Middle class activism and the old man

I've been looking around at the different blogs/sites, etc, set up by Egyptian activists. It is scary, very scary, and quite sad to see the lengths that this government will go to in order to silence people.
We are not talking about bearded Muslim fundementalists, we are speaking about highly educated, liberal, middle class Egyptians. We are talking about people who know about the rest of the world and want Egypt to finally be something other than the private property of its ruler, whether sultan, king or "president".
Throughout history, real movements of change have always sprung from the middle class. That's where real innovation comes from. The rich are usually happy with their circumstances and fear change, while the poor are, in most cases, too busy trying to survive to think of any kind of meaningful change, other than hating the rich.
But the middle class, they are different, they have the time and the education to work for a better system. The status quo for them is not always to their benefit like the rich, but they also posses enough capabilities to look beyind their day to day existence.
No wonder most of the world's oppressors have always come down hard on the middle class. There is no reason for the current Egyptian regime be any different.
The problem though with the current regime in Egypt is that it is creating enemies everywhere, or at least it has become so paranoid that is seeing enemies everywhere. Everywhere you go, you seem to see one of those huge central security vehicles. Whenever there is any gathering of people of any sort, there they are with their sticks, shields and guns.
Sometimes i think that if i have a really big party at my place they'll come knocking, just to make sure that we're not saying anything we shouldn't be.
Sad, very sad. The regime is like one of those grumpy old men we see, always frowning and always with a stick in hand to smack anyone he doesn't like.
Now that stick can hurt, actually from what i read, it can hurt alot, but the hand that is holding it is old, shaky and very insecure.
I am happy to see the beginnings of political activity in Egypt's middle class because there was a need for someone else to talk besides the Islamist opposition.
The government will come down hard, very hard, i am sure of this.
Let's see how long that old man can swing that stick...

The old man of the world

What is insanity? How do we know that a person is insane? If a person thinks that he is the only sane person, while the rest of the world around them is crazy, does that count as insanity? Parania? If one believes that the whole world is out to get them, for whatever reason, can we call that person unstable? unbalanced?

Ok, so what about cultures and socities? Can they suffer from those conditions as well? Can a culture or a society be considered as a living person? Why not i say, that would surely explain a lot.

Arab socities, if that above metioned definitions are correct, are totally crazy, insane, unstable, paranoid, whatever the word you'd prefer can be used here.

Why? Well, they seem to think that the whole world is out to get them, everyone, from the smallest to the largest nations. are conspiring against them, to keep them down, to prevent "the great Arabs" from ever rising up and "taking their rightful place" in the world. Interesting, i wonder what professional pshyciatry would think of this.

A man, old, wrinkled, angry, bitter, mentally rigid. He had some "good days" in the past when he did have some respect among other men but now all of this is gone. No one pays his any attention because he going senile, he only speaks nonsense. Those around him really don't get the stuff he's talking about. He sits there talking to himself, cursing everyone else for being different, for ignoring him, but cannot comprehend the idea that it might be him that is at fault, not that's can't be, everyone's just gone crazy.

"I am great," the old man says, "in my youth i did this and that, everyone feared me, they respected me. I think i'll just sit here and think about the good old days, but first i must shut everyone up, because their talking, their culture, their ideas, their mere appearence really disturbes me, i can't think about my glory if i have to listen to that garbage."

This is the Arab world, this is the medieval mentality that is like a black spot on the face of the world.

Whenever anyone says anything to the old man, he quicly shuts them up, by violence if necessary.

Now we woudn't want to disturb that old man now would we.