Time magazine has named The Protester as its person of the year for 2011 which is probably a decent choice considering the amount of protests there have been around the World this year.
The Arab Spring should be singled out as the most far reaching with a posthumous mention for Mohamed Bouazizi who was the Tunisian street vendor who set himself on fire for having his fruit cart confiscated by the authorities which acted as the catalyst for the Tunisian revolution and the wider Arab spring.
So if Time got it right and pretty much everyone i asked has agreed, and the protesters are a clear winner for the person the of the year, maybe we should be looking for a villain of the year and 2011 gave us a good choice of candidates.
Rupert Murdoch and his newspapers hacking of dead and missing children's phones was a particular low point but Colonel Gaddafi was much maligned and then much murdered this year so he must be in with a shout.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has been shooting protesters since April and Norwegian Anders Behring Breivik took his right wing politics to a youth camp and then opened fire on the unarmed adolescents present, killing 69.
All bad guys but in keeping with the Time award of handing the award to a group rather than an individual, the villains of the year must go to the 1% for contributing so little to keeping this World ticking over so peacefully and fairly.
4 comments:
i agree, but only about the protestors in the middle east. the ones in the usa are idiots...
q
protesting isnt idiotic. the topic can be. the people can be. and, there is a difference in protesting and whining.
the topic in this case is idiotic.
the people are too. and, yes they are disguising whining as a protest...
q
Maybe I'm a bit perverse, but it's the protestors who I don't necessarily agree with who I particularly like to see out on the streets. Anyone can support freedom of speech/protest when the protestors and saying stuff you believe in... but it's the ones who are saying stuff that you don't like who let you know that you actually do believe in this vital aspect of freedom (not just freedom for the expression of your own beliefs).
Not that I necessarily disagree with everything the Occupy punters are saying... but the one at St Pauls are a diverse bunch. I'm in general agreement with the ones whose focus is the need to reform our broken financial system and stop rewarding f&ck-ups and people who make money out of creating misery for others... (I'm not so sure they've got the solution of course, but exerting pressure to change something that's clearly f*cked can't be all bad)... Whereas I'm not so down with the ones who think we should all give away our houses and cars to the third world and go live in a commune or up a tree and eat only lentils and mung-beans or something... (but it's those very people who I like to see out there protesting, having their silly views on display for all to see - it shows we live in a tolerant pluralistic society).
cheese, not perverse. wise. i consider them idiots because of their methods not their agenda. though the bulk of their agenda is lame in this case as well...
q
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