The art of progress is to preserve order amid change, and to preserve change amid order.
Alfred North Whitehead, Mathematician/Philosopher
As the new day dawned and celebrations continued in Tahrir Square, people headed to work in their fields in my little corner of the country. Some things don't change. I suppose crops need tending even when a revolution is going on.
The people I talked to today reported that, "All Egyptians are happy" with the news that Mr. Mubarak has resigned. When I tried to say that change is good, I was told "No. No. Don't worry. Everything is good here." I came away with the distinct impression that the Arabic word for 'change' is closely related to 'chaos'. Certainly, the regime had tried to use the fear of chaos as justification for not changing. I believe that Egypt will be able to preserve order while championing progressive change. No doubt, there is months of hard work ahead but the hope and determination felt by many Egyptians is lighting the future.
Your observations on change vs. chaos are interesting -especially in the light of events in Tahrir Square. I'm sure we all resist change to some extent. Even those of us who promote it (quite rightly) as a 'good thing' have some vestige of reservation deep down inside. Yet what we've witnessed over the past few weeks show vast numbers of people who appear to embrace and demand change without any reservation. Maybe that's a result of the past 30 years...
ReplyDeleteI'm also reminded of the Buddhist Barometer - it has one one label on the dial - 'CHANGE'
I talked about change with an Egyptian friend saying that I thought it was human to be anxious about the unknown. He thinks fear of change is stronger among Egyptians who are worried even when the change is for the good. Maybe someone needs to translate into Arabic all those shelves of books in the self-help section of our bookstores. :-) BTW I love the image of the Buddhist Barometer.
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