The Middle East- shaken, not yet stirred

The World as we know it will never be the same again. This time, it is not because of America, but because of the power of American Entrepreneurship. Tunisia- Check. Egypt- Check. Libya- shaken. Yemen- shaken. And these are just a few of the many countries which have been impacted for the better by the utilization of American entrepreneurship, in a massive manner.

Change is constant, but these leaders resisted change, stopped the development of a functional democracy for their sordid purposes. They thought not for the greater good of the nation, but for the good of their family and acquaintances. Barack Obamas’ plea for change which brought him into the White House has led him to accomplish little in the eyes of his many critics, but a lot for those who understand the innumerable demands of the party’s in and out of power. But this change is one which was not thought possible even a couple of months before the uprisings which have changed the future of Egypt and Tunisia.

Propelled by the lack of food items at affordable prices and low unemployment, to give a few reasons, these people rose up as one in nations forever divided into those who supported the leader and those who silently detested his very existence. Globally, food prices have risen by 27% in the last one year, which has been one of the contributing factors for this uprising. The educated but unemployed youth faced a future of penury and hand-to-mouth existence, if they didn’t take up the initiative to free their country.

All too often, we consider the development of a nation as the increase in its Gross Domestic Product, the reduction in the mortality rate, and a favorable balance of payments, among other measures of a country’s development. What we fail to recognize is that the enforcement of a citizen’s right to vote for whoever he wants in power, should be a prominent measure of a country’s development. The right to a full functional democracy, a nation which is democratic not only is name, is essential for the development of the people and the nation. Progress cannot be ever defined, but if it is defined, the definition must include the right to a fully functional democracy.

Liberty is defined as a soul’s right to breathe and that right must extend to an individual’s right to vote in a free and a fair manner, if true progress is sought. Wael Ghonim, a Google executive who was tortured for being the administrator of a facebook page on which anti-government protests were organized, sought change. He suffered imprisonment and torture for 11 days, but emerged as a hero in his own right. The fruit-seller who took his own life in an act of self-immolation as he was slapped and humiliated by the police in Tunisia, posthumously became the poster child for the uprising in his nation.

The above-mentioned people weren’t involved in the actual protests but for us, the world at large, became the ‘poster-child’ for the same. There is no one leader of these protests, rallying calls are sent out by one and all! There was not one person, but a multitude of persons at the forefront of the successful protests. They proved to the world that you need not divide people into leaders and followers. Each and every individual shared the same dream and that resulted in change. Change is upon them and their nation. There are a number of predictions for where they could be heading, but what nobody can ever deny is the resoluteness of spirit which enabled them to accomplish what they have.