We are all Egyptians

So, its a new day in Egypt.  It is at moments like this that we all stop and consider what it means to be free.  There is talk of democracy in the air--what it means, whether we really have it here in America, whether other countries with dictatorships will fall.  Imagine.....in  olden times, and I am talking 100 years ago and before,  news of a revolution would take time to reach us....sometimes weeks, depending where you were on the globe.  Details would be incomplete, it would take days, or even months to fully understand the nature of an event like a revolution and even more time to understand its impact.

But today, literally, the whole world watched in real time as a nation of people rose up, peacefully, and grabbed their own destiny from the hands of a small group of men bent on doing everything they could to keep the people from becoming self aware.  It was miraculous really.  We have often read in history books about movements that changed a society, but somehow I never felt like I was living through it like I did this week.

Our media environment has changed us.  We are now irreversibly a  global community.  All of humanity knew about this event at the same time.... in fact as it happened.  This was really the first time(maybe with the exception of the falling of the Berlin Wall) in the history of mankind that the entire planet bore witness to the emergence of the human spirit simultaneously, and it is an inspiring moment.  It makes one believe that we as a species still have the power to really guide our own destiny.

There are so many times when it seems that events just keep on coming at us and we don't really seem to have control of them.  Sometimes I feel like I am caught in the rapids of the river of time and going so fast that I am only concerned about my immediate surroundings.  But because of our ability to be joined together by the web and instant communication, the entire human race can reach out and keep perspective because we can suddenly see over the mountains in a way we couldn't before.

As a collective mind, we all see that freedom is the right of all human beings.  Universal human aspiration and morality become clear to all.  And we see how our own circumstances and condition relate to what appears to be a spontaneous eruption of the desire to live free.  We measure our condition against that yardstick, and if you live in a county like Syria, or Iran, or China, or Russia, or Saudi Arabia, or Columbia, or Cuba, you are asking yourself why you must suffer, why you can't have that freedom too.

It is a bad time to be a dictator.   I find myself looking at my society and wondering if we appreciate how much democracy we have lost.  The spoils of life seem to be in the hands of the rich and corporate elite and their political lackeys and lobbyists.  Huge numbers of Americans are struggling with everyday life because democracy has gotten off track in America.  Democracy is supposed to obtain from the bottom up, but it seems like our society is organized from the top down.  The needs of the great majority of Americans always seem to come last compared to the intricate web of largesse and economic and political oppression that has been created by those who are only concerned about their own well-being and wealth at the expense of all others.

I look at Egypt and I wonder when the great mass of Americans will become self aware like the great mass of Egyptians that finally leveled the playing field this week in Cairo and Alexandria.  There is a breaking point for all people who find themselves increasingly disenfranchised.  The Tea Party is the canary in the mine here in the United States.  If we don't find a way to make our society more equitable for all, what we saw in Egypt over the last three weeks will suddenly appear in centers of power all over the US.  Seeing the jubilation of a people finally freed is heady stuff.  It reduces patience and encourages activism.  What an incredible time to be alive.