Evidently the NY Times sees the unrest in Egypt as more than a yearning for Democracy. Instead, in a January 30 article we have Rich, Poor and a Rift Exposed by Unrest.
With American inequality at an all time high, pervasive unemployment and underemployment, and with productive careers of the young being foreclosed upon, when will the American people demand payback from the rich who have robbed them? Time and time again we hear about the class war waged by the wealthy against labor, abetted by a government that promotes business rather than employment in the State of the Union.
It is coming to fruition in Egypt.
Looters from Cairo’s vast shantytowns attacked gleaming suburban shopping malls, wild rumors swirled of gunfights at the bridges and gates to the most expensive neighborhoods and some of their residents turned wistful about Mr. Mubarak and his authoritarian rule.
"It is as if a domestic war is declared," said Sarah Elayashi, 33, from an apartment in the affluent neighborhood of Heliopolis, not far from Mr. Mubarak’s palace. "And we have nothing to defend ourselves but kitchen knives and mop sticks."
"The protesters are against us," she added. "We hope President Mubarak stays because at least we have national security. I wish we could be like the United States with a democracy, but we cannot. We have to have a ruler with an iron hand."
That speaks volumes about how the wealthy welcome abusive authoritarianism. It can happen here when those who have lost so much to the wealthy have little more to lose.