One of the most important achievements of the current Arab revolutions with regard to the image of the Arabs is that it shattered the caricature shaped by Western Orientalism about Arab submissiveness and Arab or Muslim cultural addiction to servility, as if Arabs hated freedom and loved tyranny.This piece is infused with much wisdom about the irony of typical political change. The author focuses on this subject within the context of current Arab affairs, specifically in the way they are being played out in Tunisia and Egypt.
Regardless of culture or geography until ordinary people see the necessity of taking control of their societies, there will be no social justice--only a change of personnel. A new political arrangement will have to be created to insure that no one or no class of people have any advantages or privileges over people in general. Such an arrangement will insure that everyone must assume responsibility for the social-economic conditions of their respective societies. Societies must be organized so that political power will be widely dispersed so that opportunities for individuals or classes of people to exert extraordinary control and assume special privileges will never occur again.
