The World Is Going Mad!

[Greenday]

Let's start a list of countries that are flipping a shit over their current government:
Libya
Egypt
Algeria is starting
Yemen
Tunisia is starting

Plus others are looking like being pushed over the edge. I only posted the countries I've read have had violent protests to get rid of their governments/leaders. I read Morocco has had protests too.

What was it that started this huge bubble? I get that some of them were like, "Hey, they are winning over there. We can do it too!" But does anyone know what the breaking point was the pushed the world into this point? How many more countries are going to go for radical change?

[Mytical]

First...GOING mad? Sorry, world has been going to heck in a hand basket (express) for a long time. I am a bit of an conspiracy nut, so won't get into a few things I could..but yeah things are crazy out there.

[Mikkel]

As far as I know, it all started in Tunesia. A man set himself on fire in protest of harassment by officials. It sparked demonstrations, culminating in the president fleeing the country.
Then people began planning demonstrations in Egypt on Facebook and after that, it just spread.

[Gravekeeper]

Actual success is a great motivator. -.-

[AdminAssistant]

It's exciting and somewhat terrifying, to be honest. We just all have to hope that the more radical groups in that part of the world don't take advantage of the chaos.

[Sleepwalker]

Iraq is going now. So that's all fucked- let's see how the occupying forces respond. /sigh

[Greenday]

Iraq is going now. So that's all fucked- let's see how the occupying forces respond. /sigh

Hopefully they can get themselves and the civilians working there the hell out of there. Hearing other employees from my company over there talk about it, man do I feel bad for those guys.

[Andara Bledin]

This is the World Wide Web at it's most powerful.

The downtrodden learn exactly how downtrodden they really are and learn that they don't necessarily have to take it. Also, they learn that their plights have not gone unnoticed and any sacrifices they may make will not be unheard.

The genie is out of the bottle, and there's no putting it back.

An article about Tunisia at Ars Technica

^-.-^

[BigGiant]

Water.

Populations increasing, aquifers drying up.

And we whine about the price of gas.

[BigGiant]

From a friend:

Water is more precious than food or oil in many of the nations we see with rebellions. The idea that the world is headed for a huge set of water problems is not at all a new one.

But I was with some ME folks and some technologists today and learned some interesting things:

It costs over ten of the North African and Middle Eastern nations (nations not people because water is subsidized for most of them) more for a gallon of drinkable water than a gallon of oil. This is a state that some Asian nations are facing soon as well.

Over fifteen nations in the ME and Central Asia have less than 3 days of drinkable water on hand

Several would require more than three months (lack of spare technological components) to repair significant damage to any of their water processing or de-salinization facilities caused by an oil spill in nearby waters.

The conclusion I drew from it is another reminder that:

1) many parts of the world live awfully close to Archduke Ferdinand moments of calamitous meltdown

2) Nothing better distracts and may help a big financial problem for the US than a bigger problem elsewhere.

Interesting stuff

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Thanks for starting this thread. I had been wondering what was really going on over there.

So who'll be next? For some reason I keep hearing Saudi Arabia.

[Greenday]

I'm just hoping shit doesn't hit the fan. I hear attacks become more frequent as weather gets nicer. And after those kids were killed when they were misidentified as a crew that had just fired a rocket, God knows what will happen.

[protege]

And we whine about the price of gas.

...and some of us (not me--tap water tastes *exactly* the same as that Evian crap) will gladly pay *more* for a small bottle of water (or even milk) than they'll pay for a gallon of gas. Yet, you don't hear the same complaints about water or milk...and people *need* those to live! In many cases, people could easily get by without oil.

On another note, watching all of this unfold, reminds me of the late-1980s in Europe. The nonviolent demonstrations started in Poland, and then spread to Hungary, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, and Romania. All of that happened, simply because the standards of living in those countries declined. Their economies had stagnated. People were tired of the endless shortages of goods and services, the endless problems with state-run everything, and either voted their communist-backed leaders out...or in the case of Romania, simply executed them.

[EmiOfBrie]

Let's start a list of countries that are flipping a shit over their current government:
Libya
Egypt
Algeria is starting
Yemen
Tunisia is starting

USA is starting....

don't deny it.

[Greenday]

USA doesn't apply. They are always flipping a shit about the government.