From the HUFFINGTON POST:
A tourist who was interviewed last night from Cairo spoke for millions of his fellow Americans when he said he couldn’t imagine living a country like Egypt. It is hard, isn’t it?
Imagine: A government run by and for the rich and powerful. Leaders who lecture others about “sacrifice” and deficits while cutting taxes for corporations and the wealthy. A system so corrupt that rich executives can break the law without fear of being punished. Increasing poverty and hardship even as the stock market rises. And now, a nation caught between a broken political system and a populist movement that could be hijacked by religious extremists at any moment.
No wonder they’re upset! Why, we’d be marching in the streets too.
Here’s the reality: Income inequality is actually greater in the United States than it is in Egypt. Politicians here have close financial ties to big corporations, both personally and through their campaigns. Corporate lawbreakers often do go unpunished. Poverty and unemployment statistics for US minorities are surprisingly similar to Egypt’s…
Click here to read the full article.
Of course, the poorest here and the poorest in Egypt are different. $1 a day in Egypt is not uncommon, it is here. But, I still think the article makes important points about our similiarities being more common that many Americans realize.
And, the problem of the people having no way to change things within the confines of the democracy is a problem here. While they have a one-party dictatorship that survived through manipulated elections, we have a two party corporate duopoly that prevents third party and independent challenges impossible. Ours is a bit more sophisticated but more and more people are seeing through it and realize elections have become so manipulated in the U.S. that demcracy is more a mirage than a reality.
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable,” JFK That is a human similarity that knows no boundaries.