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 A Flat for MohammedPosted on Feb 2, 2011Ten years ago, one of our sons, Colin O’Neill, and I were walking across the Qasr el Nil bridge in Cairo late at night from Tahrir Square—Liberation Square—to the island of Gezira in the Nile. As he began the story:
"We were approached by a couple of guys about my age who looked as if they were selling something. Actually, they just wanted to talk—in English and French. They were cousins, both of them language teachers in private schools. The four of us, leaning out over the bridge, talked for almost an hour."
When I told them I was writer, the older one, named Mohammed, who was 26, asked if I was like Charles Dickens. "Not quite," I answered.
Then he said: "I have read ‘Death of a Salesman.’ Is that what America is like?"
"Yes," I said. "That is not all we are like, but that’s part of it."
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He pointed to the Nile Hilton on the river bank and said: "Though it is in my country, I can’t go in there. I mean I can go in, but a coffee costs almost more money than I make in a week. The dollar is all that counts now; money is king. But it is hard for someone like me to exist here. I want refreshment, to sit with my friends, to marry, to have a flat, but how can I do these things?"
Things got worse, not better, for Mohammed over the next decade. Everything became more expensive in a decidedly corrupt country as the authoritarian rule of President Hosni Mubarak turned into a cold dictatorship—with help from the United States, which was essentially paying Mubarak billions of dollars not to invade or harass Israel. Of course, we asked him, nicely, quietly, to liberalize, to give his people a break, but the important part of our role was our world strategy. We needed Mubarak, we thought. To hell with young Mohammed.
I love Cairo. I love Egyptians. They are, to me, like Italians. They love life, no matter what it brings. I lost my heart in Tahrir Square one midnight. It is a sprawling place of both asphalt and grass. The drivers are crazy. But in the heat of a summer night, hundreds, thousands of families were on the grass, sleeping and talking, laughing in the touch of coolness from the river. It reminded me of distant memories of Central Park, where New Yorkers would stay all night in August heat when I was very young and air conditioning was very rare.
I don’t know what will happen next. It will probably be chaotic, bad for us for a while—we seem to prize order above all these days—but that was going to happen anyway when Mubarak died and other hard men came along to grab what spoils they could before some kind of stability comes to a country decades behind the times.
(The people we see on television in Cairo are the better-off people of Egypt. We would see and know more if American cable systems had the guts to show Al-Jazeera English around the country. It is, more often than not, a better all-news deliverer than CNN, telling the stories of the world from the bottom up, rather than from Washington down.)
So it is time for us to step back, step away from Mubarak. Do not think we can control events. It is their country. Radical Islamists there are going to give us trouble, but we can handle that, maybe better than we are now.
And perhaps there will be a flat for Mohammed.
© 2011 UNIVERSAL UCLICK
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By pj, February 24, 2011 at 2:11 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
Thanx to the author and all commenters- very insightful to one who has not yet ventured to Asia or Africa.
Leefeller- You may be thinking of “microlending” firms such as Kiva. There are others out there too.
Re- US imperialism- The cognitive dissonance/indifference of my friends and colleagues amazes me.
Report thisBy Leefeller, February 6, 2011 at 12:02 pm Link to this comment
I read someplace a while back, (possibly India?) about people lending money to individuals or real people to help them, if I recall in the same vane as written by firefly.
Helping others if able, must feel so much better than helping oneself, again some would say this smacks of socialism, no…..not it is sponsored by individuals or nonprofits. It seems our tax money is always lost in the cesspool of politics, how much of our tax dollars going to other countries actually helps individuals in countries like Egypt?
Reason, Swiss bank accounts exist!
Report thisBy firefly, February 5, 2011 at 6:42 pm Link to this comment
Great article.
It’s not just Egyptians that are wonderful. I’ve
lived and worked in Mali and Tanzania. People there
live the most impoverished lives, but manage to
remain human in a way that many westerners would find
difficult.
I remember asking a Tanzanian what kind of milk he
bought (fresh or powdered which is very common). He
looked at me and said, “I don’t buy milk. It’s too
expensive. Maybe just once a month, as a treat for my
children.” He explained that as a rule, his family
spent 50 cents on food a day each during the week. I
then lent him money to get electricity installed in
his house, which he later paid back (I didn’t ask for
interest).
