With the current situation in Egypt, we are witness to a political revolution that began in Tunisia and is spreading throughout the Middle East.  The people are calling for a change in leadership and leaders are deciding how to respond to those demands.  Repression of the protests is an option, albeit very unwise.  Resignation of the standing rulers is also an option as well and that is in most cases a good first step. Some folks are calling this movement a sign of end times or of impending chaos and global warfare, while others consider it chaos being caused by reckless and irresponsible protestors.

But what is actually happening and how should these events be viewed?  This is what I will share with you now.

To be quite concise, this is a wave of change signaling that millions of people around the world desire a better life and are coming of age politically.  Millions of people who lived like children in relationship to their kings and rulers are now standing up to assume responsibility for the direction and governance of their nation and their collective future.

This is a wonderful, but difficult transition.  Anyone who has children or who reflects on their childhood knows that the teenage years are usually the most difficult.  Puberty brings about physiological changes in the body while an accompanying emotional transformation also takes place.  During your teenage years you experience an intense drive to be independent, self determined, and are often quite rebellious.  You get physically stronger and begin to have your own ideas about how to lead your life. 

Often there are clashes with your parents who up to that point had full authority, responsibility and control over your life and who then find themselves being opposed, maligned, and unappreciated.  I hope you are seeing the implications of this analogy because this is precisely what is occurring and will occur around the globe.  

Millions of citizens around the world are maturing politically and asserting themselves to assume the responsibility of self governance and self determination.  Much like any teenager that no longer wants mom and dad telling them what they can or cannot do, these citzens are demanding new laws and  a new system of self governance.  They feel stronger, more independent, and self determined.  This is a healthy and natural process but it can be quite dangerous as well.

To the rulers of the world:

You have an obligation to facilitate the legitimate will of your citizens for self governance.  Transitioning toward self governance includes both redefining how the nation is governed and creating an extensive government education and training process for your citizens.  This new process has to be open and available to every citizen who is capable and qualified.  You are also obligated to share the process of how the wealth of the nation is generated and to make public the assets and wealth of the nation.  I contend that these assets should belong to the people of the nation as its collective wealth and not be held as a personal treasury. Additionally, you should accept the legitimate right of the people to evolve and mature politically and not take a hostile, violent, or repressive position against their natural political evolution.  Asumming such a position is conterproductive and unwise, and will result in your defeat; and will permanently dishonor your name in your nations history.  Be wise and patient.  Together with your citizens, set a course for transitioning the nation such that your citizens are constructively engaged in the process of learning and gradually experiencing the complete responsibility of self governance. 

To the people of the world:

Be assertive, but be peaceful and be patient.  Your greatest challenge is not your leaders.  Your greatest challenge is development!  Ousting leaders is not necessarily freedom.  True freedom comes from development.  Intellectual, emotional, economic, social, military, political, moral, and even spiritual development.  Continue developing your citizens and your nation because development is what drives progress.  Rage and anger against an autocratic ruler will likely result in violence.  To bring a peaceful end to autocratic rule, follow the example of Ghandi who used civil disobedience coupled with self reliance as the path to India’s independence.  Before tearing down your leaders ask yourself;  How self reliant is your citizenry?  If the nation is not prepared for self governance then getting rid of your leaders is like a teenager who leaves home only to find he or she is unable to feed, cloth or shelter him or herself.  Be a student of history to learn and follow how such transitions take place.

Lastly, to the nations and people of the world with the greatest experience in self governance ie. The United States: 

You have an obligation to illustrate for the people of the world how these transitions are best handled and to educate them in how to administrate and govern their own affairs.  To idly stand by watching these nations fall into escalating conflict is hypocritical and selfish.  The Unites States has an obligation to uphold the values it preaches and defines itself by, even if that means losing a few ruling friends.  The instability caused by not offering leadership in this time of global political evolution will cost the United States much more in the long run than dissappointing some leaders The United States has grown accustom to supporting.

In times such as these, history will judge The United States as either a champion of freedom and self governence or as a nation that supported such values only when it was self serving.  I suggest the nation take the high road as it has in the past and help to facilitate the legitimate aspirations of the people of the world while maintaining the peace. It is the most responsible position to take.

