AUC Times - Deception

Dec ‘18 issue

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- 2018 -

- December -

You are the epitome of rationality; everything you see is truth. You are nothing. You are a fool in the king’s court, doomed to follow the orders of those above you. You are special; you maintain the spot of perfection. You are insignificant; a subject of society’s forces. You are deceived.

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Editorial Note Dear Reader,

family, religion, and politics. You are that in which you are born.

You are the epitome of rationality; everything you see is “truth”. The world is yours to take, and its seed yours to sow. Your “right” trumps all wrong.

You are nothing. You are a fool in the king’s court, doomed to follow the orders of those above you. You are the ridicule and laughter of others. You are that which can never amount to something.

You are special; you maintain the spot of perfection. Only you, the pariah of humankind, can lead your people to greatness. You reserve a spot in humanity’s hall of fame.

You are insignificant; a subject of society’s forces. You exist only in the relative, and have no real choice of your own. You are defined by

You are deceived. You wade your daily life through lies uttered by others, as well as yourself, and believe the murky waters of reality are crystal clear. But deception reigns over us, be it in the words of our superiors, our own coping mechanisms, or the illusions and delusions of our day-to-day lives. It is a common denominator throughout our lives, in what we consume, in what we choose to align ourselves with, in the values of our role-models, in the pictures we perceive in the mirror.

In seeking the truth, dear reader, we are always met with fictions. What should we find if instead we seek the lie?

Mahmoud ElHakim Editor in Chief.

Contents

Panic At The Discourse, Omar Abo Mosallam

The Egyptian Dream, Ahmed Naser

Stanley Kubrick: Filming The Subliminal, Mahmoud Fadel

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Dec ‘18 issue

Editor in chief Mahmoud ElHakim English Section Managing Editor Laila El Refaie Associate Managing Editor Laila Ghoneim English Editors Amy El-Zayaty Chadi Ben Ghanem Karim Kadry Laila El Refaie Lauren K. Clark Mahmoud El Hakim Raneem Mangoud Thomas Mikhail Yasmeen Badawy Youssef Fahmy Zeyad Elbadrawy

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Copy Editors Laila Ghoneim Mahmoud Fadel Academic Advisor Ramy Aly Graphic Designer Nada Hesham Merna Ayman Photography Head Nada Mohamed PR Head Alaa Mahmoud Treasurer Youssef Abohammar

Copyrights All uncredited photography and/or artwork is either used upon permission or licenced for noncommercial use.

Disclaimer AUC Times is a student publication. All opinions expressed in the publication are the writers' own and do not reflect those of the magazine or the AUC administration.

/ auctimes

The Culture Industry; The Deception of Leisure, Atlas

The Flower of The Partisan, Bahi Ashraf

Derealization: Experiencing Reality Through Distortion, Amina Fahmy

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By: Thomas Mikhail/ Editor: Karim Kadry

THE LIE: A Miracle of Evolution There is a beauty to lies that is too often overlooked. Yes, being lied to hurts, and we too often fixate upon that, but that only stops us from truly trying to grasp the underlying complexities it hides. Lying is an extremely complex behavior, and so, let us take a few minutes to amend our ignorance and try to illuminate our ability to conceal.

First, however, one must clearly define what lying is. At least for the purpose of this article, a lie is an intentional transmission of information that the liar knows is false, communicated such that the recipient can understand it. A lie can be non-verbal, and may be a visual or physical signal. Humans are not necessarily the only animals to lie; there are countless examples of lying in the animal kingdom that go beyond instinctive drives. Female salmon, for example, will sometimes fake orgasms, pretending to release their eggs in order to trick males into thinking they have successfully mated with them; lower ranked capuchin monkeys may fake alarm calls, allowing them to gain access to food that was reserved for their now

fleeing higher-ranked counterparts.

Obviously, the popular belief in the moral purity of animals is misplaced.

But what allows these animals to so cunningly deceive their fellows?

Simply put, anything that has been blessed with a few certain traits is capable of lying. The first of these is the ability to understand the situation they are in. While seemingly simple, this requires complexities that many animals are not capable of. For example, the liar must have some degree of self-awareness, recognizing that they are a separate entity from the deceived, in order to know that their thoughts and knowledge are not shared. From there, the individual must have some ability to reason, to understand that their behavior will cause different outcomes to the situation, in order to be motivated to lie. Finally, for the most complex lies, a certain degree of empathy is required. Not the emotional empathy we generally coin as simply empathy, but cognitive empathy, as the ability to see things from the perspective of others is necessary to create a lie they will believe.

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greater apes—the group that includes humans, gorillas, chimps and orangutans—are all capable of lying quite well, being the animal group with the most well-defined ability to empathize. That said, our skills still vastly exceed theirs, to the extent that we have been called the “mendacious ape”. It took us between 11 and 16 million years to achieve this title, however, based on the time when greater apes first split off from their lesser counterparts, and likely developed this as result of a series of pressures related to our social nature.

Photo by Unsplash

In fact, the process is so complex that it even takes us humans years to develop the means of lying.

Somewhere between ages two and three, children will tell their first lies, generally to conceal transgressions.

However, these are very simplistic “primary lies”, which do not take into the perspective of their target, so they may lie about events which the target was there to see. Also, they will not think to back up the lie, and may reveal information that shows that they have lied. In a study conducted by developmental psychologists Victoria Talwar and Kang Lee, children denied having looked at a toy they weren’t allowed to, but the majority “blurted out the name of the toy that they denied having peeked at and thus implicated themselves as having transgressed.” Over time, however, their abilities develop further, and around the age of four, they can begin to tell “secondary lies”, which are more believable as they begin to take the listener into consideration. It is not until between seven and eight, though, that they begin to master the art, learning to tell “tertiary lies”, which are factually consistent, and remain as such during follow-up statements, and will use shared knowledge with the

deceived to back up the lie. In other words, they are now fully formed liars, their brains capable of using any information they gain for this complex process.

But how do our brains complete this task? Although the answer is not entirely clear, it is believed that two parts of the brain work together to perform a lie: the anterior cingulate cortex and the prefrontal cortex. Professor Daniel Langleben of Pennsylvania State University believes that these two parts cooperate to allow for “inhibitory control”, or the ability to suppress “routine” or “baseline” behaviors, which in this case would be reporting the truth. From there, the liar can fabricate information. This is also why liars may reveal the truth if fatigued or distracted, as their brains are too busy to suppress the baseline response. It would logically follow that animals with similar brain structures, and therefore a similar ability to override routine responses, would also be able to lie, to whatever extent said structures are developed.

There is indeed evidence for that fact, and nature’s best liars have brains very similar to ours. The

Lying is, after all, quita a useful skill to have socially. It allows individuals to cheat or bypass social structures in order to get power, resources, or sex. It’s not always malicious, however, as lying can be a means of showing consideration for others, for compliments may be used in the place of brutal truths. Using lies, social animals are able to manage the impression of them, to an extent; for as our ability to lie evolved, so did our ability to detect lies, and being branded a liar forfeits any of the advantages gained through lying and leads to the liar being disadvantaged in the long run. Because of this, evolution has actually pressured us to be better liars, as studies have shown we are better able to detects truths then lies. In one such study

by Aldert Vrij of the University of Portsmouth, participants detected lies 44% of the time, while they were capable of detecting the truth 67% of the time.

As such, this article filled with the roots of lying ends with a simple truth, lying is an extremely complex phenomenon, and we should not write it off as mere moral degeneration. Perhaps the next time the reader is lied to, their new understanding of lies can bring them some solace, as the underlying causes have been demystified. Or perhaps, it could be the other way around; the next time the reader lies, they may appreciate the millions of years of evolutionary development and years of childhood development that allow them to suppress the truth, all so they may tell a friend they look good today.

AUC Times

By: Arwa Hezzah/ Editor: Zeyad Elbadrawy For centuries, humans have believed that our free will is what differentiates us from animals. The fact that we have the freedom to make our own choices has always been something human beings relied on. But, indeed, free will is nothing but a hoax. It doesn't really exist.

In 1839, German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer published an essay titled: On the Freedom of the Will.

Throughout the essay, he explained how, although we might believe we do, human beings don’t actually possess free will. He argued that everything we think we have the freedom to do—every decision we make—is determined by how our minds and bodies react to outside causes or motives. In order to clarify this argument, Schopenhauer defined freedom of the will as the absence of any and all necessity. In other words, he argued that claiming to have free will is to claim that our every action is determined or caused by nothing other than our will to do it. The assumption that we have free will means that nothing determines the choices we make, that they basically stem from themselves alone.

Generally, it would make no sense to say that every decision we make, and every action we take, has no prior motive. In fact, the opposite is true. Everything we do, all things that occur on this earth have a prior reason or cause. Whether it’s the basic laws of physics or biological urges, all actions done on this earth are determined by their original cause. The thing is: we might not be entirely aware of the causes that determined our actions and thus, we are led to believe that our actions are causeless, that we are entirely free to choose one thing or the other.

Then, the question arises: if everything is determined, why do we have consequences for people’s actions?

Schopenhauer actually touches on the matter, saying that we actually assume that people have the will to decide what to do in certain situations. He gives the example: if a brick fell off a building and hit you on the head, would you hold the brick accountable for hurting you? On the other hand, if a man walks up to you and hits you on the head, you hold him accountable and consequently punish him.

Schopenhauer argues that the reason why we punish people is not actually because we believe they have free will to make certain actions, but rather in order to prevent

Photo by Yasmin El Nawawy

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THE DECEPTION OF FREE WILL similar actions from happening again. We punish people in order to place storing counter-motives to deter certain harmful motives.

Again, humans believe that the choices they make stem entirely from their own will simply because they are deceived into believing so. Consider something that’s easier to relate to in today’s world: advertisements. Let’s say that you are walking home and everywhere you turn, there is an ad for pizza.

While you may not pay direct attention to the ads, your mind notices them nonetheless. When you finally get home, you find yourself craving pizza and decide to order some in. In your own point of view, you can’t see a prior motive that led you to decide to order pizza. But, fact is, all those pizza advertisements that you passed by on your way home planted the idea in your head. Scientifically, this is known as subliminal stimulation, a sensory stimulation that is more or less below a person’s capacity for perception. While the stimulus is not consciously seen, it has an effect on the mind. And so, while you might believe that the decision you made came from your own “free will”, it was actually motivated or caused by a determinant.

In short, nothing you do is causeless. Schopenhauer argues that, if nothing you did had an immediate cause, then two completely opposing actions would be equally possible. In other words, when presented with two choices, one would be equally capable of making one choice or the other. In reality, that is not the case. If we placed the choices one is capable of making on a scale, then one would ultimately outweigh the other and lead a person to choosing it.

Let’s say, for instance, you want to steal a loaf of bread. You know that if you were caught stealing, you would go to jail. Perhaps that's a risk you wouldn't want to take. So now, there are two choices, or two “wills”, placed on the scale. The first is your will to steal the bread, and the second is

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your will to not go to jail. Ultimately, one will outweigh the other, and you will choose it. Which side of the scale drops is not determined by your free will but rather by outside forces. Whether you are simply too hungry to care about going to jail (i.e. your biological needs), or you have a reputation to uphold and so you can’t risk going to jail, it’s all determined by something other than your own will.

So what makes us, as humans, believe that we have free will? In the beginning of his argument, Schopenhauer stated that humans have three kinds of freedom. First, physical freedom, which is the freedom from physical hindrances (i.e jails, cages, borders, etc). Second is intellectual freedom, which is the freedom from the disturbance of human cognition (i.e the mind is working properly, not under intoxication, not suffering from any disability). And lastly, moral freedom, also known as the freedom of the will. Schopenhauer basically argues that because we are physically free to do whatever we will and are intellectually aware of the choices we have, we actually believe we are morally free.

Essentially, we believe that we’re free because of the fact that we have so many choices and we can’t see a hindrance that stops us from making certain choices. But Schopenhauer asks the question of whether we do actually have the ability to decide what we will. The answer is no, we don’t. Since we are not actually conscious of the reasons why we will certain things, we cannot decide what we will. We might believe we have free will because we are aware of having several choices, but ultimately, the choices we make are predetermined by something else outside of ourselves. Schopenhauer would argue that because we are not conscious of the fact that something is determining our choices, we think nothing is.

Human beings are not conscious of how they execute their decisions.

They are only conscious of the effects their mental decisions have, thus making them believe that they are free to decide. The truth is, even though humans are constantly presented with a lot of choices that they think they are free to make, there is only one thing they’re ultimately going to do. And that thing is purely determined by external causes. So ask yourself again: do we really have free will? Or are we all puppets doomed to live a meaningless existence dictated by external forces?

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AT THE DISCOURSE By: Omar Abo Mosallam / Editor: Laila El Refaie

I savored a last look at the shimmering walls of BEC. My declaration form was met with a swift but somberly regretful response. My more fortunate friends left even swifter condolences, before cutting me out of our fledgling group of aspiring Business majors. We were a ragtag clique of would-be entrepreneurs, hoping to start a bold new venture, with nothing but big dreams, a get-go attitude and massive inherited wealth. But now, they had shunned their greatest asset; mind you, I was the one who showed our professor how my group could reduce labor costs to absolute zero. In spite of that, they insisted my yet-undeclared visage be forever banished from all BEC grounds and majors – and, by order of a secret vote, so it was. Bound by the yoke of my GPA, I would never again walk the halls I called home. The elegance of its architecture and the sheen of its pay-to-use toilets would be enjoyed by more deserving eyes, whereas I was discarded into Plaza, forced to traverse its entirety in search of some new surrogate family.

I immediately rule out SSE, as I cannot stop imagining Father deriding my choice of engineering.

“You want to be a bloody stonemason?” He would likely guffaw at me. No, that wouldn’t do. I decided to approach HUSS, an obscure realm to the south of campus. I trekked through the sloped Steppes towards HUSS, warding off the rumors I often heard of it. Like accounts of those tormented by libidinal urges, who fornicate with their own lecturers without paying, as we do in BEC, for their discretion. I heard too of crazed she-beasts who breastfeed stray cats they find in their pentagram-shaped plaza, which hosted the most egregious sin BEC students had ever heard of—intellectualism. It tainted my aura to enter such an alleged circle of hell, but so was my lot in life, cursed to wandering — hopefully to TBS. I found my way into HUSS plaza, and, to my surprise, found none of the overly-studious chimeras that perplexed my former colleagues. What I did find was a sprawling hub dotted with students coagulating into groups and tearing through countless conversational topics. Then, as a discussion lost its vigor, they splintered off into smaller subsets, mainly pairs. It was all very majestic. I watched this sublime shift of social tectonics and, enraptured, took notes of what piqued my

Dec ‘18 issue

interest – mainly philosophy.

Mustering enough courage and academic trivia, I eagerly introduced myself with an alias, and pretended to be a philosophy major.

Later, two students got into a particularly heated debate; its main focus was ‘Michel Foucault’. After unloading heaps of jargon at each other, one of them asked my opinion: “Oh, uhh…” I trailed off foolishly, “Foucault, huh?”

“Yeah,” the other said, with a mocking smile, “What, you’re not familiar?”

In my notebook, only three words were scribbled next to the name ‘Foucault’: ‘bald’, ‘French’ and his occupation. As the pause lasted, I felt my persona being tugged by each eyeball watching.

“He’s... that bald French guy, from... the reading…” I blurted out.

I remedied their suspicions, at least for now. I relaxed back into my chair.

“You think I don’t know who Foucault is? He’s, like, my favorite linguist” I said, with a cocksure grin. It was not returned by my peers, whose faces turned white and locked in a gaze.

Everyone repeated the third—and apparently incorrect—word in my notebook back to me in the form of a question.

“Linguist?” They all said, in perfect unison.

I jolted awkwardly, and blurted out words to defuse the tension. “Yes, his discourse is quite nice…” I stuttered, getting up and making my way out of this ticking time bomb. Surely enough, they started gathering around. As soon as I sprinted, I was chased by the quirkily-dressed assailants. It was not long before I was cornered, and forced to parley.

“Are you from the Theatre Clan, charlatan?”

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“No. Business.” I replied, flashing my hefty wallet, “You can walk away a rich mob, If I go free.”

They then informed me that, in HUSS, they abolished currency, claiming it’s inherently oppressive.

“Here, it is a utopia,” claimed the Woke lynch-mob.

“Inside every utopia,” I said confidently, “is a hidden dystopia, no matter what.”

The group abruptly stopped and pondered what I had just said, then, with affirmative nods, thanked me for that “nuanced take”. Apparently, they had never thought of it like that.

In that moment, the encroaching mob seemed to lose the malignant snobbery of academia. I felt they actually appreciated what I had to offer, without having to slave away on their assignments for a change. It was a rather overwhelming reaction to a quote I had heard in the plaza; honestly, I didn’t know what it meant.

After being intellectually sated, they started breaking off again, but I stopped them. With a frayed voice, I excitedly implored them to let me into their group. My clique-tobe formed a huddle, despairingly reminding me of the secretive deliberation that ousted me from BEC; but this will be different. And it was, sort of. They would welcome me, but stipulated that I complete the rite of passage thrust upon any HUSS major – The Trial of True Discourse.

They placed Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit in front of me. The book’s ailing leather cover was held up by about 600 withering pages of philosophical rambling. If I was to join HUSS, I must penetrate the tome’s insulated prose, wring out any coherence I can find, and, if my brain

hasn’t melted into bubbling porridge, prove my prowess by lecturing a Freshman on the book’s main points. Eyeing the precarious book, I accepted their challenge.

The sun hung above me, cruelly singling me out, as I hid in the Gardens’ bushes. Behind me were twenty HUSS students supervising me, and about fifty feet ahead of me stood an unsuspecting herd of Freshmen. One lagged behind a bit, and I tackled the straggler. As it neighed desperately, I proceeded to voraciously pelt it with philosophical arguments, all obfuscated in a torturous mist of complexity.

Towards the end, all it did was repeat the words ‘oh yeah? That’s super interesting’, and curl into a defensive fetal position. I glanced at a nearby tree line, and saw my chaperone give me a thumbs up – then he disappeared.

I knelt next to my unconscious victim, and tried to rub a headache off my pulsating forehead - Hegel can really take a toll on someone. To the dismay of my patient conscience, a sigh of relief never came, though I waited long. Perhaps, I convince myself, the Freshman would’ve been bushwhacked by some other club - like the SU. But I was the one to blame for this. My adopted tribe of scholars, or even my older clique, wouldn’t have tempted me so much if they were permeable to any average student. Some people, as evidenced by the battered Freshman next to me, had to be kept out. I had the honor and the shame to do it, and I, as the unnervingly vast emptiness of the gardens reminded me, would do it again and again if I had to.

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By: Amr Abdelazeem / Editor: Chadi Ben Ghanem

One of the earliest memories of my childhood is sitting in my father’s room after he came back from work.

He would pace the room vigorously and play old cassette tapes, filling our home with music. The music coming from the old cassette tapes wasn’t the type my older cousins would listen to. They were operettas composed years ago; epic songs telling of the glory of Egypt and the Arab world, and the valour of the Egyptian soldier and worker.

The brass marching tunes would give way to the strings and chorus and then the voices of the icons of the revolution (AbdelHalim Hafez, Shadia and others) would flourish through the old speakers. Those songs belonged to my father’s youth; they were nationalistic ballads fit for the spirit of the times after the 1952 revolution. The tunes would play in the background as my father talked to me about ideas, which I firmly held as true, but could not understand.

They persisted as my father spoke of nationalism, the importance of being a patriot, the unity of the Arab world and my unique and prestigious heritage as an Egyptian. Years have passed and a lot has changed. My father no longer plays the operettas, and just like the cassette tapes, my nationalism was left to collect dust.

When I speak of nationalism, I do not speak of the mere pride one has in belonging to a nation. I speak of an over-zealous fervor for a nation; a zeal which does not wish for a stable or prosperous nation, but for the subjugation of other states and a thirst for power; a hunger for national prestige. The peculiar thing about such nationalism is its tendency to adopt a national mythos.

Many think of their nations as set in stone, their nations have remained immutable since time immemorial— they only carry on the torch. As usual, history has a lesson to teach us and it will not limp in catching up with us.

A hundred years ago, after the First World War, the world saw empires crumble and within those empires, the people were either free or subjects to violent change of hands into other empires. The people now looked to their new rulers for guidance, and they said we, their citizens, had the right to self-determination. In that era, the majority of what we now call the Middle Eastern territories became mandates or protectorates of the British and French empires. The

victors of the First World War shaped the Middle East using a set of treaties and secret agreements, starting with the Sykes-Picot agreement of 1915. The Middle East was then partitioned for the convenience of the imperial powers. Palestine had to be a British mandate to create a buffer zone against attacks west of the Suez Canal, and the mandates of Mesopotamia and the west of the Persian Gulf were necessary to protect the British oil interests in the region. Through the conveniencedriven partitioning, new nations have come to being. For example, the Levant was fragmented into separate nation-states as opposed to being a single entity ruled from Damascus or city-states. Prominent among those nation-states was Jordan, originally called Transjordan.

It was part of what was then the “Palestine Mandate”. After the Cairo Conference of 1921, Winston Churchill remarked that he created Jordan “with the stroke of a pen, one Sunday afternoon in Cairo.” It goes without saying that Churchill’s generous pen strokes were not discussed in advance with the people of the Middle East.

The absurdity of the situation would lead an impartial observer to think that the people would go on with their lives, and such borders wouldn’t really affect them. No statement could be farther from the truth. It’s not merely that along with the borders came institutions, bureaucracy, a head of state and an army—in short, the makings of a nation-state-—the borders also came with a state of mind of belonging somewhere. People were now confined to stay within specific lines in the sand. As such, their reaction was to make the most of this situation; they adopted the borders as their own. The aforementioned impartial observer would be surprised to hear the number of “National Parties” in the Middle East.

With entire populations trying for once to reach true self-determination and overcome imperial shackles there comes a point where their adversaries are, in effect, a single unified unit, namely an army or a party representing a particular ideal.

The population, a semi-defined mass of individuals, then morphs itself into a counter-unit to find a common thread to unify the individuals under one symbol, one ideal, one nation. It appears at the time as the optimal course of action in terms of organized resistance. The fact that

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A CASE OF MASS PSYCHOSIS

the nation itself is a construct forces the population to fill in the gaps with a mythology; one adopted from any stories that lend themselves to the theme of “unity of the nation”.

Years went by and the nation-states have remained; with every battle and war comes a baptism of fire and the mythosis further solidified and made a reality. It turned into an epidemic.

Look at anti-imperialist, anti-border movements; they too have adopted the national mythos under different names and played a different tune to unify one people. Just look at the Ba’ath parties and the Pan-Arabism dream.

There are mainly two reasons why the mythos is hard to overcome yet so appealing to the people at the same time. First is the rhetoric adopted by nationalist movements; under nationalism, individual achievement and individual prestige are disregarded or interpreted as part of a larger national prestige.

It’s appealing to become part of something bigger than the sum of its parts, and to have your boastful prestige as an inherent part of your being. The same rhetoric adopts the notions of “the other” in contrast to “the nation”. This mystical other is inherently not one of us, and as such, lacks the quintessential part of prestige exclusive to our nation.

Thus the other is fit for subjugation to the might and will of our nation.

Second is the fact that fear is one of the most influential emotions born with the human psyche. Fear of punishment reserved for dissenters and fear of being shunned by your own community as you express divergence from the national normal inhibit your ability to question the national myth. And the more you curb your “questionable” thoughts and actions, the more you forget about them—you eventually become a nationalist.

In a world of national mythos, where you are “the other”: the adversary spoken of in different nations.

Becoming “the other” within your own borders is not the best idea, as the wrath of the political and national machinations will haunt you. Nations are not mosaics of individuals; they are monoliths. Faced with polar powers crushing you between them, perhaps your best course of action is to join the masses in their fervent cheering and accept the national prestige that was “gifted” to you.

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Photo by Sally Elfishawy

AUC Times

THE EGYPTIAN DREAM ‘Aīsh, huriyya, ‘adāla igtimā‘iyya (“bread, freedom, social justice”) This basic yet intuitive chant depicts Egyptians’ struggle for fulfilling their unmet political, economic and social demands in a few words. It was indirectly there in ‘Uraby’s 1882 protest and Saad Zaghloul’s 1919 uprising, and perfectly voiced in the 2011 revolution.

Leaders come and go and fail to realise people’s aspirations; in return, Egyptians’ arduous quest for progress turns into mere survival. But Egyptians deserve “something bigger than mere survival”. They deserve abundant Aīsh, rampant huriyya, and manifested ‘adāla igtimā‘iyya. In short, Egyptians deserve the Egyptian Dream, a dream based on subversive ideas, inventive progress, vibrant opportunities and communal sense —and no, not Abdel Nasser's nationalism.

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By: Ahmed Naser/ Editor: Youssef Fahmy The methodology by which the main pillars of the Egyptian Dream could be applied differed throughout time.

This is due to the development of contrasting ideologies based on the varying political atmosphere of different periods through Egyptian history. In the early 20th century, a movement directed towards Egypt’s pre-Islamic past rose to prominence, known as “Pharaonism”. It generally claimed that Egypt has been part of a Mediterranean civilization rather than dating to an Arab background.

The main aim of the movement was to challenge the British colonization, and to declare a free Egyptian state with an identity that celebrates the Pharaonic origin. Surprisingly, the Arab component of early Egyptian nationalism (Pharaonism) was totally absent. In fact, the thrust of political and cultural progress throughout the 19th century worked against, rather than for, an Arab orientation. Taha Hussein, one of the most prominent Pharaonists and an anti-Arabist, wrote in his book “Kawkab El-Sharq”: “Pharaonism is deeply rooted in the spirits of the Egyptians. It will remain so, and it must continue and become stronger. The Egyptian is Pharaonic before being Arab. Egypt must not be asked to deny its Pharaonism because that would mean: Egypt, destroy your Sphinx and your pyramids, forget who you are and follow us! Do not ask of Egypt more than it can offer. Egypt will never become part of some Arab unity, whether the capital [of this unity] were to be Cairo, Damascus, or Baghdad.”

Yet, starting from the 1930s, a totally opposing movement was about to take over the political scene in Egypt.

More popularized and less secular, the emerging nationalist movement would take the Egyptian Dream to a different socialist, Arabist level, led

by Gamal Abdel Nasser.

Nasserism was an ideological movement calling for antiimperialism, pan-Arabism and and socialism. Principles of providing freedom and social justice to the Egyptian people (the Egyptian Dream) constituted a large part of the Nasserite movement, though they were not effectively fulfilled later. Driven away from its core essence of socialism, Nasserism would subtly turn into bureaucratic populism. While it originally intended to support the average Egyptian, the Nasserite regime exercised its political powers promoting corporatist alliances while ironically furthering economic anti-capitalist

policies. The new movement, though less secular than Pharaonism, still adopted a secular ideology. The main objective of the Nasserites was the manifestation of a unified Arab identity of Muslims and Christians, leading to a direct conflict with pan-Islamic movements, who rather called for a unified Muslim identity.

