The human condition....played out on the global theatre. Ohh, what a tangled web one can weave. I have been watching the global deterioration of the human condition from my sofa all March. I had a case of the flu and it seems a "nasty" abscess (per Dr. Tamer, my ever faithful dentist). While enjoying what I feel has been pure theatre, something akin to the Divine Comedy, I have taken to turning the TV off and covering my head with a pillow. Escapism....my next post. I pass this gentleman in this picture on days when I walk home from school. He is our laundry/dry cleaning guy. We do have modern and updated dry cleaners as well, but this is our standard laundry facility. I personally do not use the maquege as we call them here, but many people do. They provide an excellent service by the way. It can get hot and dusty in that small little room and they do not use air conditioning. He could not afford to pay the bill. I want you to imagine working in that small, hot room with only a fan blowing hot air and exhaust fumes in your face all day. I do wonder what this man understands about capitalism vs. socialism? I wonder if anyone told him that American kids are getting assessed for depression in the US school systems? I wonder if he realizes that this global economic catastrophe will literally sweep away trillions of dollars, an estimated 30 million jobs and the life savings of millions more? I do wonder what his opinion is about that? I have come to the sad realization over the past month that my grandmother was woefully wrong when she taught me about human nature. She explained that people are essentially good by nature, and that sometimes when good people are faced with adversity, they can react in a bad way. Well, tell that to the maquege. If that is not facing adversity daily, I don't know who is and I am pretty sure he is not twittering his financial adviser daily. Capitalism, socialism, it all boils down to the same stew, greed. Greed has become a part of the human condition whether you are a capitalist or a socialist. This whole global crisis is the end result of greed and the complete and utter lack of moral restraint played out on the global theatre. I support Barak Obama, but if I were on his economic team I would whole heartedly let GM, AIG and all those banks fail. I wouldn't put one dime of tax payers money into any of them. Our globalized institutions are dinosaurs. They don't operate efficiently and they haven't been operating efficiently for some time. It is all too clear watching their CEO's testifying on TV that they don't truly grasp or understand what is going on in their own organizations. What a comedy, what theatre. A friend of mine works for a large marketing firm here in Egypt. He creates and produces commercials and videos for a certain client base. He went to his daughters school about an issue that required both his and his wife's attention. In the middle of the whole dog and pony show this friend spoke up and said, "Listen, don't sell me illusions and dreams...I create those on a daily basis." That is what happened to the global economy...funds managers, financial advisors, and banks sold people illusions. I am so tired of listening to whining from individuals all over the world about nationalism and capitalism, socialism and all the other "isms." Banks are not capitalists...manufacturers are capitalists...people who create TANGIBLE things are capitalists. There is difference.

Greed.....the essence of the human condition.....on the global theatre.

Until next time,

A Woman of Egypt