Tunisian Tea Party

Revolution swept Europe in 1848.

Stoked by nationalism and poverty, France, Italy, Germany, Denmark, Belgium, Ireland
and the vast reaches of the Hapsburg Empire all convulsed in tumult.

The bourgeoisie and peasant classes, angered by the ruling classes that seemed to
care more for their own personal well-being than the well-being of their peoples,
rose up and said enough is enough.

Most of the revolutions didn’t succeed. The Irish rebels were crushed. The Parisian
rebels were stopped. The Italian and the German idealists were thwarted (many of
them ended up fleeing to America).

Europe in the mid-19th century was going through a great transition. The monarchies
that had long ruled had lost touch with the people. Intermarriage had made many
of the kings and queens loony and weak. The Industrial Revolution had presented
its own challenges, as many of the peasant class migrated to the cities to find
better pay and work. The new industrialists and financiers had more wealth than
the landowners, and they demanded more power. New technologies made communications
and travel easier and faster everywhere but in Russia, which, significantly, didn’t
face a revolution in 1848.

And though the revolutions didn’t succeed, they did send a wake-up call to the monarchists
that change was inevitable. Many adapted and changed their ways, and eventually,
control shifted to democracies.

Revolution, like the flu, can be contagious.

In 1968, the American civil rights movement inspired similar movements in Ireland,
in Paris and across the globe.

We are seeing such a movement in the Middle East.

Of course, it started in Iran last year, where it was suppressed violently by the
ruling elite.

But at the beginning of this year, Tunisian democrats — perhaps inspired by the
American Tea Party, perhaps inspired by the failed Iranian revolution — said in
no uncertain terms: This is bullshit.

They kicked the autocrat out of the country, and they took control of their government.
It wasn’t a peaceful revolution, but it wasn’t particularly violent, either. (For
example, this was no French Revolution.)

The Tunisian Tea Party seems to have inspired the Egyptians, who have long chafed
under the autocracy of the Mubarak regime. As with many revolutions, the Egyptians
are especially angry that the price of bread might go up. It is amazing how many
revolutions start with the rising price of bread.

This, in turn, is making the rulers in Jordan and Saudi Arabia very, very nervous,
as their people start agitating for more power, more control and more of a say-so
over their daily lives.

America has conflicting goals here. It was nice that the Tunisians kicked out their
autocrat, and it would be nice if democracy could come to Iran, and while we sure
would love Egypt and Jordan to become more democratic, we sure don’t want Muslim
extremists to be running those countries.

Still, it is hard for us to speak out of both sides of our mouths. In the long term,
freedom should lead to more free enterprise, more democracy, more trading capabilities
and closer relations with our government. In the short term, this could get pretty
ugly.

Technology, poverty and anger at the ruling class are conspiring to create revolution
in 2011, much like they did in 1848.

Revolution is in the air, and it can be very contagious.

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