What we’re witnessing in the world is quite amazing. Tunisia and Egypt are simply the beginning, it seems, as people around the world have become fed up with their respective regimes and have stopped being scared. Bahrain, Libya, Yemen, and Iran are seeing large scale demonstrations never seen before. Throw in the unrest that grows in countries like Sudan and the Ivory Coast, and we’re witnessing something that has spread almost in viral fashion.
That said, I’ve run into many people here in the US that seem just as disenfranchised with our own government. The idea that two parties rule all is their main concern. The concerns that many become infected with the corruption. Many of these people, regardless of political affiliation – and I’ve met many on both the far left and far right – have to understand that in our country, revolution does indeed start from the bottom. Become more active in your local community. Work to perhaps become elected to your school council or town hall. We are simply still too content and naive to be able to understand what a real revolution entails. Until we hit the dire straits that countries like Egypt faced, we won’t understand. It’s a simple fact.
In the meantime, the leaders in all of the countries I mentioned are facing karma on a whole new scale. Soon, they won’t be able to beat back the forces of change. Violence simply doesn’t solve problems. It does beget more violence. The amazing part of what was seen in Egypt is how largely peaceful it was. Others around the world have taken notice. Here’s hoping that the peaceful demonstrations continue and that the protesters don’t feel the need to live by the saying of “an eye for an eye.” Gandhi said it best:
An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.
