But there's hope! (hahaha) I spent the last half of 2010 and thus far of 2011 observing the world. It's a much better use of one human being's limited resources and time than attempting to change minor bullshit, that's for damn sure.
If you can't stop some bad shit from going down, at least prepare for it so that you are in the best possible position to maneuver when it happens.
So let's get down to business.
Listen to this muhfuckah while you reading.
Below are some sketches of what's going on in the world right now. This is a rough outline, and I welcome additional thoughts.
North Africa and the Middle East
Pretty much everyone's getting overthrown. What will happen?
Same shit, different day.
Above: A street scene in Tunisia, where all this shit started.
Below: A street scene in Germany, where all this shit started.
Below: A street scene in Germany, where all this shit started.
What's happening in the Muslim world is Europe in 1848. Much like the "Springtime of the Peoples," the remaining vestiges of Feudal life are being cast off. Monarchs and despots are being challenged, Bourgeois democrats are emerging in the foreground as popular uprisings swell the seats of power of damn near every nation in North Africa and the Middle East.
Conditions determine consciousness: industrialization in North Africa and the Middle East has a comparable role and developmental influence in daily life as it did in Europe in 1848. This is thanks to centuries of European and, more recently, American colonialism and neo-colonialism holding back these nations' developments. That should be a given to my audience... I hope.
What will happen is Bourgeois democracy spreads throughout the North African and Middle Eastern world. America is too weak to intervene, Europe is concerned with its own shit, and China isn't one to interfere in foreign people's shit these days. The nations in rebellion, pending successful political revolutions to match their economic developments and modernity, will seek a more independent path. This will be good news for the proletariat in those nations across the board.
With luck, the stranglehold America has had on the comprador Bourgeoisies of the countries in question will not just be broken but become a rallying point for the angry masses. Israel will become immensely pressured without question. Given America's weak world prestige owing to the debacles in Iraq and Afghanistan, it is doubtful they have the energy or the sheer strength to intervene and protect their allies in Egypt, Yemen, or elsewhere. Israel will have to manage on its own, and with Lebanon firmly in Iran's top 10 friends list, Israel has already got one of many hostile borders to come.
In short, Arabia of 2011 is Europe of 1848 and bourgeois democracy is on the way for them. Its simply the only possible next stage, at least for most of the rebelling peoples. I wish them the best of luck in this endeavor.
As an addendum, I found I apparently was not the first one to make this comparison. Apparently Foreign Policy magazine beat me to the chase. But I feel good knowing that I independently reached the same conclusions as the Bourgeois experts on this one, and they even reference Karl Marx:
Like the uprisings sweeping the Middle East today, the revolutions of 1848 followed and fed off one another, with opposition figures consciously mimicking the rhetoric of revolutionaries past. David Armitage quotes Karl Marx describing the phenomenon, "Luther put on the mask of the Apostle Paul, the Revolution of 1789-1814 draped itself alternately in the guise of the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, and the Revolution of 1848 knew nothing better to do than to parody, now 1789, now the revolutionary tradition of 1793-95."Damn straight, Marxy. We're on the same page.
But Marx is dead and I'm not. So as Marx probably said once, "bottoms up!" I'm off to a jazz show.
PART 2, COMING SOON - Featuring: a historical comparison of the lead-up to WWII and the geopolitical roles played by various world powers right the fuck now.
