Nostalgia in the minds of Egyptians today

Nostalgia

All of us are nostalgic.. we get this feeling when we look back and believe that our past was better than our present.. we think that if times go back our lives will be better.. or if time has stopped.. that is fine.. but when we are all looking back to a miserable life and compare it to another miserable life .. then we prefer one misery to the other.. this is just pitiful.

After Mubarak, and due to the stage of political struggle and loss we are living in, Egyptians are nostalgic… some are nostalgic to monarchy times… to the so called democracy at the time, elegance and cosmopolitan cities in the country … others are nostalgic to nasser’s time and the sense of national pride that he represented, regardless of lack of liberties that we are calling for… others are nostalgic to sadat’s time and our friendship with the west and the end of wars… all this, regardless of how far i agree or disagree with the reasons behind such nostalgia, the surprise is .. that many are nostalgic to Mubarak’s time…
The latter is also normal… but in the sense of we knew our way.. it was chaotic.. but I knew how to maneuver …. But in the sense that Mubarak and his regime were patriotic.. or they cared about the people.. this is nonsense.. I can’t believe that people have such short memory to why the rebelled… yes.. may be we are not happy with the current government … or some of us are really scared for the life that we know and we are used to.. but to just think of Mubarak regime now as flawless or balanced.. or thinking that what is going on with the Dam issue is not the accumulation of bad policies for many many years… and the current government for a year now did nothing to resolve the issue! Yes.. it is from bad to worse.. but the first is not much better… some people who are in denial of the mistakes of the current system of governance are just focused on the mistakes of Mubarak.. and they forget the mistakes of the current government in place for a year now.. moreover, those who are against the current regime are putting all the blame on it and want to show the Mubarak and his regime were heroes .. no.. they were not heroes.. they caused what we are in with their bad policies.. again.. in reality what I see is.. no one cares about the people anymore… and that is part or should be the top priority of our national interests..

Once, in one of my classes… while trying not to be biased to my political views while discussing the eras of Nasser and Sadat.. I ended a class saying that as you can see, when we stopped war nobody cared about the people… that was a simple sum up to the change of course of action of the government when it comes to policies in the benefits of workers and peasants rather than business people…. One of my students picked that line and asked me for my explanation later…
So I reflected on it and I informed her, that when war was on.. yes there were no freedoms to the people… life was hard.. but when the presidents knew there is lack of sugar, tea or rice.. they made sure people have it… receiving the minimum of goods to sustain a household was a must.. the government thought it is its responsibility to ensure that people find their basic needs… whether out of care for the people or to ensure minimum unrest internally because they couldn’t afford any chaos internally while the country is already involved in external wars.. it doesn’t matter.. for the people .. the regular people.. who don’t give a damn about politics or economics or these complicated matters of politicians in cairo.. all what they care for is to find food, drink, health care, be able to find a job .. earn enough money to sustain the family.. that when it exists.. people are ok..and maybe happy and relaxed… so.. in reality.. laws that were protecting the workers and farmers started to change after the wars.. the attempt to waive subsidies over the bread also started after the peace treaty.. so.. at the end.. people are still aspiring for a leader that think of them.. a government that puts their needs as a top priority not political gains… hence, if the few of us were relaxed in the previous regime.. and if many people say we were better off.. not because it was good.. but it was slightly better than the unknown we are living in… some who are in their 20s didn’t know better… that is why their comparison is simply between what they know and the unknown… but it has nothing to do with their aspirations to a real better life…
So, in brief… it is sad when people now say Mubarak was this or that.. or the people that we all know that were corrupt administratively, politically or financially are becoming heroes today!! If we can’t prove their corruption because they were good in hiding papers or messing up with the files that doesn’t mean that they were not at least corrupt politically…. So .. let’s please cut the chase and stop praising the old regime…. The current is not much better.. but that previous one was not good either.