We have the right to happiness.. Gentlemen
Hossam Badrawi
I thought, as we approached the Christmas and New Year holidays, about the collective joy of the holidays, and the infection of happiness from some people to others.. and I said to myself: Damn the pessimists who spread misery in the souls.
A young woman from the dreamers said: We hear you say that your genes are optimistic, and you seem to be smiling in the darkest of times, as if happiness and optimism are inherited things, so there is no sin for the unfortunate and the pessimists, for they were born like this!!!.
I said: O my children, happiness is a decision, and optimism is a culture.
Happiness is a positive decision, and it has components, if we do not seek it, we may not find it. It is true that some people, including me, see in people the best in them, and in the events around them the best in them. But if a person does not seek joy and seek happiness, days may pass and he does not see it, because he does not search for it.
The collective mind of the family and society may create positive energy, and vice versa. This collective mind is driven by the community’s culture, community leaders, media and arts.
Life is a blessing from the Creator, and joy in it is thanks to God, and we have to yearn for it and savor it, as it is a human right.
As for optimism in life, it is a wonderful inner feeling. It is a state of satisfaction that the individual feels with his belief that there is always a way out of problems if they occur.
To be optimistic means to see light in the midst of darkness, to feel that despite all the challenges, hardships and pains, there is still a lot we love in life, which is beautiful and worth living, striving, and striving to achieve and reach.
Another young man said: Is there a difference between pleasure and happiness?
I said: The difference is big. Pleasure is linked to a high percentage of the hormone dopamine, and it is short-term.. As for happiness, it is long-term, and it is linked to the hormone serotonin.
They are two different cases.
Pleasure is sensual, but happiness is emotional, psychological and mental.
Pleasure, including sex and the moment of winning or getting money, can be part of a greater, broader and more comprehensive happiness, but it is not happiness itself.
We can buy pleasure, but we cannot buy happiness. Pleasure can turn into an addiction, but happiness is a state of health that makes a person better and sees favor in others.
There are people who may have a genetically high level of serotonin, and their genes give them this predisposition to happiness, like me.. but each one can work on himself to generate this hormone with positive thinking.
Pleasure is mostly just receiving, but happiness is giving and receiving, and what you do for others may be the source of your true happiness.
Another young man said: What about optimism?
I said: Optimism is a voluntary psychological process that generates thoughts and feelings of contentment, endurance, hope and confidence, and drives away thoughts and feelings of despair, defeatism and powerlessness.
An optimist sees opportunities in crises, and his optimism activates his psychological and physical immune systems, while pessimism exhausts human energy, reduces his activity and weakens his motives.
Optimism is not only a gift or a trait in the human personality, but a skill that the individual learns until he masters it and thinks positively.
I remind you that optimism and pessimism are contagious..in other words, they can be gained from contact with others..associating with pessimists makes you, like them, have a melancholic view of life, hesitant, and daring..but your company with optimists makes life in your view simpler and more exciting, and you can face obstacles in a positive way.
Look around you well, and choose good companionship and friends first, then feed your minds and souls with beautiful ideas, and fill your souls with optimism, and you will find positive results raining down on you successively.
There is a collective mind of society, which is created by the sum of positive or negative energy in it, and stimulated by education, media and the arts, which puts on the leaders of society a great responsibility, because they are the makers of this climate and the facilitators of its existence.
The glaring young woman said: Can governments make people happy?!
I said: This is the primary function of governments, my daughter.. The leaders of society should think positively about the welfare and happiness of individuals. Politics cannot be mere promises or projects on paper only. In the end, if prosperity is not achieved, and if the people are not happy, then the politicians have failed and failed. Politics.
The first young man commented with a smile: Don’t you see that sometimes with simple decisions the government can make society happy?!
Then he added: Without going beyond my limits, we know, for example, that you were a member of the National Council for Human Rights for 8 years, and you were finally summoned as a member of the Foreign Ministry’s advisory committee that drew up Egypt’s human rights strategy this year, and we learned that you were invited to participate in a ministerial advisory committee to follow up Implement what the state announced about its intention to respect these rights. And our question to you, Doctor: Have you not despaired of repeating these useless posts? The situation is the case, the laws are not amended, and the implementation is not implemented. We say and announce what we do not do.
