The world is on fire: my thoughts on a violent weekend

The world looked at a man setting himself on fire in Tunisia.. They watched protesters storm Egypt and escort Hosni Mubarak out of office.. they are watching intense rage on the streets of Bahrain, as the government tries to crack down on protesters.. Libya, like others, has cut off the internet.. Saudi Arabia is on edge.. Iran is watching and quickly trying to put out small fires of protest throughout the nation.

And even the United States is increasingly on edge, as protesters storm Madison Wisconsin in protest of Governor Walker, who is intent on diminishing the amount of benefits that public employees in his state have.

But now, the intensity of the world on edge is perhaps most exemplified by China, where government forces are dispersing protesters in Shanghai.. According to reports, police began to quickly filter crowds of protesters that popped up in the city..

We have seen a crackdown before in Tiananmen Square. The world watched tanks storm peaceful Chinese protesters.. And after that, not much more freedom ever flourished.

Most recently, China received the scorn of the world (but only scorn and that’s about it) after it began a systematic campaign of the arrest of bloggers and immediate put-down of any free speech that violated what state media wanted the Chinese to hear..

But it appears, in a sense, that this burst of newfound freedom of expression thanks to Facebooking Tweets and Tumblering blogs.

However, China is on guard. An online call for a “Jasmine Revolution” has been watched by Chinese officials, who are not about to let freedom fighters prevail against totalitarian aims of the current regime.

While no major protest occurred (And not that we know since state media controls mostly everything in China), it’s amazing how this new energy is racing around the world. Is it people power? Is it all real?

Are we watching a revolution..? Or is it simply opening shots in a soon-to-occur war?

Perhaps it’s worth nothing: Photos of this weekend’s events in China certainly illustrate that it was more than just a few who showed for the Jasmine callout..

Where it goes from here? We’ll have to stay tuned to official government state media for that, I suppose.

All the trouble in the world..

This weekend, it’s back to Tunisia..

An interesting perspective from Ambrose Evans-Pritchard: He writes that Tunisia and Egypt are the first countries experiencing a 'food revolution'..

He writes,

The surge in global food prices since the summer – since Ben Bernanke signalled a fresh dollar blitz, as it happens – is not the underlying cause of Arab revolt, any more than bad harvests in 1788 were the cause of the French Revolution.

Yet they are the trigger, and have set off a vicious circle. Vulnerable governments are scrambling to lock up world supplies of grain while they can. Algeria bought 800,000 tonnes of wheat last week, and Indonesia has ordered 800,000 tonnes of rice, both greatly exceeding their normal pace of purchases. Saudi Arabia, Libya, and Bangladesh, are trying to secure extra grain supplies

An interesting perspective from Ambrose Evans-Pritchard: He writes that Tunisia and Egypt are the first countries experiencing a 'food revolution'..

The man against the machine. One person stands up to the army, holding the Egyptian flag.

But it’s moments like this, watching chaos in the world and civil unrest in a nation that is “allied” to the United States and other democracies, that one must step back and wonder what Egypt will emerge? Will it be radical? Will it be filled with freedom? Will it know civil rights and allow people to vote freely, along with the bare necessities to stabilize the nation after these protests end?

And finally, will Hosni Mubarak listen to the people.. He’s in his 80s but it’s leading in a brand new world—one connected to the internet, one that speaks on cell phones, and one that has marched beyond the 20th century-style leadership that Mubarak has held on to for three decades..

It’s amazing to watch the developments unfold as they do, with TV networks covering live—but the internet streaming live.. It’s amazing and chilling reading tweets from people on the streets as they come out—somehow some are making it out of the ‘kill switch’ net turnoff that occurred within the nation.

And finally, it’s breathtaking to see a people rise up in solidarity against a government they have grown weary of.. But it begs the question, will real reform be fostered by the violence, and will the pro-democracy protesters be taken over by more radical elements of society within the nation?

There are no answers. While we watch the chaos in real time, we are simply left stunned, speechless, and amazed. This is happening. Right now, live. As we speak, and read, and type. And it’s even more startling to think that one man in Tunisia set himself on fire in protest, and lit a spark that may end up transforming nations before our eyes.

NOW PROTESTS IN EGYPT!

Protests spread.. first Tunisia, now Egypt, as people protest governments..
Egypt rocked..
Energized from Tunisia..