A Blog by the Editor of The Middle East Journal

Putting Middle Eastern Events in Cultural and Historical Context

Friday, February 11, 2011

A Changed Egypt

There's a Twitter campaign afoot to get the protesters to assemble tomorrow to clean up the square. The let-the-government-do-it days may be over. Wael Ghonim is tweeting about trying to organize Egyptians at home and abroad to raise LE 100 billion to rebuild the country. This is real bootstrapping: the New Egyptians want to do it themselves, not rely on the state.

And as for the huge celebration that's still going on at 4 am Cairo time, Chairman Mao was doubly wrong: political power does not grow from the barrel of a gun if you do it this way. And just maybe, a revolution can be a dinner party.

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