Big Dreams Can Come True

Has anyone really taken the time to step back and appreciate what has happened in Egypt?  Do you realize we are watching history in the making?  That's kind of a silly phrase since history is continually in the making but I'd guess that the Arab Spring may actually take up an entire chapter in a World History book in the future.  If you are unaware, as was I unaware when I first came to UPEACE, of what exactly is going on in Egypt, here's a short re-cap: Mass non-violent protests and demonstrations force Egypt's President, Hosni Mubarak, to resign.  OK.  

OK.  That's really short.  You have probably seen images in the news and heard some stories.  Most popular images would include the Christians protecting the Muslims as they prayed in the streets and tanks hosing protesters on the bridge.  And maybe you saw other victory parties or heard about Egyptians finally voting.  Yada yada.  The revolution happened one year ago and voting took place this January.

ANYWAY, has anyone stopped to think how this happened?  What made thousands of people take to the streets on January 25^th?  Was it spontaneous?  Had everyone finally had enough and happened to all end up on the streets at the same time?  Well, from the outside it is difficult to imagine.  Autocratic governments don’t really endorse people getting together to figure out a way to overthrow them.  And here we see the common phrase really take meaning, “when there is a will, there’s a way”.  Build up had been created around this protest.  Before a protest was even thought of, activist were generating information and enlightening the masses about their government’s corruption.  This video is interesting and informative about how information was spread:

After making people aware and bringing them to consciousness about the situation at hand, a plan began to take form.  The plan was for massive non-violent protests.   Facebook pages were set up as well as Twitter accounts buzzing with information.  A page was set up for people that didn’t have anyone to go to the protest with and where to meet up with others.  Somewhere, training in non-violence was taking place.  Can you imagine keeping a demonstration of thousands of people non-violent amidst the violence that the police force and army was raining down on them?  This was truly impressive.  It takes strategy, purpose and planning on how to deal with possible issues.   The Egyptians did it and they persevered through more than ten days of protesting, striking, Internet and communication black outs and repression.

Non-violent movements have been present and reoccurring throughout history.  Why isn’t that a chapter or unit in high school world history or even U.S. history?  Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights Movement is a prime example.  Sit-ins, boycotts, and utopian re-enactment are all tactics used in non-violent movements.  South Africa ended Apartheid using non-violence while Chile and Argentina ended oppressive dictatorships with non-violent movements.  What would happen if civic engagement taught students, high school and college, how to be a part of their democracy?  What if everyone was informed and participated?  Instead of having non-violent movements we would be having movement every day towards an economy, government and world that works for its people.  Many will argue that the United States already does this but if citizens were really involved, informed and willing to stand up for themselves, would we have the Occupy movement?  Or would the 99% have stopped the tax cuts for the 1% dead in their tracks before they ever happened?  It’s difficult to imagine the possibilities but let your imaginations take hold and picture the world that YOU want to live in.

Do you want organic farm to table food in your house for every meal?  Do you want to live off the grid in a solar powered house?  How about a roof top garden in the city?  Is there a job out there that you want?  Does the job you want not exist?  Do you want to be able to walk to work or use public transportation or an electric car?  Do you want more green spaces and more time to enjoy them with your family?  What do you want in life?  Think about it.  Dream it.

NOW GO MAKE IT.