POLITICAL COMMENTARY--Political Revolt in Egypt and it's Repercussions for the West

by Bill Breakstone, January 30, 2011

The world is currently focused on the crisis evolving in Egypt, where Hosni Mubarak’s regime is coming under intense pressure to resign and allow democratic elections to install a more responsive government to address the ills of the Egyptian society.

The basis of this popular revolt is an extreme dissatisfaction with a government that has failed to serve its people, who have suffered from high unemployment, lack of human rights, and an increasingly high cost of living.

The visuals coming out of Cairo, Alexandria and Suez City are terribly frightening, with a total lack of civil security, looting, gunfire, and a population forced to provide for its own basic essentials.

This revolt was fueled by the events that took place in Tunisia over the past two weeks, and are currently continuing in Yemen. It is also feared that similar outbursts of popular resentments will spread to other Arab nations such as Lebanon, Syria and Jordan.

People have questioned what is fueling these events. The answer is simple. When governments ignore the needs of their people, tensions and resentments mount until they reach a point of combustion.

Robert Reich spelled out such a scenario that could occur in America in his excellent book “Aftershock.” Here, the middle class has come under increasing pressure to provide for itself as their outlook has deteriorated over the past three decades, while those more fortunate have increased their position in life by leaps and bounds. Unemployment is at near all-time highs, and not expected to rebound for another five years, while at the same time corporate profits and earnings are setting records. The cost of living is increasing as food and fuel prices have risen dramatically, while the values of most people’s assets have continued to deteriorate, thanks no little to a housing market that continues to decline due to excess inventories fueled by foreclosures resulting from the financial crisis of 2008-2009.

Meanwhile, the American political environment is mired in a ideological conflict between an administration that is trying to address continuing high unemployment and sluggish growth and an opposition party focused on reducing the role of government and slashing spending to reduce a huge federal deficit, which most probably will result in increasing joblessness that will negatively affect the economy.

The question is when could the American people wake up one morning and witness the kind of events that we are seeing today on the streets of Cairo? What could be the tipping point when the great mass of the American middle class decides that our government is not providing for its people? Several months ago, no one could have predicted the events that are now unfolding in Egypt. They are a perfect example of what economists and political scientists refer to as “asymmetric shock,” an event that can tilt a nation’s economy off its axis with disastrous consequences.

The hope is that our opposing political factions can come together in a spirit of compromise to avoid policies that could endanger our future, as they did in the lame duck session last month. But the rhetoric being heard, regarding an extension of our debt ceiling is not promising. The last thing we need at this point is a shutdown of the government, which will only exacerbate the perception on the part of our population that our leaders cannot deal with the challenges that face us.

So, keep your eyes on Egypt. Hopefully, a new government will peacefully evolve that will care for its peoples. And, hopefully, our leaders will come to their senses to assure that America will continue to move in the right direction to assure the welfare of its population, not just its corporate leaders and politicians, but us all.