Close up: Assigning blame By Salama A Salama A chat with Ahmed Abul-Gheit puts one in touch with the other side of the truth. As foreign minister, he has to see things from a global point of view. His is a world of international intrigue, historic ambitions, flashpoints and economic roller coasters. It is a world in which a nation can go high or dip low just for acting or failing to act at the right time. As foreign minister, Abul-Gheit needs to keep an eye on a wide spectrum of societal and regional issues and find explanations for what may seem on the surface disconnected phenomena. It is his job to keep on track policies that are not of his making, and to harness events that may at any moment go haywire. Abul-Gheit has developed a knack for seeing us not as we like to be seen, but as the world sees us. Speaking to him on the phone, I brought up the fire in the Shura Council building, the collapse of a mountain plateau in Dweiqa, the horrible traffic jams, the school exam leaks, and other unfortunate events that I blame on poor administration and widespread corruption. His view was that these events result from the unhealthy habits and practices of our society. In other words, we are at least partly responsible for what we complain about. I can see his point. Many people in this country hide behind ritual religiosity while plunging headfirst into all forms of corruption and blatant consumerism. Many spend billions on pilgrimages, going repeatedly to Mecca, on and off-season, not to seek spiritual salvation but to show off. Many steal and plunder while feigning piety at every turn. And it's not just the rich. The employee who leaves his office to go to pray, the five-star hotel worker who throws garbage in the river, and the traffic officer who abuses his power -- they are all saboteurs in their own right. Abul-Gheit speaks of the endless violations committed by a minority of Egyptians working in Arab countries. He tells of people who think that they are above the traditions and laws of the countries in which they reside. Their actions, he says, can be disastrous for the hundreds of thousands of their compatriots who work in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Libya and elsewhere. The errors of a few, if not brought under control, can spark off a diplomatic crisis at any moment. We often complain at the mistreatment of Egyptians applying for visas for European and Arab countries. We often grumble when we have to wait for hours to get an interview or get our passports processed. What we forget is that much of the abuse is the fault of the Egyptian staff in foreign embassies that can be erratic or just lazy. We all know that European countries have drastically regulated our ability to travel and work there. Unless we're careful, some Arab countries may follow suit. What the foreign minister was too courteous to say (but I assume he wanted to) is that it's not always the fault of the government. Perhaps our government is mismanaging the country, but actions by the public are making things much worse. We're often too busy complaining to admit our own responsibility for what's going on. The minister was no doubt reacting to what I said in a previous column, about public gloating. I had suggested that the public feels so humiliated and repressed that it is now waiting for an opportunity to gloat at the government's ineptness. The minister has a point. Whether you want to agree is up to you.
