The Opposition…

Revolution for Dummies: Laughing through the Arab Spring

Bassem Youssef

Discussion: 2017 - Oct-Nov-Dec

Why we're reading this: TDS March 20, 2017
The Opposition - November 2, 2017
[close] TDS March 20, 2017
The Opposition - November 2, 2017

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Nov 18, 2020 Letitia rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 2020-to-read

Please understand that I am not exaggerating here: this is actually the best book I have ever read on revolution in my life. It's so mind-blowingly good. It's so good that I actually wish I could assign this to my students in Intro to Political Science because I have never read anything else that explains the forces of dictatorship and the shape of revolution so well, all while being entertaining and accessible. But I probably couldn't get away assigning something with this many F bombs and blat Please understand that I am not exaggerating here: this is actually the best book I have ever read on revolution in my life. It's so mind-blowingly good. It's so good that I actually wish I could assign this to my students in Intro to Political Science because I have never read anything else that explains the forces of dictatorship and the shape of revolution so well, all while being entertaining and accessible. But I probably couldn't get away assigning something with this many F bombs and blatant mockery of Trump. (thus far the only negative reviews of this book I have read are people who are totally cool with him calling out tyranny in Egypt but object to him doing it to the United States)

Youssef is just really funny. And so damn smart. AND it turns out he's a good writer as well. Add to this that he's an actual medical doctor and I find myself feeling I am under performing just a bit in life. BUT all of that brilliance comes with a price, and that price was alienation from family, danger to his life, and exile to foreign country.

Even while maintaining a comic tone, Youssef walks us through the struggle of being a satirist as one regime leaves and another takes over, and his ethical obligation to mock them both. He sardonically explains Egyptian worship of everything in uniform and their ability to utterly reject fact or science once ultra nationalism has taken root. He drops succinct truth after succinct truth about how tyranny functions, and what revolution actually looks like, including the observation that revolutions start with questioning. This is the seed: a question. That becomes a challenge. Dropping some of my favorite quotes below:

“Fact-checking the authorities is looked upon as a form of mutiny against the country or against God. They will always find a way to justify ridiculous claims. If you challenge those claims, you don’t like the country or you are misinformed by “mainstream media,” which is not telling you the “truth.”

"A revolution is not an event. It's a process. And it takes time."

“Fear has always been their best weapon. Fear of refugees, of people who don’t look like us, fear of “losing our religion and identity,” fear of war, and the destruction that will happen if you don’t blindly follow your dictator, or simply the fear arising from dealing with facts, reality, and science, because truth is not really their friend.”

“I am not going to censor myself to comfort your ignorance.” ...more

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Mar 29, 2021 Dea rated it liked it · review of another edition

I expected it to be a bit more sarcastic than it was. Then again, maybe it was and I just don't have the cultural background to understand the less obvious digs. Of course having them explained would ruin the joke, and I don't really expect Youssef to do the heavy lifting of educating me about all the ins and outs of Egyptian leadership.

There were a couple of complaints I wanted to voice while listening to the book, however. First, the Jon Stewart references got old fast. I realize that he may ...more

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