Comment by pjc50
1 day ago
The briefly elected Muslim Brotherhood government of Egypt was .. not as liberal as the Tahrir Square protests demanded.
1 day ago
The briefly elected Muslim Brotherhood government of Egypt was .. not as liberal as the Tahrir Square protests demanded.
I think you might be overestimating how liberal the protesters were. Source: I was in Tahrir square during the protests and spoke with many Egyptians.
Almost all of the complaints I heard while I was in Egypt were about corruption and lack of opportunity. It was more frustration with rampant nepotism/cronyism and less a desire for liberalism. From the ground, it appeared to be driven by economic forces and not political ideology.
In fact, many Egyptian men that I spoke to made the argument for the continued oppression of women (e.g. the full burqa and absence from work). In general, the populace was decidedly anti-liberal.
The election of the Muslim Brotherhood happened after I left the country, but it was no surprise to me at all. The fact that they attempted to change the constitution so quickly after their victory was unwise, and the subsequent coup by the West was just as unsurprising.
I have a feeling that people in the West have assumptions about democracy being better for the society based on their own education levels and social advancement. Democracy is better if the general population have cultural affinity towards fairness, equality and respect for other religions. Democracy does not mean fairness, human values or such high moral standards that general people in the West assume. Democracy is just the will of the people. If they are uneducated, racists and supremacists, the elected government would represent that.
And the UAE played a large role in covertly supporting the movement that toppled it.