Optimism is in the air

I had a rare opportunity to talk with a young Egyptian man the other day. After exchanging the usual pleasantries and some small talk I couldn't resist asking him about the Egyptian uprising which happened earlier in the spring. He said that he had been present for the uprising, that he was proud that Mubarak had been removed from power and that he was optimistic that Egyptians would finally get the government that they wanted.

We talked a bit about the uprisings in Syria and Yemen as well and he was saddened by the actions of those respective governments. He pointed out that on paper each of these middle eastern and north African nations that had and are experiencing revolutions are supposedly democratic nations. Each country has fixed term limits for their leaders and that this has been abused for decades in these countries.

He spoke about how the main stream media in both the west and in Egypt paint a false picture of what is actually happening when it comes to such things as Muslim and Christian violence.

It reminded me of this picture:

The thing that caught my attention the most during the conversation was when he said that the movements that found their culmination in the Arab Spring began with 9/11. He talked about how it was that event that got people thinking and talking and while it took time, the catalyst that brought about this revolutionary zeal was one that I had never heard anyone else link to the events of 2011.