Liberté, égalité, fraternité!

Volume 2, Issue 10, March 4-10, 2011

International Tribune

Liberté, égalité, fraternité!  In this generation, anything is possible.  As I follow the news unfolding in the Middle East, and especially in Libya, I cannot help but think of the French revolution of 1789 but only ‘Twitter-less’ and minus the Facebook.  The guillotine was an effective warning to the monarchy and the bourgeoisie in French society.  They learned from their mishaps.  This time, self-immolation - as mind-boggling as it is- can trigger a revolution and perhaps inevitably change the course of history.  Slowly but surely, Tunisia and Egypt are building a new government for a better society.  Let us hope that sooner or later, Libya will also follow suit.  To be sure, the road to their recovery will not be an easy path but change is on its way. 

In France, strikes and demonstrations are a national past time.  Since arriving here last year, I must have experienced seven of these French pastimes one of which lasted for an agonizing month.  Luckily, the guillotine has been abolished.  The French’s allegiance to joie de vivre and living life to the fullest are alter egos that will perhaps remain uncontested.  Institutions, big and small, private or public, are subject to questioning and consent by the people until they are near perfect as far as humanly possible.  Citizens have a moral obligation to transform society and overthrow “old regimes” that deprive them of equality and inalienable rights.  This vision is enshrined in the Declaration of the Rights of a Man and Citizen of 1789, which centuries later, became the moving spirit in framing the 1948 United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.   The French revolution transformed many parts - if not all - of Europe over two centuries – and it is being replicated in the Middle East today. 

Here is something to think about.   In the great nation of the United States of America:  the rate of unemployment has risen in the past year and has remained at around 9.5%, the quality of the nation's health care system is lagging far behind other industrialized countries, tax payers have financed two costly wars (at least one of them was unnecessary), and we also bailed out private companies which were the main culprit, to begin with, on why the world is experiencing a financial crisis.  Let not be forgotten that the middle class - once strong and the bulwark of the American society - is in peril too. The gap between the haves and have-nots in the United States is almost the same as in Latin America.  Why are leaders falling short in doing anything about it? When will my fellow Americans rise?  

Liberty, we already have.  Equality, we must work on.  Brotherhood, we can use some more.