I said: This is what I meant at the beginning of my conversation with you about the importance of optimism, persistence and perseverance. Our country will not change by repeating the complaint, but by repeating the attempt using new means with the same passion.
The young man said: I was imagining and hoping that you would pressure this committee to release the detainees in the reserve prisons. I would have imagined that the holidays would coincide with news of the release of prisoners of conscience, the abolition of the blasphemy law, the setting of a maximum time limit for pretrial detention, the removal of the religion field from the identity card… and other decisions that must make us happy as youth and many families, and give us hope that what you announce from strategies It is not a means of camouflaging the world, and that we are advancing on the issue of human rights in deed and not in form, and that the government of our country believes in the right to complete justice and the right to happiness… and it can, with the stroke of a pen, fix this situation.
Another young man said: There is an atmosphere of pessimism around us, Doctor, what do we do in it?! .. Threat from terrorism in the north, and the conscience of my predecessor wants to take us back to the past inside, and the whole world is jumping into the future and we are in the place of a secret in education, and we claim that we are in the forefront and everyone knows a lie. That, and fear of a water crisis in the south, a deepening dispute with Ethiopia, and a demographic challenge And the economy is huge, and employment opportunities are fading due to the science of the future.. How do you expect us to be optimistic in this climate?!
I told him: Do you imagine that life will go without challenges, as if you want to play a match, guaranteeing the gain in the absence of the opponent?! .. The most beautiful thing in life is facing challenges and achieving victory for yourself and others.
Can you avoid anxiety and fear sometimes?
No, this is the norm of life, but you can work and think creatively to fit in with the data of the future and the needs of tomorrow’s jobs.. and I can confidently visit schools in the poorest villages to say that the children of Egypt possess talents and abilities that the negative collective mind cannot imagine. The Egyptian youth is better than the negative image portrayed to it.. I see around me great human forces that need guidance and care, because they are the fuel of a mighty positive energy.
Another young man said: What do we have to get with happiness and optimism? And what should we beware of?
I said: The tranquility of contentment and the enjoyment of the blessings we have. We must beware of fourth and fifth generation wars that aim to kill hope in souls, spread rumors about all that is bad, and overlook all that is beautiful.
My children, our country is beautiful, our civilization is great, and with hope and work with confidence and optimism, we can obtain the happiness we deserve.
Happiness does not fall on us from the sky, but we are the ones who sow it on the earth.
It is not pride not to fall down.. but pride to rise every time we fall and learn from experience.
Do not be one of those who complain that roses have thorns, but rather those who are optimistic that roses are above thorns.
And remember the words of the great Elia Abu Madi:
O this complainant, what is your disease?
Be beautiful, you see being beautiful.
(I know that I did not convince the youth this time, as they have a lot of right that the members of our government and our judicial and security institutions must prove that they are the servants of the people and not their masters).
To read the article in Al-Masry Al-Youm
https://www.almasryalyoum.com/news/details/2488481

I thought a lot about the absence of philosophy sometimes behind decisions and actions. We were discussing this matter with young people who dream of tomorrow, and one of the young people said to me: What do you mean by the philosophy behind the action, give us examples?
The clever young woman said: So start with your chronic issues in education and health?
I said: The philosophy of education is a right of the citizen. If the state imposes fees for entering public schools or establishes universities with the logic of the private sector with the aim of recovering financial investment, it violates the philosophy of its role in education by all standards.
I remember that when Britain imposed additional fees on top of the state budget allocated to each student in universities, it established with it a student financing system that the graduate can only pay after graduating, working and obtaining an income that allows repaying the loan without affecting his life. I remind you that all citizens of Europe have the right to education at the expense of society as a whole represented by governments. Citizens cannot be deprived of this right because there is a philosophy behind everyone’s right to education.
Another example is the teacher-raising philosophy, which says that “the level of education in any nation does not rise above the level of its teachers”.
So the philosophy of education is linked to working to raise the level and worth of teachers. Otherwise, we will become outside the concept of the philosophy of education.
The author of the first question said: Give us another example.
I said: For example, the philosophy of the prosecution in the justice system is to protect the people. Philosophically, the prosecutor is the attorney for the masses of the people.
If the statistics come in saying that the number of cases of innocence in the courts has become more than the cases of proving the accusation, and I do not know whether this is true or not, but I will give an example, the people’s lawyer turns into his executioner because the philosophy of his existence has been disrupted.
