As the past month's events have aptly demonstrated, one match, literally a single wooden matchstick, was all it took to set the politics of the entire Middle East ablaze. The governments of Bahrain, Lybia, Syria, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Myanmar and perhaps even North Korea are pooping in their Dictatorial Diapers as I type.
Egypt, a mammoth country approaching 100 million citizens, was directly inspired by it's tiny neighbor Tunisia, and more specifically the citizens of Tunis, a city about the size of Austin. This Austin-sized town was moved to riot in reaction to the self-immolation of 26 year-old street vendor Mohammed Bouazizi.
Americans look on satellite television and hope all people gain self-determination, presuming that we've already gained it here. We don't even question the presence or absence of our own self-determination, it is taken for granted, and why shouldn't it be? Our police are (mostly) honest, we hold what appear to be free and fair elections. We largely abide by a plucky "work-hard-and-you'll-achieve" work and lifestyle ethic, and for our first 200 years as a country that ethic was tried and true. It was in fact the glue of our social cohesion.
Now, with the globalization of power and money and self-determination, more 21st century Americans are waking from our rather pleasant Ronald Reagan slumber, removing (or having ripped from us,) the blinders, and stepping into the harsh and unflattering light of a new reality.
As more of us enter or are forced into this period of national self-reflection, some are starting to critically ask: Besides different cultures and dominant God mythologies, how different are we, really, than the Egyptians and the Tunisians and the Bahrainis and the Syrians and the Iranians and all the other Children of the World?
Are we different because of a more equitable economic distribution? Nope, we're not much different in this catagory. The top 1% percent might be represented by Koch Bros. and investment bankers here instead of 4-star generals there, but regardless of occupation, Plutocracy runs the show all around.
Are we different because of our Democracy? Yeah, sorta. Of course we have national elections, but we live in a "managed democracy", a political form in which government is legitimated by elections that they themselves have learned to control.
They have controlled elections in Iran and Egypt too. Their elections are more pre-determined and managed than ours, but the differences only vary by degrees.
In Egypt, corruption and 30% unemployment compelled a young man to burn himself alive. In the United States, we have 20% real unemployment, grotesque massive government corruption, and endless attempts to de-legitimize and control our workers. The evidence is all around us from Madison Wisconsin to the Supreme Court.
So far, our Conservative Kleptocracy has produced Jared Loughner instead of Mohammed Bouazizi.
But what does the future portend?