A de-Nasserization process would gain momentum in the 1970s Egypt, with Nasserism being eclipsed by a more Islamic-oriented and politically active movement led by the Muslim Brotherhood. However, Abdel Nasser would leave a legacy that will mark Egypt’s politics for years to come. His ideology, which embodied Egyptians’ dreams at its core, would crush those same dreams later on.

Nasserism, despite being abandoned since the 1970s, would still leave longing bruises on the Egyptian political scene today. Abdel Nasser governed Egypt through an authoritarian one-party regime.

Furthermore, he established a predominantly militaristic rule that has been holding all of the country’s political powers in a tight grip to date. The military would portray itself as the protector of national integrity and Egyptians’ hard-won rights of freedom and social justice throughout Egyptians’ fight for their dream: It would appear on the political scene as the guarantor of Egyptian nationalism after the 1952 fall of King Farouk, the 2011 ouster of Mubarak, and the 2013 ouster of Morsi. The political system that Abdel Nasser coined would metamorphose Egypt into a military electoral authoritarian state, with the difference from Abdel Nasser’s regime being a non-dominant party electoral system. The criteria by which nationalists are pre-defined is based on a depoliticized parliament, wherein no mobilized opposition exists to resist the militaristic regime.

Parliament members, being the only chance for people to express their aspirations of improved life qualities, are either purged ,coerced or are loyally compliant to the regime.

Unfortunately for Egyptians, the supposedly empowering movements of the 1950s Nasserism and 1970s to 2010s militarism were not the salvation forces of the dreams people aspired for, but were rather mere deception.

Consequently to those two movements, Egyptians’ notoriously vicious march for freedom becomes

suppressed by its passing dictatorial systems. The people’s longing for deciding their fate, and their country’s, thereby becomes faded beyond recognition, and cautiously repressive regimes face opposition with force and propaganda. This propaganda is often supported by claims of protecting the national integrity of the country, and is further encapsulated within the umbrella of patriotism. Ironically, the problem lies within those same self-proclaimed patriotists.

Disempowered politically and acquiescent to totalitarian policies, the reigning political class fails to meet the dreams that people continually yearned for. More problematically, the system would adopt a brainwash strategy, by which they maintain a status quo of fear and conformity from the public. This happens through a strict control on the media , abusive nationalistic narratives of conspiracy theories, and a methodology of popularizing how critical-thinking is unpatriotic, all of which were present in their individual forms in the regimes of the 19th century Egypt, and Abdelnasser.

The Egyptian Dream is the ideal that the government shall preserve every Egyptian’s opportunity of pursuing happiness through providing them with all of the decent life qualities necessary for prosperity. It further entails a tolerant society, in which everyone acts collectively, maturely, peacefully, and conscientiously.

An individual’s freedom shall not surpass another’s but co-existence with one another forms an ongoing fashion of life. The Egyptian Dream opens the gates of opportunities.

These opportunities should provide a beacon of motivation for individuals; that through hard work and determination, they would be able to change the means of their lives and to set the pace for future generations. It is not too late to crystallize a context for the Egyptian Dream: it is simply synonymous with hope. Hope for equality, liberty, and progress. Positively, Egyptians did not back in expressing their hope for better life, the stunning outburst of 2011 is a solid proof of this. It would only take a bit of hope, a bit of determination, and a bit of hardwork for Egyptians to overcome the deterrence of any opposing regime for their Egyptian Dream to become reality.

AUC Times

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By: Mohamed Hosni Elgharib / Editor: Raneem Mangoud

FOR MY NEXT TRICK, Not everyone is born into a good life; some of us have to work hard until we reach a position that we can be content with, while others make success look easy. The first step lies in believing in yourself hard enough until you become the person that you set out to be. How well you manage to fake it might not be enough for you to make it, but it is always important to pursue your dreams.

While some might think that this ‘faking it’ approach is not as good as being ‘the real thing’, many big names in the world of today started out with nothing more than a set goal in mind. A famous example is Bill Gates, who got to where he is now partly in due to how he internalized the confidence that he projected. He made an offer to a multimillion dollar company, promising them a programming code that he didn’t have. He worked hard with his team to make the code from scratch, until he was finally able to pull off the offer, earning himself and his team prestigious jobs in the firm. Had it not been for Gates’ bold confidence and ‘faking it’, he and his team probably wouldn’t have been motivated enough to use their skills and intellect. As the old saying goes, “Where there’s a will, there’s a way”, and that can be applied to almost anything. In fact, this principle was proposed as early as 1884, by American philosopher, William James, who dubbed it the, “As If” principle. He realized that minor adjustments in mood or behaviour can greatly impact a person’s biological functions. For example, researchers were able to correlate happiness to lower levels of cortisol and a lower concentration of a plasma in their blood that is associated with heart diseases.

Despite the variations measured between happy and unhappy people being minority, the researchers went on to say that over a prolonged period of time, happier people had a lower risk of diseases, such as cardiovascular disease, Type II diabetes and hypertension. So in a way, your body mirrors your psychological processes, and vice versa. The concept of ‘fake it till you make it’, could be seen as the biopsychological equivalent of a placebo in the field of medicine, whereby an ordinary ingredient could cure a patient if they were deceived into thinking that it was actual medicine. In a study that was published in Psychological Science, some participants were trained to display standard smiles, which only use the muscles around the mouth, while others were told to show genuine ones, using the muscles that surround both the mouth and the eyes. The researchers subjected both groups to stressful activities, only to notice that those who held genuine smiles had lower heart rate levels after recovering from stress.

This shows that the relationship between the mind and the body goes in both directions. Another study from Harvard University had elderly people act as if they were younger, which led them to adopt healthier habits and have a more resilient outlook to life. They stopped believing stereotypes associated with old age and were more inclined to engage in activities that required a complex thought process. This shift in self-perception notably improved their memory and their reaction time, because of the mental exercises that their new perspective allowed them to practice, proving that the body and mind are inextricably linked.

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I WILL BECOME SUCCESSFUL Some might feel that all this might stop a person from being authentic, but faking it ‘till you make it is merely an ego boost that allows the person to realize their full potential. A comprehensive study that encompassed more than 23,000 employees noted that individuals who worried less about being authentic, also known as high self-monitors, scored higher in their employer evaluations and were more likely to be promoted to leadership positions. A common component that was detected in low selfmonitors, or those who want to be as authentic as possible, is that they believe they have a firm image of the person that they are, hindering their progress. Psychologist Carol Dweck, who worked on the mindset personality trait, determined that there are two mindsets that a person could have and they each affect their personality differently. She speculates that a person could either have a fixed mindset, believing that one’s attributes stay the same no matter what, or a growth mindset, believing that it takes effort and practice to improve one’s attributes.

She concluded that even the thought of having a fixed self can interfere with one’s personal growth and that an individual with a fixed mindset usually quits once they encounter an obstacle in their path. Therefore, it is necessary to notice the mentality that you give off and to always work on becoming the best version of yourself.

How a person decides to present themselves can also have an effect, whether consciously or subconsciously, on how they are perceived by society. Social psychologist Amy Cuddy held a Ted Talk, in 2012, in which she discussed the concept of ‘power posing’. She explored how standing in a certain

Photo by Ingie Gohar

way for a few minutes could alter how you feel or act in a certain situation. A ‘high power pose’ would have you lifting your chin up high and spreading out your body more, while a ‘low power pose’ would have you slouched and shrunken down in size. The contrast between both poses lies in the amount of confidence that is instilled within the individual and the air of leadership that they display. Tests done on both types of posers showed that high power posers had a higher level of testosterone (dominance hormone) and lower levels of cortisol than low power posers; highlighting how prone the former is to taking risks and gambling. Furthermore, a study published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology showed how wearing certain clothes can affect a person’s psychological features. They specifically focused on how wearing a doctor’s lab coat caused participants to be more attentive due to the preconceived notions of attentiveness that are associated with this attire.

The researchers theorized that by dressing in a certain way, the individual takes on a corresponding identity and internalizes it. This can be seen in the famous saying “dress for the job that you want, not the job that you have”, urging people to firmly go after what they want until they get there.

‘Fake it till you make it’ might seem like a common phrase out of a selfhelp book but it provides more depth to the process of extensively chasing your aspirations. There is a hidden power that is embedded within turning your thoughts into reality, a power that ultimately shows that you can be in control of your destiny when a sly factor of luck is in your favor.

AUC Times

By: Danya Koueider / Editor: Laila El Refaie

Page 16

Dec ‘18 issue

I’ve never understood why people come down so hard on Capitalism. I think it has to do with the fact that they really have no idea that it's actually a thriving economic system!

Especially for poor people the working class! Here are some guidelines for those who have spent their lives wondering, “Hmmm. I’m really poor and my ribs are practically outside of my body now! How can I get a belly as big as my boss’s?”. The time has come for you to find out!

1. If you work your entire life on minimum wage, a 9-5 job that leaves you bleeding through your cuticles from stress, fret not! Eventually¹ you’ll be able to do more than barely feed and clothe yourself and your family members!

2. If you want to become a business owner (just like your boss) you will either need: a) A large sum of money either through a trust fund or a dead relative’s inheritance b) To steal (refer to the Lehman Brothers² occurrence). c) To spend your whole life working under someone’s thumb, earning dirt pay, and leaving a sum of money for your child so they can try doing this all over again for himself!

3. If you do manage to swing something for yourself, you’re going to want to hire the most desperate people around. Those who have a food-to-mouth existence really do the job best! Remember, the hungrier the better.

4. Although 1% of the population has over 50% of the world’s wealth, fear not, trickle-down economics is a proven success, not to mention capitalists who don’t know how to set up their offshore accounts yet.

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5. Morals and ethics aren’t really a prerequisite for this economic system. To be more precise, corruption is key³. Corrupt people are loved by the masses and Netflix viewers for years to come, why do you think everyone loves Pablo Escobar so much? Because of Narcos, of course!

9. Say you’re paying everyone equally and then pay the ones that are colored different or speak funny less, they should be glad they’re getting anything that isn’t pesos or whatever honky-tonk kind of currency they used to use before they worked with you, in THEIR country. With OUR currency they can buy more than a pound of bananas with their month’s wage, okay.

6. Now that we’ve gotten our irksome morals out of the way, we can talk about how we can capitalize on the latest trends. For example, the gays LGBTQ community is a good way to coin some cash. Pop an ad out, even if you don’t personally like them, of a couple, holding hands and donate a margin of the profit to anti-LGBTQ groups after! Or sell a bedazzled cell phone (I’ve heard they like bright colors) and pretend to advocate for their rights and just tear them down behind the curtain as everyone else does.

10. If anyone asks for a raise, claim to be poor. I’ll attach a small monologue for reference:

7. Now if you do decide to donate anything, donate to the ‘bad stuff’ like the anti-LGBTQ and pro-gun usage groups in private and the ones that somewhat poor people (I think they’re referred to as middleclass? You will have to differentiate between them eventually even though I know they all look the same) donate to .⁴ Charity is only good when you have at least four cameras on you when you're doing it. If it's not plastered over every Facebook feed and trending on Twitter, does it even matter?

They will feel sorry for you because their hearts have sympathy⁶ and will stop nagging. You can then fly out to the Polynesian islands and take a ride on your yacht that’s actually yacht-sized.

8. If you have a sick relative who’s dying of a terminal disease that’ll have your medical bills pile up, pull the plug on them.

¹Terms and conditions apply ²The most inspiring story to date for us Capitalists is that of the Lehman Brothers, who were so good at being capitalists, they triggered the 2008 financial crisis. ³Examples include, but are not limited to: money laundering, dishonesty, manipulation, tax fraud/ evasion, bribery, violent acts etc.. ⁴Examples include: Feeding the poor people by throwing some takeaway boxes out the window as you drive by. Tip: Don’t slow down because they might touch you or try to steal from you as they all do. ⁵Please use your imagination; we’re not allowed to curse. ⁶Google the word. We didn’t know what it meant either until the people started rioting and stuff.

“The government’s coming down on me hard! Everyone thinks tax evasion is easy when it really isn’t, okay? My second yacht if I can even call it that since its the size of a bleeping⁵ speedboat had to be hidden in the bleeping Polynesian islands for bleeps sake. I basically have no money and our company is going to go bankrupt pretty soon, okay?”

Well, that’s it friends! We’ve come to the very end. Act on these guidelines and you might not end up despised by the general public. Be wary of laws and stuff though. I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it before, but there are some government officials that can’t be bribed and believe in justice or whatever. Try to get around them and their boring rules as much as you can, and you’ll have a pretty wild time. Pray to the void there’s no God to bum you out when you die too.

Catch you later!

AUC Times

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By: Dalia Abdelwahab / Editor: Raneem Mangoud

Have you ever thought about how your favorite YouTubers run their unconventional businesses behind closed doors, and within the privacy and comfort a private business email can provide? Look no further than the following lines. Sit back, and put yourself in the shoes of Amelia, the manager of world-renowned beauty guru AKILAHSHES (real name Akilah Neyazi), while reading an email from the latter.

“Dear Amelia, Welcome back to the gazillionth edition of “Akilah Is Late to Submit the Outline for This Week’s Video”. I have a valid excuse this time, though. If you may recall from our previous Skype call, I was in dire need of a vacation to unwind and get my creative juices flowing right before the holiday season. Naturally, there was no better way to do so than by maxing out a couple of my credit cards on a week-long vacation to the United Arab Emirates. I was super honored to be able to take glamorous shots that will, surely, notify my social media audience for the 18th time this month that my life will forever be better than theirs. Before you ask: No, I did not forget to include the hashtag #MyDubai in my vacation-related posts. I wouldn’t want my generous benefactors to go back on their promise of subsidizing my trip’s hefty expenses.

of White, male 40-something year-olds always try and fail miserably at: Marketing. My audience, which considers my channel its own version of the Mirror of Erised and will have some Christmas cash from their hard-working families to spare, will surely love to hear my very important, watered-down opinion.

Anyway, let’s get down to this week’s business. Christmas is on its way, and so is Santa Claus, with doubled advertisement revenue. As you know, this will be of great help for me during this tough time of financial difficulty as I’m saving up for a necessary new paint job for my Ferrari.

I do not have my hopes up for this product; by now, everyone and their uncle knows that Generique Cosmetics mass-produces its privately-labeled products in China. This makes any and all of its products nonvegan and non-cruelty-free, but my video doesn’t need to open that can of worms, does it?

This morning, I received the new Generique Cosmetics X Problematique eyeshadow palette — which is expected to launch online and in stores the day after Christmas — in my mailbox. Since this is the second Generique Cosmetics product to find its way to my mailbox ahead of its launch date, it is safe to assume that I have been placed on the company’s PR list; meaning that I am now expected to do what Generique Cosmetics’ core employee demographic

Given the fact that Shahinaz (Problematique), the makeup artist who designed the palette, is a close acquaintance of mine, a fellow content creator, and a woman who just happens to possess a 3 year-old screenshot of a text my equality-preaching self sent containing a racial slur, I cannot be too harsh on this product; even if it ends up making my eyes look like a Kindergartner’s favorite minichalkboard.

This week’s simple, casual eye look, which I am planning to create using this product, will be a 25-step cut crease recreated from an up-and-coming makeup artist’s look with zero credit given.

I will make sure to adjust my numerous studio lights before filming in order to make this palette look like the creation of Van Gogh’s long-lost great-granddaughter, along with slapping a ton of blurring filters on my video.

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Then, I’ll publish it with a thumbnail in which I appear holding the product with an overly disgusted face and the words “AKILAHSHES-APPROVED? 100% HONEST REVIEW!” plastered alongside me. The affiliate “discount” codes provided to me by Generique Cosmetics — and at least a dozen other companies that nurture my bank account under the guise of providing users with a discount — will have their fair share of being thrown in the faces of viewers as well, albeit in the description box.

Of course, this is all for the sake of my loving subscribers’ convenience. I love them so much and I would never wish to have them waste their resources — which might be a bit more limited than my humble income of $60,000 a month — on a poorly-performing product. Honesty is my ultimate policy when it comes to running this channel, unless it interferes with my beige Louis Vuitton wallet’s interests.

Photo by Alamy stock

I will be prefacing the aforementioned links and codes with a disclaimer to the effect of “some of the following discount codes are affiliate codes”, though, since some girl exposed all the non-disclosed advertisements that could be found on my social media platforms in a Twitter thread that went insanely viral the other day. No, I cannot reveal that I specifically pick and choose the products for which I have affiliate product links and discount codes to use in my videos. How do you want my viewers to perceive me? As a real-life Scrooge McDuck?

I will have to start filming as soon as possible before anyone else posts a review of this product first and attracts all the traffic to themselves, so I have to wrap this email up. Be sure to send me all the juicy gossip you promised me about TheTechieMakeupArtist as soon as possible, though — the stalkers behind those “YouTube Drama” channels will not remain friendly with me for too long, and this gossip would keep them distracted enough from me. I have a squeaky-clean reputation to maintain, and being an “exclusive source” of “never-before-seen” receipts is the cost I must pay for it.

Until my next foundation shade range inclusivity rant, Akilah”

AUC Times

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By: Nourhan El Hadba / Editor: Lauren K. Clark

JUDGE ME IF YOU : A TALE OF MAKING EXCEPTIONS What is deception? Is it a lie, an alternative truth or a construction of a reality that does not exist? Deception is the concept of all that is opposite to the truth—the tangible and the real; deception is the human mechanism of misleading other humans. Despite how sinister it might seem, we are involved in deception on a daily basis, either by committing it or falling prey to it. We deceive when lying, masking the truth or pretending; we deceive through the little, white lies of excuses for lateness, or to avoid unwanted social interactions. While these deceptions may be seen as trivial, we are offended when we are on the receiving end. We are also greatly offended when the deceit gets bigger, but are we right to be offended by the size of the deception if we actively engage in it as well? Who gets to decide what is acceptable and what is not? Are the reasons behind deception truly worth justifying the cause, or do we choose who to forgive based on the social and political structures of the world?

Steven Spielberg’s, Catch Me If You Can is the depiction of a real story in which the protagonist embodies deception.

Frank Abagnale Jr., played by Leonardo DiCaprio, is able to work as a lawyer, a pilot, and a doctor without any degrees; he gets his hands on millions of dollars by creating fake checks, and deceiving everyone he meets on his journey— all before he is nineteen years old. A master impersonator being chased by the FBI throughout the movie, Abagnale gets out of every situation through quick deception, wit, and confidence. But why is it that we empathize with Abagnale and root for him to escape the clutches of the relentless FBI agent, played by Tom Hanks, Carl Hanratty?

During the movie, we get to see Abagnale’s troubled youth and how his picture-perfect family is torn apart by his mother’s affair, leading him to run away. However, this trauma certainly cannot allow us to forgive him for the crimes he is committing, both from a legal and an ethical standpoint. Perhaps, it is our amazement at his cleverness that makes us anticipate his next con and laugh at his charming ways. Or perhaps it is because he does not seem to be hurting anyone through what he is doing: forging checks, impersonating people with different professions, and lying about one’s age and identity. These are acts that are all ethically wrong, but in reality, these actions have no direct negative effects on anyone. It could be a combination of these things, which allow people to forget how deception angers them in the face of this master deceiver. Or maybe, just maybe, it was because of his looks.

A white male robs millions of dollars, committing fraud and identity theft along the way, and not only does the public love him, but he also gets to work for the FBI and have a

Photo by Unsplash movie highlighting him as a witty, loveable hero. Why is it that people are sympathetic toward and forgiving of Abagnale, yet so harsh in judging people of other races, religions and ethnicities? Not only have societal structures allowed him to be seen as a charismatic person and guaranteed him a future that utilizes his talents, they are also what allowed him to effortlessly deceive all these people in the first place. Abagnale certainly possessed the charm and the wit to pull off everything that he did, but if he were of a different race, every word coming out of his mouth would have been second-guessed, questioned and investigated. Even if he had been an actual doctor or lawyer, he would have been looked down upon and not given the same respect that this impersonator was given due to racial profiling.

Furthermore, similar, or even pettier, crimes committed by people of different races and colors would not receive a tenth of the leniency that was shown here. This can be easily backed up by the fact that, according to the Washington post’s analysis of government statistics, 1.6% of prime-age white men are institutionalized, as opposed to a staggering 7.7% of prime-age Black-American men. Furthermore, Black-American women receive just as much discrimination and injustice; they are subjected to more violence, discrimination in school, racial profiling, murder, domestic abuse, suspensions and incarceration than

white women. The NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) has even published that the imprisonment rate of Black American women is twice that of white women. Native Americans also fall victims to these injustices by being prosecuted under federal laws, receiving longer sentences for similar crimes, being incarcerated at high rates as well as being more likely to be murdered by the police. Not only are these injustices prevalent in the lives of people of different races, religions and ethnicities, but, the lifedestroying consequences of these double standards are immeasurable.

Do you now find it troubling how society imposes certain notions of acceptance and judgment on us, which we blindly follow? Not only are justice systems and societal norms programmed to allow deception in certain ways and from certain individuals, but the media also acts as a tool for propagating the continual justification of this kind of deception. We find ourselves accepting and engaging in forms of deception, whether they are big or small, because of how we have become conditioned to accept them, despite our inert knowledge of the immorality of the action. By actively participating in a deceptive world, we grow more tolerant of how the powerful deceive the masses. We labeling those in power as villains, as if we are any better than they are-this becomes a coping mechanism

of self-deception. Looking down on those who deceive and not caring to become better humans is also another form of self-deception that makes us live in this web of duplicity.

We have morphed the world into a place where artifice is needed for survival, and those who work harder at fooling those around them usually garners greater success.

Does there seem to be a way out of this loop of dishonesty? Abagnale found fulfillment in the end; could this fulfillment be the way of escaping this unethical path?

Although deception has become an integral way of life, fighting it within ourselves, our communities, and our societies—rather than enduring it—would be the right thing to do.

Also, it is equally important to notice how deception and immorality are regularly treated around us. We must acknowledge why it is that we treat some people differently than others, and even if we do not believe we engage in that unjust treatment, we must learn to be aware that external systems are deceiving us, by pretending that they treat everyone equally. The era of noticing and accepting deception that works to eradicate the rights of so many people because of their looks, or powerlessness, is beginning to crumble. It is our duty to see this dismantling. Only then can we reach a world in which humanity has enough respect for itself to be honest and just.

AUC Times

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By: Mahmoud Fadel / Editor: Laila El Refaie

STANLEY KUBRICK: FILMING THE SUBLIMINAL

4D films have become somewhat mainstream nowadays, but did older generations have their own immersive experiences? The answer is yes, and lies in the films of Stanley Kubrick. Kubrick went above and beyond in search of a fifth dimension: the human mind. There are important figures who stand out in association to cinema; the Lumière brothers who are considered to be the forefathers of cinema, and visionaries like Alfred Hitchcock, Orson Welles, and Steven Spielberg. Much like some of these filmmakers, Kubrick didn’t invent modern cinema—or postmodern cinema for that matter—but throughout his career in the past century, he assisted in defining it. What makes Kubrick so timelessly intriguing is his endeavor to make a film delve into the viewer’s subconscious, and penetrate the deep layers and underlying intricacies of the psychology of the human mind.

Photo by newyorker.com

“The film becomes anything the viewer sees in it" - Stanley Kubrick

Photo by nytimes.com

What differentiated Kubrick from other directors was his ability to portray intricate emotions in his films. Though it may come as a surprise to some, Kubrick himself was very much the opposite; he was a stoic man in the most glamorous and extroverted industry in the world. As a director, Kubrick targeted the audience's subconscious, subversively incorporating psychoanalytic theory into blockbuster filmmaking—something that was quite unorthodox at the time. Kubrick was influenced in his life by Sigmund Freud and Franz Kafka, which is ever so apparent throughout his entire body of work.

Take Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb for example:

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it is a political satire that dissects the nuclear turmoil of the Cold War, riddled with clear hints of Kubrick’s pessimistic cynicism. Kubrick’s proficiency lay in pushing ideas far beyond their limits. He had one goal: to widen the gulf between the literary and the visual, much to the original authors’ disdain. For example, Kubrick liked to play with the Overlook Hotel in The Shining;

he invented the idea that it was built on Native American burial grounds, so that it may become a symbol of “White male power-elite”. The Overlook was destroyed in the novel, but it remained standing in the film as an expression of the absurdity and cold silence we live in—a hotel empty of life and deprived of any purpose or meaning in the middle of nowhere. Kubrick ensured that The Shining would not be just a horror film, but also a psychological thriller and a sensory adventure that delves into the psychosis of desolation and the horrors of the paranormal.

Kubrick’s goal was never to be an entertaining director, effectively gaining his status as a result of his unsettling and uncomfortable films, as opposed to Steven Spielberg, for example. To put this into perspective, 2001: A Space Odyssey was made for

Dec ‘18 issue

the viewer to question; there is no right interpretation for its ending—a subject of interest and argumentative discussion to this day. The same goes for the daunting dystopia, A Clockwork Orange, a film which,

according to Kubrick, questions “whether behavioral psychology and psychological conditioning are dangerous new weapons for a totalitarian government to use to impose vast controls on its citizens.”

It deliberately attacks the viewers’ morals and beliefs, and leaves them in a state of moral and philosophical aporia. Whereas Spielberg’s Schindler’s List, while still considered one of the greatest films ever made, is the typical film with all the right answers; it’s about success and hope, within the context of the great tragedy of the holocaust—one of the greatest failures of humankind.

Photo by wikipedia.org

Even less successful adaptations like Barry Lyndon were able to prove their worth as time passed, due to Kubrick’s fearlessness as an auteur.

It proved later on to be a triumph in cinematography and scene lighting.

The whole film relied solely on natural lighting—a brief lapse of genius that was too ahead of its time to be appreciated upon its release.

Kubrick’s films became pillars of their genres—from satire to horror, and everything in between—but they were never faithful to the textbook definitions of their genres; they were a showcase of emotions and a celebration of the idea of film. What could be depressing, horrifying, or intriguing in one scene could be instantly comedic in the next. This made his work far too complex to

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abide by the standard of the genre and the whole industry itself.

Filmmakers will often rely on music and cinematography to interact with the human psyche. And Kubrick broke almost every rule, written and unwritten, about the usage of music in film when he refused to conform to the phenomenon of bland and inaudible music that lacked personality. Instead, he employed music that was unordinary, sentimental, and unmistakable in order to develop the narrative and stimulate the characters and their actions. Kubrick’s grace with music produced a rhythmic approach to the movement of characters in the frame that is perfectly timed with the beat of the music. Most memorably, the hostess in 2001: A Space Odyssey walks upside down on a centrifugal wall, symbolizing the moon orbiting a planet. At the same time, her walk

is so delicate as though she were performing an ‘acrobatic exercise’ to the tempo of the film’s music.

But Kubrick’s absurdity also means that he must break his own rules, shown in his usage of slow-motion in the sniper shooting scene in Full Metal Jacket. Having neither the characters nor the scene itself in sync with the music induces franticness and distress among the audience. Kubrick’s films were made to stimulate the senses, because when a soldier gets shot on the field of battle, the real sense of visual and aural disheveled discord is similar to his fictional portrayal.

into the viewer’s mind. The whole film became a reference point for cinematography, revered by many a film student.