Therefore, to maintain the philosophy behind the act, there must be statistics and analysis so that the function does not depart from the philosophy of its existence.
The same thing applies to the philosophy that the accused is innocent until proven guilty. If we put everyone we suspect behind bars, whether in pretrial detention, or by placing the accused in a cage during his trial, then we have departed from the philosophy of prompt justice.
Another young man said: I did not think about the subject from this entrance before. You enlighten me, Doctor, and what else?
I said: The philosophy of constructing highways, for example, is to facilitate traffic, and the speed of reaching the goal, and that the width of the road is measured by its narrowest point.
If we spend money and build roads and then do not plan the road or put guide signs as is known all over the world, or if we do not build its exits with the road with a capacity that allows facilitating movement, then we do not follow the philosophy of its existence as a basis and state spending becomes without an integrated return.
The same thing applies to the case of closing traffic in front of hundreds of cars during peak hours to verify the licenses of cars, for example, or just looking inside the car from the security men to discover one violator in front of disabling one hundred non-violators behind him. Philosophy says that the right of the ninety-nine and facilitating their lives is better than disabling everyone in order to discover one offender.
An intelligent young woman said: What is the philosophy of democracy, and do we respect it?
I said: The philosophy of democracy is consultation, freedom, and the transfer of power within the framework of a law agreed upon by all.
If governments violate this philosophy, they have gone off the right path.
The philosophy of democracy has changed over time and passed through stages until it reached the modern definitions associated with the universal rights of man.
If we go back to the history of social or political revolutions, we cannot see a movement that is believed to be a “human rights” movement in one of the meanings and philosophy of this phrase as we understand it in the present era. Democracy movements in Greece, the use of the word democracy was interpreted as a movement of peoples and human rights, but it was not like that even in its verbal connotation. As Professor Al-Akkad says: “The democratic system in Greece was called the government in which the tribes participate in the election, and its participation in the election was not a recognition of a human right in which individual people are equal, but rather a recognition of the tribe and to prevent its opposition to work in the army.
This was the philosophy of its time, and the Greeks and Romans succeeded in various types of democratic governments that did not have a principle on which to base them, other than that they had practical plans to ward off sedition and attract loyalty from the recruits for the army and the fleet from among the tribesmen and the owners of industries. We will consider that the first generation of democracy.
As for the human and electoral rights that arose in Western democracy in the mid-twentieth century, they gradually generalized according to the needs of the electorate. Workers in industrialized countries obtained them before the farmers acquired them, and women obtained them after they became workers in factories on behalf of soldiers in the war, and people of color obtained them. In the United States, after the state was forced to serve their services in society and in the armies gradually in the two world wars, and different peoples gained them as a result of mutual pressures and conflicts between classes to reach a specific political formula acceptable to all parties. We will consider that the second generation of democracy.
As for human rights that are recognized in principle and not practical plans dictated by equality of power between sects and the masses of voters, they are represented by an unimaginable human democracy without the elements of equality, individual responsibility, and rule based on shura and on well-defined constitutions of limits and consequences.. These are the elements that we advocate as principles. In general, it is not a compulsion to an electoral reality or to serve in the armies, but it represents a real belief in the method of justice in governance in recognition of the rights of citizens, regardless of their educational level or social position, and this is the third generation of democracy.
But we notice that as we look at the third generation of Western democracy, and what is applied from it in the countries of the world, especially the developing countries, we find many contradictions between philosophy and reality, and the coercion of the powers granted to the governments, and sometimes the social injustice of classes of peoples who are not able with the elements of their knowledge and capabilities to obtain Real equality of opportunity available, as we claim and say, the most educated, the wealthiest, the most open to the world, He gets the opportunity, and the gap between citizens gradually increases, and the human development opportunities that we seek from good governance are often lost.
Third generation democracy succeeded in Europe and North America, and is now suffering, but failed to implement it in developing and poor countries.
the question is:
What is the dilemma of applying the rules of political freedom and achieving democracy in Egypt?
The answer is that there must be a fourth generation of democracy to solve the dilemma and to look at the philosophy of democracy in a new and deeper way.
The young man said: We have increased our knowledge by taking into account our reality!
