It is not a question about whether or not foreign investment is the root of all evil; of course it isn’t, and I have never said that it is. The strategies I advocate have nothing to do with driving out foreign investment or multinational corporations; rather I prefer that these companies remain, but that their presence in Egypt (or anywhere else) should be conditional upon them using their unparalleled influence to support justice, democracy, and the general welfare of the society.
There is nothing innately wrong with foreign investment, but there is something fundamentally wrong with the subjugation of national sovereignty and independence to unaccountable institutions of private power that have no concern beyond their own profits. There is something fundamentally wrong with foreign investors and corporate lawyers writing the country’s laws, dictating the terms of trade, and determining the value of the country’s currency. There is something fundamentally wrong with massive multinational corporations competing against small local businesses.
So no, there is nothing wrong with investment, nothing wrong with foreign companies operating in your domestic market, as long as this is all subject to regulations and rules that uphold the independence of the government, protect the local economy, the rights of workers, and the quality of life of the population.
I don’t blame business. Business operates according to very narrow, mercenary logic. Companies will try to get the best deal they possibly can.
If they could legally kidnap you from your homes and force you to work in a prison labor camp, they would. If they could legally force you to buy their products instead of pay your rent or send your children to school, they would do that; because that makes sense when all you care about is profit.
They want the best deal they can get, and if the best deal they can get is lower profits than they hope for, and using their political influence to support the popular will, they will settle for that. They will settle for that, particularly in Egypt, because Egypt is too important for them to abandon.
If they are able to dictate the terms of investment, of course, they will not voluntarily opt for terms that limit their profitability and market advantage. The point is to not allow them to dictate the terms. If they want to invest, it should be on your terms; and you can include anything you want in those terms, including preservation of your own social, economic, and political rights.