Egypt: Be Careful What You Wish For

In case you haven’t heard the news, Egypt is having some major protests over economic conditions and human rights.  Egyptian citizens are using social media and text messages to coordinate numerous protests throughout the country.  Yesterday there were even reports of over two million protesters gathering in Cairo!  The mainstream media (and many on Facebook) seems to be wishing for the current Egyptian government to be overthrown and replaced.

If you are a casual observer of these protests, you have likely heard that this is a good thing and that democracy is taking root in Egypt.  This opinion may be true, but it may be naive to jump to this conclusion and blindly support the protesters.  History is full of examples of a dictator being replaced by someone much worse.  While Egyptian President Mubarak may not be a great leader by American standards, whoever ends up replacing him could be much worse.  Americans should do some research and not blindly support movements just because a friend on Facebook told them to.

Let’s jump back to late 1978, when Iranian students protested and eventually removed the  Shah of Iran from power.  The result? Religious fanatics took power, 52 American citizens were held hostage for 444 days and Iran became one of the world leaders in state-sponsored terrorism.  If Iran gets a nuclear bomb and uses it against Israel, Europe, or even America, it will be a direct result of the 1978 movement.

Let’s go further into history.   In 1917, the Communists in Russia toppled the Tsar, and the suffering of the Russian people was magnified.  Lennon and Stalin went on to liquidate well over 20 million people while pushing their Communism on the rest of the world, causing 500,000 American causalities in the Korean and Vietnam conflicts.  The Tsar was terrible, but what followed was much worse.

In China, Mao Zedong took on dictator Chiang Kai-shek, who was backed by the U.S.  While Chiang Kai-shek could be brutal at times, he was nowhere near the killer that Mao was.   By most estimates, Mao was responsible for killing between 40 to 70 million people between 1949 to 1976.   The Russian Bolsheviks and the Chinese Communists were both popular uprisings against dictators, but the success of these revolutions caused nearly 100 million deaths.

Of course history is full of examples of popular movements being good for the world.  No one can argue that the American Revolution and the Tiananmen Square protests weren’t good causes.  Gandhi’s peaceful movement for an independent India, as well as the fight to end apartheid in South Africa, were movements worthy of everyone’s support.

What I hope readers will take from this article is that not all grass-root, populace movements are good.  The Egyptian protests may well be a good cause  worth supporting, but you should do your research before blindly getting behind it.  While the ruling monarchy in Saudi Arabia is not democratic, a toppled King would likely result in al-Qaeda type personalities controlling the country, along with much of the world’s oil supply.  The same could happen in Egypt; President Mubarak could be overthrown and replaced by someone much worse.  When it comes to Egypt, do your research and be careful what you wish for.  Ensure you are supporting the next Gandhi and not the next Mao!