Happy Revolution Day, Egypt
Friday, February 11, 2011 at 11:00PM Who wouldn't want to be in Cairo tonight? What an admirable display we have witnessed in the last few days in Egypt. Millions of people, without using force or violence, overthrew their dictator and for at least one night, the people of Egypt are free!
One reporter on Al Jazeera, asked one of the rally leaders today, "when will you form a new government?"
His response was, "Not tonight! Tonight we celebrate!"
And good for them! But, why doesn't anyone ask, "If everything is fine tonight, and there isn't murder and overwhelming crime in the street with no government tonight, why not just leave it this way?"
Alas, we can't ask too much of the Egyptian people. They have just finally overthrown their dictator and removed their shackles but we can't expect them to lead the world in TRUE freedom and rid themselves completely of government. After all, for them, democracy looks like heaven (it isn't but it is understandable why they may feel that way after what they've been through).
All the usual suspects are already jossling for position. Iran has made inroads to forming an Iran friendly government. Hillary Clinton keeps droning on with her statist rhetoric and Barack Obama just performed yet another stunning flip-flop, going from sending $1 billion per year to the Egyptian Government to keep its power over the people to congratulating the Egyptian people for overturning the American puppet government!
You can't really blame anyone for fighting for the power to control others though. It pays very well. Hillary and Bill Clinton are proof of that. They went from being broke lawyers to multi-millionaires in a few short years. And Hosni Mubarak himself is guesstimated at possibly being the richest man in the world with estimates of his wealth being between $40 to $70 billion. Not bad considering he never had a real job. Every cent of those billions is stolen money - much of it received from the US Government in "foreign aid". Foreign aid, best defined by Doug Casey as "A transfer of money from poor people in rich countries to rich people in poor countries."
Yet, now that the Egyptians are free, starting tomorrow, the great majority will all be looking to instill someone new as "their leader". Of course, they think this person will be doing them a service - perhaps promoting this or that thing they like. But, in reality, they are just electing their new slave owner... one for which there is no guarantee he will be better or worse than Mubarak.
Sadly, many people think that the Egyptian people will now be free because they may now have democracy. Democracy has nothing to do with freedom. In fact, in almost every instance of democracy it is the antithesis of freedom.
Instead of having a dictator, Egyptians may now have the "right" to choose their dictator every few years in elections. Voting, the slave's suggestion box.
However, there is some hope. Many interviews with the average Egyptian citizen in the streets seems to show that they seem very, very intent on gaining freedom - and they showed it by their actions over the last few weeks. They, as most do, mistake democracy for freedom but if enough of the population is that intent on freedom then perhaps they will have a tangible amount of freedom which could dramatically change the fortunes of the country as a whole.
If that were the case and/or other Arab countries also went down the same path then this is potentially a very important change for the entire region. Up until a few weeks ago if you were asked which region has the best chance for greater freedoms and thereby massive potential for growth, not many would have said the Arab states.
We will be keeping a close eye on all developments in the region. Greater freedom always, without fail, results in major gains in wealth and so if this event today increases freedom greatly in Egypt and the entire region we may have to take a serious look at real estate and stocks in this area.
I wished I could have been there all this week but I had prior obligations I had to attend to in Mexico and in the US but I am planning a trip this summer to Africa and Egypt will be near the top of my list to visit to get a good look at progress, or lack thereof, on the ground.
Until then, enjoy the party tonight Egyptians! You are almost completely, totally free, something that almost everyone else in the world has never felt - except those who have expatriated and who live their lives in ways that their finances and activities are not overseen by any particular government - something we highly recommend and write about often in TDV.
Now, when you wake up tomorrow morning, Egyptians, don't be too eager to quickly erect your new walls... take a look around and notice you are free and consider just leaving it the way it is.
Nation states are a silly concept and are on their way out anyway. Why not be the first to do it? Someone please print up 90 million copies of The Market For Liberty translated into Arabic and distribute it throughout Egypt by morning!
One can dream, can't he?
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Reader Comments (7)
I have been following your TDV articles for a couple of weeks now and I'm impressed. You remind me of Ed Bugos which I realized should be expected when I discovered his affiliation. Back in the day, I was in treasury of big oil company when LTCM blew up and the whole world froze up. That was my wake up call. I embarked on a "maniacle search for the truth" and was very fortunate to discover Ed's work back then.