I said: The democratic model, even in its current application in the West, is subject to review as a result of the information and communication revolution that broke the barriers between the citizen and the decision maker, and provided an opportunity for direct communication between them, perhaps without the need for a mediator such as parties. Rather, parties lost their importance as a tool for organizing, mobilizing voters and collecting donations because of the possibility The candidate does these things directly over the Internet. There is also a decline in the importance of ideology as a framework for gathering citizens in a political or partisan action. Perhaps the greater interest of the citizen now is focused on the effectiveness of the ruling, that is, the extent of achievement and response to the demands of the citizen, regardless of the ideological idea adopted by the regime.
But on the other hand, achieving the greatest effectiveness of governance is linked to the most efficient reaching the seats of government through a system that allows this, and is also linked to the importance of having a system of control and accountability for the decision maker, and setting periods for governance to ensure innovation in thought and vitality in performance. In short, we see that the new generation of democracy should focus on the following elements:
The effectiveness of the ruling.
The efficiency of the referees.
– Oversight and accountability independent of the executive authority.
– An independent and effective justice system (the real revolution must take place here in this field).
An education and culture system that gives citizens the opportunity to choose the best.
We are looking for a new initiative to govern, in agreement between what we dream of of a modern civil state and the real power on the ground, an initiative that does not deprive the country of its human potential or of its effective national institutions, an initiative that gives freedom its place and respect it by controlling the speedy justice that does not allow freedom to turn into Chaos, nor the selective manipulation of the law. An initiative that allows the general public to freely choose and make good choices for their representatives in Parliament. This is the philosophy behind the word, and the action must match it.

The dazzling Egypt.. Violin and Violin
Hossam Badrawi
I watched with a group of youth of the “Dreamers of Tomorrow” association, the majestic, magnificent Luxor concert, the beauty of its direction, mixing history with the present, and prepared in advance with reality at the moment. We saw what the Egyptian artist, administrator, and politician can create and produce, filled with excellent choices of presenters, singers, and dancers, within a framework of creative music that touches hearts and consciences.
What is this beauty and sophistication!!
The young critic always said to me: So, doctor, we can, who prepares a party like this, with such skill and accuracy, and even repeats it over and over again, can definitely change how state institutions are run and elevate them.
His colleague replied: I am fascinated by the history of my country, doctor, and the ability of its youth in the present to highlight it, but that makes me sad about some of the shortcomings I see that have nothing to do with wealth or poverty, but rather with managing things.
I said: In response to the first comment, yes, Egypt can change and develop its institutions. As for the sadness, I understand it, and even the rage sometimes about not using our abilities in the best way to achieve our goals.
In order to be positive, let’s choose three institutions that the masses communicate with from inside and outside on a permanent basis, and affect the reality of our image in front of the world. Then, with the logic of efficiency and accuracy that we saw in coordinating and managing the Luxor party, we identify things that can be fixed simply and propose solutions to their challenges.
The smart young man said: I suggest Cairo International Airport first, as it is the first thing a visitor to Egypt deals with and the last thing he sees when he leaves it.
His colleague said: I propose the new wonderful road network and the achievement that has been made in it, but unfortunately, “except for five.”
A young woman from those sitting around smiled and said: I take you back to Luxor, and I repeat that it is the largest open museum on the globe, and I am talking about the hotel and temporary housing there.
She smiled and asked the first young man: What do you want to say at Cairo Airport?
He said: First, we should call it the historic Cairo International Airport. I close my eyes, doctor, and see the airport, with its halls and halls, a large museum filled with a mixture of Egypt’s history, fascinating the tourist upon his arrival, and the country’s ability to digital and modernize at the same time. I imagine that we do not fill out printed papers on the incoming planes, which I assure are unnecessary, and that the eye print of the arrival is taken instead of multiple documents that he is asked to fill out.
I imagine the multiplicity of entrance doors, so that the arrivals do not crowd, and the absurd view of dozens of recipients is prevented with banners bearing the meaning of discrimination and mediation from the first moments of arrival.
All airports have premium check-in services, but we do it inconveniently.
I imagine that the mobile phone and the bar code to prove vaccinations and certificates became the means of verification, not the papers required to be submitted.
In all the airports of the world, I do not see the departures lined up in front of the customs officer who looks at each passport, and the departing passengers crowded in front of one door to exit. All airports have green doors through which the traveler passes if he is not carrying what is worth paying the fees while inspiring confidence in everyone.
