Daily Times

An arrest warrant had been issued for Egyptian television host Bassem Youssef. His days of political lampoon and biting satire may be coming to a close. The penalty for freedom of expression must be paid when residing within a state that functions under a flawed constitutional document. Undoubtedly, the boy must be taught a lesson. Don’t mess with the Don. And this is definitely a horse-head-in-the-bed moment. The message lacks subtlety, but it does not lack meaning: ‘You are next’.

Personally, I became a bit queasy when the State Department swooned like a handmaiden in love to accommodate the visit of Mohamed Morsi and the FJP. The disquiet grew when reading the new constitution. There was no true safeguard for freedom of expression. Minus freedom of expression a community cannot attain societal health.

Why is this right so vitally important to a society? Perhaps my belief has to do with my anti-Darwin roots. Biblical traditionalists embrace a Creator who breathed into man the very breath of life. Man became a speaking spirit. This was meant to be the natural order of things. My scoffing against a Darwinian universe goes even deeper than contemplation of the miracle of human speech. The human species is unique in our capability for consciousness and awareness, our ability to form opinions and choose a course of action. We are unique in our capabilities to conceptualise, multi-task and perform complex activities. We are not the chimpanzee taking a stick and using it as a tool to dig in a termite hill. We take the stick and use 80 percent of the bow as a first chair violinist. We take the stick and put millimeter marks on it and wire buildings. We are unique in God’s creation. And our most unique gift is that of communication.

We engage in complex, abstract communication patterns. Stratification of information and communication is even noted early on in the cries of a neonate. The baby cries. The mother becomes adept at differentiating between the squalls proceeding from miniature vocal cords. The baby is fed. The baby is changed and entertained. At six months, the kid has it figured out. It takes the parents an additional 20 years to figure the kid out. This stratification of communication is noted within the sociolinguistic layers of the reading of Sir Francis Bacon or Syed Qutb. It extends to the complex mathematical algorithms, which make it possible for me to send a column to Daily Times. All real progress happens because of the vibrancy of communication. Let me repeat myself. Historical progress is carried on the wings of freedom of expression.

The petard upon which the Morsi administration is hoisted regarding speech restrictions blasts across the landscape based on a couple of simple assumptions. First of all, the instability of the current state requires a muzzling of voices that speak against the state. Secondly, criticism is inherently evil, as opposed to being afforded a neutral judgment.

Scientia potentia est. Knowledge is in existence that gives testimony to the powerful and healthy benefits of freedom of expression. Within the individual human experience studies have noted that when people live in a psychological state that evaluates current events with a posture directed toward a present awareness, the health benefits cannot be negated. But individuals who choose to script and live within the confines of a narrative focus have greater emotional stress. Individuals who thrive experientially have better learning and memory retrieval and improved regulation of fear-based responses. Individuals who live by self-deduced and auto-revelatory narratives choose to live within a default mode. It takes less effort but it produces poor emotional outcomes. The first group may be rowdy but they see the future. The second group may also be rowdy, but they are anchored onto a very small platform of ideas.

Let’s broaden this concept to encompass a community. It stands to reason that societal health can be achieved when each individual is free to evaluate current events and express an opinion. When the same community is cordoned and restricted by a scripted state narrative, the result is societal ill. Democracy cannot exist without freedom of expression. Totalitarianism cannot exist without narrative.

What is the narrative coming out of Egypt today? What is the script that must be so closely guarded that a mere television personality is considered a direct threat to the sovereignty of the state? I must confess that I have not viewed Youssef in action. He may be worthy of a pair of long ears and a fly-swatting tail. But I doubt he is worth the trouble.

Ammon’s Horn. The security apparatus has a long memory and a digital hippocampus to boot. Perhaps there is more to this story than that which is superficially noted. But if so, let the charges be stated clearly. Let the evidence be clear. If speech against the state or the seated president is an act of treason then the vocal cords of the majority of the citizens must be silenced. The alternative is more difficult. It involves the hand of governance to reach out and touch the common man. Youssef may be a public nuisance. But for the humorous, he is panacea. But the beauty of freedom of expression is how it allows the intelligent to sift the words of ordinary fools. Trillions of words are being spoken across the planet. Which words are worthy of our true consideration? Herein, lies wisdom.

The Egyptian state is in trouble. Her massive challenges and hurdles will not be resolved by acts of state sanctioned intimidation against wagging tongues. Let the voices speak. Let the intelligent speak. Fools usually marginalise themselves. But there are subtle means to marginalise public nuisance without draconian solutions. The hard work of governance goes on in the shadows and for the public good. The arrest of Youssef is an unnecessary distraction. It may also serve as a catalyst for a greater measure of speech directed against the state.

The writer is a freelance journalist and author of the novel Arsenal. She can be reached at tammyswof@msn.com