Some say that it is history in the making. It is such a powerful video with a very moving content. Having studied Marx in class, I sometimes still find it hard to wrap my mind around how true his words rang even to this day..
I followed the Tunisia revolt more than I am following the Egyptian revolution but seeing the chain of events - the domino effects triggered by a desperate young man who set himself on fire as a result of an oppressive government, one quote from Marx keeps coming into mind..
“The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles”
As an Arabic country, Tunisia is hailed as a “moderate” and “progressive” nation by the Western world but this stature did not come without a price. In exchange for "modernity" and "progress", a majority of the people was forsaken. The nation suffered great social inequality; regional disparity in distribution of wealth, perverse unemployment rate especially among youths and limited freedom in the form of political oppression. Desperate and frustrated by wealth and power being concentrated in the hands of the few, the people revolted as predicted by Marx. The struggle among the proletariats will eventually lead to a revolution to oust the bourgeoisie.
The Jasmine Revolution of Tunisia may not have sprouted from people’s enslavement to machines as it was during Marx’s time, but it is nonetheless a reflection of the essential idea of Marx; struggle due to the polarization of wealth and poverty or the conflict between paid and unpaid labor. Marx’s class structure perpetuates itself even under altered social conditions as shown by the prevalent characteristics of a bourgeois class; the concentration of wealth among the few - that is the elite family of Ben Ali as a result of his kleptocratic regime,and political centralization - his 23 year long dictatorship as President of Tunisia.
It is quite an irony that the president who received majority of the people’s votes for two decades would be aggressively revolted by the same people who elected him into power. This probably would not have happened if it were not for the exposure of wide corruption in the government by Wikileaks.
It is with this knowledge, coupled with the debilitating economic conditions and oppression, and the trigger pulled by a frustrated prisoner of this capitalistic system who set himself ablaze, that class consciousness was gained among the working class of Tunisia - a consciousness which led to a successful attempt of removing the corrupted elite class in hopes of a better, a fairer and more deserving future.
And this struggle is not unique to the people of Tunisia for it is a widely shared sentiment across borders; Jordan, Algeria and including Egypt. The Marxian slogan "Workers of the world, unite!" seems to be more compelling to me now more than it has ever been.
Such an uprise may seem hopeful.. revolutionary even. But if anything, I feel that there is more uncertainty than ever. What is the future for these nations after they succeed in their revolt? Change in powers? To a democracy they seek or will it be but false facades of freedom in the hands of another dictator? Marx says a stage of statelessness, classlessness and propertylessness will be a result after a succession of revolts by the prols. Pure communism is what he meant. And with that only then, can real human history begin.
As flawed as his communism ideology was, Marx was an idealist who wanted to make a positive change in the world. What does the future entail for Tunisia and Egypt and the rest of the world? I guess we'll see, history is after all, in the making.
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