16th December 2011
By Madison Ruppert
Contributing Writer – Wake Up World
Traditionally, the person of the year is an actual person, a single individual who is noteworthy for one reason or another. This individual’s face is then printed on countless copies of the magazine across the world, but this year is quite different.
Time’s choice this year couldn’t be a further departure from their history, especially given that last year’s person of the year was Mark Zuckerberg, the man behind the now wildly popular and controversial Facebook.
Instead of honoring a politician, businessperson, or other single individual, Time took a great leap in giving the award to “the protester.”
This year has been marked by significant upheaval and popular protest throughout the world, especially in the Middle East as we saw with the now famous “Arab Spring” revolts across several nations.
We have also witnessed the “Occupy” movement rise to prominence, starting in New York City and spreading throughout the United States and then the world.
While the demographics of these protests vary wildly, all of the protesters have one thing in common: they are upset and they aren’t going to sit back and take it anymore.
This is very encouraging for many of us given that so much of the world has been systematically oppressed and marginalized by a dominant minority that controls the world through unimaginable wealth and political influence.
Unfortunately, the reaction from police and governments around the globe has not been as positive as the treatment given in Time to the people demonstrating in the streets.
In many cases, brutal oppression met the passionate activists, and in some cases the crackdown was ruthless and bloody, as we witnessed in Egypt.
In the case of Egypt, the violence has never stopped and while many bill the uprising there as a successful revolution, in reality the people are still demonstrating and attempting to create a just, fair society in the wake of ousting Mubarak.
In the United States, there has been significant police brutality in almost every major city, with Occupy Wall Street protesters being corralled, pepper sprayed, beaten, locked up en masse, and more.
In other American metropolitan centers, activists have been viciously evicted by police outfitted in menacing riot gear and armed with caustic chemicals, “non-lethal” weaponry, and a willingness to use their equipment against the peaceful protesters.
Yet despite all of the opposition and inhumane treatment so many of the demonstrators have experienced, they refused to give in, take no for an answer and go home.
It is clear that while in the case of the United States, no radical change has been achieved as of yet, at least the demonstrators have been making an impact on the hearts and minds of Americans and others around the globe.
The mainstream media can no longer ignore and marginalize the protests and the popular discontent as some kind of fad or passing craze.
The people of the world are upset and they’re not going to take it anymore. It is great to see popular publications with massive distributions like Time are beginning to realize that they had better embrace this movement or be left in the dust.
Hopefully this encouraging trend will continue and the protests will start to actually bring about meaningful change and with it a more peaceful society that works for equality and justice for all, not just the absurdly wealthy and politically connected.
About the Authour
Madison Ruppert is the Editor and Owner-Operator of the alternative news and analysis database End The Lie and has no affiliation with any NGO, political party, economic school, or other organization/cause. He is available for podcast and radio interviews. If you have questions, comments, or corrections feel free to contact him at [email protected]
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