Is the revolution being televised?

while I'm not in the DR , I'm most certain that the crisis in Egypt must be available as CNN is world wide as is Fox etc..

Yes, it is on TV here on channels of various languages, including Spanish.

I have not noticed any change in the people or in government activities.

There is poverty and corruption here, but people have the right to assemble, speak out against the government, elect their leaders, etc., etc. These are things the protestors in Egypt are demanding.

I work in northern Africa (Algeria) where we had some demonstrations a few weeks ago. I can say there is some extreme poverty here just as there is some extreme poverty in DR.

One difference may be that in northern Africa, you can?t quell an angry mob with some Presidentes.

Kidding aside, I have noticed that folks from this region (Algeria) are quite idealistic, and detest corruption (although it is rampant), back door dealing and what they perceive as their rulers selling them out to western influence etc. They don?t like what is happening in their country and they are expressing in through civil disobedience; I don?t see it have much to do with religious fanaticism.

And although I see Dominicans as being idealistic as well, I think they are more geared towards settling indifferences through compromise.

Egypt is shown on the spanish speaking channels here, yesterday I saw a lengthy one.
it is not a Theme much discussed here on the streets of the DR,
Dominican Citizens do not relate their Own Country in anyway to the situations and Occurances in Africa,
IMHO what ever happens in Egypt will not have the slightest Influence on DR Live/Thinking/Ruling etc.

My Babysis been with a Friend on their First ever Gal's Vacation without Hubbies and Kids, on a Cruise Ship in Egypt, on Day 2 of the planned 10 Days Vacation the Situations started to escalate, they been on a Bus Tour and could not return to the Dock, they borded their Cruise Ship at a different Location once the Bus found a Route to reach the River. She said there been several Cruise Ships on their Way in a Line out of the Area as the 2nd next one in front of them went under Gunfire.
the Cruise Ship been abandonded, Guests Transfered to Hotels which I have no knowledge about the Location, but they didn't want to stay, so the next morning they went to the Airport to get the next available Flight Out, there been quiet Many Visitors with the same Idea in Mind, 1 night spent at the Airport, then they luckily got 2 Seats on a Plane and came back Home.

been Quiet a Adventure for our Lil One.
She said the Demonstants did damage on the thousands of years old thingies where ever they passed by on the Bus.

Mike

That will be a vacation your sister will never forget. I am so happy to see that she was finally able to get out of the country and safely home.

and She is the complete Opposite of an Adventurous Person, ha ha.

Mike

She will be less adventurous now I suspect.

I've been keeping up with Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen, et al. by reading the news online. I regularly interact with Dominicans from all social classes and education levels. Except for here on dr1, I have yet to hear one Dominican even mention it in passing.

On the other hand, I am beginning to hear people talking about who should be the next president.

wuarhat said:

I have never been to Egypt or Tunisia, so I don't know how closely the poverty and corruption there parallels the Domimican situation, but it seems to me that, if the people in the Domimican Republic made the connection, they could take hope and inspiration from the developments in Africa. I have not been to the Dominican Republic since November and I'm wondering if there has been any coverage of this news there? Is there any talk among the population of the Domimican Republic about how the current events in impoverished and corrupt nations of North Africa applies to their situation or for that matter has there been any talk about how those events are inspired by anything other than religious fanaticism? Has anyone noticed any unusual governmental activities, which might be considered related, there in the last month or so?

Click to expand...

What in the world would make you think that these two countries have anything in common??? I dont think the muslim brotherhood is active in the DR, so why would there be any problems in DR?

We have FALPO and FENETRANO and the 4% people are doing much agitation. Many people are hungry and upset, I think the people of DR are getting fed up. It takes time but Dominicans can and will make a move for change. The thing is their is not one man or person who has captured the imagination of the people yet. The powers that be are also very powerful and can crush any incipient idealistic leader as he is springing up.
Que lastima.

OP: poverty and hunger breed apathy, not revolution. Middle class students have caused all revolutions in history, some, like the U.S., good. Others not so good. The apathetic follow.

In the past few weeks, there have been talks of up coming strikes. But believe you me, nothing like whats happening in Egypt right now. The main motivation for talks of strikes here in the DR, are more related to the rising cost of fuel, and the basic necessities of every day life.

The DR is higher than Egypt on the development index. Tunisia, affluent by MENA standards, is also a little higher the DR. The DR has greater freedom of speech and a better human rights record than both.

Ranking according to income per capita/World Bank 2010
82 Tunisia
88 DR
103 Egypt
List of countries by GDP (PPP) per capita - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The CIA factbook puts the DR's income distribution as worse than both. DR is ranked 25th least equitable. Egypt is ranked 90th, Tunisia is 62nd.
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2172rank.html

This table puts Egypt and Tunisia much lower than the DR in terms of human rights records.
Country Ranking Table 2007

it is interesting to read People's "Expertise"about 2 very different Countries,
specially when their writings show clearky that those People do not know either of both countries in Question, other than may be to have seen the Pyramids some years ago or to have spent a couple years walking Sosua Beach and grab a drink there onnce in a while, including of course to speak perfectly both countries Languages to really understand what their Citizens think and wanna express etc.

Funny World.

go back to da Beach and have Fun

Mike

Yea, but the percentage of educated Egyptians dwarfs those in the DR by a massive amount. Especially considering a population of about 80+ million people. That I think is the core reason why you would see a revolt over there and none here. Those people want equity and a stake in the game. These people just want to run a game and I am guessing an easy way out.

Let's also not forget to mention the one glaring difference between Egypt and the Dominican Republic: democracy.

I'll agree that the Dominican government is far from perfect, but in recent history, elections have been relatively fair and open.

In Egypt, the same man kept getting 90 percent of the vote, and challenging the result let to arreste and torture.

The human spirit's desire for freed is leading people to put their lives in harm's way in Egypt.

For a number or reasons, I don't see that happening here at the moment.

If you have spent time in the RD it is obvious that anyone who deserves a piece of the pie already has it. The rest deserve what they get. What would a revolution accomplish ? We have democracy there are opportunities for all. Some are not capable of taking advantage. They know where they belong .... everybody else does too. Egypt is a long way away and is completely different. The revolution died a long time ago in latin america !! Thank GOD.