For the first few weeks after the January Revolution, a new civic spirit spread throughout Egypt's towns and cities. One year on, it seems to have vanished, says Nada Barakat Bumper stickers stating a new post-revolutionary morality were a common sight in the first few weeks after last year's January Revolution, with typical examples reading "I won't break the law, won't bribe, won't cut red lights and will keep my country clean." One year on, the remaining stickers look washed out, and behaviour on the streets has remained the same or even worsened. The post-revolutionary images of earnest young people with brooms cleaning up the garbage that often disfigures the country's streets have an ironic feel, given the way in which garbage is piling up in some streets today. And coping with the fast pace and activity of life in Cairo, already difficult for some of the city's residents, has arguably become even more challenging in the wake of the revolution. Chaos seems to have spread, with pedestrians jaywalking, drivers speeding or driving in the wrong direction on highways, and muggings, fights and other forms of behaviour being on the rise. Are these scenes a result of the power vacuum or loss of prestige that has hit the country's government since the 25 January Revolution? According to 24-year-old engineer Mohamed Hegazi, it has always been part of the Egyptian character to be disorganised and to get a sense of pride from breaking the law and getting away with it, especially among the country's young men. Egyptian culture supports negative ideas like manipulating others and rewarding those who get away with cheating others, Hegazi claims, adding that a salesman who manages to sell poor-quality products is often seen as a smart businessman rather than a cheat. "In Egypt, people who follow the rules only do because they fear punishment and the consequences, not because they respect the system. Since there isn't a system anymore, there are more violations of the law, together with an increase in violence and a lack of respect for the law. In fact, many values have been done away with altogether under the guise of calls for greater freedom," he says. It is the proper definition of freedom that has become particularly debated over the past year, with people claiming their rights, often for the first time, accidentally or intentionally infringing on the rights of others. People protesting in order to claim their rights can block roads for hours at a time to the despair of the country's drivers, for example. For Omneya El-Sharkawi, 32, an assistant to the dean of the Business School at Nile University, such behaviour is "inborn" in the Egyptian character and goes back to the 1952 Revolution at least. This, she says, was responsible for the corruption and bad management that has resulted in today's chaos and poor behaviour. Egyptian culture is also violent, she believes. "People have been repressed for years, and today there is a tolerance for extreme forms of behaviour with little expectation of punishment." The increase of violence that came about after last year's revolution is due to a perceived absence of social justice, El-Sharkawi adds, with the former regime building grudges between rich and poor and feeding the belief that the rich were looting the country and denying the rights of the poor. According to Samir Naim, a professor of sociology at Ain Shams University in Cairo, it does not make sense to say that Egyptians have an inborn tendency towards disorganisation and chaos. On the contrary, the true Egyptian character was seen at work during the 18 days of the January Revolution in Tahrir Square. "Here, strict morality and values were expressed by all the demonstrators. There was strict order, and there was no sexual harassment, violence or stealing." "Egyptian people who live abroad follow the law and excel professionally in states where there are strong social systems. We should not stress the chaotic or violent side of the Revolution. On the contrary, the revolution revealed positive feelings, like belonging, courage and sacrifice. Many people were martyred or injured, risking their lives in pursuit of a noble cause. The days after the revolution were also the first time that we saw people coming together to clean the streets, secure the Egyptian Museum and work for equality between classes and genders," Naim says. Those responsible for the current chaos disfiguring the streets of Egypt's towns and cities are a tiny minority, Naim adds. "We should be careful about negative stereotypes. The present state of chaos is not characteristic of Egyptians, and it is the result of the work of a tiny minority of criminals, who are the enemies of the public and the revolution." "Both the former Mubarak regime and the current system are to be blamed for the absence of positive behaviour that we are seeing today, since both worked to distract people from political or civic participation. Remnants of the former regime are even now trying to resist the revolution, willing to destroy the country to achieve their ends if necessary." Much of the violence seen over recent months has been the work of former regime elements hiring thugs to attack demonstrators and members of the public, he says. For 32-year-old journalist Hadir Farouk, a supporter of the revolution, while some disorganisation has always been part of people's lives in Egypt, it is only now that this has really come under the spotlight and that we are paying attention to negative forms of behaviour. For many years, rural areas have been neglected, Farouk says, even to the extent of neglecting education and basic human needs, and this has contributed to the rough manners of some rural people in Egypt and their resentment towards others. Farouk does not blame those who have suffered from years of neglect for not always following the rules. "They never felt that there were rules anyway, or at least none that benefited them," she says. Today, security and law enforcement have become number one priorities for many Egyptians. While some trace the problem back to the 1952 Revolution, others, such as writer and columnist Bilal Fadl, see the current state of chaos as being the heritage of generations of mismanagement and neglect. "Over at least the past 10 years, the media has been highlighting the waning of the state's prestige and authority as a result of failures in law enforcement. The state has been far too preoccupied with political security, over safety and order on the streets." Fadl says. It is also necessary to adopt a class analysis, he feels. The urban middle or upper-middle classes benefited from the old regime, even those who were never directly part of it, he says, since "the old system created a feeling of security by repressing the aspirations of the poor, limiting protests and not worrying about people's dignity or human rights." "In return for this guarantee of security, members of the middle classes allowed the former regime to fake elections and to be corrupt without questioning these things," Fadl says, adding that this collusion was also a feature of the Anwar El-Sadat and Gamal Abdel-Nasser regimes. Yet, for some more is at stake in defining Egyptian character besides the failings of the Mubarak, Sadat and Nasser regimes. According to Nasser Loza, a psychiatrist and director of the Bahman Hospital, Egypt is a nation that has been ruled by force for centuries. "It's not the Egyptian personality that has changed, but only a few behavioural traits as a result of people tasting freedom for the first time," Loza commented. "It will take time for individuals to set behavioural limits for themselves." Egyptians have always thought of government and political leaders as taking on an authoritative and patriarchal role, he adds, something that has ingrained itself in the country's psyche. Now that there is a new understanding that the government is there to work for them, and not to act as their director or protector, it has inevitably been difficult for people to get used to this new role. The next step will be for individuals to learn how to set limits to their own behaviour in the absence of an authoritative state, Loza says. This could take years or even decades, he says. However, the upside is that people's desire to be seen to get away with poor behaviour will decline with time, also a result of the end of the patriarchal relationship between the ruler and the ruled. Since the citizens of a modern state are not interested in playing the role of a clever child eager to break free from his or her parents' control, this form of behaviour will gradually disappear as mentalities change and the state apparatus is also modernised. People in the future will be more wary of turning their rulers into Pharaohs, he says. At the moment, "they do this all the time -- not just in the political system, but also at all levels and in all institutions where there is a belief that the boss knows best and people have to defer to him. People tend to glorify those in higher ranks, because of their unconscious feeling of wanting a powerful father figure to look after them." Loza agrees that levels of violence have been increasing, though he puts this down to those who were previously controlled by the former regime suddenly discovering that they are controlled no longer and not having the maturity to assume self- control. The only way to escape this situation, Loza says, is for people to get away from the desire for a "dominating father", whether at home, at school, on the street or in the form of a policeman keeping people in line. The only answer is for people to adopt a mature social code and individual responsibility. Fadl, too, sees the cup as being half full rather than half empty. The present chaos will lead to positive results, he says. "I don't mind microbus drivers fighting with people on the streets, or workers protesting all the time. This is not because I am in favour of chaos. It is because this chaos acts to reveal real social relations, forcing us to sign up to a new social contract, something we have never had before."