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A short but immortal body of work stands witness to Stanley Kubrick’s unmatched ability to make a film speak to the audience on every possible level. I regret not having experienced a Kubrick film in the theater, simply because I was born a couple of decades too late. It’s an adventure that demands close attention, because everything, including music, characters, setting, and dialogue—every miniscule detail—has a backstory behind it which he mulled over for hours.

Kubrick is a man the likes of whom cinema needs right now, particularly in an industry obsessed with profits and special effects, with no consideration whatsoever for what films used to be in the time of filmmakers like Kubrick—filmmakers who shaped the lives of the millions who work in the film industry nowadays because they once saw The Shining, The Godfather, Citizen Kane, or Psycho when they were younger.

Camera angles and shots are means of manipulating the audience into whatever state the director desires.

During the tranquil moments of The Shining, the frames and shots are symmetrical, seamless, and easygoing. But when things go south, the camera moves erratically, losing all sense of aesthetic pleasure and relaxation, effectively pushing the audience into a downward spiral of fear and horror. Full Metal Jacket achieves this during the training scenes, when the drill instructor is looking down and shouting into the camera, as if the viewer is being shouted at, engendering tension

Photo by bfi.org.uk

AUC Times

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By: Atlas

THE CULTURE INDUSTRY: DECEPTION THE DECEPTION OF LEISURE

“Enlightenment, understood in the widest sense as the advance of thought, has always aimed at liberating human beings from fear and installing them as masters. Yet the wholly enlightened earth radiates under the sign of disaster triumphant” An astute inhabitant of the 20th century will notice that something has gone deeply wrong when their era is patterned by three types of blind domination: the domination of nature by humans, the domination of the nature within humans, and the domination of humans by humans. From as early as 1944, Adorno and Horkheimer (A&H) urged us in their seminal work of critical theory “Dialectic of Enlightenment” to understand that our rapid consumption of the Earth’s resources, weapons of mass destruction, and Nazi death camps are not some haphazard blips in the history of humanity but direct results of certain destructive tendencies stemming from the Enlightenment being left unchecked.

For A&H, the Enlightenment is characterized by the use of instrumental reason (that which is used to achieve a certain end), which has pervaded and powered modern Western industrial societies. Yet this end-based thinking did not just exist on a local level; societal structures were fragmented and restructured along the same lines through the process of rationalization. Due to this economic restructuring of the Western world, practices and techniques that maximize profit confer vital advantages to the corporations and industries that use them within the correct context.

While this rationalization of society in terms of means and ends has

allowed for rapid advancement of science, technology, and healthcare, it has come at a human cost that must be acknowledged. The hyperspecialization of labor causes a fundamental alienation between the factory/corporate worker and the products they produce. This disconnect is further reinforced when the fruits of their labor are directly sold for profit. “But even though some workers are working undesirable jobs, they end up getting paid and end up able to afford leisure time,” some may object.

While this counterargument does have some weight, it is predicated on the assumption that leisure time, regardless of how it is spent, will make up for working alienating jobs.

A&H ask us to consider how we really end up spending such hard-earned leisure time, considering the draining nature of employment and the effect it has on our psyche.

What we consume during leisure is thus provided by one of the most vital pillars of 1940s American society—what A&H call “The Culture Industry.” The same structures that allowed the evolution and development of hyper-specialized jobs also allowed for the agglomeration and concentration of capital within the form of massive media corporations. This advancement in technology also contributed to the development of mass media through the creation of TV, radio, film, and

the infrastructures necessary to support them. Yet one cannot make the mistake of assuming the art produced from such corporations is similar to the high art of precapitalist ages; while artists in the past did have to make their art under a patron in order to live, the art they produced was relatively autonomous. Art previously had an aesthetic and ritualistic value that was independent from its exchange value; it was not yet commodified.

The force of A&H’s analysis lies within their demonstration that reducing the value of art to purely economic terms leads to the form of the art itself having to conform to a certain commodity structure. Yet this mechanism of standardization did not arise from hand-rubbing executives in business suits planning the entire ordeal; the demand for certain types of entertainment forces the commodified art to adopt a certain form to maximize profit.

The demand is in itself a direct result of the alienation caused by the rationalized structure of society. Thus, the Culture Industry is dialectically intertwined with the rationalized structure of Capitalism; both co-evolve symbiotically and affect each other in their evolution.

Dec ‘18 issue

Photo by Nada Mohamed

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What is the result of this coevolutionary development? Mass media has become standardized, formulaic and generic. Before commodification, serious art was structured as a “concrete totality”, the aesthetic particulars of which conveyed something about the whole—a change in details necessitating a change in holistic meaning. Conversely, standardized art consists of a series of independent interchangeable elements that do not deviate much from a known and predictable schema. A typical modern pop song consists of two or three verses, a chorus, and a bridge, all emphasizing the same harmonic content and musical ideas. These functional roles can be fulfilled by different elements; one melody can be exchanged for another without damaging the composition, for example.

Similarly, cinema and television at the time were populated by generic archetypal characters acting out a predictable story in which “The hero’s momentary fall from grace (which he accepts as good sport), the rough treatment which the beloved gets from the male star, the latter’s rugged defiance of the spoilt heiress, are, like all the other details, ready-made clichés to be slotted in anywhere.”

The massive power in this commodity structure lies within three attributes. First, the interchangeability of elements allows the culture industry to churn out pseudo-individuated copies of essentially the same product.

Second, schematization allows the scientific tailoring of certain art to certain classifications of people, and thus maximizes distribution. Thirdly, the most important advantage lies within its consumability. The independence of the part from the whole means the audience need not trouble themselves with figuring out how each element of the composition fits within the greater totality; they need only concentrate on experiencing the element in the moment. Not only that, but the onslaught of sensory data requires both quickness and observational power; it leaves no room for sustained thought or imagination.

This is aided by the insertion of cues such as canned laughter during a comedic scene or tragic music during periods of melancholy, the standardization of media correspondingly standardizes the audience, such that, in the words of

A&H, “the product prescribes every reaction.” Therefore, mass media has become the de facto product for leisurely consumption, with the average American forgoing spending their time on self development and growth, instead preferring to watch the latest sitcom with their family after a long day of work, and who could blame them?

“Why should I care as long as I enjoy the art, shouldn’t that be enough?”

Ultimately, A&H measured art not by how pleasurable it was to consume but by its emancipatory potential and its ability to mediate our perception of the world through its form. In fact, the emphasis on form rather than particulars clarifies why Adorno was critical of protest songs during the 1960s; even though the content and meaning behind them were anti-establishment, they still conformed heavily to the specific formulaic musical forms (such as a 4-4 time signature) of the time. A&H tell us that you cannot consume this media without considering the effect it has on you. Life imitates art; what we consume affects how we view the world, the categories with which we think, and our aesthetic values. Rather than challenging our conception of the world, mass media ends up reinforcing it, pacifying our discontent by presenting not alternate realities but deceitfully alternate pictures of the existing reality.

In terms of our modern period, this commodification structure is still readily apparent in the most popular songs, videogames, books, and films.

However, the information revolution in the last few decades has brought about monumental decentralizing shifts in the production and distribution of art. By not having to rely on megacorporations to produce and distribute culture, the production of subversive and powerful messages within art was possible once again.

A kernel of commodification is nevertheless found within most niche art forms. One must never lose awareness of the extent to which politics, aesthetics, and sociology intersect, collide and evolve in tandem to produce the social structures we have today.

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THE By: Bahi Ashraf / Editor: Mahmoud ElHakim

Photo by Nada Mohamed 1943, War torn Fascist Italy. The scene is set in a guerrilla village on the outskirts of northern Italy. The atmosphere is thick, laden with the spiteful breath of decadent death.

The sting of looming defeat pulsating from the individual sickness of every man and woman, a death of life, a death of hope, a death of liberty. The fascists were at the door. Across the camp a silent brood overswept, faces hardened unable to weep for their own deaths; it was no longer living; rather a state of precursory death where you watched yourself die inside out. Sitting opposite the burning embers of the fire, a woman stood momentarily, shifting from one spot to the next, shuffling, carrying sacks and tents. We were all too numbed by sorrow to pay attention to her arousal. I could not help it, watching her move around as such, lively and animate‌ I did not understand. She vanished. I returned to the state I was in and forgot her shifting. The lamination of the bitter silence was in its totality consuming, nothing could exist out of it.

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PARTISAN “Una mattina…” Her singing faded into the back of my head, consumed in the blackness inhabiting it. “Mi son svegliato… O bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao ciao ciao.” It was too familiar, too similar to myself; it was too much like everything I witnessed withering everyday.

I could not breathe at times, could not look at the coming of days and nights and think tomorrow would be different, but sing? I could sing.

Una mattina mi son svegliato One morning I woke up Eo ho trovato l'invasor And I found the invader.

Music cannot be separated from human experience; it cannot be reduced to an ahistorical singularity, nor can it be removed from our consciousness, for even as we speak, we reproduce it. It takes no large leap, then, to find music in the political, to understand each in terms of the other. The struggle for expression is nuanced and often resisted, whether in the oppression of external forces, or in the oppression of the self. Taken under this light, political phenomena can be understood as the convergence of many individual affects, attitudes, and beliefs for morality, communication, ritual, etc. For which music is found to be the quintessential vehicle for the dispersion of these affects and beliefs. If politics, then, is the network of conflicting and converging beliefs then how might we look at, and understand, popular music? Music, as a category of analysis is an elusive subject, one that constantly shifts its appearance; constantly escaping any clustering or reduction.

We cannot but reject the interpretation of music genres as products of technological evolution as it fails to explain the shifting role of meaning portrayed, expressed, and reinforced in every new emerging style. To analyse the movement between styles and the transitional positionality that demarcates the stagnation phases it must also be understood that whatever drives this movement is fuelled by the tension of opposition and contradiction. Hegel’s Dialectical works precisely in this manner, it explains phenomena as having been birthed through the struggle and opposition of previous phenomena. We see then, through this analytical lens, the scene of musical stylization as representative of the larger socio-political struggle. The Dialectic situates a logical form as being in three “moments”, the first being the moment of fixity in which concepts gain considerable form and definition (think of this as the moment when a concept receives its identity). The second moment is that of the Dialectic, in which concepts are observed to not be as stable as they were defined to be. The form as defined in the first stage is lost as the tensions and contradictions inherent in it seep out through its oppositional relation to a conflicting form. The third moment is that of the Speculative; the dissolution of meaning and contradiction of the logical forms is composited into a third, newer, form called the synthesis.

Western musical genres have changed immensely during the 20th century, starting as early as the 1900’s and 1910’s in the preliminary form of what evolved into the Blues. An era outlined by peaking racist discourse and attitudes towards African-Americans—but also by a radical mobilization and unity—was in the social consciousness of African-Americans towards their state of slavery and degeneration. This era directly preludes the sonorous uproar of the civil rights movement starting in the 1940’s. The logical forms that gave rise to the Blues, as we know it today, came to be in a preliminary moment of Fixity, where the relational definition between African and American was conceived and bordered. The irrationality inherent in this definitional dynamic dissolved the boundaries between American and African and put them in direct opposition from which a new synthesis emerged: what we now recognize as Blues music. Music that is in every tonal expression and phrasing a living ode to the struggle, history, and experience of the enslaved lives of African men and women in America, and an homage to the rich and diverse conglomeration of the different cultural markings and tradition of their ancestral homes. In it we see the influence of the American experience and the incorporation of western musical scales and instruments such as the guitar and the bass. From the Blues we come to recognize a music that utilizes the tools of its oppressor to transcend the agony of experience and through such express a rich self that breathes resistance to the drudged state of its

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experience.

Jazz surprisingly started out as a very parallel style to the blues, adding various flourishes in the compositional theory sustaining the music. However it rapidly metastasized and became synonymous with complexity music theory and complex harmonic and instrumental arrangements. Going into the 1930’s and 40’s, Jazz was the staple across the US as the primary mode of the youth’s musical expression; it came to be called The Golden Jazz age. The technical fetishization of jazz soon led to its disenfranchisement and removal from the collective consciousness of the youth. The relatively simplistic and communal tradition of folk gave sway to the frustrated voice of a youth rooting itself in a clear-cut accessible tradition.

When the United States was swept by the civil rights movement, the calls for equality were bolstered with a rising union of African-American consciousness. Much of the emotion and agony going into the force of the civil rights movement was put into music and recreated at protests with very simple instrumental arrangement; a guitar, a few small percussive instruments (like the tambourine), and vocals. This form of folk-blues-gospel hybrid music later on influenced the development of folk music and inspired the elaboration or even creation of genres such as soul and funk that remained largely reserved for African-American expression as a new synthesis of African culture in an American context.

From the folky anti-establishment protest music of the civil rights movement and later artists like Bob Dylan, the tradition carried on with the largely youth-led revolts of the 60’s. A movement across the western world that carried the momentum of the civil rights movement and culminated youth dissatisfaction, particularly against the post-WWII conditions and the Vietnam War. The 60’s produced a very distinct interpretation of the music of the eras prior. A particular flavour which led directly to the creation of Rock and Roll, visceral in nature and resonant with the anger and the frustrated dissociation that marked the spirit of the time. Rock and roll is stylistically indebted to the blues; it carries in it much of the anger and suffocation of the blues… only louder, more dissonant, and aggressive. It was everything that folk music was not: driven, chaotic, and unsympathetic. Rock and Roll rampaged throughout the entire world until its decline in the late 80’s when synthpop and alternative rock emerged and carried on until their replacement in the 90’s by punk, grunge, and hip hop. This is not of course to deny the existence of other forms of music, especially as those originating in non-western countries.

Merely it is an attempt to hyper-focus on a small representative sample which we can then comfortably explore.

The linear pattern should not go unnoticed as musical genres are dethroned by their successors. The Hegelian Dialectic carried us so far as to observe the pattern and gain one way of interpreting it. However, it leaves us lacking the impetus underlying the entirety of this movement, the irrationality that destroys the borders of logical formulation and forces a new synthesis of musical expression. Harkening back to the brief literary vignette at the beginning of this article, in a time, place, and spirit so closely relevant, we find Antonio Gramsci perched on a mountain peak of cultural analysis imbued with his anti-fascist drives and philosophies. Here we find the link to connect the necessary dots, to interpret the process of music stylization through the Hegelian Dialectic ushered viz-a-viz the struggle between hegemonic and counter-hegemonic forces of culture. Gramsci took to study an important question, which Adorno and Horkheimer also took great interest with later on, that of the relationship between power and culture. He posited that as a subversive latent power, authority creates a “false consciousness”, an affective ideology representing not only the world, but things that would fall under the categorization of leisure.

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We can then analyse the generation of musical styles as constant counterhegemonic resistive movements.

Assuming an authority force that seeks subordination and complete integration into social and economic life, the need to create unity as well as diversity in the forms of culture follows logically. If anyone can feel perfectly represented by a select musical genre then the purpose of music however is all the dimmer.

Culture is an industry, it is stabilized by institution and sustained with a constant hegemonizing process.

Musical genres soon become endorsed by labels, a certain look or style becomes associated with them, as well as an attitude.

It becomes clean, defined, and accessible to a large-scale audience, representing the first moment of Hegel’s Dialectic. In classical terms, it becomes commodified.

From those neatly-defined borders however there emerges a tension that is symptomatic of larger malady, suffocation and frustration that overwhelm the music. The genre soon becomes symbolic of an oppressive ideology, or consciousness; its look outdated, its message defunct. A new counterhegemonic genre emerges to satisfy this need, one that is a reaction against its predecessor but also an offspring of the identity that struggled for it. With whirring gears the industry churns, appropriating new identities and hegemonizing them, working to unify them enough under one guise to block the torrential outpouring of alternative forms of resistance.

It is all too easy to crystallize the actors that vindicate and fledge their lives in support of these forces as “villains” in the classical sense, as one often feels in the reading of classical Marxist texts. Gramsci reminds us that they, too, live under the obscure visage of a false consciousness. È questo il fiore del partigiano This is the flower of the partisan Morto per la libertà Who died for freedom

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Photo by Ingie Gohar

Dec ‘18 issue

COFFEE I never quite understood its gravity The soft undissolving powder The heavy drink What I did understand Was my mother’s practiced dance Coffee, sugar, water I plaintively watched from the counter As the coffee swirled and sunk to the bottom Dancing with gravity Every time; When gravity finally gets to her When her eyes no longer Look like her own When her chest starts to feel heavy Her practiced hands begin to dance once again Her braids silver-stricken Her eyes pain ridden As she sips her coffee And the slightest of smiles Finds a way to her Lips.

By: Mariam ibrahim

I never quite understood its gravity When my mother chased after my father To take a sip; Humorously nudging the cup to his lips I never understood its gravity When he first made her coffee Unskilled hands His eyes look like his own As we joked Shall we add salt?

My chest was light My eyes were young Not yet pain-ridden I never understood its gravity As I pleaded to have a sip As I implored her to make my own I understood its gravity When my father began to drink coffee After his wife’s father’s death After his first born son left As his only daughter graduated And began to leave home more often.

Even as his hair was silver-stricken His eyes no longer looked like his own I understood When I realized he drank the coffee For her I understood its gravity As I began to drink coffee; After my parents left Followed by My grandmother’s sudden death I understood its gravity As they came home And my hair was silver-stricken And my eyes drowned And were no longer My own

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By: Amina Fahmy / Editor: Laila El Refaie

DEREALIZATION: EXPERIENCING REALITY THROUGH

Photo by Adham Hegazy

How do we make sense of our world?

Whether in the way we see our surroundings, or those around us, we often take the processes that allow us to recognize and relate to our surrounding environment for granted.

Cognitive processes have been extensively considered as key for processing a sense of selfawareness; introspection, defined as the cognitive processing of body awareness, plays a huge role in the way we are able to perceive our environment and those around us.

The processes that enable us to experience the world also dictate our emotions and the ways in which we can relate to everything around us. By understanding them, we are not only able to better understand ourselves, but also reach deeper meanings regarding the essence of the human experience. It is crucial to explore the significance of meaningful social relations and the way they impact how we make sense of the world. The situations people encounter in life alter the

Dec ‘18 issue

way they view their surroundings, encompassing both objects and people. In this sense, people’s view of reality and the way they relate to things around them is not uniform and is subject to variations, be they physical or psychological.

Depersonalization-Derealization Disorder (DD) is a disorder that alters the way an individual is able to perceive reality. A person suffering from DD experiences a “profound disruption of selfawareness.” Here are several main “experiential” components that characterize those who suffer from DD. Patients of DD often experience: 1. Feelings of disembodiment: where they feel detached or disconnected from their bodies.

2. Subjective emotional numbing: where their ability to experience emotions and empathy is hindered.

3. Anomalous subject recalling: a lack of ownership when remembering things and imagining things.

4. Derealization: where they feel estranged from their physical surroundings.

Patients of DD describe themselves as “seem[ing] to be walking in a world [they] recognize but don’t feel”. In contrast to experiences of hallucinations, patients of DD are aware that what they are experiencing is their own subjective reality and not an objective one.

Patients suffer from “systematic differences in interoception”; or their ability to sense the internal states of their bodies, which contributes to a change in the quality of their mental activity, body, and surroundings; making their experience feel more unreal, remote and automatized. DD is a greatly underexplored phenomenon; very few studies have been done to examine the introspective, cognitive processes and their relation to DD. Studies conducted to examine this correlation have both showed a connection between introspective process and patients experiencing DD, as well as a lack of correlation in other areas. Neuroimaging studies show a lesser activation in certain

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areas of the brain (insular and anterior cingulate cortex) when DD patients were exposed to aversive stimuli. Both of these brain areas are crucial for introspection, and are responsible for body sensations that make self-awareness possible.

Other studies on the subjective body awareness distortions related to DD, suggest that other areas of the brain suffer from abnormalities that interfere in areas responsible for an “integrated body schema”, as well as other cognitive processes.

Perhaps one of the most debilitating aspects of DD is that impaired interoceptive processing also affects the patient’s overall emotional experience. Experimental evaluations found deficits in affective and cognitive components of empathy.

Exploring empathy allows us to understand the way in which introspection, as a representation of bodily “internal states” is linked to the capacity to process the emotional states of others and our ability to relate to them. Studies show that there is a strong association between introspection and empathy; body processing signals strongly affect our experience of emotions towards others and how these feelings are manifested. Self-awareness, understood as the manifestation of body signals and emotional feelings that give rise to a “continuous stream of consciousness”, allows us to see how DD’s profound disruption of the self impacts the way we can relate to others. Views of affective empathy, supported by neurological studies, highlight the importance of the generation, representation, and perception of one’s own emotions in order to be able to process those of others. Effectively, empathy as a principle of compassion, fueled by a deeper understanding of one’s self, is obstructed when we become unable to wholly perceive ourselves. Given this, it becomes clear that DD’s impact on cognitive components of empathy and the way we see ourselves is an obstacle to maintaining meaningful social relations.

Understanding impairments in DD patients related to their emotional and physical experience allow us to recognize the way reality can be experienced differently by various people. Our experience of the physical reality is not uniform, and so are the ways we relate to it. People suffering from DD often describe themselves as feeling as if they become a “detached observer from

themselves” like they were watching themselves in a movie. Feeling “very light, as if [they] were floating on air”, are common descriptions of their disembodiment. Perhaps what makes this experience more difficult is that people suffering from DD know that their reality is not objective. They become aware of the fact that their experience of life is very different from those around them. DD can often manifest itself in feelings of desperation from those who suffer from it. Desperation to connect with those around them and an ability to ground themselves in something real can make them feel like they are experiencing “madness”.

This distorted reality can manifest in a desperate pursuit to feel real or to feel anything. A patient suffering from DD described unprecedented feelings of loneliness, like he was “the only one that exists in the world”, even though he knew it was not true. Distorted perceptions of their surroundings and themselves cause a great obstruction to forming and maintaining meaningful relations. A patient describing a need to feel others’ presence reflected; “whenever I embrace a friend or family member, I do not feel them.

I know they are there, but I cannot feel their presence or touch.” The same person described having consistent dreams where she would experience some form of physical affection, and would wake up feeling happy about feeling a connection; “in a weird sense, my dreams felt more real than my reality”.

Ideas of physical reality and how they are perceived, are crucial to the overall holistic human experience.

Although it is common for people to experience what might be considered a “subjective reality”, questions of the human experience and a desire to relate and form meaningful connections, remain a recurrent and persistent thought for those who cannot do so. Thoughts of an “objective reality” and the sharing of a uniform human experience can become taunting; even deceptive notions when undergoing what appears as distortions in reality. An understanding of these distortions, though it might seem irrelevant to some, is necessary for a deeper and more meaningful understanding of the human experience, as well as what it might mean to collectively share these deeper meanings.

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Photo by Sally Elfishawy

AUC Times

LITTLE ADULTS IN SMALL WORLDS: THE WORLD OF CHILD PRODIGIES By: Lauren K. Clark / Editor: Amy El-Zayaty

The world of child prodigies is a magical, intriguing, and vivacious world of its own. Just imagine! Little people, who are gifted with adult-like capabilities; an intrinsic world, where childhood is immersed in talents and capabilities, only imaginable by the greatest of minds. From adolescents entering college at age 12, like Stephen Stafford, to 7-year-old child surgeons like Akrit Jaswal of India, to those who calculate the world’s most impossible math problems, to musicians, orators, inventors, and business owners; child geniuses and prodigies occupy a strong presence in the world of epistemology and intellectualism. We are captured by their greatness, mesmerized by their very existence. For many, they serve as these precious stars of magnitude, these “little people doing big things.’’

Their lives become glamorous; fame, exposure, and respect is given to their families for having produced such children. There are stories of child prodigies and geniuses living happy

lives, all the while being supported by a strong family network. Most importantly, they are allowed to... be children. And then there are those child prodigies or geniuses who experience all the pains, stressors, and turmoil of being placed under the spotlight.

Child geniuses and prodigies have a unique position, depending on the cultural setting of their existence.

It is safe to say that having a highly intellectual or talented child brings a level of prestige to any family blessed to have one, or more. We are exposed to child violinists, singers, actors/actresses, musicians, inventors, and mathematicians. At the heart of it all, they are still children— young, imaginative minds, who like to play “make believe” and “pretend” games with their friends. According to the article Depressive Disorder In Highly Gifted Adolescents, by Susan Jackson and Jean Peterson, “as young children, the highly gifted are often

unaware of how different their thoughts and feelings are from even their less-gifted peers. There is even with it that a dawning realization of differences may bring with it a sense of desolation and loneliness.”

Playing in the sandbox and swinging on the playgrounds means there is an emotional attachment to one’s childhood despite being in the “adult world.” There are child prodigies and geniuses, along with their families, who have managed to understand that. In the Family & Relationships section of the South China Morning Post, the article How to Raise a Child Prodigy: Nurture Them, but Don’t Push Them, the reality of healthy geniuses and prodigies is apparent with the statement: “These parents found that letting their children take ownership of their talent and training was key to preventing burnout.” For Robert and Elizabeth Brokamp (from Alexandria, Virginia USA), family time was re-incorporated back into

Dec ‘18 issue

their child’s life when they realized that gymnastics and school were occupying more time from their 11-year old daughter, Zoe. “We are doing a lot more eating together, as a family.” Elizabeth says. “Zoe gets more sleep, too.”

What may seem like an extreme choice has been the best option for them.

One of the commonalities of maintaining normalcy in such families is that these talented children are protected and supported by a healthy familial network. Child geniuses and prodigies coming from healthy families are allowed to utilize their creativity and talents as an enhancer for their self-esteem. Thus, their genius elevates their perception of self, while also keeping them grounded in activities suitable for their age group.

They are allowed to have healthy social lives, thereby interacting with children of their age group—who may or may not be child prodigies or geniuses.

There are societal views, which also have a myriad of punishments for talented or genius children, and the care of their emotional health. Famed psychologist Joan Freeman has spent 35 years exploring the lives of 20 adults—the gifted group. In her book, Gifted Lives, she gains insight into the reality that prodigies and gifted children are normal people. Unfortunately, their humanity is often overlooked. Through her studies, she grappled with the following concept: “Gifted children are always pushed aside as not being worth investigating.

But a good deal of our future depends on bright people.

If you are gifted, you have the potential to work at a very high level but [there is a danger that] no one will see you— no one will give you what you need. ” Their talent and level of genius has become more significant than who they are as children. A form of objectification has taken place, and the identity of prodigy or genius has detached the children from their very existence as people. Therefore, their talent and genius brings forth an intriguing conversation as to how their being is forced into a realm of exploitative Capitalism.

This category of child geniuses and prodigies is idolized, branded, and adored, but are they truly loved?

Culture has a very important role in how the future of child prodigies and geniuses is shaped. Are there certain societies (and cultures) that are more rigid when it comes to the success of high achieving children? What are the expectations of families for their talented children? It is

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a well-known fact that there are higher standards set for academic excellence within particular cultures. In the film, Akeelah and the Bee, viewers are also presented with the figure of the Asian father, who places enormous pressure on his son to win the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee Championship. Furthermore, Adeeb Al Balushi (13 years of age), and his sister Dana Al Balushi (11 years of age) reflected high standards of education, in the Arab world (specifically the United Arab Emirates), when they were accepted at California State University. Such is a reminder that standards of educational excellence also exist in this region of the world; pressures to present a better image to the Western world of girls and boys’ academic achievement. Then, of course, there is Anala Beevers, who learned the English alphabet at 4 years old, and became one of the youngest members of MENSA. One could also address how pressure for academic excellence in Black American communities is conducted as a means to rid of stereotypes of poverty and ignorance heavily associated with this group.

