Sunday, February 17, 2008

No Wonder They Thought I Was Odd

There's a huge front page article in the Times today about Egypt. Specifically, about the complexities of social economics. Marriage equals independence and success. Without marriage, you can never be truly successful.

Young people need a certain amount of money to set up a household with a wife and kids. But fewer and fewer can afford the household, so they become frustrated. There's no way out. Hard work doesn't do it, and luck doesn't help. They turn to religion. It's a theme that is also evident in literature and movies, where frustrated Egyptians cannot find their way out of poverty. So they pray.

When you read the article, be sure to look at the excellent photo slideshow—some of the brides in the mass weddings look downright grim, so I guess it is not a lot of fun to get married that way—and of course, don't miss Craig's video.

3 comments:

Marie Javins said...

Interesting responses here.

Marc Siry said...

Great video. Did Craig narrate it?

Marie Javins said...

I agree. It was great. The whole package was great, including the story and the photos.

The narrator was the writer of the article, who I think is the Cairo NY Times bureau chief. I'm not sure who was the translated voice of the kid, but Craig read some of the translations later in the piece.