Wednesday 23 February, 2011

Rambling : Viva Le Revolution

So, it happened in Egypt. It's happening in Libya and Baharain. Is it a good thing?

Traditionally, every revolution or mass movement had a leader and more or less an ideology. Take Gandhi, take Mandela and many others. What do we have now? Facebook inspired movements that revolve around what people don't want. This is becoming a game of political dominoes in a region that has an impact on the world far greater than their size or consequence as a global power warrants. Oil.

What happens after they get rid of what they don't want? Is there a leader who will come in and provide what is the unstated need? Doesn't look like. The vacuum will probably be filled by people and circumstances that will be driven by other agendas, whether international or otherwise. Will it lead to good, honest governance? Only time will tell but the odds are stacked against it. Cut-and-paste democracy need not necessarily work.