When examining the world of the child genius, are we prone to removing them from the world of normalcy?

Have regular minds become so abnormal and inhumane in their own understanding of the child prodigy that we view them as superhuman more than as children? Is there a child prodigy in all of us? A visual deception... Wouldn’t you agree?

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By: Farah Desouky / Editor: Amy El Zayaty

AND “BLISSFUL” IGNORANCE The notion of lying, deceiving, and twisting truths in order to fit a specific desired delusion is encompassed by one common phenomenon: censorship. It can be seen in either self-censorship due to a fear of negative consequences or taboo, or political censorship as a method of oppression; even art, with its classifications and judgments on the concepts of right and wrong, is often censored. Censorship is, unconsciously, part of our everyday lives, limiting our agency and fooling us into a falsified sense of reality.

However, how truthful are our lives and choices, if we are living with so many truths censored from us?

First and foremost, before classifying censorship as a destructive concept, we must examine the appeal of censorship, which may be the “bliss in ignorance”. Ignorance, and the comfort within it, is many people’s choice for a reason; the awareness of every fault in the world—despite how important of a role it plays in transforming us into active human beings—is a constant burden. Just imagine if vegans didn’t realize how cruel it was to eat animals and their byproducts, or if feminists didn’t understand the concept of patriarchy, or if socialists didn’t know that the working class were being exploited. Would the comfort of ignorance outweigh the horrors of oppression they witness?

Censorship is a side effect of power; the existence of authority in itself is a breeding ground for deception.

From the condemnation of Galileo by the Catholic Church for believing

that the Earth revolves around the Sun, to Trump shouting fake news while claiming that journalists were the enemy of Americans, alienating opposition and labelling it as the “other” has always been the easiest way to go. Challenging the narrative in the face of authority and censorship is a punishable crime in the constitution of every authoritarian society. For instance, Egyptian LGBTQ+ youth are called a threat to public security and advocates for immorality, as seen in Mashrou’ Leila’s infamous concert in 2017, which resulted in a ban of any future performances by the band in Egypt. This can also be seen in economist and thinker Abdel-Khalek Farouk’s arrest for his latest book, Is Egypt Really a Poor Country, which was critical of the president’s economic policies, and was therefore deemed as “spreading false information.”

In “Third World” and “developing” countries like Egypt, freedom is often categorized as a luxurious and privileged demand—basic gaslighting under the pretense that we have other actual issues to deal with.

Because there’s no arguing against the idea that a country’s stability outweighs freedom of speech and other snowflake concepts like that…

Nothing is better proof of how truth is not a priority in the face of censorship than Donald Trump becoming the president of the US and the recent rise of Brazil’s clearly fascist president-elect, Jair Bolsonaro.

This brings us to another form of destructive censorship: sugarcoating. Turning reality into a more acceptable, aestheticized,

Dec ‘18 issue

romanticized version of it.

Glamorizing the notion of struggle makes every trauma appear normal.

For example, Ahed Tamimi, the Palestinian hero: we love her, we love her eurocentric features, but we overlook the fact that all Palestinian children are Ahed.

The struggle did not start with her and did not end after our shortlived sympathy for her. Ahed’s idolization is definitely positive, but is it enough? Then there’s Amal, the 7-year-old Yemeni girl whom we watched deteriorate slowly into death on social media. She grabbed our attention and triggered some tears, but romanticizing her death and turning it into an inevitable consequence accompanied with a sigh is not a solution to the genocide in Yemen. The perpetuation of this “hero figure” has always been something supposedly useful for stirring up public opinion, but, lately, the question of whether it is actually effective must be raised. The danger of breaches of humanity (and all that it stands for) becoming the norm, numbing everyone’s pain and reactions, is real. As Naguib Mahfouz puts it in his novel Children Of The

Photo by Shereen El Gendy

Page 35

Alley, “But every tragedy, however great, eventually becomes a mere fact of life.” Because, obviously, in our modern world and with our too-easy access to news, abuse of power and blatant injustice should not be tolerated, but that is far from what is actually happening. It feels like the new version of censorship is knowing too much about too many irrelevant things. The hopelessness accompanied by the knowledge of everything wrong in the world along with too much insight into the Kardashians’ lives is, in a sense, stronger than sweeping everything under the rug. Showing a disregard for real world issues is something we are all guilty of, in contrast to every other catchy trend and irrelevant daily headline we keep up with—just because they’re “in.”

will always be courageous enough to speak up, draw, direct, protest, and write. Mahmoud Darwish did not stop writing poetry about a free Palestine while immortalizing its culture. Cairokee are still singing for freedom despite the obstacles they’ve been facing to organize concerts. Muslim feminist writer Salma El-Wardany is still unapologetically celebrating her womanhood despite constant threats and harassment online. And the list goes on. Defeating this inexplicable need to resist has never been a complete success, although, yes, there are oblivious people living in bubbles of ignorant bliss. However, towards them, people carry mixed feelings of envy for their comfort and nonchalance, but pity for their surrender to their inevitable fates.

As sad as it is that censorship and attempts at extreme control have always been there, it is amongst the most amazing and never-ending phenomena that authorities still find the need to use. Apparently, fully conforming, too, will never be the case, just like absolute freedom in its total utopian sense. Someone

Maybe resistance is part of our false sense of agency, maybe it’s another censored reality where we think we actually have the power to change our circumstances. Or maybe we do have a voice that is feared enough to be tamed—a voice so youthful, loud and radical that, if not silenced, could create rainbows.

AUC Times

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By: Mariam Taha / Editor: Yasmeen Badawy

CONSPIRACY THEORIES

Are aliens real? Was 9/11 an inside job? Was the moon landing fake?

Is the Illuminati seeking a ‘New World Order’? The answers to these questions should be fairly simple, but are they? Or are they merely what we were programmed to believe?

These questions developed as a result of a severe power and information imbalance caused by governments who misled their people one too many times, and led them to be distrustful of their every action. As a result, conspiracy theories have developed as a ruse to try and explain certain situations that are open, and in many cases not that open, to interpretation.

They create a false blanket of security that people tend to abuse to maintain any false notions of control that they have. Uncertainty is a dangerous state for anyone to be in; no one likes to feel insecure or misinformed.

Conspiracy theorists tend to jump at these situations and fill in these information gaps with whatever theory would best suit their interests, usually aiming for the defamation of an authoritative organization or government.

Arab countries, as a whole, have adopted this policy to justify any shortcomings they have faced in an attempt to deflect the blame from themselves. Theories like the “War against Islam”, that claim that Western countries are attempting to malign and annihilate Islam as a social system, seem to be exceptionally popular. Egyptian culture, in particular, seems to perpetuate the victimization of oneself and the demonization

of any third party entity that can not be governed or controlled.

Stories of how we are targeted by more powerful countries have been circulating for decades upon decades, being spoon-fed to children long before they could even grasp the concept. Theories that solidify our animosity toward and distrust of Israel and the United States pop up time and time again - though some are more believable than others.

One theory that gained popularity after the 2010 shark attacks in Sharm El Sheikh was that the sharks were being used by Israel to attack civilians and destroy tourism in Egypt. Another, even more popular, theory was that the 2012 presidential elections were rigged by the United States in favor of the Muslim Brotherhood, to suit the US’s own agenda. Both these theories work to clear our hands of responsibility and shift the blame, regardless of whether there is any truth behind these claims or not. It is detrimental to the development of our country when the government seems to hide behind such theories instead of attempting to resolve their issues.

Any articles written by foreign entities that speak about Egypt’s socio-economic state in a negative light are blown up and portrayed to be the reason our reputation has gone to ruins. A single article written by an uninvolved source is enough to have us second-guessing and lamenting all our actions.

The Economist’s article “State of Denial”, published in 2016, shed light on the declining state of the

Egyptian economy, and how most countries seem unwilling to offer Egypt any more monetary help, as their previous funds appeared to be misused. Instead of focusing on the truth behind the allegations made in the article, the article was heavily criticized by the Egyptian public for portraying Egypt in a bad light. At the time, everyone had the misconception that this article would ruin Egypt’s reputation and encourage the Gulf states, namely the United Arab Emirates, to stop lending us money; for the sole reason that it was written and published in a Western country.

It is clear that a cultural inferiority complex comes into play here. When a culture idolizes another and sees it as superior, anything said or done by the superior culture’s entities, be it certified or not, is taken as the truth. But where did this cultural inferiority complex stem from?

What would cause a whole country to believe it is subservient to all Western countries? The reason for this widespread misconception lies in our past; the Nineteenth century to be exact: imperialism. The British Invasion relied on one main tactic; projecting their superiority over their colonized countries. Their army didn’t have the manpower to handle a large scale uprising, so instead, they aimed to convince the colonized people that there was no point in fighting against their oppressors because they were inferior. This cultural inferiority complex was forced down our throats and embedded in our brains; this mental manipulation

Dec ‘18 issue

Page 37

Photo by Nelly Ashmawy

was more than enough to ensure our compliance and guarantee our defeat. More than a century later, this idea that was planted in our heads as a war tactic has grown and encompassed everything that defines us.

An action needs to be taken—and fast—to bring our economy and society out of the slump they seem to be permanently residing in.

However, it is highly unlikely that a change in mentality will occur before we suffer more loss. With a government that does not practice what it preaches and severely punishes those who dare to oppose its actions, no one has the power to do more than whisper their grievances in the hope that they will not be heard and penalized.

One cannot really blame the people for believing in conspiracy theories when they seem to be the only way they can regain a semblance of control. The need to believe that the deplorable situation that was thrust upon them might be the result of a third party’s actions is understandable. To deprive them of this one last resort that helps ease the burden from their shoulders by refuting these theories would be inhumane. Therefore, we will keep our conspiracy theories until the need to invent such tales is long behind us and we no longer need to blind ourselves to the truth. other snowflake concepts like that…

Nothing is better proof of how truth is not a priority in the face of censorship than Donald Trump becoming the president of the US and the recent rise of Brazil’s clearly fascist president-elect, Jair Bolsonaro.

This brings us to another form

of destructive censorship: sugarcoating. Turning reality into a more acceptable, aestheticized, romanticized version of it.

Glamorizing the notion of struggle makes every trauma appear normal.

For example, Ahed Tamimi, the Palestinian hero: we love her, we love her eurocentric features, but we overlook the fact that all Palestinian children are Ahed.

The struggle did not start with her and did not end after our shortlived sympathy for her. Ahed’s idolization is definitely positive, but is it enough? Then there’s Amal, the 7-year-old Yemeni girl whom we watched deteriorate slowly into death on social media. She grabbed our attention and triggered some tears, but romanticizing her death and turning it into an inevitable consequence accompanied with a sigh is not a solution to the genocide in Yemen. The perpetuation of this “hero figure” has always been something supposedly useful for stirring up public opinion, but, lately, the question of whether it is actually effective must be raised. The danger of breaches of humanity (and all that it stands for) becoming the norm, numbing everyone’s pain and reactions, is real. As Naguib Mahfouz puts it in his novel Children Of The Alley, “But every tragedy, however great, eventually becomes a mere fact of life.” Because, obviously, in our modern world and with our too-easy access to news, abuse of power and blatant injustice should not be tolerated, but that is far from what is actually happening. It feels like the new version of censorship is knowing too much about too many irrelevant things. The hopelessness accompanied by the knowledge of everything wrong in the world along with too much insight into

the Kardashians’ lives is, in a sense, stronger than sweeping everything under the rug. Showing a disregard for real world issues is something we are all guilty of, in contrast to every other catchy trend and irrelevant daily headline we keep up with—just because they’re “in.”

As sad as it is that censorship and attempts at extreme control have always been there, it is amongst the most amazing and never-ending phenomena that authorities still find the need to use. Apparently, fully conforming, too, will never be the case, just like absolute freedom in its total utopian sense. Someone will always be courageous enough to speak up, draw, direct, protest, and write. Mahmoud Darwish did not stop writing poetry about a free Palestine while immortalizing its culture. Cairokee are still singing for freedom despite the obstacles they’ve been facing to organize concerts. Muslim feminist writer Salma El-Wardany is still unapologetically celebrating her womanhood despite constant threats and harassment online. And the list goes on. Defeating this inexplicable need to resist has never been a complete success, although, yes, there are oblivious people living in bubbles of ignorant bliss. However, towards them, people carry mixed feelings of envy for their comfort and nonchalance, but pity for their surrender to their inevitable fates.

Maybe resistance is part of our false sense of agency, maybe it’s another censored reality where we think we actually have the power to change our circumstances. Or maybe we do have a voice that is feared enough to be tamed—a voice so youthful, loud and radical that, if not silenced, could create rainbows.

AUC Times

Page 38

ISMS

Some people just refuse to be left out. When the “Black Lives Matter” movement came out in the midst of an unbelievable time of police brutality against African Americans in the United States, the infamous “All Lives Matter” movement soon followed to clarify that, no, all lives matter. When the “Me Too” campaign arose to demonstrate the abundance and consequences of sexual harassment, it was quickly followed by “Not all Men” to show how, although sexual harassment is clearly abundant, not all men are sexual predators. Because, obviously, that’s what the “Me too” movement was about; claiming all men are evil. And just when you’d think that at the very least everyone can agree that racism is discrimination against non-White races and sexism is discrimination against women, someone comes out and says “but White men can be discriminated against too.”

The notion of reverse “isms” is historically, systemically, and socially inaccurate.

The difference between discrimination and prejudice is simple. Prejudice is more personal; you can hold a belief about someone and choose whether or not to act upon it. Discrimination is more systemic and behavioural, it is a subset of prejudice where people with power, supported by the system, can act upon their prejudice. Thus, there is a difference between acts of personal prejudice, and acts of mass discrimination which are supported by the dominant system. Racism, or racial discrimination, is discrimination based on race or skin color. Sexism, or gender discrimination, is discrimination based on gender. Those are the basic definitions. Discrimination is supported and propelled forward by the current power structure, if the case were that Black women were the dominant social group - as in they held the most positions in power in the most powerful nations - around the world then White men would be systematically discriminated against (holding history as a constant while changing racial and gender variables). However, so far as the power dynamic remains as it is, there cannot be reverse “isms” because the power structure simply does not support them. There might at best be instances of acts of prejudice against White men, for example, but it would never be as systemic and widespread enough to be titled racist/sexist.

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Consider how US media portrays every brown bomber as a terrorist and every White mass shooter as mentally ill; that is a perfect example of power structures at play. Another more contextual example would be religious discrimination in Egypt. It is an undeniable fact that there is ongoing systemic discrimination against Egyptian Christians, in spite of the rising discourses against it. In a scenario where a Muslim man lives in a predominantly Christian neighbourhood in Egypt and believes that one of his neighbours dislikes him because of his religion, you could argue that the Christian person may have personal prejudice against the Muslim man, but because the system in Egypt currently favors Muslims, you cannot argue that the Muslim man is being discriminated against.

Photo by Nada Mohamed

By: Merna Ahmed / Editor: Thomas Mikhail

It’s really easy nowadays when racism is not as prominent as before to argue that it can target all racial groups. If a White student goes to school in a neighborhood that has mostly people of color and feels excluded, it would be easy for him to say that they’re being racist. Until he goes to the grocery store and isn't stalked. That’s the difference between “systemic discrimination” and “prejudice”. The other students might have been prejudiced against the White student, and while that might have been unfair, it isn’t the same as being discriminated against. They weren’t being racist because they didn’t have the power to be. Being put at a disadvantage when you are largely in a position of power is completely different from constantly having to work against a system designed for your oppression.

There is an abundance of systemic inequality in our world—inequality propelled by and intrinsic to society— and when you’re part of the dominant group in that kind of world, you cannot be discriminated against.

All prejudice is bad prejudice, I’m not saying otherwise and, yes, all lives matter, but when the current trend is to shoot young Black children for carrying toy guns, then the focus should be on Black lives. And yes, not all men are rapists but when White men with sexual assault charges become supreme court judges then you have to admit that the “Me Too” movement is important.

People keep saying racism affects everyone and women can be sexist against men too, which undermines the problem. It makes it seem like discrimination is a normal thing that happens to everyone and isn’t of import, rather than a thing that is so ingrained in us as people to the extent that there are concepts such as “internalized racism,” where one can be racist against their own race. When school books have a White girl as the example of pretty and

a Black girl as the example of ugly, it is then questionable if there’s such a thing as reverse racism.

Moreover, with regards to sexism, one woman’s actions are always attributed to all women, whereas that isn’t the case for men. For example, if a woman needs to take a day off from work, she has to provide excuses, or else people would describe her as “fickle” and “this is why women earn less than men”; whereas if a man takes a day off from work he’s immediately assumed to have something better to do, “he’s working so hard that he can’t come today.” So when these are the generally trending widely accepted notions, then no, men do not have to struggle against sexism. This is extremely apparent in governmental positions, for example where in the United States women make up 19.5% of the US House of Representatives and in Tunisia, which is one of the most progressive state in relation to women’s rights in the MENA region, women make up 47% of the local council positions as of 2018.

Overall, reverse “isms” seem to consist of people in privileged positions not getting what they want and being petulant about it.

Prejudice and discrimination are different, systematic discrimination and personal prejudice are different.

Facing instances of discrimination does not compare to having to live your entire life with it and when you’re in a position of institutional power given to you purley by birth right, you cannot say someone is being racist or sexist towards you.

Even if you feel at a disadvantage, keep in mind that the general world structure supports you, even when you’re in the wrong.

AUC Times

By: Karim Abdel Hamid / Editor: Thomas Mikhail

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Photo by Adham Hegazy

Digital computer systems are at the forefront of our societies today; they are used in everything, including elections, schools, and hospitals. As they gain a stronger hold on our lives, more people will attempt to break into such systems, which can ruin our governments, industries, and lives.

Just as users need to secure their own homes, they need to consciously protect their own data.

To fully comprehend the importance of security, we must first analyze what can happen when it fails. Most people use the same password across multiple accounts on multiple websites. This leads to the disastrous issue: when a password on one website becomes discovered, the

same password can be used across other sites, so all those accounts become compromised. This is especially troublesome when you realize that many websites often have poor security measures, especially small ones with little funding for security. This can lead to a variety of tremendous problems, the most obvious of which is the leaking of private information. In August 2014, a collection of approximately 500 private photos, many containing nudity, some of which even belonging to celebrities, were leaked from Apple’s online storage service, iCloud. This ruined the lives of dozens of people—celebrities and regular people alike. Many were humiliated, had their careers destroyed, and were publicly mocked in the horrible large-scale sex crime. This is not

Dec ‘18 issue

a rare occurrence though. Private data is often leaked and used for blackmail, defamation, identity theft, and monetary theft. Relationships may be ruined, legal disasters may be set up, along with a plethora of other misfortunes.

Typically, when people think of cybersecurity issues, they think that someone can just use their computer alone to gain access to people’s data. The truth is that direct password cracking, referred to as using brute force, requires a substantial amount of computational power. Guessing every combination of a password can be a tremendous task for longer passwords. For short, 8-character passwords consisting only of lowercase characters, some computers can take hours to test all possible combinations. Adding a single character drives the time up to several days, and another to months. Using other types of data, including uppercase letters, numbers, and symbols, increases the time taken even further. This is because there’s simply more combinations of characters to try. In fact, you can get the exact amount by taking the number of characters you use to the power of the length of the characters; for example, for eight lowercase characters, you have 24 to the power of 8, or 110 billion, possible combinations. The issue, though, is that most people use regular words as passwords.

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Therefore, hackers can test normal words and popular passwords; this is called a dictionary attack. Therefore, using combinations of characters that are not composed of words or common phrases is crucial; the safest option is to simply use a long, random selection of characters.

Beyond that, privacy is mostly in the hands of the professionals handling security for whichever product you’re using.

A computer hacker knows that password cracking is largely a fool’s errand, as modern security is near impenetrable for major services, and therefore they need to gain access to a service using other means.

The best way to do this is social engineering. Social engineering uses deception to gain access to a system using human psychology. This includes phishing, which refers to the act of using manipulation to convince users to give hackers information by pretending to be trustworthy entities. These techniques all prey on the gullibility of users to gain data and are particularly difficult for professionals to defend against.

These attacks can either be done on a wide scale—which tends to be less effective as it is usually more generic and therefore less believable—or they can be targeted, which requires a lot of research, much like real robberies. Targeted attacks often take place against people that hackers know well, or the wealthy.

including deleting your data, locking up your data so that you need to pay for it, spying on you and passing the information on to the hacker, and a variety of other attacks. To protect yourself, be sure to keep all software up to date, avoid going to untrustworthy websites, or using hardware or software you didn’t buy from a trustworthy source. Finally, an important thing to note is that not just Windows computers get viruses: Mac, Linux, Android, and iPhones are all just as susceptible to attack (though phones are typically more difficult to attack due to their closed nature.)

Like many fields, when security specialists do well, people wonder what they even do and ask why they have jobs; when they fail, however, people express their rage, and ask why they have jobs. Nevertheless, security is complicated and requires users to be stakeholders, and consciously secure their digital data the same way they would their material belongings. Cybercrime is just as prevalent as material crime, and there are plenty of both—criminals and victims—within our own campus, all around us.

To avoid these attacks, users must be certain they only reveal their personal information to trusted sources, and even still never give out information such as passwords, which can be used beyond the context of a certain interaction. Users can also be sent deceptive links, where small differences in the address are used to pretend to be another website.

Users can also find themselves in similar situations when they connect to networks, often free Wi-Fi, where a malicious user performs manin-the middle or man-on-the-side attacks. These attacks are when you attempt to access a website over such networks, the hacker will give you a fake response, sometimes sending the data to the target website anyway.

This will mean the hacker will get whatever you send, but neither you nor the website you’re trying to access will be the wiser.

The final important frontier that a hacker can attack you on is from within. Malware can get into your computers in many ways. The primary way is by downloading applications from the internet that can pretend to be something they’re not to get you to download them.

The same can occur with emails, in which you’re sent a virus. They can also be brought in over the network, both by getting files from computers on the networks. Regardless of the source, when in your computer, a virus can cause a variety of issues,

AUC Times

By: Lauren K. Clark / Editor: Laila El Refaie

PRAYING DECEPTION: NONSPIRITUAL FACTORS FOR CHURCH

Rituals of going to church are generally connected to notions of worship. In addition to the spiritual essence, it is connected to a feeling of belonging. There is understanding that inside the Church (as with other places of religious worship) is a communal bond. Being in the comforts of other people who share the same faith, and even the same culture, comes into play when connecting with the ritual of attending church. Simultaneously, one begins to question if there are other factors and rationales as to why people attend Church. However, religion and politics are not separate from one another. One can also bring in culture, trends, and social behaviours into the mix, and how they are reflected within the domain of the church.

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People’s attendance of church is not only based on cultural aspects, but also on trends and grabs for power.

In other contexts, the issue of race comes into question; especially, when it concerns how seating, and positions of seating are designed to demonstrate such issues. The general consensus, that “black, gets back” has been performed, within certain congregations of the Catholic Church; and other denominations.

One could connect this to the legacies of European colonialism, and the role of the Catholic Church.

In the article, Christian Missions and Colonial Rule In Africa: Objective and Contemporary Analysis, by Dr. Etim E. Okon of the University of Calabar, the following question is addressed: “Is it a good historical judgement to describe missionaries as partners both with the colonial authorities and mercantile powers in the exploitation and marginalization of Africa?” Therefore, in the context of colonialism, how does the inferiority complex play a role, even the most respectable positions (i.e. ambassadors, politicians, businessmen, and etc.) within the African continent?

Photo by Unsplash

In various churches, there is the issue of women utilizing church spaces, for predatory measures.

According to the article, Why Women Want Married Men: Do Women Really Want Someone Else’s Husband, by Dr. Valerie Golden (special guest for Psychology Today, via Dr. Stephanie Newman-author of Mad Men On the Couch: Analyzing the Minds of the Men and Women of the Hit TV Show) articulates the following: “When single women see a moderately attractive male, they are more interested in him if they believe he is already in a relationship…

There’s also the super-competitive woman who craves the competition, seeing mate poaching as the mother lode of wins to boost her selfesteem.”

Sunday Magazine’s article, by Peter Oduor, Why Do Women Find Pastors Irresistible? articulates the “cases of women falling for the pastor or dangerously pursuing the man of God with the ulterior motive of scoring one… One thing that men dread is the realization that their wives are getting weirdly more religious and committed to the Church, especially if that devotion is hinged on the pastor.” Thus, we begin the image of the pastor as a potential threat to other men. It is evident that the priest, or pastor, is heralded as the image of divine masculinity. It is one where the priest (or pastor) is viewed as one

with the possibilities of causing fragmentation in relationships, rather than the union of them. For some reason, the pastor or priest is able to provide an image of salvation through wisdom, spiritual counseling, and his connection with the greater community. He is very powerful in providing a personal touch to those who are in search of healing or spiritual nourishment.

Simultaneously, how does this act as cause for the crossing of certain boundaries? This question becomes rather significant, both on the part of the priest/pastor, and on the part of women entering into the Church for reasons outside of spiritual fulfillment.

Nevertheless, the position of a Catholic novice or priest (in the eyes of this congregation) is considered to be an important position. Thus, the image of the priest and pastor here is as symbols of power for women, who show up to church, only to use their sexuality and femininity, as a means to gain access to that power, while retaining the benefits and rewards which come with being attached to it. A Facebook post from March 21, 2014 by The Church Newspaper Zambia highlights a testimony from a Lusaka pastor; who mentions that “people just enjoy listening to stories ‘like so and so pastor has impregnated such and such a girl…

It's not always pastors who ask for sexual favors from women, but the women, themselves.’” Thus, the use of sexual and predatory violence by women becomes addressed; especially those who use it in the context of gaining something from a man, deemed to be in a powerful religious position.

The use of the church setting as one to perpetrate desire or show off one’s ability to have status has been prevalent. Whether it pertains to how much one gives to the church, or one’s “status,” displayed through fashionable attire, position and other reflections, for a number of individuals, seemed more significant than the actual teachings and spiritual essence of the Word. Of future discussion of church congregation is the presence of anti-blackness among the very same communities, that it is. Church attendance’s ability to remove one from the association of blackness to sin, are prevalent feelings. These feelings, along with other subjects hint to further discourse for the Church, as a political observation of societal hierarchy in the greater community of Cairo, Egypt.

AUC Times

Page 44

By: Hana Ezzat/ Editor: Lauren K. Clark

THE

"I don’t know what’s wrong with Nadine!” I exclaimed. “I apologized so many times, but she’s still giving me the cold shoulder. I don’t know what to do! Did she tell you anything, Nada?”

“I told you, Malak,” my friend Nada said. “Just leave her be. In a few days she’ll be fine and you guys will be okay. You just need to give it time...”

Nada was obviously on Nadine’s side. I just didn’t get it, really. I did everything I could, but apparently, it wasn’t enough.

“Well, I don’t have time. I’m not just going to wait around until she gets off her high horse and forgives me. I’ve just been super busy lately. I don’t get why she doesn’t understand that.”

