How a Revolution can be Derailed

Here is a story from CBS's Sixty Minutes that shows how the Egyptian military has squashed the "people's revolution".



The history of popular revolts and revolution is rife with examples like this. The rich and powerful do not easily give way. They find many ways to sneak back into power.

It is truly sad to see that the people's will has been thwarted. It is especially disgusting to see that the US government (via Leon Panetta, the US Secretary of Defense giving the US's blessing to the Egyptian generals) is backing this clampdown on the people's push for real democracy. Obama claims to support democracy in the Middle East, but Obama's actions belie that claim. The US is still playing the dictator/repressive military regime card to "secure American interests" in the region. Shame!

Call me cynical, but the internecine street battles between Copts and Muslims strikes me as evidence of manipulation by the generals to get people to fight among themselves rather than to focus on the corrupt military regime. Read this news from the UK's Guardian newspaper.

The above story should be a cautionary tale for the Occupy Wall Street attempt to bring democracy back to America and out the corruption of money in politics. There is much violence and many dead ends that can await this movement. Hopefully not. But idealists need to keep a sense of realism. Getting the choke hold of the ultra-rich and big corporations off the democracy can be an ugly, ugly struggle.