Hamdeen Sabahy ~ Issues and Concerns
This video gives a quick preview of Hamdeen Sabahy..
The reporter is possibly Lebanese or Palestinian with obvious admiration for Nasser, nationalism etc so it's almost like a promo for Sabahy. And although one can't deny that Sabahy is a patriotic and honest politician with integrity, I wasn't too comfortable the last couple of days with his last statements:
1. That he'll build skyscrapers in random areas سنبني ناطحات سحاب في العشوائيات
2. That if elected president, the government would buy off large land from landlords and redistributes it to peasants..
This raises several uneasy concerns:
Who said that skyscrapers are the best solution for random areas.. They're actually the worst! I won't even delve into the economics or logistics which should nip this ridiculous proposal in the bud, and would therefore have to assume that it's a fallacious campaign promise to attract and appease the lower echelons in society; that's not a very promising start.. Actually that's very worrying.. As for redistribution and reallocation of land: what will be the purchase price, how will it be determined, and will it reflect a fair market rate or a random evaluation? And what if landlords refuse to sell their land? Is it obligatory, by force, what..? And most importantly where will the funds come from to finance these purchases? One can also safely assume that what applies to land can also apply to factories and other large private ownership, which would be also "bought" and redistributed in the form of shareholding ownership to the workers..
Sabahy's comments smell of masked nationalization and confiscation of property which brings back bitter memories of the Nasserite era, which although in all fairness had its advantages, it still had a dark and evil side that many of us can't forget..
This video gives a quick preview of Hamdeen Sabahy..
The reporter is possibly Lebanese or Palestinian with obvious admiration for Nasser, nationalism etc so it's almost like a promo for Sabahy. And although one can't deny that Sabahy is a patriotic and honest politician with integrity, I wasn't too comfortable the last couple of days with his last statements:
1. That he'll build skyscrapers in random areas سنبني ناطحات سحاب في العشوائيات
2. That if elected president, the government would buy off large land from landlords and redistributes it to peasants..
This raises several uneasy concerns:
Who said that skyscrapers are the best solution for random areas.. They're actually the worst! I won't even delve into the economics or logistics which should nip this ridiculous proposal in the bud, and would therefore have to assume that it's a fallacious campaign promise to attract and appease the lower echelons in society; that's not a very promising start.. Actually that's very worrying.. As for redistribution and reallocation of land: what will be the purchase price, how will it be determined, and will it reflect a fair market rate or a random evaluation? And what if landlords refuse to sell their land? Is it obligatory, by force, what..? And most importantly where will the funds come from to finance these purchases? One can also safely assume that what applies to land can also apply to factories and other large private ownership, which would be also "bought" and redistributed in the form of shareholding ownership to the workers..
Sabahy's comments smell of masked nationalization and confiscation of property which brings back bitter memories of the Nasserite era, which although in all fairness had its advantages, it still had a dark and evil side that many of us can't forget..
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