Two articles in the May 2, 2013 issue of the New York Times
say something about Egypt
that is refreshingly outside the traditional insult and denigration of the
country we have been accustomed to for several decades. It is, however, a point
of view that the opposition parties articulate in Egypt . This makes the articles
somewhat unbalanced, even misleading in some places; a situation I shall try to
rectify. The first article was written by Kareem Fahmi under the title: “Egypt 's
Birthrate Rises as Population Control Policies Vanish.” The second was written
by Farah Halime under the title: “Egypt 's Long-Term Economic Recovery
Plan Stalls.”
What is not explained in the articles is that the population
of Egypt
is currently increasing at a faster rate than before because of two main
reasons. First, the people are more optimistic about their future and that of
the country despite the difficulties that were created in the aftermath of the
2011 Revolution. Second, the population had been following the typical chart of
a newly industrialized country. That is, life expectancy had climbed gradually
from about 60 years of age in the decade of the Nineteen Eighties to about 72
years because the death rate was brought down to 5 per 1000 – among the lowest
in the world. This caused the growth rate of the population to accelerate.
The phenomenon motivated the previous government to
institute a program of family planning that the young embraced because many
were struggling to transition from a rural life to an urban one. They delayed
getting married, and when they did, they put off having children; decisions
that helped to reduce the growth rate of the population but not eliminate it
entirely. And while this was happening, the people that did not die at the age
of 60 were now aging, and they began to die off in their late sixties and early
seventies. This also added to the reduction in the growth rate of the
population but did not eliminate it entirely.
Then the Revolution happened at a time when the population
level had not yet stabilized. Those who were of marriage age began to marry
again and when they did, they started having children without much delay. As
well, those who put off having children before the Revolution started to have
them now before their biological clocks ran out. This caused the sudden
increase in the growth rate we see at this time. It is a baby boom that should
stabilize at some point because urbanization is still ongoing, and family
planning will again become popular in the country.
But this is not the big story behind the population shifts
in Egypt .
There is another story, one that has more to do with the media in North America
than what goes on in the bedrooms or the maternity wards of Egypt . That
story is encapsulated in the following passage of Fahmi's article: “After
steady declines, the birthrate in 2012 surpass[ed] a level last seen before the
government of Mubarak expanded family planning and publicity campaigns to
curtail population growth that he blamed for crippling Egypt's development.”
In fact, that story was mentioned in the media over here but
not as a news item. It came as part of the anti-Egypt, anti-Mubarak spewing of
the venom. It is that every Jew and his non-Jewish barking dog that got hold of
the item used it to speak mockingly of Egypt and of Mubarak. The Jew and
his dog first lied about the health of the Egyptian economy at a time when it
was booming, then said that Mubarak was blaming the growth in the population
for the economic performance he could not deliver. And this was pure raw sewage
served to the American people together with a glass of Kool Aid from the Jewish
machine of hate and incitement.
As can be seen from the rest of the article, the debate is
now raging in Egypt
without the participation President Morsi who has other matters competing for
his attention. And before we leave this subject to take up the next article,
look at this passage: “Efforts to rein in the birthrate intensified after 1994,
when Egypt
hosted an international conference on population and development.” Ever heard
of this conference before now? The chances are you did not if you only followed
the North American media.
And that happened because it was a strictly enforced taboo
to mention Egypt
at the time. It is that the Jewish organizations had convinced the editors and
producers of the Continent it was antidemocratic to speak freely, but was
democratic to parrot everything Jewish without thinking. And all the pathetic
editors and producers of the Continent chanted “amen to that” in one voice.
They chanted without thinking, of course.
We now take up the article written by Halime. What strikes
you about it is none other than the title itself. It speaks of a recovery plan
that stalled. Your first reaction would be: What recovery? If it is stalled
now, when was it un-stalled? And why is it that when it comes to Egypt or
anything Arab or Muslim, we never hear of something happening – let alone
something succeeding – but we always hear of things failing; things we never
even knew existed. Is this a manifestation of that Jewish style democracy
again?
Have those media parrots not yet gotten rid of the Jewish
yoke weighing on their shoulders? Pity them who can put food on the table to
feed their families only if they agree to run around the world and yell what
they know is a big, fat lie:
We're democratic and you're not;
You're tasteless and we're hot.
Look at us and change the mood;
Follow us and you'll be as good.”
Once you get past the shock of the article's title, you see
that here too, the debate about the economy is raging in Egypt . You are
impressed with the amount of knowledge that was exuded by the people who spoke
to the interviewer. And you cannot help but admire these people when compared
to such stars of economic theory in America as Paul Ryan and Michelle
Bachmann.
Yes, things have stalled a bit in Egypt but so they did in the rest
of the world. They are beginning to improve in the world, and so they are in Egypt as well.
Despite the Revolution, Egypt
did not experience the recession that was felt in many of its European trading
partners. Instead, the economy scored an average growth of 2 percent, equaling
the growth in the population.
That meant there has not been a reduction in the standard of
living – a far cry from what happened in places like Greece ,
Spain , Ireland and yes, even America – none of which had a
revolution.