It makes you realize how lucky you are, even if you
Report thisare far down the wealth scale from Gates, Buffett,
Bloomberg and Koch.
By Ralph Kramden, February 4, 2011 at 3:39 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
Wonderful article. It is absolutely critical, essential for the USA to understand that our journalists are for the most part naive and lazy. They interview people who speak English because translating is time-consuming. People who speak English in the third world are usually the better off. So we get a slanted view from the get-go.
Report thisAlso, keep in mind that the USG believes in that old French refrain: “the more things change make sure they stay the same.” Well, I changed it a bit. When it is OUR status quo that is threatened be quick to oust the figurehead and replace him with OUR torturer:Souleiman (I’m probably misspelling his name) another poodle of the CIA and the Mossad. I wonder hoe much money Israel and the USA are spending in an effort to crush the Egyptian uprising?
By Leefeller, February 4, 2011 at 12:44 pm Link to this comment
Bribing other leaders and other countries seems to be an Uncle Sam past time. Wonder what would happen if we kept some of that money here for fixing some of the problems at home? Oh, I am sorry that would be socialism.
The middle East has a rich history and Egypt maybe is on the top of that history, well the best known to most Americans anyway. Why should the people always be the underdogs? I hope they kick ass this time and get their change, unlike what we got here, hope and change which turned out to be sos disguised as compromise.
Report thisBy memfoammattress40, February 4, 2011 at 12:21 am Link to this comment
How sad. I didn’t know that is their situation there in Egypt. I have a friend who lives their and sad to say that they are working well but still not enough to feed their families.
http://www.memoryfoam-mattress-topper.co.uk/p5-Simplicity-King-Size-1-inch-Memory-Foam-Mattress-Topper.html
Report thisBy rollzone, February 3, 2011 at 2:22 pm Link to this comment
hello. underlining the importance of controlling
Report thisassociative imagery in the the minds of the populace
is the manipulation of their economy. luxury belongs
to the wealthy and is the structure of growth. people
can survive without luxury. it was brutality, the
inhumane abuse of police authority: police brutality-
which ignited this revolt. some of us suffer police
brutality, and we fight to control and abolish it.
after long durations of suffering, the police in
Egypt crossed the tripping point, and sprung this
revolt against this regime on themselves.
manipulating the spin on the truth is only digging
themselves deeper, when the list of grievances is
already unbearable. free economics require a fair and
just balance of authority, and without it, nobody
will ever get a flat.
By rollzone, February 3, 2011 at 2:20 pm Link to this comment
hello. underlining the importance of controlling
Report thisassociative imagery in the the minds of the populace
is the manipulation of their economy. luxury belongs
to the wealthy and is the structure of growth. people
can survive without luxury. it was brutality, the
inhumane abuse of police authority: police brutality-
which ignited this revolt. some of us suffer police
brutality, and we fight to control and abolish it.
after long durations of suffering, the police in
Egypt crossed the tripping point, and sprung this
revolt against this regime on themselves.
manipulating the spin on the truth is only digging
themselves deeper, when the list of grievances is
already unbearable. free economics require a fair and
just balance of authority, and without it, Mohammed
will never get a flat.
By thebeerdoctor, February 3, 2011 at 1:04 pm Link to this comment
The tyranny from the lack of money is a song being sung all over this world. The elite continue to suppress the vast majority through intimidation and propaganda, but when the servants are no longer obedient and docile, they suddenly complain about the class warfare that their system of injustice created in the first place. The American government has a time honored policy of supporting dictatorial regimes, as long as the corporations are allowed access to their natural resources. Elections are only valid if the right candidates are chosen. Collective punishment for the people when they choose wrong.
Report thisBy FiftyGigs, February 2, 2011 at 11:02 pm Link to this comment
“The people we see on television in Cairo are the better-off people of Egypt.”
I figured that from the images I saw of rather well-dressed protesters. Now, if someone could explain to me how it can be that a “leaderless revolt” is accompanied by media reports describing where the protests will be happening in advance, I’d be most appreciative.
Report thisBy Bisbonian, February 2, 2011 at 10:21 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
“I love Cairo. I love Egyptians. They are, to me, like Italians. They love life, no matter what it brings.”
I spent five months in Cairo in 1990, and it had the same effect on me. Egyptians are wonderful people. I wish them all the best.
Report this