So with that acknowledgement in mind I will proceed with comments that are intended for an audience willing to continue to sacrafice all false idols on the alter of truth as Nietzche put it. Or in other words, for the kind of person who keeps a poem about a dog in their back pocket to remind them of the confident yet humble search for knowledge that embraces challeges to currently held beliefs.
First, ..In your words ."why doesn't anyone ask ...with no government tonight, why not just leave it this way?" relevent question, answered directly by pointing out "All the usual suspects are already jossling for position..." But you head in the wrong direction with "You can't really blame anyone for fighting for the power to control others though. It pays very well." If you are able, invert your perspective for a second and you might get a glimpse of the truth surrounding what you seek, true freedom (I actually believe you guys put your ultimate faith in truth, important and consistant if freedom is a true potential, I believe it is).
Second, there is indeed hope, a great deal of reasonable hop.. But I don't see it emerging as you imagine. In fact the piece titled "What I really believe" has far more to say regarding the basis for hope.". The misconception that "Greater freedom always, without fail, results in major gains in wealth" is simply not true. This is a critical flaw but it is also an article of faith for you rooted deeply in the capitalist narrative and free market religion. I state this with confidenec, but more important is my confidence that you or at least Ed Bugos would chose truth and freedom and sacrafice misplaced faith if such truth is madeknowable. I have I'm certain stated more than one post could possibly defend but this still serves well my intent of providing a solid basis from which to challange your perspective toward a common hope we share. Every major aspect of human social orgainzation is subject to change in a way not concieveable until recently. This inflection point will bring about great freedom or it will be one more quantum increase of power relations of unfreedom.
Best Regards,
Matt Brown
All those words to say what? TDV is 100% correct Matt. Governments are monopolies on the use of force. They are unnecessary, wasteful, and arrogant thieves dressed in suits, pretending to give a fuck about their slave populations. Anarcho capitalism is the way to go. Liberty is something a seaman gets at a port of call, it has nothing to do with freedom. No one is free if he is a citizen of a fraudulent debt ridden nation state. Fuck government in every way shape or form. Free markets unencumbered will always deliver goods and services to customers at the best quality and price. Excellence is served with free, unregulated markets using sound commodity money as a unit of account and store of value. One day this will happen everywhere as the shackles of stupidity are broken by the hammer of the internet and the yearning to be free and served by market forces overcome some goon who produces nothing and drains pay from the productive also known as a public SERPANT.
Oh my...another "anarchist redneck" web site.
Give your collective heads a shake...without a system of governance, "free markets, unencumbered" results in mother earth being treated like a whore. We all fuck her, and no one gives a shit what happens after we get our piece of her.
You preppers are all the same...all passion...but little thought behind the words.
If you really cared...we would see something real here...something to believe it and work towards. Not the rantings of arrogant assholes who want to be able to say "I told you so!" as they succumb to same fates they "prophesied".
Who is the biggest polluter on Earth Mr.Mighty? Your darling US military. Dont bash free markets, private property rights, and sound money. They dont pollute. Filthy BIG govt. military does. Get your facts straight. BP polluted and decimated the Gulf because Govt. gave them permits to deep water drill. If we had free markets and no regulation BP would have drilled closer to shore and the likelyhood of a massive pipe break down 40k feet would never have occured.
I appreciate and agree with much of what wrote. I agree with fuck the government and that goes out to all the corporate governence as much as to states. But its pretty clear that states have a great deal of power, don't know if that constitutes a monopoly but that's a market isssue. Free markets in the usual sense of the word exist only as a function of "enforcement" or at least enforceability of those supposedly consentual contracts. So somewhere between the uncoerced agreements and enforcement there arises a demand for concentrated and efficient force to be deployed in the event some breach of contract arises. In areas of the world considered less advanced one can see how much advantage is gained from this concept(government. rule of law, etc all the same ) for those who have stuff they don't want others to take. In one area it was noted that with the government order restored the cost of private guards was eliminated.
I'll try to do a better job of putting my thoughts into coherent words a little later if I'm successful with other requirements this evening. TDV is not 100 percent correct, but I do respect their views which are very similar to my own. Oh, the whole mother earth as a whore stuff is silly at best because I doubt the parts per billion calculated on the oil spilled vs. the volume just in the gulf of water justifies all the concern. Anyway, I'll make more sense on all this later I hope.
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