I imagine the historic Cairo International Airport as a joyful place, where there are not many verification procedures. The passport is stamped at the exit and entry, then another employee checks the seal two meters from the first, and I never understood this procedure unless each employee belongs to an institution different from the other.
The exit comes from the airport, and the absence of a respectable transportation system enables the traveler to take his turn in the taxis that stand in a row in front of him, or to exit to the car park connected to the airport lobby. Not to mention the cars entering and exiting like a maze that has no pattern or order. Even the ticket-taking machine is mostly standing next to an employee who gives you the ticket, as if we do not recognize the mechanisms of the systems nor the value of digital in obtaining rights.
I imagine, Doctor, Cairo Airport, as I saw in the Luxor celebration, everyone knows his job, and the goal is to comfort and serve the citizens.
And if we can here, surely we can there.
His colleague said: Ok, we went out to the street, and we moved to the group of roads and lanes that the state built with great effort and great spending, and I closed my eyes too and imagine that all the roads have been planned as followed in all the developed world, and I imagine that the signs and instructions that must have engineering standards in their size For the eye to see, and in their places to precede a sufficient length and distance, the exits intended for the traveler are present in their places.
Seriously, I don’t understand that the guidance signs and signs are absent and are not frequently located with spaces before the exits.
I said: You are all right, for the airport and the sea port are the first things the arrival sees and the last thing imprinted in the mind of the departing about the seriousness of the state in managing its facilities with science, accuracy, and flexibility, adding beauty and taste to it, training workers, and using what we have of history is placed in a new civilized framework , in two and three dimensions, and we merge the future with history.
There must be ideas and creativity that can make passing through these places a human experience that raises the level of Egypt’s competitiveness in the world.
I envision competitions for ideas, and I hope digital performances, and the security aspect not overpowering relationships.
And I added: As for the repetition and announcement of the Luxor celebration every year, I think that this is not absent from the Ministry of Tourism, Antiquities and Culture.
A young man said: It is indicated that the number of hotel rooms available in Luxor is 3000, and the number of licenses for floating hotels is 268 boats, operating actually 100 boats, which I think does not correspond to what we should expect from domestic and foreign tourism for this unique city, its shape and history in the scientist.
I said: Let me reiterate with you my belief in the ability of today’s youth to emulate the greatness of the past. The march of queens and kings to their new residence, months ago, was an impressive event and a great performance for all those who participated and contributed, and the Rams’ Road celebration in Luxor comes to increase the impact of that, as Egypt is like no other. It has a unique history, and we are proud to be the descendants of the owners of this civilization.
And that what we saw in coordination, directing, music, performance, orchestra honors, and a world-class orchestra conductor, with extraordinary lighting and display of effects, makes me

I am proud and happy with the ability of my country in the present, and it gives me hope.
The Egyptian civilization is one of the greatest civilizations that the world has witnessed, its greatness was not limited only to the architectural aspect, but it was a comprehensive civilization architecturally, culturally, scientifically, literary and intellectually. The ancient Egyptians wrote down their sayings in the literature of wisdom and folk proverbs on stones, as they did on papyrus.
The ancient Egyptians loved morals in the concepts of humanity in every place and time, so they loved virtue and respect for the gods and their places of worship, and they hated lying and theft, and they raised the value of work and taught the young to respect and reverence the elder, and taught the man how to treat and be kind to his wife and how to be righteous with his parents.
Among the wisdom and proverbs found on the walls of temples, they said:
■ Fix yourself first if you want to fix people.
■ Do not fall asleep who was afraid of tomorrow.
■ Restrict your tongue and do not let it precede your mind.
■ Do not walk in someone else’s shoes so that your steps do not stumble and fall and your truth is revealed.
■ Do not throw a stone into the well, as you may need to drink from it again.
■ The tree that receives shade was planted by those who lived before you, so do not forget to plant another one.
The dialogue extended with the young and old dreamers of tomorrow, and I listened to one of them repeating a question I ask myself: Why is Egyptology not taught in our country, aren’t we more worthy of our civilization and history?
His colleague said: It is not reasonable for us to feel positive about Egypt from one night in Cairo and another in Luxor. We want a lot from this in our media.
She commented:
Egypt, young people, is unparalleled, and you carry the seeds of civilization in your genes, so be proud of your past, trust in your present, and work for your future.