FRIEND

Nada kept quiet. That really pissed me off. I didn’t understand what their problem was. These past few days, I’d been so caught up in everything that was going on in my life; midterms, boy troubles, family shit, and the general mess that was my life! I hadn’t been able to keep up with any of my friends, but that’s not my fault. Didn’t they ever get busy?

“Nada, just be honest. Why won’t she talk to me? I only want to know what I did wrong.”

“Malak, for the hundredth time, leave it alone. When she’s ready to talk to you, she will. Just give it time.”

“Well, I don’t have time. I have so many things to do right now, and I just want us to be okay. I can’t handle her being upset or angry with me.

She knows I’m going through a lot,

and what does she do? She decides to pick a fight over nothing and just add more things to my plate.”

“Are you serious right now? That girl has been there for you since forever, and you don’t have the patience to give her the time and space she needs?”

“Time and space for what? I apologized! What more does she want?”

“Sometimes you can be so selfish, Malak.”

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me! All you care about is how you feel. You don’t care how Nadine feels. All you want is for you guys to be okay just so that you can pile all your shit on her, while she just sits there and listens. You don’t even have the decency to call her up and ask how she’s doing. No, all you’re thinking about is that you just want this over with.”

“You’re always taking her side, in everything. You never take my side, no one ever does. I have so much going o—” “No. You are a selfish person . You don’t care about anyone except yourself. I promised Nadine I wouldn’t say anything, but honestly you are pissing me off. Nadine had a huge accident and is in the hospital, but you didn’t even think to call and ask how she was doing.”

I stared at Nada, not really grasping what she was saying. Accident?

How could I not know? I would have

Photo by Unsplash

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Page 45

known if my best friend had gotten into an accident. I would have been right there next to her.

“When? When the only time you called her was to rant about one of your usual problems? You should have seen her face when she saw that you were calling; she was lying right there on the hospital bed—it was like she was waiting for your call—and when she answered, her face fell instantly. It was as if someone shot her in the stomach, I could see the shock and the hurt on her face. It killed me.

But she sat there, listening to all your shit while crying her eyes out. But you didn’t even care.”

I continued to stare at her, I still couldn’t believe it. I remembered that phone call; I’d called Nadine to tell her that my dad was being his usual self and that we’d had a fight. I wanted to rant and tell her that I’d probably sleep over at her house, but she told me she was busy.

I remembered not knowing why she’d said no and feeling so abandoned. I had needed her, and she said she was busy.

Photo by Unsplash

“She didn’t have an accident. She couldn’t have. She would have told me...”

“If it hadn’t been for me, she would have taken your shit without saying a word. But I couldn’t let her do that, so I told her the next time you called, she shouldn’t answer you. At least not for a while.

I thought you’d call her and ask her where she was or what was wrong. But I guess I was wrong. I didn’t expect that when she finally picked up, you’d begin screaming and demanding to know why she wasn’t picking up and how she could abandon you in your time of need... She didn’t need a push from me that time. She went off on you on her own. And, honestly, you deserved it.”

I did deserve it.

I deserved more than that. I couldn’t believe myself. How could I not have seen how horrible I’d been?

It was obvious that this wasn’t the first time I had done this… Was I really that selfish? Was I really that bad of a friend? Oh God. I needed to call Nadine. I couldn’t believe that I’d been so oblivious to all of that. There must have been signs; maybe Nadine or someone else had said something to me before about my behavior.

But... I didn’t remember them ever bringing this up.

Nada must have seen how shocked I was, because her face softened a bit and she took my hand in hers.

“Malak, you’re not hard to love. You have amazing qualities; you’re a fierce friend and you are there for us when any of us needs you. But, sometimes, you can get so wrapped up in your life that you can’t see how much other people are hurting.”

Her words still didn’t make make me feel any better. My throat felt dry, and there was a sinking feeling in my stomach. How had I not seen this sooner? I was quiet for a long time, contemplating what I should do. I was embarrassed. I couldn’t face Nadine after all of this—after I’d gone off on her like that. She must have really hated me.

“Come on,” Nada said. “I’m going to visit Nadine and you’re gonna come with me. She’s gonna bite my head off for telling you, but I’m glad I did. Don’t think she’s gonna go easy on you, either. I believe you’re in for a rough visit.”

I kept mulling things over in my head. Another lump formed in my throat and my chest felt heavy.

It hurt me to think that I’d caused so much pain to someone I cared about. I never wanted to cause any harm. Maybe I did get wrapped up in my life sometimes, but I wouldn’t intentionally hurt them. I needed to make things right. And that would be my number one priority.

AUC Times

Page 46

By: Thomas Mikhail / Editor: Yasmeen A. Badawy

EVOLUTION’S ONE FOR ALL Evolution is a subject that is poorly understood by most, reduced frequently to the simple phrase “survival of the fittest”. Too often is the phrase associated with negative connotations; the Nazi regime, delusional serial killers, or simply the antagonists in works of fiction.

Perhaps as a result of this, many have the misconception that evolution favors the immoral individuals, those who would improve their own situations at the expense of others, by thieving, murdering, and raping their way to success. As much as any conservative figurehead would like to peddle this, it is simply not the case. Evolution teaches us the value of cooperation, as can be proven through game theory.

Perhaps the problem lies within a misunderstanding concerning the word “fittest”, perhaps it lies within “survival”; I doubt “of the” can be misinterpreted, after all. One must understand, first of all, that the lives and actions of any single individual are unimportant. More important, however, are the genes they carry.

Natural selection cannot be viewed as an act upon individuals, but rather upon their genes. For a gene to

“survive”, it must be passed on for generations. For it to be the “fittest”, it must have not only the means of doing so, but also consistently create organisms that outcompete carriers of other genes, spreading into the population and pushing the less “fit” out of existence.

Returning to our topic of cooperation, it follows that in order for cooperative behavior to be favored by evolution, it must be “fitter” than the alternatives, and therefore that cooperative individuals and their groups fare better than those that do not. But how can we determine if cooperation is “fit”? To answer this, one needs an understanding of game theory, the study of mathematical models of strategic interaction between rational decision makers, a field that applies to a wide range of behavioral relations. Game theorists analyze problems such as the prisoner’s dilemma, and try to determine the optimum strategy for such a problem. The premise of the prisoners dilemma is as follows: “Two members of a criminal gang are arrested and imprisoned. Each prisoner is in solitary confinement with no means of communicating with the other. The prosecutors lack sufficient evidence to convict the pair on the

principal charge, but they have enough to convict both on a lesser charge.

Simultaneously, the prosecutors offer each prisoner a bargain. Each prisoner is given the opportunity either to betray the other by testifying that the other committed the crime, or to cooperate with the other by remaining silent. The offer is: a) If A and B each betray the other, each of them serves two years in prison b) If A betrays B but B remains silent, A will be set free and B will serve three years in prison (and vice versa) c) If A and B both remain silent, both of them will only serve one year in prison (on the lesser charge).”

It was determined that the logical decision is to betray the partner, resulting in outcome ‘a’ or ‘b’. You may say that such a result proves that cooperation is illogical, and would therefore be an unfavorable trait to be selected for. However, this example is not a good representative of reality.

As previously mentioned, genes must be carried on for several generations to be considered fit, and the previous example does not reflect this. In order for that to be the case, the game must be played many times. Also, the game assumes two players, but reality includes entire populations. Luckily, game

Dec ‘18 issue

The first successful strategy to emerge is what is known as tit-fortat, in which the strategy is to start the first round by cooperating, then every round, make the decision that the opponent made in the previous round. In other words, if betrayed, betray one round then cooperate.

If cooperated with, continue to cooperate. The strategy was so successful that it outcompeted all the other current strategies by a long shot. True, it would lose during the early generations but once “groups” emerged using this strategy, they

would outcompete all the others.

However, if the number of rounds were known, it would become logical to always betray the other on the last round, as it leaves them no chance to retaliate. That said, this is irrelevant to reality, as there is no defined last round in evolution.

And so, tit-for-tat seems to be a behavior or outlook that is efficient, and therefore is favorable for natural selection. There is a problem, however, as life is somewhat more complicated. Imagine a scenario in which one party is falsely led to believe that the other has betrayed them, or a party has “accidentally” betrayed the other; in other words: a false signal. In this scenario, the betrayed party will proceed to betray in return, which the first party will then mirror, resulting in a neverending cycle of betrayal between both parties, reducing the amount of cooperation by 50%, leading to both being unsuccessful.

To tackle this, game theorists added a random chance for signal error, and then reran the simulations. As a result, a modified version of tit-fortat emerged victorious, one that allowed for forgiveness. Forgiving titfor-tat, as it came to be called, would begin the same as its parent version, but if a cycle of betrayal emerged for

a certain number of turns, it would forgive the opponent, cooperating and therefore restarting the pattern of iterative cooperation.

That said, forgiving tit-for-tat was open to exploitation by nonforgiving strategies. As a result, it was modified further so that it would start out as pure tit-for-tat, and only after a certain amount of cooperative interactions, it would change to forgiving tit-for-tat. In other words, it waited until it knew its opponent could be trusted before being open to forgiving. That said, if there is variation in how willing the strategy is to be generous, a new pattern emerges. Plotkin noted that “the most robust strategies, the ones that can’t be replaced by other strategies, are generous.”

Social animals are often the most successful, as can be seen within our own species, and the basis for surviving together is cooperation.

For that, we do not cooperate with everyone; we must form bonds with trustworthy individuals but be somewhat generous in the process.

This is not because of the existence of an objective moral code we all follow, but simply because evolution shaped us to follow the most efficient system.

Photo by Unsplash

theorists created an iterated version of the game in which it is repeated hundreds of times on a computer simulation before a victor strategy is chosen. Then, the strategy will be allowed to have more “offspring” than the runner up, who will have the same strategy. All offspring are then pitted against each other, and the game starts again. While at first, selfish strategies emerge victorious, as more of them appear, they soon begin to drive themselves to extinction as they continuously get pitted against themselves. As Joshua Plotkin, who wrote the program, said “Extortion does well with one opponent, but in a large population, an extortioner will eventually pair up with another extortioner. Then both will defect, getting a poorer payoff. “

Page 47

AUC Times

Page 48

Photo by Sally Elfishawy

Photo by Sally Elfishawy

Photo by Yasmin El Nawawy

Page 49

Photo by Georgenia Bassily

Dec ‘18 issue

Photo by Sally Elfishawy

Photo by Sally Elfishawy

‫‪٢٠١٨‬‬ ‫عدد شهر ديسمبر‬ ‫‪AUC Times‬‬

‫‪١٧‬‬ ‫صفحة‬ ‫‪Page‬‬ ‫‪50‬‬

‫كتبته‪ :‬آمنة أبوالعزم‬ ‫المحرر‪ :‬كوثر الشريفي‬

‫إشكالية المثقفين‬

‫هل سبق لك وتعرفت على أحد المثقفين الذين يتحدثون بمصطلحات‬ ‫طويلة ومعقدة يصعب على المرء ذي المعرفة البسيطة فهمها؟ هل‬ ‫سبق أن رأيت أو سمعت لهؤالء المثقفين وهم ينتقدون الطبقات األقل‪،‬‬ ‫والعامة ذوي المعارف البسيطة على جهلهم؟ بل ووصفهم بالغباء‪ ،‬أو أنهم‬ ‫قطيع يبحث عن احتياجاته األساسية‪ ،‬وال يكترثون بالمشاكل التي يعاين‬ ‫منها المجتمع‪ ،‬والتي هي واحدة من أهم األسباب وراء بؤسهم؟ هؤالء ما‬ ‫يسمون بالطبقة المثقفة‪ ،‬وإذا أردنا إيجاد تعريف لهم‪ ،‬فسيكونون الطبقة‬ ‫التي أتيحت لها الكثير من الفرص‪ ،‬والكثير من األبواب‪ ،‬سوا ًء أ كانت يف‬ ‫التعليم‪ ،‬أم يف إيجاد أنفسهم يف أحضان مجتمع مثقف ومحتضن لتلك‬ ‫األفكار‪ ،‬يساعد على تنميتها‪ .‬ولكن مشكلتهم األزلية هي إدانة الطبقات‬ ‫تعليما بجهلها‪ ،‬وأنها هي "المشكلة" األساسية‪ .‬كيف أن هذه الطبقة‬ ‫األقل‬ ‫ً‬ ‫هم من تساعد السياسيين ورجال األعمال ذوي النفوذ باستغاللها بسبب‬ ‫"جهلها"‪.‬‬

‫االحتياجات األسرية‪ ،‬أو الشخصية‪ ،‬وغيرها من‬ ‫األسباب‪ .‬وبتلك المسببات‪ ،‬ال يستطيع المجتمع‬ ‫النظر إىل المثقف بتفهم‪ ،‬بل ينظر له يف العادة‬ ‫باستغراب واستصغار‪ ،‬ويحتقر المشكالت التي‬ ‫ينادي المثقف بحلها‪ .‬من هنا‪ ،‬يأيت الفرع الخفي‬ ‫غير المريئ لكال الطرفين‪ ،‬هذا الفرع هو سبب‬ ‫استمرار هذه الفجوة‪ .‬هذا الفرع هو أصحاب‬ ‫النفوذ‪ ،‬ورجال األعمال‪ ،‬والسياسيين‪ .‬يقومون‬ ‫باستغالل هذه هوة‪ ،‬ويحاولون بقدر اإلمكان‬ ‫استغاللها وإبقائها‪ ،‬فيقومون بإنشاء منظمات‬ ‫ربحية وغير ربحية للمثقفين‪ ،‬ويوهمونهم بأنهم‬ ‫"ينقذون العالم من شروره"‪ ،‬وأن "جهودهم‬ ‫تماما‪،‬‬ ‫ذات معنى مؤثر"‪ ،‬ولكن الواقع غير ذلك‬ ‫ً‬ ‫فتلك "المنشآت" ما هي إال مخدر قوي يسدون‬ ‫ً‬ ‫عوضا عن‬ ‫به أفواه المثقفين لكي يكتفوا بهذا‬ ‫حل المشاكل المجتمعية‪ ،‬تلك المشاكل التي‬ ‫يستفيد منها أصحاب النفوذ والساسة‪ .‬أما على‬ ‫الصعيد اآلخر‪ ،‬أال وهو المجتمع‪ ،‬يقوم أصحاب‬ ‫النفوذ بصنع الوعود الكاذبة واألحالم الواهية‬ ‫دائما وأبدًا حول "صنع فرص عمل‬ ‫التي تتمحور‬ ‫ً‬ ‫أفضل"‪ ،‬أو "رفع المرتبات"‪ ،‬وغيرها من تلك‬ ‫الوعود التي تلعب على وتر "توفير االحتياجات‬ ‫األساسية للمعيشة بشكل رخي"‪.‬‬ ‫كل هذا ما هو إال محاوالت أخرى إللهاء المجتمع‬ ‫عن مشكالته الجوهرية‪ ،‬وإيجاد حلول سطحية‬ ‫فقط ال غير‪.‬‬

‫تصوير ملك وجيه‬ ‫قبل أن نوضح كيف أن الفرصة هي الفارق الوحيد بين المثقفين وغيرهم‪،‬‬ ‫ً‬ ‫قليل يف أسباب وجذور هذه اإلشكالية‪ .‬المشكلة هنا‬ ‫يجب علينا أن نتعمق‬ ‫لها فرعان‪ ،‬فرع من المشكلة يأيت من المجتمع‪ ،‬وفرع آخر مزروع يف أعماق‬ ‫المثقف ذات نفسه‪ .‬أزمه المثقف ذات نفسه هي بسبب تفكيره الدائم يف‬ ‫مشاكل المجتمع بشكل مغاير عمن حوله من العامة؛ وبشكل ال إرادي‪،‬‬ ‫تماما عن المجتمع المحيط به‪ ،‬وتذوب مع هذا االنعزال كل الروابط‬ ‫ينعزل‬ ‫ً‬ ‫جا‪ ،‬خاصة حين يزداد تعمقه‬ ‫وكل صالت التواصل بينه وبين محيطه تدري ً‬ ‫يف تحليل تلك المشاكل‪ .‬هذا يخلق فجوة بينه وبين الطبقات األخرى‪ ،‬مما‬ ‫يلغي أي نوع من أنواع التواصل والفهم بينهم‪ .‬أما المشكلة الثانية‪ ،‬فهي‬ ‫يف المجتمع ذات نفسه‪ ،‬فهو ال يحاول فهم المثقف وذلك ألسباب عدة‪،‬‬ ‫منها انشغاله الدائم بتلبية احتياجاته األساسية‪ ،‬وضياعه يف دوامة تلبية‬

‫من هنا نجد كيف تشكلت إشكالية المثقف‬ ‫األبديه‪ ،‬وشعوره الدائم بأن من حوله "ال يفقهون‬ ‫شيئًا"‪ ،‬فذلك ما هو إال نتاج شعوره باليأس‬ ‫ليس إال؛ اليأس من عدم وجود حلول للمشكالت‬ ‫العويصة المتأصلة يف المجتمع‪ .‬ومن بعد‬ ‫ا كتشافنا لكال الطرفين‪ ،‬يمكننا أن نرى كيف‬ ‫ينظر كال الطرفين باستصغار لبعضهم البعض‬ ‫ولمشكالت بعضهم البعض‪ ،‬وذلك ما هو إال نتاج‬ ‫الفجوة العميقة بينهم‪ .‬ونقطة أخيرة‪ ،‬يستحسن‬ ‫أن يبدأ المثقف بالوضع يف عين االعتبار أن‬ ‫المجتمع كان سيصح لو كان ذا وعي أ كبر‪ ،‬ولو‬ ‫توفرت له نفس البيئة ونفس الفرص التي توفرت‬ ‫للمثقف ليس اال‪ .‬هذا هو الفرق بين الطرفين‪.‬‬

‫صفحة ‪١٦‬‬ ‫‪Page‬‬ ‫‪51‬‬

‫‪AUC‘18‬‬ ‫‪Times‬‬ ‫‪Dec‬‬ ‫‪issue‬‬

‫كتبه‪ :‬عمرو عبدالعظيم‬ ‫المحرر‪ :‬أحمد المنايلي‬

‫بنحبك يا أستاذ محمد‬

‫كانت تلك الفترة التي بدأت فيها أتبوأ لنفسي مكانًا‬ ‫من الكتابة الجادة والقراءة الجادة هي فترة بداية‬ ‫الوعي‪ .‬بالوعي أقصد الوعي السياسي واالجتماعي‪،‬‬ ‫مرحلة بدأ فيها شغف بأشياء كنت أتجاهلها عمدً ا‪،‬‬ ‫وأتجنبها كثي ًرا‪ ،‬كنوع من تجنب "وجع الدماغ" الذي‬ ‫ظننت أنه ال طائلة منه‪.‬‬ ‫بعد أن أسلمت أمري لتلك األسئلة والتي ثبت‬ ‫ً‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫بدأت ما يمكن‬ ‫فعل أنها "وجع دماغ" البد منه‪،‬‬ ‫َ‬ ‫مرحلة طفولة يف هذه المجاالت السياسية‬ ‫وص ُفه‬ ‫واالجتماعية واالقتصادية‪...‬إلخ‪ .‬فكما ينظر الطفل‬ ‫كثرعلما‬ ‫إىل أبويه ومعلميه بغية اإلرشاد‪ ،‬كونهم أ‬ ‫ً‬ ‫علما بتلك‬ ‫وخبرة‪ ،‬نظرت أنا إىل من هم أ كثر مني ً‬ ‫األمور التي تجنبتها ساب ًقا‪ .‬ذاك أنه ال يوجد من‬ ‫ُيوحى إليه علم البشر وطباعهم وسياسة التعامل‬ ‫معهم‪ ،‬وإنما هى أجيال وراء أجيال تعيد اجترار‬ ‫الكالم وتضفي إليه شيئًا‪ ،‬وتترك بصمتها‪.‬‬ ‫هكذا اتخذت لنفسي مجموعة ممن اصطفيتهم‬ ‫من الكتاب والصحافيين والساخرين و"مشاهير‬ ‫مواقع التواصل االجتماعي‪ " ،‬أصحاب الرأي"‪،‬‬ ‫ٌ‬ ‫وكويكبات من النجوم‬ ‫كي يكونوا بوصلتي‪،‬‬ ‫جي ال أدري فيه شيئًا‪ .‬فوضعت‬ ‫تهديني يف بحر ُل ّ‬ ‫هؤالء األشخاص يف مصاف العظماء‪ ،‬وأصبحت‬ ‫أستمع إليهم بإمعان‪ ،‬وأنتظر منهم التوجيه‪.‬‬ ‫ذاك بأنهم قد جسدوا يل مجموعة من المثل‬ ‫واألخالق والقيم القريبة من قلبي والهامة لكياين‪،‬‬ ‫تلك القيم التى تمثل الصواب والخطأ‪ ،‬والتي‬ ‫ترشد أفعايل واختيارايت‪ ،‬وتشكل عالقتي بسائر‬ ‫البشر‪ ،‬وبكيانات هامة مثل األحزاب والمؤسسات‬ ‫والدول‪ .‬تغ َّير فكري وخططي للمستقبل والحياة‪،‬‬ ‫أصبحت لوهلة على استعداد أ كبر للنقاش‬ ‫والجدل‪ ،‬وتحدي معتقدات نفسي وغيري‪ ،‬وربما‬ ‫كان ذاك أحد أهم دوافعي للكتابة‪.‬‬ ‫ثم نزلت الصدمة يب كالصاعقة‪ ،‬حين رأيت أحد‬ ‫األشخاص الذين حسبتهم يجسدون ىل بعض‬ ‫المثل األخالقية (ولنطلق عليه "األستاذ محمد")‬ ‫يطلب على الـ"فيسبوك" واسطة لكي يقضي أحد‬ ‫مصالحه‪ .‬ياللهول! كيف يا أستاذ محمد؟ كيف؟‬ ‫بعد أن كنت تجسد يل صورة انتقادية لمشاكل‬

‫الوطن‪ ،‬صورة من ينبغي أن يواجه عبثية الوضع‬ ‫القائم بااللتزام بمبادئه‪ .‬أ َ َما مِ ن طير ٍ َطار وارتفع‪ ،‬إال‬ ‫وقع ح ًقا؟‬ ‫كما طار‬ ‫َ‬ ‫لكني أشكر األستاذ محمد‪ ،‬ألن الصدمة جعلتني‬ ‫جا‪ ،‬فقد أدركت أن األشخاص الذين‬ ‫أ كثر نض ً‬ ‫يجسدون القيم ال وجود لهم‪ .‬ال وجود لهم إال يف‬ ‫القصص التي كنت أقرؤها وأساطير األولين‪،‬‬ ‫حيث تظهر شخصية مسطحة دون عمق تجسد‬ ‫دوما‪ .‬لكننا‬ ‫الشر المطلق‪ ،‬والخير هو المنتصر ً‬ ‫بشر‪ ،‬نحمل يف طيات قلوبنا ً‬ ‫كل منهما‪.‬‬ ‫ثم أدركت شيئًا آخر‪ ،‬لم ألوم أستاذ محمد؟‬ ‫أليس الحق أنني كنت ألبحث عن نفس الواسطة‬ ‫ألقضي مصالحي ً‬ ‫علما أن مصلحته كانت‬ ‫أيضا؟ ً‬ ‫ورقة حكومية بسيطة ليس إال‪ ،‬لم يكن يختلس‬ ‫ً‬ ‫حملت األستاذ‬ ‫أموال‪ ،‬أو يتهرب من جرم‪َ .‬‬ ‫لم ّ‬ ‫بأفعال أتقاعس أنا عنها؟ إن‬ ‫محمد عبء االلتزام‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫الموضوع نوع من الوهم‪ .‬أُوهم ذايت بضرورة وجود‬ ‫تلك القيم والمثل ىف هذا العالم‪ ،‬ولذا ينبغى‬ ‫وجود تجسيد لها‪ ،‬تجسي ٍد يمكن الشعور باألمان‬ ‫لوجوده‪ ،‬فوجوده يعني أن الخير لم ينقطع من‬ ‫الدنيا‪ .‬تجسيد يمكن معاتبته حين يتقاعس هو‬ ‫عن تلك القيم‪.‬‬ ‫لكني أدركت شيئًا من بعض كالم األستاذ محمد‪،‬‬ ‫فكل ما قام به هو وشاركه مع اإلنسانية‪ ،‬ما كان‬ ‫محاولة إلثراء البشرية وإعالء لواء القيم بين‬ ‫الناس‪ ،‬إنما كان مجرد محاولة شخصية الكتشاف‬ ‫الذات وإدراك هويته الشخصية‪ .‬وهو ما أفعله أنا‬ ‫اآلن باالستعانة بأستاذ محمد وغيره‪ ،‬فهم ليسوا‬ ‫منارات الهداية وال بوصالت يف البحر اللجي‪،‬‬ ‫ولكنهم غرىق به يسبحون منذ زمن أطول‪.‬‬

