Looking back on a revolutionary year

Common belief used to be that Arab nations ‘didn’t do disobedience.’ How wrong this was proven to be. In December 2010, Tunisian fruit seller Mohamed Bouazizi, frustrated by the humiliation inflicted on him by the authorities, set himself alight. Outraged Tunisians marched against the government, causing a spark that, somewhat ironically, set the region on fire.

By February 2011 the regimes in Tunisia and Egypt, in place 54 years between them, had been toppled. Never had a revolutionary wave of civilian protest spread so quickly. Civil war in Libya arose and uprisings in Bahrain, Yemen and Syria, led to even more bloodshed, and the same determination for change. The Arab Spring had sprung.

Sarkozy, embarrassed by his cosy ‘kiss and tell’ pictures with Gaddafi, decided to rally the UN Security Council to bomb his former ‘lover-not-a-fighter’ partner. Everyone was at it: Blair had been kissing Gaddafi, Berlusconi too; Obama even went as far as a handshake. O’er. Thus civil war ensued in Libya and after 41 years the eternal despot Gaddafi was ousted.

Young protesters used the internet as a method to bring down their oppressors. The holy trinity of Facebook, Twitter and YouTube helped to organise, mobilise and inform civilians living under tyrannies with such speed that the old order had little time to react. Mubarak tried poking, Ben Ali started following protesters and Gaddafi even posted videos of kittens falling over, but this did little to quell protesters determination for democracy.

Whilst youths of the Arab world protested for democracy, England’s youth rioted for TVs and trainers. August saw ‘anarchy in the UK’; police lost control of England’s grey and unpleasant streets for three nights.

Unrest on this scale had not been seen in England for a long time. The shooting of a drug dealer led to arson, looting, burglary, rioting, intimidation and fear; just another average night in Tottenham. For some unknown reason this spread across England overnight. Unrelatedly, this was the only day of the year Sports Direct didn’t have a sale on.

Cameron decided to fly back from his sunny holiday as soon as Kensington and Chelsea were hit. “I leave Clegg in charge for a couple of days and the fucking country falls apart?!” could be heard echoing around Number Ten. The mob ruled in Britain. In High Streets across the nation, shops were shut and businesses boarded up, not in anticipation of disaffected, hopeless teenagers arriving to loot their wares, just waiting for someone to feel sorry for them and open a shiny Tesco Extra or Subway. Waterstone’s, conversely, enjoyed a quiet night.

Continental Europe didn’t fancy being left out of all the fun and frivolity. Indeed, it plunged into what Frau Merkel dramatically proclaimed the ‘biggest challenge’ Europe faced since WWII. She obviously missed out on the Cold War, pity. The PIIGS were one by one led to slaughter and an almighty squeal was let out by their civilian populations. Protests and rioting engulfed much of Europe, although by then this was hardly a novelty.

The promised ‘recovery’ was “revised down” with calls for more austerity; there’s only so much austerity one can consume. Angry Europeans took to the streets, reminiscent to a baby throwing its toys out of the pram; the toys being an elaborate metaphor for an expensive welfare state paid for with a maxxed out store card.

Even the unassailable Berlusconi was ejected. After years of being a cradle-snatching ‘bunga-bunga’ perve, all it took to get rid of him was for borrowing levels to reach 7%, threatening the very future of the generations of Italians he so enjoyed sleeping with.

As if there wasn’t enough unrest, out came the protest with the mostest, Occupy, threatening the very foundations of capitalism. Every major Western city had an occupation, including Norwich. These tent-bound folk even burst the ‘Bubble’ at Warwick; Occupy Warwick set up camp outside the Arts Centre, sparking debate around campus, mainly over whether a tent is more satisfactory than living in Coventry.

The Occupy movement’s message was endorsed by Jay Z, he who claimed, “I’ve got 99 problems and the rich are 1%”. This struck a chord with people across the world. The message that the vast amount of wealth in the world is concentrated in the possession of the richest one per cent highlighted the glaringly obvious inequality that was never dared discussed en masse.

There are few certainties in this world – 2011 is testament to that. The rulebook of international order is being rewritten. Societies across the world are discovering their voices and such overlooked groups won’t be quieting down in a hurry. People will look back at this year as a milestone, the year that changed everything. But don’t worry kids, Simon will be back on X Factor next year.