Revolution, revolution, revolution. This seems to be the buzzword everywhere I go. It’s on the radio, TV and all over the Internet. When most people heard of the Egyptian protests their minds probably conjured up visions of Che Guevara, burning flags and hanging dictators. Whereas my strange mind pictured a revolving door where one person is pushed out and the pusher takes his place and just starts going round and round like the previous person. A lot of people who I’ve recently spoken to mostly feel that this current round of protesting will lead to some great overhaul which will usher in a period of peace, equality and social justice and will create a free and equal society. However the reality in most situations such as these is usually a grim and dark one at best. One example that comes to mind is the communist revolution in the early 20th century in Russia. Millions of people were killed and millions more suffered under the rulers that followed. Although this is only a very grim example of what could happen in Tunisia and Egypt and a worst case scenario.
For revolution to be truly successful I believe that the leader of the revolution shouldn’t hold any dreams or aspirations of being in political power once the regime has been changed. I hold this view as I believe that politics has the power to corrupt the most virgin of hearts and in people it breeds a greed which only leads to broken promises and disenchantment amongst the people. Although having a successful revolutionary scrutinising your every move and policy can be a successful deterrent against corruption it can lead to accusations of puppet politics. A fine example of this is the people’s revolution in Iran which overthrew the Shah, as the Ayatollah is always seen to be looking over the shoulder of whoever the current president may be. So sometimes I guess it is best to stick with the devil you know than to have a new demon take over.
One point of amusement amongst all this revolutionary talk is the British governments advising Hosni Mubarak the Egyptian president to listen to the protest of the people as Egypt is classed as a democracy. I guess the British government has forgotten the student protests and the fact that the people were ignored and the tuition fee increase pushed through anyway. However like always when it comes to western “free democracies” the policy is do as we say not as we do.
For all you revolutionaries out there this one’s for you.