‫‪٢٠١٨‬‬ ‫عدد شهر ديسمبر‬ ‫‪AUC Times‬‬

‫‪١٥‬‬ ‫صفحة‬ ‫‪Page‬‬ ‫‪52‬‬

‫كتبه‪ :‬محمود صبري‬ ‫المحرر‪ :‬كوثر الشريفي‬

‫"هنا القاهرة!" انبعث الصوت من مذياع يف يد رجل مسن يجلس بجواره يف إحدى عربات المترو ليوقظه من قيلولته‪ ،‬وينبهه إىل‬ ‫يوما مره ًقا بكل ما يف الكلمة من معنى‪ ،‬تحالف التعب والنعاس ضده لدرجة جعلته ينام يف عربة المترو بكل‬ ‫اقتراب محطته‪ .‬كان ً‬ ‫زحامها‪ ،‬وضجيجها‪ ،‬وبائعيها‪ ،‬وشجاراتها‪ .‬أخذ يفيق من نعاسه ليستعد لمعركة الخروج من العربة التي لم تكن أبدً ا أسهل وأقل‬ ‫خسائر من معركة الركوب‪ .‬تطلع حوله‪ ،‬ونظر إىل الركاب ووجوههم الباهتة المكفهرة‪ ،‬ونظراتهم التي يسيطر عليها اليأس وقلة الحيلة‪.‬‬ ‫بالنسبة إليه كان ركوب المترو مبر ًرا كاف ًيا ليصاب المرء باكتئاب مزمن‪ ،‬ولكنه لم يجد سب ًبا منطق ًيا واحدً ا الستمتاعه بركوبه وتأمل‬ ‫مرتاديه‪ .‬اقتربت محطته واقتربت معها لحظة بداية المعركة‪ ،‬فقام من مكانه ليتركه لشابة تقاربه عم ًرا‪ ،‬حام ًيا إياها من شابين‬ ‫بجوارها كادا يلتهماها بنظراتهما‪ .‬أخذ يقترب من باب العربة حتى توقف المترو وانفتح الباب‪ ،‬ودارت رحى المعركة‪ ،‬وتدافع الناس‬ ‫خارجين وداخلين يكاد يسحق بعضهم ً‬ ‫بعضا‪ ،‬غير مكترثين بمسن‪ ،‬أو فتاة‪ ،‬أو طفل‪ ،‬ففي محطات المترو هناك قاعدة وحيدة ال بد‬ ‫أن يدركها المرء هي‪" :‬أنت‪ ...‬والطوفان من بعدك"‪ .‬خرج بأعجوبة من العربة‪ ،‬وأعاد محفظته وهاتفه المحمول إىل مكانهما يف جيبه‪،‬‬ ‫دائما يرى‬ ‫بعد أن أخرجهما وأمسكهما بيده خشية السرقة‪ ،‬فقد علمته حياته يف تلك المدينة أال يثق بأحد وأال يأمن غدر الظروف‪ .‬كان‬ ‫ً‬ ‫ً‬ ‫معتدل ال يؤذي أحدً ا ويساعد غيره كلما استطاع‪ ،‬ولكنه أبدً ا لم ي َر يف ذلك مبر ًرا يجنب الناس إيذاءه‪.‬‬ ‫مستقيما‬ ‫شخصا‬ ‫نفسه‬ ‫ً‬ ‫ً‬ ‫كياسا ثقيلة بيديها لتلحق بعربة المترو قبل أن‬ ‫جا من المحطة‪ ،‬يرى امرأة أربعينية محجبة تركض مهرولة‪ ،‬تجر أبناءها وأ‬ ‫سار خار ً‬ ‫ً‬ ‫يغلق بابها‪ .‬موجة من الهواء البارد كادت تسقط جسمه النحيل من على سلم المحطة‪ ،‬قاومها حتى خرج‪ .‬تسللت إىل أنفه رائحة الغبار‬ ‫ً‬ ‫فاصل بين حياتين‪ ،‬إحداهما ودعته‬ ‫خطا دخان ًيا أسودًا‬ ‫وكشرت له المدينة الضبابية عن أنيابها‪ .‬ذكرى غربة ثقيلة تستيقظ‪ ،‬قطار ينفث ً‬ ‫مضطرما بأعماقه‪.‬‬ ‫على رصيف المحطة ببلدته‪ ،‬وأخرى استقبلته على رصيف الصعيد بمحطة رمسيس‪ .‬عالم من نثار الذكريات ما زال‬ ‫ً‬ ‫تذكر بلدته الصغيرة‪ ،‬أول يوم ذهب وعاد من المدرسة بمفرده‪ ،‬ثم هروبه من المدرسة‪ ،‬أيام الثانوية العامة‪ ،‬أول مظاهرة انضم إليها يف‬ ‫بلدته ليشارك يف ثورة لم تنجح بعد‪ ،‬أيام الجامعة‪ ،‬أول وظيفة عمل بها‪ ،‬رحالت األصدقاء ومغامراتها‪ ،‬يوم التخرج‪ ،‬دموع أمه وصمت‬ ‫يوما بعد يوم‪.‬‬ ‫أبيه‪ ،‬ووجه حبيبة تبهت تفاصيله ً‬ ‫قادته خطاه إىل ميدان فسيح أحاطت به كتل من مساكن أسمنتية متشابكة متشابهة يف كل شيء‪ ،‬حتى يف زجاج نوافذها المحطم‪،‬‬ ‫توسطه تمثال عمالق ألحد الزعماء الوطنيين ينظر ألعلى مشي ًرا إىل شمس لم تشرق أبدًا؛ طلل من أطالل مجد القومية الذي أ كل عليه‬ ‫مبان عتيقة‪،‬‬ ‫الدهر وشرب‪ .‬خرج من الميدان إىل كوبري طويل مزدحم بسيارات وبشر يف يوم حشر لن ينتهي‪ .‬دلف إىل شارع واسع ذي‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫جميعا‪ .‬ضيقت‬ ‫على جانبيه جيش من الباعة الجائلين‪ .‬تجول بين زحام الناس‪ ،‬رأى من عبوسهم وغالظتهم ما جعله يشفق عليهم‬ ‫ً‬ ‫العوادم والغبار من صدورهم‪ ،‬حجبت المباين العمالقة السماء وصفاءها عن أنظارهم‪ ،‬فلم يجدوا إال األسفلت الرمادي الكئيب تحت‬ ‫أقدامهم‪ .‬قيد الزحام حريتهم‪ ،‬حالت الضوضاء بينهم وبين أصواتهم‪ ،‬فنسوا أن لهم صوتًا ُيسمع‪ ،‬لوثت العمائر التي س َّودها الدخان‬ ‫والتراب أبصارهم‪ ،‬فنسوا خضرة الشجر وزرقة النيل وحمرة الورد‪ .‬مألت القمامة ضفاف النيل‪ ،‬فأضحت سدًا فصلهم عن أصلهم الذي‬ ‫منيعا حول مدينتهم استحال عليهم الفكاك منه‪ ،‬حتى خنق يف المدينة روحها‪ .‬فقد ليلهم‬ ‫منه انحدروا‪ ،‬ضربت العشوائيات حصا ًرا‬ ‫ً‬ ‫هدوءه‪ ،‬فصار نها ًرا بأضوائه وضوضائه‪ .‬تسارع إيقاع حياتهم‪ ،‬وأحاطت بهم القيود من كل جانب‪ ،‬فلفظت أرواحهم أنفاسها األخيرة‪،‬‬ ‫وصاروا أجسادًا تغدو وتروح بميكانيكية ال خروج عنها‪.‬‬ ‫انعطف هار بًا من زحام عطلة األسبوع الذي اجتاح الشوارع الرئيسية إىل شارعه الصغير الضيق الذي سكن فيه منذ أىت خاط ًبا ود بنت‬ ‫ارتفاعا‪ ،‬بين قاطنيها‬ ‫اتساعا‪ ،‬وسط مبانيها األقل‬ ‫المعز‪ .‬خالط نفسه شعور بالضآلة‪ ،‬ففي بلدته األوىل‪ ،‬كان يمشي يف شوارعها األقل‬ ‫ً‬ ‫ً‬ ‫األقل عددًا‪ ،‬فيشعر أنه يشغل حي ًزا مما حوله‪ ،‬وأنه إذا حدث واختفى ً‬ ‫مثل‪ ،‬فسيلحظ أحدهم ذلك‪ .‬تقري ًبا يعرف جميع من فيها بعضهم‬ ‫ً‬ ‫بعضا‪ ،‬فقد كان يقطع المدينة كلها سي ًرا يف ساعتين على األكثر‪ .‬أما هنا‪ ،‬فيشعر أنه حبة رمل وسط صحراء كبرى‪ ،‬نملة ضلت طريقها‬ ‫ً‬ ‫أشكال وألوانًا‪ ،‬العمال األفارقة‪ ،‬وطالب األزهر‪ ،‬والبائعين من‬ ‫على جبل عمالق‪ ،‬لن يأبه أحد بوجوده أو عدمه‪ .‬يسير‪ ،‬فيرى من الناس‬ ‫اآلسيويين‪ ،‬والسياح‪ ،‬وموظفي السفارات األوروبيين‪ ،‬والالجئين السوريين‪ ،‬وغيرهم الكثير؛ خليط من الدماء المختلفة يجري يف عروق‬ ‫قصصا‪ ،‬لكل منهم حكاية وعالم‪ ،‬تتشابك مصائرهم يف دراما تراجيدية يومية‪.‬‬ ‫المدينة التي ال ترحم‪ .‬ينظر يف وجوه الناس‪ ،‬فيرى‬ ‫ً‬ ‫ً‬ ‫ً‬ ‫طويل متهالكًا ومهلكًا‪ ،‬لم يرد العودة إىل شقته‪ .‬صعد‬ ‫سلما‬ ‫رخيصا ابتاعه يف طريقه‪ ،‬صعد‬ ‫حامل عشاء‬ ‫وصل أخي ًرا إىل عمارته المتداعية‬ ‫ً‬ ‫ً‬ ‫إىل سطح العمارة‪ ،‬استلقى على ظهره على مالءة وجدها‪ .‬نظر إىل السماء‪ ،‬سحب دا كنة‪ ،‬قمر يطل على استحياء‪ ،‬ظالم مليء بنسمات‬ ‫ً‬ ‫شوقا إىل ذلك الطفل الذي كانه‪ ،‬لم يكن جسده دام ًيا أو روحه منكسرة هكذا‪ .‬تساءل‬ ‫باردة‪ .‬تسللت إىل أنفه رائحة بالده األوىل‪ ،‬كاد يبكي‬ ‫يوما من أيامها؟ كيف كان يفكر حين جاء باح ًثا عن طموحه يف تلك‬ ‫يف أعماق نفسه عما أىت من أجله تاركًا خلفه حياة يتمنى لو يعود ً‬ ‫ً‬ ‫دائما‪ .‬أتاها‬ ‫طفل وظلت تطارده يف أحالمه‪ ،‬ربما ظن أنها أرض الفرص كما كان يقول ألصدقائه‬ ‫المدينة؟ ربما خدعته أضوائها حين أتاها‬ ‫ً‬ ‫ً‬ ‫قائل لنفسه إنه معترك الحياة الذي يخوضه كل‬ ‫رغبة يف إشباع ذات متعطشة للنبوغ والتميز‪ ،‬تحمل يف أيامه األوىل صفعاتها المتتالية‪،‬‬ ‫من له حلم يسعى له‪ ،‬ثم بالتدريج‪ ،‬عرف كما عرف كل من سبقوه‪ ،‬أنهم يضيعون عم ًرا جريًا وراء خيط من الدخان‪.‬‬

Photo by railwaypro.com

AUC‘18 Times Dec issue

١٤ ‫صفحة‬ Page 53

‫‪٢٠١٨‬‬ ‫عدد شهر ديسمبر‬ ‫‪AUC Times‬‬

‫‪١٣‬‬ ‫صفحة‬ ‫‪Page‬‬ ‫‪54‬‬

‫المحرر‪ :‬أحمد المنايلي‬ ‫ها أنت تعاين األمرين كي تعبر الطريق‪ .‬مثل‬ ‫يومك المعتاد‪ ،‬بعرض خمسة أمتار‪ ،‬يمكن‬ ‫بسهولة أن يصف المر ُء الشارع الرئيسي‬ ‫ً‬ ‫سهل‬ ‫المؤدي إىل الحي الذي تسكن فيه‪ .‬لم يكن‬ ‫قط عبور ذاك الشارع؛ فالسيارات ال تكف عن‬ ‫العبور أمامك مسرعة كأنها يف سباق ال ينتهي‪،‬‬ ‫وربما لم يبدأ من األصل‪ .‬هو أبدي‪ ،‬أو باألحرى‬ ‫سرمدي ٌ أزيل‪ ،‬ومصيرك يا ولدي أن تتمتم بأغاين‬ ‫التراث "ياللي على الترعة حود عالمالح" أمامه‬ ‫لبرهة من الزمن‪ ،‬تنتظر أن يشفق عليك القدر‬ ‫فتعبر مسرعً ا وكأن البرق يسابقك‪.‬‬ ‫ولكن ال بأس‪ ،‬فتلك هي نصف مشقة يومك‬ ‫المضني‪ ،‬ولعل الكل يهون من أجلها‪ ،‬هي‪،‬‬ ‫وهي فقط‪ .‬تلك التي إن ُذكر اسمها مال قلبك‬ ‫من الشوق ليوم كامل‪ ،‬وترتسم يف عينيك‬ ‫نظرة ال مثيل لها‪ .‬فبها‪ ،‬وبها فقط يكتمل كيانك‬ ‫ً‬ ‫مخلوقا أسمى من سواد‬ ‫المضطرب‪ ،‬فتصير‬ ‫البشر‪ .‬أجل‪ ،‬إنها الكمال يف عينيك‪ ،‬فعندما ُتعِ دها‬ ‫أمك غدا‪ً ،‬ء ينقلب يومك رأسه عقبه‪ ،‬فتتحول‬ ‫أ كوام الحزن إىل أنوار تنير الكون كله‪ .‬إنها صينية‬ ‫البطاطس بالطماطم المقدسة‪ ،‬وما أدراك ما‬ ‫صينية البطاطس يا ولدي! إن كنت ال تدري‪ ،‬فمن‬ ‫المؤكد جهلك بمدى تفوق أمك بذاك الطبق‪.‬‬

‫وعينيك نحو الصينية مصوبة؛ لربما تلك تكون‬ ‫األخيرة‪ ،‬و لألخيرة مذاق آخر‪.‬‬ ‫تقاربت جفونك بعضها ً‬ ‫بعضا‪ ،‬وأقررت يف حزنك‬ ‫نفسا ضائعة بال مأوى‪..‬‬ ‫ً‬ ‫تصيح من جوفك بصوت أجش "ويل لكم‪ ،‬ثم‬ ‫ويل لكم"‪..‬‬

‫تفوقت الخالة يف كل أنواع الطعام بشهادة القريب‬ ‫والبعيد‪ ،‬ولكن أمك فاقت نساء العائلة أجمعين‬ ‫يف صينية البطاطس بالطماطم‪ ،‬ولعل ذلك األمر‬ ‫ما أتم عقد القران بينها وبين أبيك‪ .‬ها هي أمامك‪،‬‬ ‫بفلفلها‪ ،‬صلصتها‪ ،‬طماطمها‪ ،‬ورائحتها األزكى من‬ ‫عطور باريس‪ .‬تناديك بأعذب األصوات‪ ،‬تهمس يف‬ ‫أذنيك كحورية البحر‪َ ،‬ه ُلم إيلَّ أيها الفتى الشجاع‪.‬‬ ‫ولكن صوتًا ما قد أفسد ما قد كان ‪-‬أو قل ما كان‬ ‫سيكون‪ -‬صوت ذاك الرجل الذي تستمع إليه‬ ‫العائلة على الغداء يوم ًيا‪ ،‬وإن شق عليك ذلك‬ ‫فهو دميم الخلقة‪ ،‬أبله‪ ،‬ذو وجه كوجه الفقمة‬ ‫الحائض‪ ،‬يصرخ بأعلى ما فيه من صوت‪" :‬إن كل‬ ‫الظواهر بشتى أنواعها تتصف بالسفسطائية‪،‬‬ ‫فكل األشياء وإن ظهرت سيانًا فهي مختلفة أشد‬ ‫اختالف‪ ،‬فعلى سبيل المثال مذاق البطاطس قد‬ ‫شخصا وال يعجب اآلخر‪ .‬وبذلك‪ ،‬فالنسبية‬ ‫يعجب‬ ‫ً‬ ‫هنا أمرٌ ال مفر منه‪ ،‬وبالتايل‪ -‬والذي هو ضمني‬ ‫تبعا‬ ‫الفهم‪ -‬إن البالد تعاين من أزمة‪ ،‬وقد ُقرِر ً‬ ‫ونهائ ًيا منع بيع أو أ كل البطاطس يف البالد"‪.‬‬

‫و ُتتَابع تحس ًرا‪ ،‬والدموع على وشك أن تسيل‬ ‫منك أنها ًرا وعيونًا‪" :‬من أنت لتُحرم ما أُحل‪،‬‬ ‫أليست هناك من حرية؟ وما دخل صينية‬ ‫البطاطس بأزمات البالد‪ ،‬ولنقل أن ذاك صحيح‪،‬‬ ‫ولنضرب عنق المنطق بعرض الحائط‪ ،‬ما دخل‬ ‫التوابل بالمشكلة؟! ما هي العالقة المشبوهة بين‬ ‫صلصة الطماطم وعجز الموازنة االقتصادية؟ وإن‬ ‫كان لها نصيب من القضية‪ ،‬فهل لما تفعل أمي‬ ‫بالطعام دخل بالوطن وسالمة أراضيه؟!‬ ‫أملح بطاطس أمي من سيحل أزمة االقتصاد؟ أم‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫ثوم أمي من سيحل أزمة البطالة؟ و ال ذلك وال‬ ‫ذاك‪ ،‬إنها البطاطس‪ ،‬ومن غيرها على كل حال؟!‬

‫َ‬ ‫تنهدت كعادتك حينما ترى ذلك البرنامج‬ ‫اإلعالمي‪ ،‬ولكن تلك المرة قد أُذيت ح ًقا‪ ،‬فكيف‬ ‫عرفت البالد أنك تهوى البطاطس لكي تفعل بك‬ ‫ما َف َع َلت؟ سكرات األلم تجتاح جسدك المتعب‬

‫هي ح ًقا مدعاة للفسق والفاحشة‪ ،‬وأي دعوة!‬ ‫سبب لكثير من أزمات البالد‪ ،‬فما ينمو‬ ‫فلعلها‬ ‫ٌ‬ ‫تحت األرض قد يهضم كل ما فوق األرض‪ .‬فما‬ ‫بالك بما تفعله بطاطس أمك؟!‬

‫صفحة ‪١٢‬‬ ‫‪Page‬‬ ‫‪55‬‬

‫‪AUC‘18‬‬ ‫‪Times‬‬ ‫‪Dec‬‬ ‫‪issue‬‬

‫الوج ـ ـ ـ ـ ـ ـ ـ ـ ـ ـ ـ ـ ـ ـ ـ ـ ـ ـ ـ ـ ــهان‬ ‫كتبه‪ :‬إبراهيم عبدهللا‬ ‫المحرر‪ :‬كوثر الشريفي‬

‫زفاف ُقدّمت‬ ‫عادا بعد رحلة قضياها معً ا يف إحدى البالد اآلسيوية‪ ،‬كهدية‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫خ ً‬ ‫لهما من أحد األقارب‪ .‬لم يكن ق َِصر يده َ‬ ‫بيئة على أهلها‪ ،‬ولكنه التزم بما‬ ‫ً‬ ‫واصل إىل الحد الذي ذ ّلل أمامه الصعاب‬ ‫وعد به‪ ،‬كما أن غرامها به كان‬ ‫داع‪ .‬حبه‬ ‫أدىن‬ ‫وبال‬ ‫حد‬ ‫أقصى‬ ‫إىل‬ ‫قة‬ ‫المرهِ‬ ‫العائلية‬ ‫حين تعلق أمامه بالقيود‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫لها لم يعرف حدودًا ً‬ ‫أحالم ُه لحقيق ٍة بعد‬ ‫يغبط نفسه إذ تحولت‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫أيضا‪ ،‬كان ِ‬ ‫روح له‪ ،‬يكادان‬ ‫شريك‬ ‫اآلخر‬ ‫ارتضى‬ ‫كالهما‬ ‫ومثابرة‪.‬‬ ‫طول‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫بحث وانتظار ٍ‬ ‫ِ‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ُيقسمان أن اختيار كل منهما لآلخر كان األصوب على اإلطالق‪ ،‬أو هكذا ظنا‪.‬‬ ‫صباح اليوم التايل‪...‬‬ ‫سريع‪ ،‬ثم‬ ‫استيقظ مبك ًرا بما يكفي للسماح له باالغتسال وإعداد فطور ٍ‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫الوصول يف الموعد إىل العمل غير القريب من مسكنه‪ .‬بدّل مالبسه‪َ ،‬لثم‬ ‫ً‬ ‫نائمة على أ يّ ِة حال‪ ،‬وإن لم تبد‬ ‫جبينها ثم انصرف دون أن يوقظها‪ .‬لم تكن‬ ‫مبتسما يف‬ ‫العقار‬ ‫هذا له‪ .‬أبصرته من النافذة وهو ُيلقي السالم على حارس َ‬ ‫ً‬ ‫مسرعا ليلحق بالحافلة‪ .‬شردت بأفكارها حيث استحضرت‬ ‫وجهه‪ ،‬ثم يسير‬ ‫ً‬ ‫ً‬ ‫بشريك بهذا‬ ‫سهل أن تنعم عليك الحياة‬ ‫بزوج مثلِه‪ .‬ليس‬ ‫كم هي محظوظة‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫محب حتى النخاع‪ .‬يف الطريق دارت ب َ‬ ‫خلده‬ ‫الحنو والدّعة‪ ،‬وفوق هذا‪ ،‬فهو‬ ‫ٌ‬ ‫صورتها وهي يف سباتها العميق‪ ،‬هادئة كما الصغار‪ ،‬جميلة كما المالئكة‪ .‬كم‬ ‫سلمها‪ ،‬وأن يصرف عنها كدر العيش الذي وال شك‬ ‫يرجو أن يحفظ عليها ِ‬ ‫ً‬ ‫مستقبل‪.‬‬ ‫سيواجههما‬ ‫منهكما يف شيء ما‪ .‬تحب‬ ‫تهاتفه يف العمل بين الحين واآلخر‪ ،‬فكثي ًرا ما يكون‬ ‫ً‬ ‫كم هو متفان يف عمله إذ يأخذه الطموح إىل ما ال نهاية؛ ومن ذا الذي ال يحب‬ ‫ً‬ ‫حا؟! لكم ُيسعِ ده سماع صوتها‬ ‫من يأخذ بيده إىل عنان السماء‬ ‫رفعة وجمو ً‬ ‫مأوى من إرهاق العمل وكثرة المشاغل حيث الضغوطات‬ ‫ليجد يف دفئه‬ ‫ً‬ ‫وااللتزامات ال حصر لها‪.‬‬ ‫طويل تمر ك َ​َم ّر السنين العِ جاف‪.‬‬ ‫وما أعذب اللقيا إذ تجيء بعد ساعات يومٍ‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫اآلن يحلو التسامر‪ ،‬إذ تحكي له ما حدث يف يومها‪ ،‬كيف اشتاقته‪ ،‬خططها‬ ‫يف المستقبل القريب‪ ،‬ال مانع ً‬ ‫أهمها أو أشغل بالها‬ ‫أيضا من رواية بعض ما ّ‬ ‫بخصوص إحدى معارفها أو زميالتها يف العمل‪ .‬تحب كيف يستمع إليها‬ ‫غير مقاطع وال متب ّرم من طول حك ِيها‪ .‬من وقت آلخر‪ ،‬يسرد هو ً‬ ‫أيضا بعض‬ ‫تحديات عمله والمواقف التي تجمعه برفقائه هناك‪.‬‬ ‫بعد عدة أعوام‪...‬‬ ‫فزعا‪ ،‬متأخ ًرا هذه المرة عن موعده المعتاد‪ .‬ألِف أنها ال تهتم ل َِموقت‬ ‫استيقظ ً‬ ‫استيقاظه‪ ،‬يثير غِ ضابَه كيف ُ‬ ‫تغ ّط يف سباتها العميق غير عابئة بترتيبات‬ ‫حياته وتفاصيلها‪ .‬لو كانت مثل جارتهما التي يسمع صوتها على بعد‪ ،‬نشيطة‬ ‫تستيقظ قبل الجميع يف منزلها‪ ،‬توقظ هذا و ُتعد الفطور لذاك‪ .‬بالنسبة إليه‪،‬‬ ‫مقياسا للحكم عليها‪ ،‬لكنه وال شك يشير إىل مدى اهتمامها‬ ‫فقد ال يكون هذا‬ ‫ً‬ ‫بالبيت وشأنه‪ .‬ثم يفكر مرة أخرى يف زوجته وإهمالها كما يراه‪ .‬ينصرف ذهنه‬ ‫بعد ذلك إىل مشاكل عمله المتفاقمة‪ ،‬ومواعيد تسليمات العمالء‪ ،‬وتقديم‬ ‫الباب َ‬ ‫خلفه‪ ،‬والذي أيقظ‬ ‫واع لصفعه‬ ‫َ‬ ‫التقارير‪ .‬يخرج من المنزل ُمغض ًبا غي َر ٍ‬ ‫زوجته ف ًّزا‪.‬‬ ‫ينطلق شارد الذهن إىل عمله لكنه يلقى أحد الجيران أمام البيت‪ ،‬يس ّبه‬ ‫ً‬ ‫إطالقا لحديثه المتكرر عن فاتورة المياه‬ ‫مناسب‬ ‫يف عقله إذ أن الوقت غير‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ً‬ ‫ً‬ ‫مقارنة بسوابقها‪ .‬على الرغم من هذا‪ ،‬يحافظ‬ ‫باهظة هذا الشهر‬ ‫التي جاءت‬ ‫تراقب زوجته المشهد‪،‬‬ ‫النافذة‪،‬‬ ‫من‬ ‫المصطنعة‪.‬‬ ‫وابتسامته‬ ‫أمامه على هدوئه‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫دائما‪ ،‬ضاحكًا‬ ‫ترى ابتسامته لجاره‪ ،‬فتدور برأسها الوساوس‪" :‬هذا ما تفعله‬ ‫ً‬

