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Egypt: Voices from Houston

February 2, 2011

I have nothing illuminating to say about the recent events in Egypt. The situation there is exciting, volatile and may well be the harbinger of things to come in the middle east. I am posting here the letters to the editor in the Houston Chronicle, reflecting how some Houstonians view the Egyptian turmoil.

Protests and rage in Egypt

Feb. 1, 2011

Real friends?

Regarding "Rage spreads across Egypt" (Page A1, Saturday), the people of Egypt are in the streets protesting against the autocratic, totalitarian rule of President Hosni Mubarak, who happens to be America's biggest ally in the Islamic world.

Our second biggest ally there is Saudi Arabia, one of the biggest human rights violators in the world.

Our next biggest ally is Israel, which used terrorism to drive the Palestinians from their homes and used American weapons to keep them out.

Before them, our biggest ally was the autocratic and oppressive Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi — until he was chased away by people protesting in the streets in 1979 revolution.

We are fighting terrorists in Afghanistan, and our big ally there is Pakistan, another unpopular and oppressive totalitarian state where they took our money not to develop nuclear bombs and did so anyway and also condemn Christians to death for blaspheming against the Prophet.

Closer to home, we are financing the bloody drug-war carnage in Mexico.

I am starting to suspect that if we chose our friends better, we would have fewer enemies.

— Mitchell Diamond,
Nacogdoches

About democracy

Every time the people anywhere try to overthrow their oppressors and take on the responsibility of governing themselves, we stand athwart the tide of history and side with the regime against the people.

Perhaps this time, as the Egyptian people take their cue from the Tunisians and force their government to accept democracy, we might remember who we are and how our nation was founded, and help them.

Democracy is not a form of government that can be imposed on people by an outside power, even if that power is their own government, as our constant efforts in the Middle East have shown.

Democracy is imposed on the government by the people. Perhaps we are finally seeing the birth of democracy in the Middle East.

Democracy is not pretty. It is messy. Sometimes it is even violent. It is also better than any other form of government, certainly better than the oligarchy that is taking hold everywhere.

If we really want to help spread democracy in the Middle East, as we keep saying we do, now is our chance.

We need to help those people in order to remain true to who we are.

Sadly, we will probably learn nothing from the past, and help the regime hold on to power instead.

— Bruce Ellis,
Houston

History lesson

The goings-on in Egypt should not surprise anyone. History is full of examples where the gap between rich and poor became so wide that revolutions occurred. The question is not if it will happen in the U.S., but when?

— Howard Penner,
Houston

Posted in Uncategorized

4 responses to “Egypt: Voices from Houston”

Elatia Harris

February 2, 2011

Thank you, Ruchira — this does not sound like Texas!

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Ruchira

February 2, 2011

Even some Texans have their heads screwed on right. Or maybe these are all transplants from Massachussetts?
On the other hand, I wonder what the Rapture crowd is thinking of the upheaval in Egypt.

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kochuthresiamma P J

February 3, 2011

very discerning letters
. must confess i had certain stereotyped notions about texas. these letters show a different texan:-)

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Norman Costa

February 4, 2011

What is remarkable, in only a few years, is the power of consumer telecommunications and the Internet to influence the fate of nations. This may seem unnecessary to say, but let us not take it for granted.
Here is an aspect of the collapse of the Soviet Empire that few people know, and about which only a handful of journalists wrote. The PC, the personal computer, accelerated the collapse. The Soviets did not have PCs, at least not in any quantity to make a difference.
Several years before the collapse the Soviets were preparing another 5 year economic plan. They came to the realization that they had to modernize ALL of their development and manufacturing infrastructure – better late than never. It was crucial if they were going to compete on the world stage. A key element of the 5-year plan was, you guessed it, the personal computer the PC.
The Soviet economy would be transformed, utterly. They were anxious to roll out the plan and get it started. Then it was realized, too late, that the adoption of the PC would make their worst nightmare come true. Unintentionally, the adoption of the PC would create a huge communications system over which they would have NO CONTROL. They knew that this was the end.
They had no choice. If they wanted to modernize the entire economic infrastructure, they had to adopt the PC in a big way, and do it fast. To delay, or decide otherwise, meant the accelerated collapse of their entire system.
It was at this point that they brought in Gorbachev, and tasked him with working out the best deal he could, with the West. There was no time to reassess the problem. It was sitting in front of them. The rest is history.
Many factors were involved in bringing the Soviet Empire to this pivotal point in history. Rarely, can we identify a single, immediate cause that will tip the balance scale and decide the fate of a nation. The personal computer was the threshold weight that tipped the scale and brought down an empire.

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