearing people anticipating that the same fate would fall on the Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak. In fact, the similarities abound between the situation in Tunisia and in Egypt: Tunisia’s Zain Bin Ali ruled for 23 years, Mubarak has been in power for 29, both of them amassed enormous fortunes, both have created “royal families” that rule so-called republics, both of them have been indifferent to the high level of unemployment (especially among highly qualified people and university graduates), and, finally, both had governments which for years have been described as “governments of businessmen.”

It is also worth mentioning that Egypt and Tunisia are countries that have well developed civil societies that are politically mature. This is important because these ingredients could mean the difference between the establishment of more democratic societies and utter chaos. READ MORE

What Would a New Egypt Look Like?

Posted on by asitoughttobemagazine

What Would a New Egypt Look Like?

by Alejandro Moreiras

If Hosni Mubarak vacates his Presidential seat to make way for free elections in Egypt, what would a new government look like?

At the moment the figures most likely to capture a leadership position in such a scenario are Omar Suleiman and Mohamed El Baradei. Suleiman is an old hat, Mubarak just made him Vice-President (a post that did not previously exist) in the hope to appease the massive protesting crowds. People like him, he has the reputation of a moral man, and before these demonstrations he was considered a possibility for succession, he or the son Gamal Mubarak. But as recently as this was, it was another time. In the past two weeks the social and political climate in Egypt has changed dramatically. READ MORE