‫ً‬ ‫مشغول عني!"‪ .‬تراجع نفسها للمرة األلف إن‬ ‫منبسطا للغرباء‪ ،‬مكفه ّر الوج ِه‬ ‫ً‬ ‫ً‬ ‫أولوية عنها؟ كيف تحادثه‬ ‫حا‪ .‬كيف يعطي الناس‬ ‫كان اختيا ُرها له كزوج صحي ً‬ ‫الصموت أو االستئذان بحجة العمل‪ .‬تمقت عدم‬ ‫فال تجد منه ردًا؟ اللهم إال ُ‬ ‫اهتمامه بها وعدم تقديره لوجودها يف حياته‪ .‬لماذا تبدأ هي دائما االتصال به؟‬ ‫وكيف ينشغل عنها وال يوليها اهتمامه؟‬ ‫َ‬ ‫القاطعة عليه تركي َزه يف عمله‪ .‬تهاتفه يف‬ ‫من ناحيته‪ ،‬صار يستَكرِه اتصاالتِها‬ ‫مشروع قريب موعد تسليمه‬ ‫العمل على‬ ‫اجتماعاته‪ ،‬أو حين يجب عليه‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫لتخب َره بشي ٍء غير ِ ذي قيمةٍ‪ ،‬أو ُتطر ِبه بمقطوع ِة انعدامِ اهتمامِ ِه بها‪ .‬أ َر ُقه يف‬ ‫الفترات األخيرة َقلل من كفاءة عمله مما ص ّيرها ‪-‬أي كفاءته‪ -‬موضع شك‬ ‫أمام مديريه‪ .‬أَخفى هذا عنها لفتور العالقة بينهما‪ ،‬وال تزال اللعينة تحادثه عبر‬ ‫تنس إحضار الجبن والخبز!‬ ‫الهاتف أن ال َ‬ ‫بأعجوب ٍة ينتهي يوم عمل شاق آخر ليبدأ فصل آخر من فصول العيش‬ ‫المكدَّر؛ إنها ثرثر ُتها الالمتناهية عن إهمالِه لشؤونها وعدمِ حرصه على مصلح ِة‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫جدول‬ ‫كل‪ ،‬فذهنه منصرف إىل‬ ‫بيته‪ .‬ليس يفكر فيما ِ‬ ‫ِ‬ ‫تصيح به اآلن على ٍ‬ ‫أعماله يف اليوم التايل‪ ،‬وحاجته إىل النوم الذي يأىب عليه إال السهر‪ .‬تنعكس‬ ‫ً‬ ‫خاوية إىل زوجته‪ ،‬مما س ّبب زياد َة‬ ‫أفكا ُره على صفح ِة عيني ِه الباعث ِة نظر ًة‬ ‫الجاثم أمامها بال أدىن‬ ‫الصنم‬ ‫ثورتِها عليه‪ .‬من جانبها‪ ،‬فهي اآلن تلعنُ هذا‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫التفاعل مع كلماتها‪ .‬م ّلت سلبيته تجاهَها‪ ،‬وجفاه الذي به ال ير ُّد حتى‬ ‫نزعة يف‬ ‫ِ‬ ‫على حديثها المباشر ِ يف وجهه‪.‬‬ ‫ينصرف عنها متوج ًها إىل سريره بدون رغب ٍة يف الر ِّد على ادعاءاتها‪ ،‬سئِم هذا‬ ‫متأم ًل إن كان قد تغ ّير‬ ‫منذ زمن على أية حال‪ .‬وضع رأسه على وسادته‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫لما لم يجد شيئًا ذا بال‬ ‫شيءٌ يف نمط حياتهما اليومي منذ زواجهما إىل اآلن‪ّ .‬‬ ‫بالميل‬ ‫صار يتساءل‪ ،‬ما الذي حدث؟ كيف كانت نظر ُة كل منهما لآلخر مليئة َ‬ ‫قديما؟ وإالم صارت؟ األحداث واحدة‪ ،‬ولكن مع مرور الوقت اختلفت‬ ‫والتَوق‬ ‫ً‬ ‫معانيها لكليهما‪ .‬ما هذا العامل الخادع الذي غير نظرتهما لذات األشياء؟ هل‬ ‫هو غياب التواصل الفعال بينهما؟ أم هو عدم تقدير كل منهما لما يعتري‬ ‫اآلخر من الهموم والتحديات؟ أم أنه فقط عامل الوقت الذي أطفأ جذو َة الحب‬ ‫فيما بينهما؟ كان يعلم أن كثرة المساس تفقد اإلحساس؛ حيث أن مرو َر‬ ‫إحساس المر ِء بما يتع ّرض له مرا ًرا‪ ،‬خي ًرا كان‬ ‫الوقت وحده كفيل بأن يقِل‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫أم ش ًرا‪ .‬هل هو التح ّيز الفكري لما ليس يف أيدينا ونسيانُ نعم ِة ما امتلكناه؟‬ ‫معا؟ ح ّير ُه تفكير ُه يف عالقتهما‪ ،‬هي كعمل ٍة واحدة لها وجهان‪.‬‬ ‫كل هذا ً‬ ‫أم هو ّ‬ ‫مالمحه‪ ،‬وال‬ ‫األجمل ويندثر إذ يطمِ س إ ِ ْلف العاد ِة‬ ‫يغيب الوج ُه‬ ‫سرعانَ ما‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫ُيبقي إال الوج َه األقبح‪ ،‬وج ًها مِ ل ُؤه الشكوك واألسئلة‪ .‬أخي ًرا‪ُ ،‬تسل ُِمه عيني ِه‬ ‫ً‬ ‫سبيل للوصول إىل إجابة األسئلة‪.‬‬ ‫طول سهر ٍ إذ لم تجد أفكاره‬ ‫للنعاس بعد‬ ‫ِ‬

‫تصوير ندى محمد‬

‫‪١١‬‬ ‫صفحة‬ ‫‪Page‬‬ ‫‪56‬‬

‫أعتقد ال‪ ،‬فالملكية الخاصة أصبحت شيئًا طبيع ًيا‬ ‫جدًا يف مجتمعنا الحايل‪ ،‬والكثير يعملون لدى‬ ‫القطاع الخاص بداية من الطبقة األكثر فق ًرا‬ ‫للطبقة األثرى يف المجتمع؛ ألن المقابل المادي‬ ‫بالطبع أعلى من القطاع العام‪ .‬كما أن كل تاجر ٍ‬ ‫جا أو خدمة خاصة يعرف جيدًا‬ ‫أو حر يفٍ يقدم منت ً‬ ‫"سعر السوق" الذي حددته تعامالت األفراد‪،‬‬ ‫ثم يضع سعره الخاص أعلى أو أقل منه حسب‬ ‫هواه‪ ،‬ويفاوض الزبون حتى يستقران على السعر‬ ‫المناسب‪ ،‬وهذه هي آلية "السوق الحر"‪ ،‬والتي ال‬ ‫تتدخل الحكومة فيه إال يف حاالت خاصة كاالحتكار‬ ‫والتالعب الكبير باألسعار‪ .‬ويمتد نظام "اقتصاد‬ ‫السوق الحر" و"الميزة التنافسية" ليشمل‬ ‫السوق الدويل‪ ،‬حيث تهتم كل دولة بزيادة إنتاج‬ ‫السلع والخدمات التي تتوفر عندها الموارد‬ ‫والظروف المناسبة إلنتاجها‪ ،‬ومن ثم تصدرها‬ ‫للعالم الخارجي لتستخدم المقابل يف استيراد‬ ‫السلع والخدمات التي تحتاجها‪ ،‬ومن ثم يكون‬ ‫التكامل االقتصادي والكفاءة اإلنتاجية التي تسد‬ ‫حاجات اإلفراد‪ ،‬وتوفر االزدهار ورفاهية االختيار‪.‬‬ ‫أي أن النظام الرأسمايل هو الذي يسمح يل ولك‬ ‫أن نمتلك ً‬ ‫مصنعا‪ ،‬أو نفتح كشكًا‪،‬‬ ‫أرضا أو عقا ًرا أو‬ ‫ً‬ ‫ً‬ ‫مطعما‪ ،‬أو‬ ‫خاصا‪ ،‬أو‬ ‫أو‬ ‫محل‪ ،‬أو ورشة‪ ،‬أو مكت ًبا ً‬ ‫ً‬ ‫مشروع صغير‪ ،‬أو حتى نستثمر أموالنا يف‬ ‫أي‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫مدرسة‪ ،‬أو مستشفى‪ ،‬أو ربما جامعة‪ ،‬أو مدينة‬ ‫جديدة‪ ،‬أو ربما يف البورصة‪ .‬كما يسمح للحريف‬ ‫(الصنايعي) الماهر أن يضع تسعيرة خاصة‬ ‫لعمله حتى وإن كانت فوق سعر السوق‪ ،‬ويسمح‬ ‫للموظف أن يختار بين القطاع العام والخاص‬ ‫طعاما‬ ‫حسب مؤهالته‪ .‬هو الذي يتيح يل ولك‬ ‫ً‬ ‫مهما كان ما نمتلكه من مال‪ ،‬وهو الذي يتيح‬ ‫ملبسا بمختلف األسعار والجودات‪ ،‬ووسائل‬ ‫ً‬ ‫ترفي ٍه بتكاليف قليلة أو عالية‪ .‬هو الذي يتيح يل‬ ‫منتجات ذات قيمة مستوردة‬ ‫ولك حرية امتالك‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫من الخارج‪ ،‬وأن نستخدم خدمات مختلفة ‪-‬لم‬ ‫تقدم من شركات وطنية‪ -‬كخطوط المحمول‪،‬‬ ‫ووسائل المواصالت الحديثة‪ ،‬ووسائل التواصل‬ ‫االجتماعي كفيس بوك وواتساب وإنستاجرام‪،‬‬ ‫وخدمات إنترنت أخرى كجوجل‪ ،‬وويكيبيديا‪،‬‬ ‫ويوتيوب وغيرها‪ .‬كما يتيح يل ولك حرية التعلم‬ ‫يف مدارس وجامعات خاصة‪ ،‬وحرية العالج يف‬ ‫مستشفيات خاصة‪ ،‬أو حتى حرية العيش يف‬ ‫مجتمعات خاصة‪ ،‬إىل آخر ذلك من األمثلة‪.‬‬ ‫وطبعا‪ ،‬فإن النظام الرأسمايل يوفر اختيارات‬ ‫ً‬ ‫أفضل وأرىق للغني أ كثر من متوسط الدخل‬ ‫أو الفقير‪ ،‬فكلما زاد السعر زادت القيمة‪ ،‬لكنه‬ ‫يف المجمل يوفر اختيارات أفضل وأ كثر أمام‬ ‫كل فئة مقارنة بالنظام االشترا كي‪ .‬أما عن‬ ‫العدالة يف تخصيص المرتبات والمنافع‪ ،‬وتوفير‬ ‫الفرص المالئمة ألصحاب المؤهالت والقدارت‬ ‫على حساب الوسائط والمعارف‪ ،‬فإن الفكر‬ ‫الرأسمايل هو أ كثر ما يدعم إتاحة الفرصة فقط‬ ‫لمن يستحق؛ ألن من يستحق هو األجدر على‬ ‫زيادة كفاءة اإلنتاج ومن ثم زيادة الربح لصاحب‬ ‫العمل‪ .‬وبالتايل‪ ،‬فإنه كلما زادت خبرة وكفاءة‬ ‫وتميز الشخص‪ ،‬كلما زاد المقابل المدفوع له‬ ‫بغض النظر‪ .‬أما صور الفساد المختلفة التي‬ ‫تحدث يف سوق العمل‪ ،‬فهي أبعد ما تكون عن‬ ‫الفكر الرأسمايل‪ .‬لذلك فإنه يف األنظمة الرأسمالية‬ ‫ألشخاص بدأوا‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫"الصحيحة"‪ ،‬ترى أمثلة كثيرة‬

‫‪٢٠١٨‬‬ ‫عدد شهر ديسمبر‬ ‫‪AUC Times‬‬

‫حياتهم فقراء‪ ،‬ومن ثم عملوا على تطوير أنفسهم‬ ‫وزيادة مهاراتهم وعلمهم‪ ،‬فتوفرت الفرصة أمامهم‬ ‫لينجحوا ويصعدوا يف طبقات المجتمع ويحسنوا من‬ ‫حا يف‬ ‫وضعهم المادي واالجتماعي‪ .‬نرى ذلك واض ً‬ ‫هجرة العقول العربية من مواطنها إىل الدول الغربية‬ ‫التي تمكنهم وتقدرهم وتتيح لهم فرصة العيش‬ ‫الكريم‪ ،‬وبالطبع فإن أغلب تلك الدول هي دول‬ ‫رأسمالية‪ ،‬تفعل ذلك فقط من أجل المصلحة الخاصة‪.‬‬ ‫أي أن الرأسمالية ال تميل يف األساس لظلم الفقراء‬ ‫فقط لكونهم فقراء‪ ،‬بل هي تميل لظلم المتكاسلين‬ ‫من الفقراء أو األغنياء الذين ال يستطيعون شق‬ ‫طريقهم وتطوير أنفسهم وأوضاعهم المعيشية‪.‬‬ ‫فالتجارة والحرف المختلفة ً‬ ‫مثل توفر لكثير ٍ من عامة‬ ‫ً‬ ‫دخل كاف ًيا لبدء حياتهم‪ ،‬ومع ازدياد خبرة‬ ‫الناس‬ ‫ومهارة هؤالء يزيد دخلهم وتتحسن أوضاعهم‪.‬‬ ‫نظاما خال ًيا من‬ ‫لكن الرأسمالية بالطبع ليست‬ ‫ً‬ ‫العيوب‪ ،‬بل بالعكس‪ ،‬فإن النظام الرأسمايل هو‬ ‫نظام جشع يصطدم أشد االصطدام ببناء األخالق‬ ‫دائما تجاه الفردية‬ ‫والنزاهة والقيم االجتماعية‪ ،‬ويحفز‬ ‫ً‬ ‫واألنانية‪ ،‬ويزيد من قسوة اإلنسان وظلمه لغيره‪ .‬لذلك‬ ‫لن تجد دولة تطبق نظام الرأسمالية بشكل كامل‪،‬‬ ‫ً‬ ‫تدخل قو يًا لتضع‬ ‫بل البد من أن تتدخل الحكومة‬ ‫القوانين والحدود التي تهذب ذلك النظام وتحد من‬ ‫تجاوزاته‪ .‬كما أنّ النظام الرأسمايل الذي نراه اليوم ال‬ ‫يهمش دور الحكومة يف توفير الخدمات المختلفة‪:‬‬ ‫كالتعليم‪ ،‬والصحة‪ ،‬ووسائل العيش بالمجان أو بشكل‬ ‫مخفض‪ ،‬والتي هي من مميزات النظام االشترا كي‪،‬‬ ‫بل يشجع ذلك من خالل منافسة القطاع الخاص‬ ‫للحكومة يف تقديم تلك الخدمات‪ ،‬لتوفير أعلى جودة‬ ‫بأقل سعر ممكن لكل فئة من فئات المجتمع‪ ،‬دون‬ ‫إجبار المواطن على اختيار أي منهم‪ .‬ومن الدول‬ ‫التي نجحت يف توفير ذلك النظام‪ :‬الواليات المتحدة‪،‬‬ ‫وألمانيا‪ ،‬والمملكة المتحدة وغيرها‪ ،‬وجميعها دول‬ ‫توفر درجات عالية من العدالة ورفاهية العيش‪ .‬فهل‬ ‫ظالم أو سيءٌ؟‬ ‫مقتنعا أن الرأسمالية نظا ٌم‬ ‫ما زالت‬ ‫ً‬ ‫ٌ‬

‫‪Photo by Unsplash‬‬

‫صفحة ‪١٠‬‬ ‫‪Page‬‬ ‫‪57‬‬

‫‪AUC‘18‬‬ ‫‪Times‬‬ ‫‪Dec‬‬ ‫‪issue‬‬

‫كتبه‪ :‬أحمد المنايلي‬ ‫المحرر‪ :‬كوثر الشريفي‬

‫الرأسمالية‬ ‫لمن ينتقدون‬ ‫ومن يدَّعون‬

‫بصابون ُصنع‬ ‫ها أنت تستيقظ فتغسل وجهك‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫باستثمارات شرك ٍة بريطانية‪ ،‬ثم تشرب قهوتك‬ ‫ِ‬ ‫التي صنعتها شركة سويسرية بمكونات‬ ‫برازيلية أو ڤيتنامية‪ ،‬بجانب بعض المخبوزات‬ ‫التي كان القمح المستورد من االتحاد األورويب‬ ‫مكونًا أساس ًيا فيها‪ .‬ترتدي مالبسك التي تتنوع‬ ‫ماركاتها بين تلك األمريكية‪ ،‬والسويدية‪ ،‬وربما‬ ‫اإلسبانية‪ ،‬والفرنسية‪ .‬تحمل موبايلك العزيز‬ ‫الذي ُصنعت معظم أجزائه يف بالد –أغلبها‬ ‫آسيوية‪ -‬غير بلد شركته األم ال لشيء إال للميزة‬ ‫التنافسية‪ ،‬ثم تستقل سيارتك ألمانية الصنع‪،‬‬ ‫والتي هي جزء من فخرك وشخصيتك‪ ،‬لتذهب‬ ‫إىل جامعتك الخاصة الدولية‪ ،‬أو ربما شركتك‬ ‫الخاصة الدولية؛ ألن وضعك بالتأكيد أرىق من أن‬ ‫تنتمي لمؤسسات وطنية تحمل نفس جنسيتك‪.‬‬ ‫لم تكن أبدًا مجب ًرا على اختيار ٍ واح ٍد مما سبق‪،‬‬ ‫بل نظ ًرا لوضع عائلتك المرموق وممتلكاتها‬ ‫الخاصة المترامية‪ ،‬كانت االختيارات عديدة‪،‬‬ ‫وأنت اخترت ً‬ ‫مقتنعا وراض ًيا ومتباه ًيا‪،‬‬ ‫كل منها‬ ‫ً‬ ‫ثم –وكم يضحكني ذلك‪ -‬تأيت وتقول أنك تحتقر‬ ‫الرأسمالية‪ ،‬بل وتعيب على من يدعمها‪ ،‬بل‬ ‫وتصنف نفسك بفخر ٍ مؤيدًا للنظام االشترا كي‬ ‫أو الشيوعي‪ ،‬وأنت ما أنت عليه اآلن بفضل‬ ‫النظام الرأسمايل‪ ،‬مثلك كمثل ديكاتور ٍ ينتقد‬ ‫الديكتاتورية‪ ،‬أو فاس ٍد يتوعد بالثورة على الفساد‪.‬‬ ‫ماذا؟ هل تتألم آلالم الفقراء وهؤالء العمال الذين‬ ‫ُيقهرون بسبب النظام الرأسمايل الظالم؟ ربما‬ ‫أنت تعلم جيدًا َمن تلك البالد ‪-‬بل َمن تلك‬ ‫الشركات‪ -‬التي تتربح من ذلك‪ ،‬ولكنك مازلت‬ ‫فلم لم تقاطعهم؟!‬ ‫تستخدم منتجاتهم وخدماتهم‪َ ،‬‬ ‫هل تظن أن للحديث وحده قيمة؟‬ ‫الحقيقة هي أن معظم البالد التي تعلن نفسها‬ ‫–رسم ًيا يف دستورها‪ -‬بالدًا اشترا كية ككوبا‪،‬‬ ‫وفيتنام وربما بنجالديش‪ ،‬والصين (لنفترض أنها‬ ‫مازالت)‪ ،‬وكوريا الشمالية‪ ،‬والبرتغال‪ ،‬هي بالدٌ‬

‫لن ُت ّ‬ ‫فضل عزيزي االشترا كي أن تستقر بها‪ .‬أما‬ ‫جا لألنظمة‬ ‫تلك البالد التي يراها البعض نموذ ً‬ ‫االشترا كية الجميلة التي تطبق ضرائ ًبا عالية‬ ‫وتوفر أمامها خدمات راقية لمواطنيها كفنلندا‪،‬‬ ‫والنرويج‪ ،‬والسويد‪ ،‬والدنمارك‪ ،‬وغيرها‪ ،‬هي بالدٌ‬ ‫غير مخلصة يف اال ًصل لمبادئ النظام االشترا كي؛‬ ‫جميعا تعتنق نظام اقتصاد السوق‪ ،‬وتتيح‬ ‫ألنها‬ ‫ً‬ ‫الملكية الخاصة لموارد اإلنتاج بشكل طبيعي‪ ،‬إىل‬ ‫جانب السماح بحركة رؤوس األموال دول ًيا‪ .‬فهذا‬ ‫"الرس راسموسن" رئيس وزراء الدنمارك الحايل‬ ‫يتحدث لكلية كينيدي بجامعة هارفارد عام ‪2015‬‬ ‫هاما‪ .‬إن الدنمارك‬ ‫معلنًا‪" :‬أود أن أوضح شيئًا ً‬ ‫نظاما اقتصاديًا اشترا ك ًيا‪ ،‬بل‬ ‫بعيدة من أن تكون‬ ‫ً‬ ‫نموذج القتصاد السوق"‪ .‬بالمناسبة‪ ،‬اقتصاد‬ ‫إنها‬ ‫ٌ‬ ‫السوق هو مجرد مرادف لالقتصاد الحر‪ ،‬أو‬ ‫االقتصاد الرأسمايل‪.‬‬ ‫قد يبدو أنني اعتمدت على أسلوب الشخصنة‬ ‫(‪ )Ad hominem‬يف معارضة منتقدي الرأسمالية‪،‬‬ ‫ولكنني أردت أن أبدأ حديثي بتوضيح بعض‬ ‫التناقضات الهامة والحقائق األهم‪ .‬لكن‪ ،‬قبل‬ ‫التطرق إىل االنتقادات ذاتها‪ ،‬دعني أوضح ً‬ ‫أول‬ ‫ما هو النظام الرأسمايل‪ ،‬وما هو اقتصاد السوق‬ ‫الحر؟ ببساطة‪ ،‬النظام الرأسمايل هو نظا ٌم جوهره‪:‬‬ ‫‪ 1‬ضمان حرية األفراد يف تملك الموارد ووسائل‬‫اإلنتاج الهامة‪ ،‬كاألراضي وما تحمله من موارد‬ ‫طبيعية‪ ،‬كذلك رؤوس األموال‪ ،‬والمواد الخام‪،‬‬ ‫ً‬ ‫عمل‬ ‫‪ 2‬والسماح بأن يعمل األفراد ذوو المهارة‬‫مأجو ًرا لدى هؤالء الذين يمتلكون الموارد فيما‬ ‫يعرف بالقطاع الخاص‪ 3- .‬كذلك يقدس النظام‬ ‫الرأسمايل التخصص‪ ،‬حيث يقوم كل شخص‬ ‫بمزاولة العمل الذي يجيده من "أجل الربح‬ ‫فقط"‪ ،‬وليس من أجل سد حاجة ماسة بالضرورة‪،‬‬ ‫ومن ثم يقوم كل فرد بعرض إنتاجه أو خدماته يف‬ ‫السوق بالمقابل الذي يريده‪ ،‬ويتم تبادل القيمة‬ ‫والمنفعة بشكل حر بين أفراد المجتمع‪ ،‬فيما‬ ‫يعرف بـ"الميزة التنافسية"‪ .‬هل يبدو ذلك غري ًبا؟‬

‫‪٢٠١٨‬‬ ‫عدد شهر ديسمبر‬ ‫‪AUC Times‬‬

‫صفحة ‪٩‬‬ ‫‪Page‬‬ ‫‪58‬‬

‫كتبته‪ :‬مريم البرنس‬ ‫المحرر‪ :‬محمود صبري‬

‫لكم تعبث بنا ظنوننا‪ ،‬ظننا فيما يهلكنا وما يكون‬ ‫العمر والوقت‪ ،‬ظننا يف أنفسنا‬ ‫فيه النجاة‪ ،‬ظننا يف ُ‬ ‫ويف سوانا‪ ،‬وظننا يف ما هو ّ‬ ‫حق وما هو محض‬ ‫خيال‪ .‬يتزيا الوهم بمختلف األثواب‪ ،‬قد يأتينا‬ ‫يف الميل إىل إرجاء ما آن أوانه‪ ،‬يزين لنا الوقت‬ ‫وساعاته‪ ،‬يرسم لنا العمر بال آخر‪ ،‬والساعات بال‬ ‫حساب‪ .‬من أين لنا كل هذا اليقين أنه هنالك‬ ‫ُمتسع ‪ُ ..‬متسع من الوقت‪ ،‬من العافية‪ ،‬من‬ ‫الكالم‪ ،‬ومن الفرص‪ .‬ما الميثاق الذي أبرمه هللا‬ ‫معنا جعلنا نس ّوف‪ ،‬نماطل‪ ،‬نأثم‪ ،‬ونتمادى بكل‬ ‫العمر أنه ال يفنى يف‬ ‫ذاك الغرور؟ متى أوهمنا ُ‬ ‫طرفة جفن ‪ ..‬متى وعدنا األجل أنه سوف يطرق‬ ‫مستأذنا ً ‪ ..‬ومتى أقسم الغد أنه حتما ً سوف‬ ‫يأيت؟‬ ‫ع ّله اإليمان وصاحبه‪ :‬األمل‪ .‬بُني اإليمان على‬ ‫اثنين‪ ،‬الغيب والشهادة‪ .‬فهنالك يقين يتأىت‬ ‫بالحدس وآخر محسوس‪ .‬وإليمان الغيب حظوة‬ ‫على إيمان الشهادة‪ ،‬فليس أيسر من أن ترى‬ ‫بعينيك لتستدل على الوجود‪ ،‬وتسمع بأذنيك‬ ‫لتتتبع مصدر الصوت‪ ،‬وتتحسس بيديك‬ ‫لتستشعر اليقين‪ .‬ولكن ّ‬ ‫أل ترى الشيء وتشير‬ ‫أل تسمعه وتقفو األثر‪ّ ،‬‬ ‫إليه‪ّ ،‬‬ ‫أل تلمسه وتتمثل‬ ‫أطواره لهو أصلب اإليمان وأوهنه‪ ،‬أعذبه حديثا ً‬ ‫وأشقه فعال ً‪ ،‬خير اإليمان وش ّره‪ .‬إيمان ضرير‬ ‫يزدري قوانين الدنيا ويهزأ بغابر القصص‪ ،‬ال يعبأ‬ ‫إال بما يدّعي‪ ،‬وال يعتنق إال ما يوحى إليه‪ .‬وهنا‬

‫يبزغ األمل‪ ،‬يولد‪ ،‬ويزهر‪ ،‬لكي يطرح لنا ال ُف َرص‬ ‫المتب ّقي‪ .‬ولكن الوهم واألمل‬ ‫ويثلج صدورنا نحو ُ‬ ‫قد يترادفا‪ ،‬يتشابها‪ ،‬ويكذبا‪ .‬يظل األمل وهما ً حتى‬ ‫المنى راجيها يقظة ال‬ ‫يظفر الطالب بمطلبه‪ ،‬وتزور ُ‬ ‫حلماً‪ ،‬وإىل تلك اللحظة‪ ،‬يختلط اآلمل بالموهوم‪،‬‬ ‫والموقن بالمجنون‪ .‬وحتى يف ّرق اليقين بينهما‪،‬‬ ‫يظل الواهم هو من ال يح ّرك ساكنا ً مطمئنا ً للغد‪،‬‬ ‫واآلمل هو ذاك الذي ال يسكن ساعة يتحين‬ ‫الفرص التي يثق بقدومها ولو بعد حين‪.‬‬ ‫دوما بالضيف الثقيل‪ ،‬أحيانًا ال يرجو‬ ‫ليس الوهم ً‬ ‫الناس منه استفاقة‪ ،‬وال يسعون لدحضه‪ .‬حينئ ٍذ‬ ‫يصبح الوهم طور من أطوار الهرب‪ ،‬مالذ من كل‬ ‫ما صعق وعينا ‪ ..‬من كل ما أعيانا حين أدركناه‪.‬‬ ‫ينكب المرء على ُمذهبات العقل حتى يغيب‪،‬‬ ‫فقد‬ ‫ُّ‬ ‫ويتالشى‪ ،‬حين يضيق به واقعه وتهرب منه‬ ‫السبل‪ .‬ثم ال تكفيه مشتتات الذهن من موسيقى‪،‬‬ ‫وأدب‪ ،‬وفن‪ ،‬فيرغم وعيه على الصمت‪ ،‬يخمده‪ ،‬ثم‬ ‫يلقيه يف سبات إىل أجل غير مسمى‪ .‬ولكن الوعي‬ ‫‪ ..‬يظل هو أثمن ما يمتلك بنو البشر‪ ،‬هو الذي‬ ‫يصليهم الجحيم حيناً‪ ،‬وينتشلهم من قعره أحياناً‪.‬‬ ‫ما بال الناس يجرعون كؤوس الخمر واحدا ً تلو‬ ‫اآلخر‪ ،‬فيذوب معه وعيهم حتى ينقلبوا ُمج ّردين‪،‬‬ ‫شفافين‪ ،‬ليسوا يرون من الشيء سوى ظاهره‪ ،‬وال‬ ‫من اإلنسان سوى قالبه‪ .‬الوعي قد يضفي علينا‬ ‫خصاال ً محببة وأخرى لسنا نرغبها‪ ،‬ولكن حتى تلك‬

