[Grovenet] Exporting Democracy?

[Ron D'Eau Claire]

70% of the residents of Cairo, Egypt live in "informal" communities within
the cities.

This video report from the NY Times takes a look at the attitudes of
Egyptians living there.

http://tinyurl.com/2wgkek 

The goal of those people is not to get anything from the government,
according to the report. Rather, the people do their best to avoid any
contact with government. There is no "intersection" between the lives of the
people and the government and they want it to stay that way. 

These are not wealthy people by most standards. The ones shown live in small
open boats floating in the Nile. They sleep in the open boats, awake with
the dawn, draw some water from the river to make a little tea, then they set
about their day's work trying to catch some of the small fish in the river. 

They don't care about democracy because they don't care about government.
Expect nothing. Get nothing. It's the best way they know how to live.

To "export democracy" to such people would require rebuilding their lives,
their outlook, their attitudes, their fundamental beliefs from the ground
up. Changing government alone would not do it. 

Maybe it's a good thing to do for them. Maybe not. One thing for sure, it's
not simple. 

Ron D'Eau Claire