There is a very fine
border between transparency and negative criticizing of oneself… also, there is
a clear difference between being honest and frank and being rude and blunt…
again the one who does what he says is different to the one who says a lot but
does nothing… Egypt have witnessed all these issues throughout its history regarding
those who came to power and ruled it for long ages ago.
We can sum up the above
lines and say that if knowledge, work, honesty and coincide between sayings and
actions is an established reality seen and noticed by everyone… then there is
no negative self-criticism or dishonesty when we reveal the truth.
If the country’s ruler
is keen to declare – even before becoming the ruler and after that – that he
has nothing to hide especially the country’s current situations on all levels…
and that he has the vision and discipline to deal with the reality… then he
practices transparency and not negative self-criticism… and he does not succumb
to the sin of attributing all the negativities under the pretext of fate.
When the ruler declares
to all people surrounding him the causes of weakness, poverty,
underdevelopment, enemies’ conspiracies and even from those supposed to be
brothers to us… and says that he alone cannot face all this… and then assures
that whoever made something wrong; whether a wrong-doer, accomplice, thief or a
traitor, will not escape his bad deed no matter who he is… and then gives open
and practical examples for this… then this is not rudeness.
What is more important
in my opinion is that when the ruler applies all criteria of transparency,
frankness and coincide of sayings with actions on himself, his family and his
close circle… and be himself a good example of hard working, strict follow-up
of projects, securing the public funds, respecting feelings of the poor and
being kind to them, abstaining from collecting boonies and trophies… whether
small or big… not to mention giving away from his own money by donating or
conceding part of his income… then this ruler is trying to do something
positive and be an example for his people in general.
Moreover, like in
medicine, there are schools who believe that surgery is the best and most
successful way to handle things… and that being frank to the patient and informing
him of the time span left for him either to recover or to die is the right way…
there are other schools who believe that surgery is the last thing to do and that
being nice and not shocking the patient by telling him his real situation is
the best to do… even if that will give the patient a fake peace for a while.
Likewise, societies are
living creatures just like the humans… they get sick… they get well… they
develop… they grew up… they grew old… they dwindle… in facing its cultural,
economic and social illnesses and also in facing time changes, it was proved
that those societies shall not hide the true details of their reality –
whatever conditions they have – from their citizens… this is in order to
encourage the people to change all this by science and hard work.
When we know that our country,
Egypt, is a poor one and even very poor and realize that we are not the only
one so… actually, a single industrial company like the Italian Fiat company has
a capital exceeding the income of several Arab oil-rich countries… then this is
just the mere truth… we are not hiding the reality.
However, we have to
continue narrating the rest of the truth by mentioning the details of our
economic situation… what funds came to the Egyptian treasury in the time period
following October, 1973 war including all the Arab and non-Arab aids and
financial assistances in addition to our national income… and where all those
billions of billions have gone… and who stole, looted and bribed.
Also, we have to know
how the crime of ruining our national industry was planned for… how such thing
was executed… who sold and squandered all these invaluable assets and
experiences… also, we have to know who hit the most valuable Egyptian national treasure
in the heart… that is the fortune of citizenship that is the base for loyalty,
dedication and being faithful to your country… losing such treasure is the real
poverty.
One time, the British
people lived moments of victory in the second world war… they would not have
achieved such victory if Winston Churchill hid the inevitable truth that they
have to sacrifice blood and efforts… and that they had to share one egg among
the one family members… and that children had to be relocated to places far
from the bombs of the Allied forces… this thing of sharing one egg among the
one family even continued for some time after the war… there were also other
peoples who realized the truth that they were defeated and their countries were
destroyed and that they had to work day and night… that is what the German and
Japanese did and now they achieved the progress they enjoy today.
The real sin is when
transparency turns into negative self-criticism… when frankness turns into
rudeness… when sayings do not coincide with actions… May God save us all from hypocrisy.
Translated into English by: Dalia Elnaggar
Translated into English by: Dalia Elnaggar
This
article was published in Al-Mosawar magazine on February 8, 2017.
To
see the original article, go to:
#al_mosawar
#ahmed_elgammal #Egypt
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