Surviving Capitalism (Not) : Reading Marx in Cairo

We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Monday, July 29, 2013

Reading Marx in Cairo

Click here to access article by Kaveh L Afrasiabi from Asia Times Online.

In Marx's book we find a timeless grasp of farcical repetitions in history, by comparing the French coup of December 1851 by a nephew of the great Napoleon who, even though he lacked the minutest genius of his uncle, called himself Emperor Napoleon III. From Marx's point of view, the 1851 coup was a caricature of Napoleon's coup of 1799, above all due to the "grotesque mediocrity" of the nephew.

In comparison, Sisi, whose ruthless snipers massacred dozens of demonstrators in Cairo and other cities in cold blood on Friday, is not even a pale replica of the pan-Arabist Nasser who ended the 72-year British domination of Egypt and thus became a hero of post-World War II anti-colonialism.

I think the author misses a key point with regard to Gen. Sisi: he is a mere puppet of the Empire as was Gen. Pinochet of Chile. While Sec. of State Kerry may not have been in touch with Sisi, US military leaders are known to have been in constant touch (see this and this), and are no doubt controlling Sisi.