Nonviolence and Power in Egypt

What I am hearing and reading about is the definite spreading of a new awareness: that people are not helpless in the face of repression, that the seemingly all-powerful dictatorships in the region—against whom struggle was perceived as futile—are actually not so powerful when faced with the real power of ordinary people, and that bringing about massive change is not predicated on the use of military power by a foreign government. It can happen organically, self-reliantly, and nonviolently, and also, importantly, with less casualties than a protracted guerrilla struggle or terrorism.

This is what Jamila Raqib, the executive director of the Albert Einstein Institution, had to say about the subject. See more here.

This got me thinking. There has been a lot written about the recent protests in Egypt (as well as Tunisia and other places), but I would like to focus on the nonviolent aspect of the protests, and what power they hold. This recent wave of protests has been marked by a trend of distinct non violence that (I think) marks a turning point in history - not only for the idea of "revolution" but also the idea of where power lies. If people around the world can truly believe that within their hands they hold enough power collectively to do what is best for their country and the world, I think we will see a shift in the power structure towards more entities that better follow the people's will. That does not necessarily mean democracy, or at least what we conceive of as a democracy, but any system in which the people can have access to the things they need and under which they are not suppress or discriminated against.

This change in the way power is viewed does not result independently from these actions, more that these protests show that the idea of power in the world today has the potential to change. Ideas and overarching and complicated as power do not change over night, but I think that people will increasingly realize that power is abstract - it can be created and destroyed - and eventually with the power a dedicated group of people hold things can be changed. This idea could also infiltrate the workings of politics on an international scale, so that people can have both a duty to their country and to their world. Common Wealth says that in an ever connected age it is becoming more and more important to band together as a world to combat problems that affect us all. If power was viewed as a more encompassing entity then we would have more reason to act. And if this idea does change, if people around the world do believe that whatever their condition they have the power to band together, without violence or war, and make a difference, then we will truly begin to see peaceful change for the better of all.