Dr. Khaled Fahmy's answer to a question at 1:09:50 of "What do we really want - when we say we don't have a solution [to the current situation in Egypt]?" Think about Egypt's agricultural problems. These are acute. We have a shortage of water, we have a very serious rise in salinity, the delta is basically flooded, we are facing the prospect of serious environmental calamity with global warming. Now, what's the solution? If one poses the question as such; Is it really conceivable for anyone to say that there's a solution. There's no solution as such, there's no 'magic answer' that can be fixed in a year or two. What we are calling for is a methodology in dealing with problems. A methodology that can generate solutions; short-term, medium, long-term. A methodology which we call democracy. Democracy does not mean that will find the answer. It means that we will be presented with a plethora of different answers and we will try different ones until we manage. What can be fixed in certain countries, can not work in Egypt and so on and so forth. And this is [now] difficult because we don't [only] have the mechanisms, we do not have the skills, we do not have the experience. And I admit. We do not know how to have meetings. We do not know how to hold an agenda and stick to it. I'm not dismissive of this. I'm not saying that because, you know, these are just trivial skills so how can we even start to understand and fix the national budget [when we don't have such trivial skills]. I'm actually reversing it. I'm saying these are crucial skills. But these are not [normal] skills. These are the skills of democracy. Of how to hold meetings, of how to reach out, of how to listen to each other. How to come up with solutions. How to build coalitions. How to think strategically. How to dream. And how to translate one's dream into [different alternatives]. These are not skills that one is born with. These are not skills that certain countries have but other countries do not have [...]. These are skills that are inculcated by practice. And with practice comes of course many mistakes and many errors. [...] We are the ones who actually call for long-term stability. We are the ones who say "Let us bite the bullet. Let us take the risk" because the longer we postpone dealing with these [problems], the more difficult it is for younger people, for the coming generation. And I think this is where the generational thing comes in. People in their 60s and 70s [...] don't really care about what happens in 20, 15 even 10 years' time. They want to fix what's happening in the coming year, maximum 5 years. It's the young people who care about the future and it's people with families who care about their children. And I think we were the ones who were responsible. And in fact by saying ultimately that this status quo in untenable. It's preservable. But the cost of preserving it is so high for the coming generation. That's a very difficult message. It's particularly difficult message to accept when you see 'what's happening in neighbouring countries', with complete collapse, with constant fear being agitated in the minds of people by the media and security forces. I'm not saying that there are no solutions. Every problem has a solution. Some are more difficult than others. Some will take longer time than others. And again to go back to the question before, it's a matter of decades. It can be years, it can be decades. It doesn't really matter how long because there's no really an 'answer'. It's the process. It's "The road taken rather than the destination" (to use a familiar metaphor). And I think in that sense, we actually had an answer. In the 'methodology' of handling things. We had an answer. They do not. This government does not have an answer.
Congrats! You picked the most salient and powerful insight reflected in his presentation. Dr. Fahmy, squarely put his finger on the crux of our predicament in Egypt!
I was intending to write a comment about the overwhelming naivety of going to streets unknowing that the SCAF are somehow conspiring and having links with those who were in charge of "Tamarud" campaign; but since he was asked a similar Q I can say this isn't only naivety; It's also absurdity claiming you couldn't even have known what's going on back there. this is absurdity mixed with stubbornness to admit your own mistakes.
