A series of protests against the "bedroom Tax"were organised via Facebook yesterday.
Its remarkable how social networks play a part in mobilising protests. We all saw how Facebook and Twitter were instrumental in the Arab Spring uprisings, particularly in Egypt, where the networks were closed down in an effort to thwart demonstrators.
While the people of Egypt, have a right to dislike, even detest, the tyranny under which they live, that discontent was very effectively harnessed by NGOs which were connected with western intelligence services.
Probably the most obvious of these organisations was "Freedom House", which ran courses designed to equip young Egyptian activists in the effective use of social networks to organise demonstrations.
In a Freedom House article entitled, “New Generation of Advocates: Empowering Civil Society in Egypt,” It stated that:
Egyptian visiting fellows from all civil society groups received
unprecedented attention and recognition, including meetings in Washington with
U.S. Secretary of State, the National Security Advisor and prominent members of
Congress. In the words of Condoleezza Rice, the fellows represent the “hope for
the future of Egypt.”
Freedom House fellows acquired skills in
civic mobilization, leadership, and strategic planning, and benefit from
networking opportunities through interaction with Washington-based donors,
International organizations and the media. After returning to Egypt, the fellows
received small grants to implement innovative initiatives such as advocating for
political reform through Facebook and SMS messaging.
It seems that this article is no longer available. They were found out.
Egypt court adjourns trial of 'US spies' to April
The Bedroom Tax demonstrations share a common element with the Egyptian revolt. It is the discontent of the people, being harnessed or even hijacked by big organisations with an agenda.
So what do we do? If we sit and do nothing, we are walked all over by self serving politicians, if we protest, we fulfil the agenda of another set of self serving politicians. They may even be the same lot.
Here is a suggestion. The real battle is for your attitude. This is the key area in which it is determined where you stand on everything.
I say that part of the answer is to ease off, on the concept that, "Freedom" is a licence to live in utter selfishness.
