It is always the economy!

Submitted by Prashant (United States), Jul 6, 2013 at 00:58

Dear Dr Pipes, Your reader Sara told us not to celebrate yet because the protests in Egypt were not for freedom but for bread. Sara's observation are correct but draconian philosophies always fail due to economic reasons. The realization that the philosophies were doomed right from the very begnning comes much later. That is always the case. Even communism failed because it bankrupted the communist economies not because any one read or wrote great rallying cries of freedom.

In our resource starved planet, every human has to work at his/her maximum efficiency level just to survive and there is no room for suppressing talent or subjugating people on grounds of religion. Similarly, there is no room for inciting young people to come on streets and kill and die at the drop of a hat. All this is unsustainable. But all this is going on in a marry-go-round fashion in countries from Rabat to Istanbul to Islamabad (if one country is quiet, some other is burning. When the other becomes quiet, the first one starts burning).

The writing is on the wall for Islamic leaders to read. If they care to read it. I agree, however, there is no reason to celebrate. What is happening in the Islamic world should make us all pensive and sad.

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