Revolution 2.0 Wael
Ghonim
Chapter 7
“By the time people went home, the internet had been flooded
with images and videos from Jan25 protests across Egypt.”
It incredible how fast things are uploaded to the internet.
Events that happen in real life are almost simultaneously being recorded and
made global by uploading it in some way to the internet, whether its facebook
status, tweets, or video on youtube. It will be interesting to see how this
will effect our history.
“History is made on the streets, not on the internet, I told
myself.” Page 190
Once he got the revolution started on the internet, and
after the people started gathering in the streets, and truly protesting for a
new government, the internet was not quite as powerful. When it comes down to
it, people fighting in the streets against the government and police, is when
things begin to change. It is what makes the people in power take notice.
“one very famous TV anchor claimed that protestors in Tahrir
were attacking unarmed police soldiers while the innocent soldiers were voluntarily
carrying fainting protestors to ambulances.” Page 191
This made me laugh. It’s hard to believe that what is
supposed to be credible source could produce such lies. This happens so
frequently in media it can be difficult to tell what is fact and what has been
fabricated.
Chapter 8
“You and the rest of those kids protesting do not appreciate
the value of this country, and you have no idea how much we sacrifice for the
sake of the home land. You don’t put your lives on the line like we do” page
223
This must have made him realize that the security police and
parts of the regime genuinely believe that they were doing their jobs the best
they could, and they could not understand why the youth of Egypt was so upset.
From their point of view they were the patriots, and the rebels were the
enemies of Egypt.
“The army did not and would not use force against the
citizens of Egypt. It was a signal moment in the revolution: there would be no
bloodbath at the hands of the army.” Page 227
This must have been the biggest confidence booster for the
rebels. They now had the support of the army, and that must have been a major
eye opener to the regime, as well as a warning that this revolution was truly
on its way to toppling the country’s corrupt leaders.
“The new Egyptian minister of interior announced that the
police force had returned to it’s original motto “the police serve the people,”
in an attempt to reduce the protestors fury.” 232
The attempts that the new leaders made after Jan25th were
laughable. They continued to deny the seriousness of the protestors, and the negotiations
they offered were far from what the people demanded. This revolution was about
a lot more than the motto of the police officers.
Chapter 9
“In their faces I could not sense a tate for sadism or
torture. They did not seem miserable or cruel. Instead, the faces I saw could
have belonged to any young middle class Egyptians.” Page 250
While he was being held in the cell he thought of his
captors as the evil seuqurity gaurds that were capable of smashing a mans head
on a rock. He found that they were people similar to him, and could have been
walking the streets as a friendly Egyptian civilian like himself. He did not
expect to find people who had as many strong feelings about their country as he
did.
“Seriously, do you consider yourself someone who loves this
country and it’s people? You are nothing but a propaganda minister who spreads
lies, and I certainly do not want to appear on a TV channel run by you! People
like you should be in prison and not in government positions!” page 266
It would be great to say something like this to all of the
big news companies in America. The news anchors and reporters spreading lies to
this country should be held responsible for their actions. I think if anyone
who has a position in a major news corporation should feel a tremendous amount
of guilt for the untrue information that is enforced on the blind and naive people
around the world.
“Everybody have to come home, we want to have normal life we
don’t want anybody in the streets. Go to work, bring once again back the
tourists, go to the normal life, save the economy of the country.” 268
I cannot believe that General Omar Soloman would actually
come out on TV and say this. I was outraged to read this! Maybe if he had not
said this in his broken English it would not have sounded so bad, but for him
to tell people to just go home, go back to work, go back to sleep, forget this
whole thing ever happened. Go back to normal so you can start buying things,
and rebuild the economy, so I can start making more money off you all again.
Our government in our own country would want the exact same thing. The people
in power don’t want you to be involved with your own life. They just expect you
to be silent and continue the cycle of making them money.
Epilogue:
“Thanks to modern
technology, participatory democracy is becoming a reality.” Page 293
This is really exciting! It never really occurred to me how
much power technology like social media has. It makes it possible for everyone
to have their own little voice, which can be combined with other people who are
saying the same thing. This makes it possible for ideas to spread really
quickly and for them to gain a lot of support.
“Slowly but surely, the weapons of mass oppression are
becoming extinct.” Page 293
The governments around the world have been able to control
their populations through their media. Now in the 21st century these
old methods no longer work on the youth. The youth of the world has almost been
set free by our technology. We are free to access endless amounts of
information, so we will not be so easily fooled by any government trying to brainwash,
control, and manipulate us.
“The revolution in Egypt was different: it was truly a spontaneous
movement led by nothing other than the wisdom of the crowd.” Page 293
This is a major point of this book. The revolutions of the
past started with one charismatic leader, one person who’s voice spoke for the
people. No all the people have a voice that can be easily heard by anyone with
an internet connection. A single person is not as effective at making new
polices as the entire consensus of the nation.
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