‫الصفات التي نستنكرها‪ ،‬هي من نسيج روحنا‪،‬‬ ‫محاكة مع جلودنا‪ ،‬مطوية بين سويداء قلوبنا‪،‬‬ ‫جنا‪ .‬كيف نلتمس منها الخالص‪،‬‬ ‫مدموغة بها ُم َه ُ‬ ‫وإن فررنا لوهلة‪ ..‬فبأي وجه نلتقي بها مجددًا‪.‬‬ ‫إن يعيش اإلنسان يتحسس طريقه لينأى عن‬ ‫نفسه‪ ،‬إن يتقصى مالذا ً دون روحه‪ ،‬إن يصير‬ ‫كأسا هو ضالته المنشودة‪ ،‬فماذا يتبقى له إن‬ ‫ً‬ ‫انكسر الكأس و ُرد إىل وعيه على حين غِ ّرة ‪ ..‬ترى‬ ‫كيف يسترد المج ّرد ذاته والشفاف لونه ‪ ..‬وكيف‬ ‫يستقبله الوعي األواب‪ ،‬أيربت عليه أم يصفعه‪،‬‬ ‫يعانقه أم يركله‪ ،‬يلملم شتاته أم يفتته؟‬ ‫ما نفتش عنه يف سويداء قلوبنا هو الخالص‪ ،‬وهما ً‬ ‫كان أم واقعاً‪ ،‬إن ما يرضينا سوف نطرق بابه‬ ‫ونرتّل أنشودته ونتتبع طيفه‪ .‬ال يوجد من يطلعنا‬ ‫سل قد فنوا والوحي انقطع‪،‬‬ ‫بالخبر اليقين‪ ،‬ال ُر ُ‬ ‫فما تبقى لنا إال السير يف الظالم نتلمس الجدران‬ ‫ونقتات على تكهناتنا القاصرة‪ .‬قد مرج اإلنسان‬ ‫األمل والوهم سهوا ً حتى تهتك غشاء رقيق يحول‬ ‫بين الواحد واآلخر‪ .‬يف أحيان أخرى ندمج الشطرين‬ ‫عمدا ً عندما يضنينا الوعي‪ ،‬فنتح ّرى نحن الوهم‬ ‫ج ِبل اإلنسان على‬ ‫وس ُبله‪ .‬لقد ُ‬ ‫بشتّى أنواعه ُ‬ ‫الصبر‪ُ ،‬‬ ‫وفطِ ر على المثابرة‪ ،‬ففي خِ َض ِّم معاركنا‬ ‫مع الحياة وخيباتها تجنح النفس للوصول‪.‬‬ ‫لتنشطر خوافقنا إىل نصفين‪ ،‬نودع أحدهما األمل‪،‬‬ ‫عل األمل يدلنا‬ ‫ونحتفظ بالثاين يف‬ ‫طي الوهم‪ّ ،‬‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫أوعل الوهم يخلقه من العدم‪.‬‬ ‫على الطريق‪،‬‬ ‫ّ‬

‫صفحة ‪٨‬‬ ‫‪Page‬‬ ‫‪59‬‬

‫‪AUC‘18‬‬ ‫‪Times‬‬ ‫‪Dec‬‬ ‫‪issue‬‬

‫تصوير ياسمين النواوى‬

‫‪٢٠١٨‬‬ ‫عدد شهر ديسمبر‬ ‫‪AUC Times‬‬

‫صفحة ‪٧‬‬ ‫‪Page‬‬ ‫‪60‬‬

‫ـ ـ ـ ـ ـ ـ ـ ـ ـ ـ ـ ـ ـ ـ ـ ـ ـ ــدتان‬ ‫ـ ـ ـ ـ ـ ـ ـ ـ ـ ـ ـ ـ ـ ـ ـ ـ ـ ــامية‬ ‫سواح‬ ‫عايش يف الدنيا دي أنا سواح‬ ‫شوفت اللي على الناس بينصب ويغشهم بكالم‬ ‫بيبيع لهم إشاعات ويعيشهم يف أوهام‬ ‫كداب وعامل نفسه شيخ وإمام‬ ‫ما بيفرقش بين الحالل والحرام‪ ،‬كله عنده مباح‬ ‫عايش يف الدنيا دي أنا سواح‬ ‫شوفت اللي عايش فيها بالعافية وبالدراع‬ ‫واللي باع بلده بالخيانة والخداع‬ ‫علشان حبة فلوس خلى ضميره اتباع‬ ‫وانتمائه لبلده خالص جواه كده راح‬ ‫عايش يف الدنيا دي أنا سواح‬ ‫وقابلت ناس منافقين وناس كدابة‬ ‫وناس عايشه يف حالها وناس وغالبة‬ ‫وناس تشوفك تبتسم وناس مرسوم على وشها الكآبه‬ ‫وشوفت اللي بيبكي وجواه عذاب وجراح‬ ‫عايش يف الدنيا دي أنا سواح‬ ‫وقابلت ناس تانيين مدوخاهم السنين‬ ‫عايشين باالسم بس هما مش عايشين‬ ‫تايهين ضايعين عن نفسهم متغربين‬ ‫محرومين من السعادة ومحرومين من األفراح‬ ‫عايش يف الدنيا دي أنا سواح‬ ‫قابلت من البشر كتير أنا أشكال‬ ‫اللي تعبان يف حياته‪ ،‬واللي مرتاح البال‬ ‫واللي عايش حياته بس علشان المال‬ ‫واللي عايش فيها بضمير راضي عن نفسه ومرتاح‬ ‫عايش يف الدنيا دي أنا سواح‬

‫صفحة ‪٦‬‬ ‫‪Page‬‬ ‫‪61‬‬

‫‪AUC‘18‬‬ ‫‪Times‬‬ ‫‪Dec‬‬ ‫‪issue‬‬

‫قصي ـ ـ ـ ـ ـ ـ ـ ـ ـ ـ ـ ـ ـ ـ ـ ـ ـ ـ‬ ‫بالع ـ ـ ـ ـ ـ ـ ـ ـ ـ ـ ـ ـ ـ ـ ـ ـ ـ ـ ـ ـ‬ ‫كتبه‪ :‬محمود حالوة‬ ‫المحرر‪ :‬كوثر الشريفي‬

‫محمود حالوة شاعر من مواليد‬ ‫القناطر الخيرية‪ .‬يكتب باللغة‬ ‫العامية ويحبها "ألنها تصل إىل‬ ‫قلوب الناس بسهولة"‪ .‬يعمل‬ ‫يف أمن الجامعة األمريكية منذ‬ ‫‪ ،2008‬وتكرم بمشاركتنا‬ ‫بقصيدتين من قصائده‪.‬‬

‫وداع‬ ‫وداع ومش عاوز تاين أشوف وشكم‬ ‫ياللي الخداع أساس ومبدأ عندكم‬ ‫مستغربين ليه لما بقولكم وداع؟‬ ‫ياللي يف طبعكم الغش والخداع‬ ‫لقيت الغش فيكم وعندكم بيتباع‬ ‫ودا شيء طبيعي إين أبعد عنكم‬ ‫وداع ومش عاوز تاين أشوف وشكم‬ ‫إنتم ناس معدومة اإلحساس‬ ‫عيشتوين يف وهم الطيبة واإلخالص‬ ‫وبعد ما قربت منكم وأمنتلكم خالص‬ ‫بعتوين وخدعتوين بمكركم‬ ‫وداع ومش عاوز تاين أشوف وشكم‬ ‫خدعتوين لما شوفت الطيبة باينة يف عيونكم‬ ‫إنتم ناس غريبه على طول غيرتم لونكم‬ ‫دايما بصونكم‬ ‫خنتوين وأنا اللي كنت‬ ‫ً‬ ‫وخالص قررت أبعد ومستحيل أرجعلكم‬ ‫وداع ومش عاوز تاين أشوف وشكم‬ ‫قررت أسيبكم علشان إنتم متستهلوش‬ ‫الندالة ساكنة جوا كم والوفاء متعرفهوش‬ ‫قررت إين أسيبكم ﻹنكم بتغيروا الوشوش‬ ‫والغدر طلع بيجري يف دمكم‬ ‫وداع ومش عاوز تاين أشوف وشكم‬ ‫صدمة كبيرة لما أقرب الناس يبيعوك‬ ‫تكتشف فجأة إنهم علشان مصلحتهم عرفوك‬ ‫ويطلع حبهم ليك مزيف وكانوا بيخدعوك‬ ‫أنا ندمان إين قلبي يف يوم حبكم‬ ‫وداع ومش عاوز تاين أشوف وشكم‬

‫‪٢٠١٨‬‬ ‫عدد شهر ديسمبر‬ ‫‪AUC Times‬‬

‫صفحة ‪٥‬‬ ‫‪Page‬‬ ‫‪62‬‬

‫‪Photo by aljazeera.net‬‬

‫ظل التوتر ينهش بعقله وجدانه يمنعه من‬ ‫التفكير‪ ،‬و يجعل االختيار بالنسبة له كلمة ليس‬ ‫ً‬ ‫منزل يذهب إليه‬ ‫لها صدى بعالمه‪ .‬لم تجد قدماه‬ ‫سوى سوسكا‪ ،‬حيث ذكريات رعشة القذف األول‪،‬‬ ‫ورؤية جسد المرأة العاري بانحناءاته العنيفة‪،‬‬ ‫وترهالت بعض أجزائه التي أضفت لمسة إثارة‬ ‫بالنسبة لشاب غر أحس بتح ٍد يدفعه لهزيمة‬ ‫ذاك الجسد المتوحش‪ .‬لم يكن يعلم عن الجنس‬ ‫كأغلب شباب بداية األلفية الثالثة سوي ما رآه يف‬ ‫من أفالم الفيديو ذات الجودة الركيكة التي رآها‬ ‫يف بيوت بعض األثرياء من أصدقائه‪ ،‬باإلضافة‬ ‫إىل بعض المجالت التي كانت تدور بينهم حتى‬ ‫تماما‪.‬‬ ‫تضيع‬ ‫ً‬ ‫يف أول مرة تطأ قدماه ذاك المكان‪ ،‬لم تكن‬ ‫تماما‪ ،‬فقد سخرت من سذاجة الشباب‬ ‫سعيدة‬ ‫ً‬ ‫البريء ومعلوماته الضحلة‪ ،‬حتى دخلوا غرفتها‬ ‫واحدًا تلو اآلخر ليعاين من نظراتها المشفقة‬ ‫يف البداية‪ ،‬حتى تنطلق به إىل عالم آخر غريب‪،‬‬ ‫تماما‪.‬‬ ‫ولكنه مثير وأروع ما فيه أنه يقتل الوقت‬ ‫ً‬ ‫عاما على تلك‬ ‫ورغم مرور ما يقارب العشرين ً‬ ‫الزيارة وعلى الرغم من اإلحساس بالذنب الذي‬ ‫خصوصا‬ ‫شعر به تجاه نفسه‪ ،‬والتقزز من فعلته‪،‬‬ ‫ً‬ ‫أنه بعد إتمام العالقة لم يجد أمامه سوى امرأة‬ ‫سمينة قبيحة الوجه‪ ،‬وذات جسد ملئ بالكدمات‪،‬‬ ‫إال أنه لم يقطع زياراته كلما شعر بالضعف‬ ‫واالنكسار أمام عقبات الحياة‪ ،‬وأراد أن يكسر‬ ‫أمواجها العاتية‪ .‬حبات عرق متصارعة وسط‬ ‫لهاث شديد‪ ،‬واسترخاء تام للعضالت معبرة عن‬ ‫فشل ذريع‪ ..‬كان هذا ملخص ليلته األخيرة بمنزل‬ ‫سوسكا؛ ولكن اإلحباط لم يصبه والخجل لم‬ ‫يحط بذكوريته‪ ،‬ألن عقله تخبطته األسئلة يف زمن‬ ‫آخر‪ ،‬وبدأ يهمس‪" :‬يا ترى كان شكله عامل إزاي‬ ‫ساعتها؟"‪ :‬ليتلقى الرد‪" :‬يا أخويا كنت فاكر يف‬ ‫شكلك إنت األول"‪.‬‬ ‫ظل مخد ًرا بمنزله لشهور‪ ،‬ال يبحث إال عن األكل‬ ‫والنوم‪ ،‬بينما يجلس أغلب الوقت أمام صورتين‪،‬‬ ‫صورة جمال عبد الناصر وهو متطلع إىل األفق‬ ‫بنظرة حالمة‪ ،‬وأنف مدبب‪ ،‬و مالمح جهمة‪،‬‬

‫وصورة الرئيس ذي المالمح الجامدة و خديه الممتلئين ونظراته زجاجية‪.‬‬ ‫يشترك مع الصورة األخرى يف أنهم كاآللهة‪ ،‬ال تنفرج عنها ابتسامة‪ .‬ورث‬ ‫خصوصا بعد‬ ‫صورة جمال صورة ناصر عن والده‪ ،‬والتي اقتناها بعد النكسة‬ ‫ً‬ ‫أن ألهبت مشاعره الهتافات المناهضة للتنحي‪ ،‬و ذكر أمام نجله حينها‪" :‬مين‬ ‫قال إننا انهزمنا؟ طالما أبو خالد الخالد عايش‪ ،‬يبقى مخطط الصهاينة وقع‪.‬‬ ‫إللي حصل يف سيناء ده مسرحية عشان يعكننوه‪".‬‬ ‫يف إحدى األيام‪ ،‬سمع جمال أصواتًا مشوشة من الشارع سرعان ما تقترب‬ ‫وتبدأ يف الوضوح‪ .‬اخترقه هتاف الشارع المطالب بسقوط نظام الرئيس بعد‬ ‫بيعه جز ًرا لدولة عربية أخرى للحفاظ على الهوية الوطنية وإثراء التعاون بين‬ ‫األشقاء العرب‪ .‬ترك جمال مكانه وسط زجاجات البيرة الفارغة‪ ،‬وانطلق رث‬ ‫الثياب‪ ،‬تفوح منه رائحة العفن ليوقف المسيرة بأي شكل‪ ،‬عل الرئيس يقدر‬ ‫جهوده‪ ،‬حتى اقترب من الجموع‪.‬‬ ‫تماما رغم اقترابه من‬ ‫فجأة‪ ،‬تشوشت أمامه الرؤية‪ ،‬وبدأت األصوات تقل‬ ‫ً‬ ‫تماما‪ .‬بدأت الصورة تتضح‬ ‫المسيرة‪ .‬اختلطت أمامه األلوان و شلت حركته‬ ‫ً‬ ‫باسما أمامه‪ ،‬فيرتاح قلبه بعد عذاب كل تلك‬ ‫تدريج ًيا‪ ،‬ليرى وجه الرئيس‬ ‫ً‬ ‫مصروعا وسط بحيرة من دمه‪ ،‬ليهمس قاتله من القناصة‬ ‫الفترة‪ ،‬ويسقط‬ ‫ً‬ ‫حينها لرئيسه‪" :‬ربنا يقوي سيادته يا فندم على والد الكلب دول‪ ،‬أنا مش‬ ‫عارف هما عايزين إيه من البلد دي"‪.‬‬

‫صفحة ‪٤‬‬ ‫‪Page‬‬ ‫‪63‬‬

‫‪AUC‘18‬‬ ‫‪Times‬‬ ‫‪Dec‬‬ ‫‪issue‬‬

‫كتبه‪ :‬عمر أبوحمر‬ ‫المحرر‪ :‬إبراهيم عبدهللا‬

‫إشـ ـ ـ ـ ـ ـ ـ ـ ـ ـ ـ ـ ُ‬ ‫ـارة الرئي ـ ـ ـ ـ ـ ـ ـ ـ ـ ـ ــس‬

‫"من النهاردة تعتبر شغلك هنا انتهى‪ ،‬وده بأمر‬‫من الواضح إنه جاي من أعلى المناصب"‪.‬‬ ‫"بس حضرتك استحالة ييجي يوم والدولة ما‬‫ترضاش عن شغلي ده‪ .‬أنا قلمي كانت مهمته إنه‬ ‫يبوس تراب الوطن"‪.‬‬ ‫‪"-‬وكمان عايز تعبث بتراب الوطن يا جمال؟"‬

‫فجأة انهار العالم حوله‪ ،‬وسيطر‬ ‫عليه الخواء المحيط محاص ًرا‬ ‫إياه بركام الذكريات وبقايا سنين‬ ‫السعادة‪ .‬مرت أمامه لحظات‬ ‫المجد والتكريمات من الدولة‪،‬‬ ‫ورحالته مع كبار المسؤولين‪،‬‬ ‫ليشعر بأنه بال مستقبل يف تلك‬ ‫اللحظة‪ ،‬بل خارج الزمن حيث‬ ‫العدم يكاد يخنق أحالمه‪ ،‬والوجود‬ ‫أصبح عذابًا خالدً ا يتغلغل بكيانه‬ ‫الممحى‪.‬‬ ‫شبه ُ‬ ‫ً‬ ‫متواضعا لزفاف ابنته‪،‬‬ ‫حفل‬ ‫"وقد أقام الرئيس‬ ‫ً‬ ‫وهو ما يدل على إحساس الرئيس العميق‬ ‫بالشعب الكادح ومشاكله ً‬ ‫بدل من التبذير‬ ‫الفاحش والمظاهر الكاذبة التي يتبناها من نسوا‬ ‫المواطن البسيط"‪.‬‬

‫كان هذا ما كتبه جمال يف مقاله األخير وال يمكن‬ ‫أن يكون جزاؤه أن ُيلقى به كأي كاتب تافه‬ ‫كالما‬ ‫منحط ممن ينشرون الشائعات أو يكتبون‬ ‫ً‬ ‫رخيصا يضر بمصلحة الوطن‪ .‬ولكن‪ ،‬كيف ضحى‬ ‫ً‬ ‫ً‬ ‫جمال لم‬ ‫به الرئيس بتلك السهولة؟ صحيح أن‬ ‫يقابله إال مرة واحدة يف إحدى رحالته ألمريكا‪،‬‬ ‫حيث استدعاه الرئيس وذكر له اعجابه بعموده "يا‬

‫حبيبتى يا مصر"‪ .‬حينها شعر بقيمة الحرف الذي‬ ‫يكتبه‪ ،‬الحرف المضيء الذي أضاف االبتسامة‬ ‫على وجه الرئيس‪ ،‬الحرف الذي ساعد على بناء‬ ‫الوطن يف فترة عصيبة‪ ،‬الحرف الذي سيخلد‬ ‫يوما ما حتى يوجه األجيال القادمة‪ ،‬ويجنبهم‬ ‫ً‬ ‫األفكار الهدامة‪ ،‬واألجندات المغرضة‪ .‬بماذا فكر‬ ‫الرئيس حين قرر أن ينهي مصيره؟ كيف كانت‬ ‫حالته النفسية عندما فكر يف أن ينهي وجود‬ ‫كاتب مفضل لديه؟ ربما أخذ قراره آس ًفا يف فورة‬ ‫غضب‪ ،‬أو لعله أرسل قرار الفصل بال مباالة‬ ‫شديدة‪ ،‬كمن يريد إبعاد حشرة عن مساره‪ .‬إشارة‬ ‫الرئيس وحالته النفسية يف لحظة قرار الفصل‪،‬‬ ‫هي بالنسبة لجمال فرقان بين نبي وبغي‪ .‬قد‬ ‫ترتفع به إىل البهجة الخالصة‪ ،‬أو تدحره لقاع‬ ‫البؤس‪ ،‬وليس هناك شيء أقسى على اإلنسان‬ ‫من جهله بمكانه بين النعيم والجحيم‪.‬‬ ‫اللواء مسعد خليفة كان أحد الذين عملوا بالجهاز‬ ‫المسؤول عن حماية الرئيس‪ ،‬والذين ربطتهم‬ ‫صلة وثيقة بجمال ‪ .‬لقاء جمال معه تلك المرة‬ ‫تماما عن المرات السابقة التي كان‬ ‫يختلف‬ ‫ً‬ ‫يستقبل فيها التسريبات والتقارير المطلوب‬ ‫نشرها‪ ،‬ولكن أهمية تلك المقابلة تكمن يف معرفة‬ ‫كيف يراه الرئيس‪ ،‬لعله يجد راحته التي فارقته‪.‬‬ ‫"كل إللي أقدر أقوله لك يا جمال إن مسموح‬‫يل أقابلك‪ ،‬وده مؤشر إنك مش مغضوب عليك‬ ‫كل ًيا"‪.‬‬ ‫"طب الحمد لله‪ ،‬لكن هل هو زعالن مني‪ ،‬وال‬‫لسه بيحمل يل التقدير؟ وبعدين أنا معرفش أنا‬ ‫ليه اتطردت؟"‬ ‫" األسئلة دي هتنقلنا ألسرار الدولة العليا‪ ،‬بس‬‫الحقيقة من الصعب أاليق الكفء إللي زيك إللي‬ ‫بيفضح العيال إياهم"‪.‬‬ ‫"ربنا يقوي سيادته يا فندم على والد الكلب‬‫دول‪ ،‬أنا مش عارف هما عايزين إيه من البلد‬ ‫دي!"‪.‬‬

‫‪AUC Times‬‬

‫‪Page 64‬‬

‫رئيس التحرير‬ ‫محمود الحكيم‬

‫مستشار هيئة التدريس‬ ‫رامي علي‬

‫القسم العريب‬

‫مصممي الجرافيك‬ ‫ندى هشام‬ ‫ميرنا أيمن‬

‫مديرة تحرير قسم اللغة العربية‬ ‫كوثر الشريفي‬ ‫مساعد مديرة التحرير‬ ‫أحمد المنايلي‬ ‫المحررون‬ ‫كوثر الشريفي‬ ‫أحمد المنايلي‬ ‫إبراهيم عبدهللا‬ ‫محمود صبري‬

‫مديرة التصوير‬ ‫ندى محمد‬ ‫مديرة العالقات العامة‬ ‫آالء محمود‬ ‫مسؤول الشؤون المالية‬ ‫يوسف أبو حمر‬

‫حقــوق النشــر‬ ‫جميــع الصــور والرســومات غيــر المذكــور‬ ‫مصدرهــا‪ ،‬مســتخدمة إمــا بتصر يــح مــن‬ ‫صاحبهــا‪ ،‬أو مرخصــة لإلســتخدام غيــر‬ ‫التجاري‪.‬‬

‫تنو ي ـ ــه‬

‫‪ AUC Times‬مجلــة طالبيــة‪ .‬أ يــة آراء مذكــورة‬ ‫يف المجلــة تمثــل الكاتب‪/‬الكاتبــة فقــط‪ ،‬وال‬ ‫تعكــس آراء فر يــق التحر يــر أو إدارة الجامعــة‬ ‫األمريكيــة بالقاهــرة‪.‬‬

‫‪/ auctimes‬‬

‫بطاطــس أمك‬

‫هنــا القاهــرة!‬

‫إشــكالية المثقفيــن‬

‫‪١٧ ١٤ ١٣‬‬

‫‪Dec ‘18 issue‬‬

‫‪Page 65‬‬

‫كلمــة رئيــس التحر يــر‬ ‫عزيزي القارئ‪،‬‬ ‫أنت مثال متجسد للعقالنية‪ ،‬فكل ما تراه يعتبر "حقيقة"‪ .‬عالمك هو‬ ‫لك وحدك‪ ،‬فلك أن تخوضه كما تريد‪ .‬بذرته هي لك وحدك كذلك‪،‬‬ ‫فتغرسها كما تريد‪ ،‬وتراها تنمو أمامك‪ .‬ما تراه أنت صائب يسحق كل‬ ‫ما هو دون ذلك‪.‬‬ ‫أنت "ال شيء"‪ ،‬فأنت مجرد أحد أولئك الذين يلهون أمام الحاكم‪.‬‬ ‫عليك أن تتبع أوامر َم ْن هم أعلى منك‪ ،‬فتصبح مجرد مهرج لآلخرين‪.‬‬ ‫أنت كيان ال يستطيع أن يصبح أ كثر مما سبق‪.‬‬ ‫أنت مميز‪ ،‬فتحافظ على مثاليتك‪ ،‬رغم أنك كنت منبو ًذا بسبب‬ ‫اختالفك عن اآلخرين‪ .‬لكنك وحدك الذي ستقود البشرية نحو العظمة‬ ‫رغم ذلك‪ .‬تجد نفسك أحدًا من أولئك العظماء الخالدين يف الذا كرة‬ ‫اإلنسانية‪.‬‬ ‫أنت غير مهم‪ ،‬مجرد طيف من أطياف المجتمع وسطوته‪ .‬وجودك‬ ‫هامشي‪ ،‬حتى أنك ال تمتلك من أمرك شيء‪ ،‬فخياراتك كلها مسلوبة‪.‬‬

‫ما تراه عنك ُمعرف بعائلتك‪ ،‬بدينك‪ ،‬بالسياسات المحيطة بك‪ .‬كدمية‪،‬‬ ‫تجد نفسك مسي ًرا لكل هذه المصطلحات والتعاريف‪.‬‬ ‫أنت مضلل‪ ..‬تتقدم بصعوبة يف حياتك اليومية وسط سيل من‬ ‫أ كاذيب اآلخرين‪ ،‬وكذبك أنت على نفسك‪ ،‬حتى تصدق كذبتك‪ ،‬فترى‬ ‫الوحل ما ًء صاف ًيا! إن الخداع يحكمنا‪ ،‬يتأىت على صور كثيرة ومتعددة‪.‬‬ ‫يكون الخداع تلك الكلمات التي يتفوه بها كل من يحكمنا‪ ،‬أو آلية‬ ‫يوما بعد يوم‪ .‬إنه‬ ‫تكيفنا مع الواقع‪ ،‬أو تلك األوهام التي تسكننا ً‬ ‫الشيء الوحيد الذي يتغير طيلة حياتنا‪ ،‬سوا ًء يف ما نختار استهالكه من‬ ‫حولنا‪ ،‬أو االنحياز نحوه‪ .‬هو يف تلك القيم التي يحملها قدواتنا يف الحياة‪،‬‬ ‫أو يف تلك الصور التي المنعكسة أمامنا يف المرآة‪.‬‬ ‫دوما بالخيال‪،‬‬ ‫نصطدم‬ ‫إننا ‪-‬عزيزي القارئ‪ -‬يف رحلة بحثنا عن الحقيقة‪،‬‬ ‫ً‬ ‫ولكن ماذا سنجد لو أن ما نبحث عنه هو أ كذوبة؟‬ ‫رئيس التحرير‪،‬‬ ‫محمود الحكيم‬ ‫ترجمته‪ :‬كوثر الشريفي‬

‫المحتو يــات‬

‫قصائــد بالعاميــة‬

‫الرأســمالية لمــن ال يعلمــون‬ ‫ومــن يدعون‬

‫الوجهان‬

‫‪١٢ ١٠ ٠٦‬‬

‫أنت مثال متجسد للعقالنية‪ ،‬فكل ما تراه يعتبر حقيقة‪ .‬عالمك هو لك‬ ‫وحدك‪ ،‬فلك أن تخوضه كما تريد‪ .‬أنت ال شيء‪ ،‬فأنت مجرد أحد أولئك‬ ‫الذين يلهون أمام الحاكم‪ .‬عليك أن تتبع أوامر َم ْن هم أعلى منك‪،‬‬ ‫فتصبح مجرد مهرج لآلخرين‪ .‬أنت مميز‪ ،‬فتحافظ على مثاليتك‪ .‬أنت‬ ‫غير مهم‪ .‬أنت مضلل‪.‬‬

‫ ‪٢٠١٨‬‬‫‪-‬‬

‫‪ -‬ديسمبر ‪-‬‬