Sometime early this year citizens of Tunisia took to the streets demanding that the then president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali who had ruled for 33 years step down immediately. These protests went on for almost 2 weeks and resulted in the president not only stepping down but also fleeing the country. Meanwhile, a similar series of protests was triggered in Cairo demanding the then president Hosni Mubarak to step down as well. These riots became national and went on and on for about 2 weeks, even after the army was mobilized to quell the protests. In the end the president eventually stepped down.
These 2 events seem to be a tipping point of the beginning of a global revolution. In a matter of weeks, 2 dictators that had ruled each of their countries unopposed and unchallenged were unseated of their powers not by external entities such as imposition of sanctions or warfare, but by the very people they govern. By the very people seem to have unjustly ruled for so long. Now we look at countries like Algeria, Bahrain, Yemen, Iran and even Libya, and we see the seeds of similar revolutions. The King of Bahrain has tried to bargain with the people by releasing a number of political prisoners but if you ask for my opinion on that it’s a simple matter of too little too late. On the other hand Muammar Gaddafi, the current president of Libya has decided to actually use ‘necessary’ if not brutal force against his people. He even bombed certain areas in hope of stopping the protests from becoming national.
I believe these are signs of a dying man clutching at straws. These leaders or so called leaders need to know that their “form of governance” where by the people have no authority, no say and therefore no room for opposition, is coming to an end. They say necessity is the mother of innovation, well in this case I believe inspiration is the fuel that’s drives us to achieve the seemingly impossible. 2 dictators down in a matter of weeks must send a chilling to message to the remaining ones out there. The face of the middle east is changing and you either change with it or get left behind like the US government was. They had an ally in former president Mubarak in the war in the middle east and so decided to sit on the wall when the protests came rather than support the change that people wanted and needed so badly. Ironic that “change” was a significant part in president Obama’s campaign.
With that in mind the world better watch closely as I believe more revolutions are coming. With the global community literally at your finger tips and the viral nature of the internet, we are going to see people from different parts of the world inspiring each other to achieve the impossible. I heard a rumor that there is a child who was born the other day in Egypt and he was named Facebook. Whether that’s true or not (I tend to think it is), I believe that these social web platforms are playing a major role in these revolutions. I believe with the realtime sharing of information, experiences, pictures, videos, correspondence and etc, we are seeing an age where the true power of change is in connecting people with a shared vision together. That’s what seemed to happen in Egypt and Tunisia and that is what I believe will happen in other parts of the world. I am proud to say that I will have lived in a time of connectivity, a time of change and a time of revolution.
judetheoriginaldude 