Thomas Friedman's "Pray. Hope. Prepare.": But Let's First Get the Facts Straight

The following blog entry, which was submitted as an online comment in response to Thomas Friedman's op-ed, "Pray. Hope. Prepare.", was censored by The New York Times:

Tom Friedman's concludes his New York Times op-ed "Pray. Hope. Prepare." (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/13/opinion/13friedman.html?hp) by stating:

"Make no mistake where my heart lies. I still believe this Arab democracy movement was inevitable, necessary and built on a deep and authentic human quest for freedom, dignity and justice. But without extraordinary leadership, the Arab transitions are going to be much harder than in Eastern Europe. Pray for Germanys. Hope for South Africas. Prepare for Yugoslavias."

An Arab democracy movement "built on a deep and authentic human quest for freedom, dignity and justice"? Please, Tom, give it a rest. The unrest in the Muslim Middle East has little or nothing to do with democracy.

Friedman focuses on Egypt, where he believes a homogenous population makes the country ripe for a "peaceful Arab democracy revolution".

Indeed, let's have a look at Egypt, where 82% of the population favors stoning people who commit adultery, where 84% favor the death penalty for people who abandon Islam, and where deadly clashes between Muslims and Christian Copts persist even after the events at Tahrir Square.

A "Million Woman March" for "fair and equal opportunity for all Egyptian citizens -- beyond gender, religion or class" brought less than 1,000 participants, who soon found themselves engaged in fisticuffs and shouting matches with their opponents.

Egypt has an annual population growth rate of some 2.0%, which, coupled with an economy dependent upon tourism (11% of GDP during quiet times) preordains that Egypt will not emerge from its indigence. Some 18% of the population still lives below the poverty line, and official unemployment is in the double-digits. Youth unemployment in particular has been labeled a "time bomb" by IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn (http://www.cnbc.com/id/41363921/Egypt_Youth_Unemployment_Was_Time_Bomb_IMF_Head).

In short, the unrest in Egypt has little to do with "democracy" and everything to do with poverty and the absence of economic opportunity, i.e. a struggle between haves and have-nots.

"Prepare for Yugoslavias"? Although recent events in the Muslim Middle East also bring to the fore festering ethnic (e.g., Arabs discriminating against Kurds) and religious (e.g., Sunnis seeking to dominate Shiites, Alawites seeking to retain control over Sunnis, Sunnis attacking Christian Copts, Shiites persecuting Baha'is) conflicts, the turbulence also stems from joblessness with no solution in sight.

Democracy and a "quest for freedom, dignity and justice" barely enter into the equation.