With government gridlocked, other citizens have simply taken matters into their own hands, from directing traffic to guerilla rehabbing of old housing. One neighborhood group, tired of waiting for government bulldozers, even built its own on-ramp to a passing thoroughfare.
There are some encouraging large-scale changes too. New cities are springing up on the road north of Cairo, for example, and a massive business park called Smart Village has attracted a Who's Who of global corporations.
Egypt is ready to move forward. But the country needs an inclusive, motivating vision and the courage and examples to make it real.
Telling the stories of the country's heroes, past and present, will strengthen all these elements. And as to the practical examples needed to build people's confidence and hope--start with the bike lanes. Egyptians need to trust each other enough to rise above religious identities to solve public problems together. This civic work must be done at a national level, but that is not happening now. So the examples must well up from underneath. From bike lanes. From showing people better ways of getting on a subway car. From neighborhood meetings that solve neighborhood problems. If the people of Egypt can finally organize themselves to go around a traffic circle without chaos, they can organize a government that works. Many people understand this.
It will take courage, patience, smarts--and a flood of examples of heroes acting bravely for a common good. Let the politicians learn from the people.
Egyptians need to get this right. And they don't have a lot of time.
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