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What is a good country? Is a good country a country with a cheerful population? Is a good country a country which controls more land than the next? Is a good country a country whose government and economic system has absolutely no problems? Or is a good country a country that has a delicate balance of benefits and problems.
Well, we are here today to discuss the corruption of Egypt, a good country, by Britain, a huge and powerful country. Although Britain was not the first, Britain has retained control of Egypt for nearly 40 years and I am here today to ask for the freedom and decolonization of Egypt from Britain. This problem all started in 1882 when the British forced Napoleon Bonaparte, the leader of the French Army, out of Africa. Instead of leaving the land of Egypt to its rightful owners, the Egyptians, Britain decided to colonize Egypt and control them through a protectorate. The protectorate allowed the British government to control Egypt's economic and political decisions without intervention from the Egyptians. In other words, The Egyptians had completely lost control of their own country.
Well, some of you might ask, Why would Britain want to keep Egypt? The response to this is more simple than you might think. Was it the fact that Egypt was such a weak country at the time? Or was it that Egypt was just waiting to be colonized?
No, it was greed, pure British greed, that caused the corruption of Egypt's balanced culture. The economic situation of Egypt before its colonization was quite good. The working and owning class maintained the industrial aspect while the upper class maintained the government and political prospect. Through the colonization of Egypt, Britain gained control of the Suez Canal, a major part of the world trade routes. With this advantage, Britain decided to heavily tax the ships which passed through. This brought mass amounts of money of which the Egyptians never saw.
Instead of going to maintain Egypt or even the Suez Canal itself, the money went straight to the British government as profit. Finally, the news that Britain had colonized Egypt and was using it as a profitable business reached the public. Immediately, the Egyptians began to leave the country. The British had to act quickly, for they knew that without the Egyptians to maintain the land and canal, the profit would be lost. The British government decided to impose heavy public taxes on the Egyptians, something that the Egyptians never encountered before.
These taxes were so heavy that in order to pay them, people needed to stay in Egypt in order to pay them off. To make money, Egyptians were forced to maintain the land for the British. After paying the taxes, people were left with just enough money to buy food and necessities. Basically, Egyptians were held against their will on their own land, which is considered illegal and is punishable by law. Aside from Britains economic scam, Egypt's Political situation had greatly declined since its colonization by Britain. The Egyptians were eager at first knowing that their once powerful government was now going to be huge and include the British as well.
They assumed that the larger government would give them the ability to make bigger and quicker changes. Unfortunately, the Egyptians later found out that the new Egypt-British government had now become the British government and rejected any thoughts or requests that the Egyptians had. The Egyptians decided to make a little government of themselves in secret and Egypt's once powerful, successful government was quickly reduced to a general assembly of less than 20 people. Since the British did not listen to the suggestions of the general assembly, the assembly slowly became a rebellion group and for the most part discussed revolt against the British. Without any concern for the Egyptian assembly and its ideas, the British government used the newly acquired territory to make large profits including the Suez Canal scam. The mediocre military in Egypt greatly improved both in structure and mass since the British took over.
Unfortunately, this pristine army was used entirely as a British commodity, without any Egyptian permission. The new army was composed of mostly high to upper class citizens. These citizens were chosen either because they had enough money to leave Egypt, or they were rebellious. The citizens were shipped to a British camp in Cairo where they were stripped of their money and clothes.
They were given one uniform, a rifle, and a pair of shoes. The following day they would begin learning deadly techniques for battle. Throughout this process, the Egyptian citizens thought that they would be used for defensive purposes. Little did they know that the British were planning to use them to do their dirty work in battles that were totally non-Egypt related The Egyptians could do nothing to avoid this unfair ruling by the British. If decolonized, Egyptians could be rid of this problem and live in love, not fear.
Oddly enough, the only things that the British improved in Egypt were the health care, education, and improved farming methods. This improvement was not for the Egyptians however, but for the traders and merchants which stayed in Egypt while crossing the Suez Canal. Although the Egyptians did not benefit from these improved resources, they were still expected to pay for it in the form of taxes. The economy of Egypt, according to the constitution of 1971, is one based on socialism, with the people controlling all means of production. The progress of socialism after 1952 was at first unstable, despite land-reform measures.
It was only until the early 1970 's that almost all important sectors of the economy either were public or were strictly controlled by the government. This included large-scale industry, communications, banking and finance, the cotton trade, foreign trade as a whole, and many other sectors. Personal income, as well as land ownership, was strictly limited by the government. Some of these restrictions have been relaxed, permitting greater private sector participation in various economic areas.
Africa is now divided into 26 muhafazat. Five cities -- Cairo, Alexandria, Ismailia, Port Said, and Suez -- have muhafazah status. The governor is appointed and can be dismissed by the president of the republic. He is the highest executive authority in the muhafazah, has administrative authority over all government personnel except judges in his muhafazah, and is responsible for implementing policy.
The muhafazah council is composed of a majority of elected members. Although it has not been possible in practice, according to law at least one-half of the members of the muhafazah council are to be farmers and workers. The town or district councils and the village councils are established on the same principles as those underlying the muhafazah councils. The local councils perform a wide variety of functions in education, health, public utilities, housing, agriculture, and communications; they are also responsible for promoting the cooperative movement and for enforcing parts of the national plan. Local councils obtain their funds from national revenue, a tax on buildings and lands within the muhafazah, these include: miscellaneous local taxes or fees, profits from public utilities and commercial enterprises, and national subsidies, grants, and loans.
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Research essay sample on Suez Canal British Government
