Discussion on War in the Land of Egypt

I really enjoyed our class today and the book War in the Land of Egypt. I hope everyone else enjoyed it as well, and not just me! I am so glad that Dr. Mughazy was able to come today and be of so much help in our discussion.
Some of the things that Dr. Mughazy brought up in class struck me as being extremely important. The first thing is that he said there are only three options for those affected by a corrupt system, but who are not strong enough to overthrow it: 1) that they die for it in attempt to change it, 2) that they simply run from it and their fellow citizens, or 3) that they join it. This is a powerful statement, especially when we are analyzing a different culture and are often prone to judging it for the choices its people make. How do people like the ones in Egypt fight the corruption in their government? Yes, it is up to individuals to take a stand against corruption, but what about when their family suffers from their choice to stand up? And what if their choice to stand up simply does not make any difference in the grand scheme of things? We may judge Masri’s choices, but I wonder if any one of us would have chosen differently if we were put in his situation.
We also discussed the fact that the war in the book really refers to the war between “the have’s and the have-not’s.” It is a war where people are squeezing money out of others “below” them just so that they can give someone “above” them money- someone who is requiring more from them than what they are able to give them. This is sad! So corruption is a self-continued and self-contained system, starting from the top-down. And the “fixer” like the one in the book is needed not to get what you want, but what is yours that someone has taken from you.
All of these thoughts were sobering to me, and made me consider how I might react in a situation like Masri’s.