This year, we have also witnessed a flood of information (released through Wikileaks) on the behind the scenes workings of governments, banks, etc., exposing the hypocrisy and shamelessness of the powerful. The information was leaked by whistleblowers who seem to have decided that enough is enough.
One of the characteristics these rebellions share is that they lack an identifiable leadership. Even if they were sparked (or enabled) by the actions of a small group, each seems to have ignited a spontaneous expression of popular feeling that has reached a boiling point. This rebellion is de-centralized. The vast encoded “insurance” files that Wikileaks is holding in reserve have been distributed to 100,000 people! That’s a huge network with no central headquarters. Last year, when Paypal blocked payments to Wikileaks, hackers unconnected to the group appeared out of nowhere in its defense and disrupted service on Paypal.
There’s a temptation to look for cause and effect here. For example, the diplomatic cables published by Wikileaks do seem to have played a role in igniting the Tunisian rebellion – though not in the way one might imagine. Tunisians knew their government was corrupt but were simply resigned to it. What the cables revealed was a frank disapproval of the corruption by US diplomats, which seems to have sparked hope that the US might at least tacitly support a rebellion.
But maybe all of these forms of rebellion are an expression of something deeper. Rebellion as a psycho-social current, a state of mind, an attitude … an awakening. In the beautiful and inspiring images of Tahrir Square, there’s a sea of young faces. Certainly a generational shift is part of the equation. But the crowd was diverse. It included Muslims and Christians, young and old, poor people and professionals. Many of the people were praying. Was their extraordinary strength and calm nourished by a new spirituality? A spirituality without fanaticism and committed to nonviolence?
The process in Egypt is far from over; the rebellion needs a clear framing and direction to realize its revolutionary potential. But the cat is out of the bag; the example is there for all to see. The message? You no longer need to nurse your bitterness in silence. It is possible to speak the truth. And when enough people begin to speak … Change is possible.
Mark Twain, in “A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court,” writes about an American transported from 1889 to the Middle Ages. He marvels at the apparent willingness of the poor people of that time to collaborate in their own oppression. Then the visitor from the future begins to speak openly to a peasant about the abuses of an old Baron who’s been killed by one of his subjects and the peasant transforms. Before (from fear of retribution), he pretended to enthusiastically take the Baron’s side, even to the point of hunting down and killing his own relatives. But suddenly he speaks his true opinions. Then he says, “I have said the words. I have said the words! the only ones that have ever tasted good in my mouth and the reward of that taste is sufficient. Lead on… be it even to the scaffold, for I am ready.”
The time-traveler continues: “There it was you see. A man *is* a man, at bottom. Whole ages of abuse and oppression cannot crush the manhood clear out of him.”
The brave rebels of this time have said the words and the truth is out.
*Change is possible.*