This is the political landscape of the world today.  I must note however that this particular blog posting did not stress the real and most vital driving force in this wave of political change which is the peoples’ desire for a better quality of life.  That desire was addressed in the previous blog posting entitled Cash is King.  Please read it. 

I ask that you share the point of view expressed in this blog posting along with the previous posting (Cash is King) with as many people as possible to reduce the fear, confusion, and pessimistic forecast that can creep into the minds of people when they are unaware.  Recognize that these events can easily sweep across the globe as the conditions which exist in Egypt, exist in many nations, and it is only by taking an accurate viewpoint and a rational course of action that we can use this moment to create a better world.

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I’m watching the millions of protesters in Egypt rail about the removal of their long term leader President Hosni Mubarak and I can only be reminded of the American revolution and the civil rights movement in America.  The Egyptian protest which was inspired in part by the Tunisian protest a few weeks prior, is a public expression of the discontent of the people of Egypt.  They are very dissatisfied with their government.  But why?

Listen to the rhetoric and speeches and one would conclude that it is all about politics.  They call for democracy.  They call for regime change.  They call for a change in their political process. They call for civil rights.  All of which are legitimate gripes.  However, what is it that they really want?  Well if you haven’t heard yet, I will tell you what that is; they want a better quality of life. 

President Mubarak has led the nation of Egypt as a veritable autocrat for nearly 30 years.  Other nations around the world are also led under the same type of authority.  An authority, in which a leader holds near absolute power for long periods of time and who are usually outside of or control the political process.

The American revolution was inspired by people who felt that they paid tribute or taxes to the King of England but received no benefit or value for those taxes as they were no longer residents of England and on their own in North America.  So they challenged the king and won. 

The civil rights movement in the South in America was in part for equal rights under the law and social equality, well the unjust laws were challenged and over time social equality rights were won. 

Now we see in Egypt, a country of immense historic and cultural importance as well as geopolitical value, similar cries for civil rights and an ouster of in essence, their king.  So what is it that Americans can share with Egyptians after having had both the American revolution and the civil rights movement?  If you haven’t already guessed it, it the title of my blog posting; Cash is the King! $$$$$$$$$

To the people of Egypt, what you want is a better quality of life.  This is achieved through economic development as a result of quite a few factors which include, small business activity, ingenuity, education, investment, legal fairness and freedom to earn.  These are only a few of the factors needed for economic activity.  To call for political change alone, I can tell you, will not satisfy you in the long run, even after Hosni Mubarak is no longer President.

After the civil rights movement, economics became the visible dividing line in America, because in truth, it always had been.  As a result, the people who participated in and benefited from the civil rights movement remain somewhat disssappointed to this day because after 40 years they have learned that what they actually wanted was a better quality of life and that it comes in large part from having money.

The false assumption they made is that the collective quality of life of Black Americans would improve with social equality or political change.  This is similar to the false assumption being made now in Egypt, that political change will improve the Egyptian people’s collective quality of life. 

However here is a little caveat for consideration, politics changes quality of life only to a very limited extent.  To the extent that conditions are made fair and ripe for economic development through law and government, and that investment is made in education, infrastructure, and research, then to that extent can politics actually in real terms improve it’s citizens collective quality of life.

Unfortunately here in America, many if not most people still believe improving the quality of life of people is the role of government and that quality of life is an outgrowth of the political process, democracy, and even more ludicrous, a byproduct of voting itself! 

You vote for the right person and your quality of life will improve.  The leader lottery!

Well everyone is going to have to learn together.  The protest in Egypt is but a symptom of the global economic crisis that became public in 2009-2010.  There are other countries whose citizens’ quality of life will also suffer and who may, in the coming months and years, take to the streets blaming government; but everyone will have to learn together.  It is not your voting.  It is not your leaders.  It is not your political process which determines whether or not you are satisfied with your society or govermnent.  It is your quality of life.  A better quality of life is what everyone wants and this is what we must alll learn to build and protect.  

In reality, there is one king that everyone pays homage to and his name is not Obama, or Mubarak, or Queen Elizabeth, or Castro.  The Kings name is Cash and he is the representative of our real economic activity.  And until we increase our collective real economic activity as nation of people then there will always be a political problem.  The fact is, since a better quality of life is what we we all want, then cash will remain the king. 

Thank you for reading these words. Please share with others.

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