

Self-organizing systems in Egyptian protests - dctoedt
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/04/world/middleeast/04opposition.html

======
mycroftiv
He that outlives this day, and comes safe home, Will stand a tip-toe when the
day is named, And rouse him at the name of Tahrir. He that shall live this
day, and see old age, Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours, And say
'To-morrow is January 25th:' Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars.
And say 'These wounds I had Tahrir Square.' Old men forget: yet all shall be
forgot, But he'll remember with advantages What feats he did that day: then
shall our names. Familiar in his mouth as household words Be in their flowing
cups freshly remember'd. This story shall the good man teach his son; And the
25th of January shall ne'er go by, From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remember'd; We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so
vile, This day shall gentle his condition: And gentlemen in Egypt now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here, And hold their manhoods
cheap whiles any speaks That fought with us in Tahrir Square.

~~~
mahmud
Half the protesters are women and don't "hold their manhoods" :-) and the
other half are mostly college stoners, fruit vendors and intellectual-type
nerds. More Woodstock than Braveheart, imo.

~~~
mycroftiv
I agree! How about: '...but no explanation, no mix of words or music or
memories can touch that sense of knowing that you were there and alive in that
corner of time and the world. Whatever it meant...History is hard to know,
because of all the hired bullshit, but even without being sure of "history" it
seems entirely reasonable to think that every now and then the energy of a
whole generation comes to a head in a long fine flash, for reasons that nobody
really understands at the time-and which never explain, in retrospect, what
actually happened.' ~HST

Really though I feel bad hanging any "western" literary quote on top of the
amazing events in Egypt. I'm sure something from Egyptian culture would make a
more appropriate quote than either Shakespeare or Hunter Thompson. Trying to
follow the unfolding events has brought tears to my eyes of both joy and
sadness more than once, and I am in awe of the courage and spirit and dynamic
human energy of the revolution in progress.

~~~
mahmud
Nothing wrong with citing "Western" literature, they're doing that themselves
:-)

[http://totallycoolpix.com/wp-
content/uploads/2011/30012011_e...](http://totallycoolpix.com/wp-
content/uploads/2011/30012011_egypt_riots_02/egypt_85.jpg)

True story, I grew up reading the Grimm tales in Arabic and was SHOCKED as a
grown man when I discovered they were not original Arabic works :-)

~~~
sp332
That's nothing, you should read them in the original Klingon!

------
motters
In my opinion this sort of leaderless organisation based upon rapid electronic
communication is an early precursor to automated governance. Recent tax
evasion protests in the UK have also drawn similar complaints about being
leaderless, but as software mediated collective organisation becomes more
sophisticated this may be the direction of the future.

~~~
hermanthegerman
This electronic communication thing seems to be a western myth, the protests
took place throughout a week of cut down internet. It's just how we currently
observe it, but that doesn't mean it's how it works on the ground.

