In case you’re still doubting it, politicians, authority figures and ‘leaders’ do not care about you, the average citizen.

This is hardly an epiphany, it’s only a repeated scenario of constant confusion and disappointment that I can only make easier when I pour out on paper. I keep reciting it in my head that we’re all being used as puppets by the different authority figures and, of course, the media. We are a very emotional crowd and this is certainly being abused to the favor of every politician with a current official post or potential one, no matter what ‘side’ they’re on.

Authorities have failed us, they have been failing us for decades, so what’s new? Only that the younger generation has finally stepped up and has been struggling to make its voice heard in the middle of all the mayhem of dirty politics believing that we are truly being respected and our voice is actually considered. Sadly, we are now fully exposed to the only obvious truth about the world of politics: It is horrifically disgusting and inhumane.

You know what else is horridly shocking? How contradicting we all have become. I don’t blame us, this is all pretty messed up and straight out confusing, but I don’t see how hypocrisy has become the way to deal with it. “Yes, we all have to go out and support our beloved army in agreement to start the war on terrorism,” “This is a war against Islam. We will sacrifice our lives and the lives of our families for an Islamic umma (nation).” And then, somehow, we get all appalled when we hear the death toll and start cringing at the sight of bloody and burnt corpses of every age bracket. Where did you see it all going? Whichever side you’re on, this was bound to happen to you and your fellow believers.

We will die in this war of selfishness, for different reasons, but the fact remains: We are being killed and it’s all for personal interests to every side that plays a role in this sick mess.

Our ministry of interior is as heartless, abusive, manipulative and corrupt as it always has been. The opposition leaders are as weak, unprepared, idiotic, short sighted and self centered as they always have been. The Muslim Brotherhood leaders are as bloody, suppressed, unpatriotic, extreme, religiously manipulative and alarmingly organized as they always have been. The Egyptian army is as glorified, strategic, fearless and witty as it has always been. The media is as disgustingly biased, subjective and unethical as it always has been. The west is as self-centered, manipulative, cowardly and selfish as it always has been. Where is the common factor in all of that? Political prostitution and inhumane filth.

While all those mentioned above play their dirty games, the simple Egyptian citizen is left feeling as emotional, illogical, confused, politically ignorant, inadequately educated and falsely utopian as he always has been.

Stop glorifying the so-called leaders. Can’t you see? You are glorifying your own murderers, whatever you believe in and whichever side you’re taking. If they don’t literally murder your soul, they will murder your thoughts and spirit. Believe in a cause and fight for that cause, not for a mere false symbol of it that is as mortal as you are.

The following is borrowed from one of the dearest people to my heart, Mahmoud El Baroudi – 31 years old – and from a discussion we were having earlier. Here’s how he summarized it so a person with a politically simple mind like mine can understand:

Both parties are fighting for a different cause; the army and police are fighting in the name of Nationalism and Egypt as we know it — a political ideology that has emerged in Egypt in the beginning of the 20^th Century, then got engraved in its simplest form post 1952’s coup in the “Mighty Egyptian Army.” The Islamists have always believed in the Islamic state that grows beyond Egypt and into the Arab world — a political ideology advocated by Hassan El Banna, founder of the Muslim Brotherhood. Both ideologies existed in the Egyptian society for decades. Since Gamal Abdel Nasser’s rule, the army rose as the super power in the country promoting nationalism, Arabism, and all other terms we read in textbooks. While Islamists, representing a danger to the new rule, were exiled or sent to prison.

Violence and oppression created more violence; both parties used violence against each other. The only difference is that the army used the law to protect its ideology and interest, while the Islamists were the outcasts. Sixty years down the road, Islamists are in ultimate power resulting in:

• Constitution in the making.
• A circus of a parliament with no proper institutions resulting in the creation of a dictatorship.
• The long struggle between the Islamists, the army and police state, which could have been bridged by moderate liberal leaders providing new approaches that would advocate for a more inclusive society and political scene.

“To me, people my age did their part but everyone else failed us. The lack of true liberal leaders resulted in nationalism being represented in the army. That does not represent me as a person and that’s why I can’t find my place in the midst of it all,” Baroudi concludes.

I spoke to a few of my closest friends and loved ones and would like to conclude this post with thoughts they have expressed about the current situation.

Editor’s note: Feel free to share your point of view in the comments section, vent it out..

“— Politics, noun from Greek  ???????? (politika) of, for, or relating to citizens — Let’s stop stripping politics of its purpose, of its soul,” Ahmed El Wannas, 32.

“I remember I always thought we were a collective and kind-hearted society especially towards each other. Unfortunately the past two to three years revealed a very bloody nature in us that I never thought I’d see in Egyptians. It’s quite sad,” Naila Fateen, 31.

“Politicians worry about politicians,” anonymous, 35.

“I feel foggy and confused. I don’t think anyone understands what’s happening. I cannot fathom what’s happening. I’m scared of what will come,” Faika Abdel Malek, 60.

“For some reason, many people are fixated on the idea of ‘unity’; being united for one political stance. You can mainly see it during euphoric states, usually post ousting a president. This will never work, and people need to understand that democracy by definition means that there are going to be many different political views and demands and if you’re in power, your job is to strive for it to shape the political scene as you see fit. The idea of ‘let’s unite for Egypt’ is very childish,” Nahed Barakat, 31.