First, I have to confess that I’m a
big fan of gypsies…
those who go around the globe free of any geographical or political borders… known
by their clothes, dances and domestic human relations that dignify women… not
to mention their martial arts and skills in earning their living… either by trickery
or other means…
I say this lest some people accuse me
of racial discrimination if I said that many of our intellectuals and
politicians are a perfect example of what my grandmother used to say to those
who consume and do not produce… yet, they mock other people’s efforts saying: “you
look like those old gypsies…
you do nothing but making fun and mocking others”.
I was invited to a friendly sitting with
old friends representing all shades of Left… dark red; those representing the
Egyptian communist movement… a bit lighter red; unorganized Marxists… a more
lighter shade of red; those members of at-Tagamo’a party… and finally the pink
degree; those Arab-nationalists whom I belong to and who adopt argument as a
discipline and social equality as a target… and who are also excluded by some
hard-line Leftists from the Left calling them “petite Bourgeoisie”.
We talked about our present time along
with all the problems associated with it… when some started the heated
discussion saying there are some who sanctify the military… and then they
started their usual talk about July 23 revolution, Nasser and killing the
democratic national revolution that was starting to form in Egypt before 1952… they
also said that it was normal that categories forming the “petite Bourgeoisie”;
whether military men, unradical non-revolutionary intellectuals and other categories
belonging to the middle class shall stick together… of course, they were
hinting at me… however, the one who invited me replied straight and said that
real Leftist is the one who believes in the role of the Egyptian army and who
can distinguish between it and other armies in other countries in the region.
Since we all have a considerable level
of knowledge, we decided to appeal to discipline… since when one mentions
discipline, everyone listens, especially if they were Leftist… I talked about contradictions
and priorities and the necessity to distinguish between main, partial and secondary
contradictions… and so, upon realizing those contradictions, we can define our
priorities…
And then we shall ask: what is the
main contradiction that should be faced as a first priority?... is it the
battle against Rightist tardiness powers claiming religious references and
which adopt terrorism, killing and destruction as a means?... or is it the
battle against the national military establishment; meaning our national Egyptian
army?... also, are attempts to confiscate Egypt rights in the River Nile water
and to besiege Egypt regionally by disconnecting it from its circles of
influence… are those attempts included in the main contradictions?... also, is
the plan viciously executed to dismantle Egypt and hit its solid core; meaning
its society cohesion, included in those contradictions?... moreover, are
corruption, corrupting, spread of looting, stealing and other conducts opposing
development and working… are all those included in the main contradictions or
not?
We kept listing the contradictions on
all levels until we were faced by the question asking: who shall stand against
those contradictions? And how shall we resist this?... shall we wait until
strong cohesive organized civil political powers are formed with applicable
clear programs and public mass spread nationwide in all productive facilities;
fields, factories, institutions and others?... or shall we depend, in our
current phase, on the only organized disciplined financially-independent establishment
possessing a clear vision and which does not submit to any foreign powers, like
the armed forces?
At this point, we appealed to history…
that pot containing our patriotic experiences and the inscription registering
all lessons learnt through ages… we found that the biggest killing problem
hitting our nation in all historic eras is that we don’t understand the nature
of contradictions… and consequently, we miss the ability to reorder priorities.
Right now, we are witnessing a scene
verifying what my grandmother used to say about old gypsies… because we have
a lot of those who consume but produce nothing and who prefer to participate by
criticizing and attacking… and what is really odd is that most, if not all, of
those attacking are eye and heart blind that they can’t give an example of
themselves by working, producing and doing their part in building the country
and leaving others do their roles too… giving the chance for mega projects and true
changes to come true… paving the way for regaining our national determination
and collective will… also to regain values respecting work to become like it
was in the past… a duty, right and honor…
I know some of them who are experts in
writing on Facebook and who either change their profile picture or curse the
current regime leadership and all who disagree to them… to the extent that they
may use slurred speech and expressions inappropriate to who claim to be an
intellectual or thinker… they also feel no shame if they steal other people’s
work and attribute it to themselves… and when you confront them with their bad
deed, they don’t apologize and even do it again.
What I want to say here out of this
Leftist discussion is: have a little bit of discipline, please… also, read a
little bit of history.
Translated into English by: Dalia Elnaggar
Translated into English by: Dalia Elnaggar
This article was published in Al Ahram
newspaper on September 29, 2016.
To see the original article, go to:
#alahram #ahmed_elgammal #Egypt
#discipline #history #left
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