I couldn’t agree more about your statement that a lot of people are living vicariously through the current revolutionary movements, co-opting them for their own feel goods, etc. I think a lot of people (even some on my dash) only get a cursory understanding of the issues at hand and are seduced by the romanticism of the revolution. Which isn’t to say that its not beautiful that people are rising up for their own political interests, but I think its important to have a full understanding of the socio-political-cultural factors that led to the revolutions going on. I am also slightly uncomfortable with the congratulatory reactions that a lot of people on tumblr (and beyond) had once Egypt in particular was successful. It came off as slightly patronizing, and I think a lot of people, pundits especially, placed too much emphasis on the social media aspect, possibly because ‘Hey, that’s something WE gave them! We helped their revolution along! Without us, they’d still have a dictator!’ I’m having trouble articulating exactly why I think the constant Egypt reblogs, praise for a successful revolution, etc is problematic, but I think it boils down to the fact that I’m uncomfortable with people co-opting something like a revolution because of social media. I doubt that was most peoples intention over the past weeks, but we saw the same thing with Iran’s green revolution and twitter. I hope I made myself clear enough to be understood.
YES, you made yourself clear. Actually, you just expressed much of what I was trying to say, only my post was more rushed and less articulate than yours.
Thank you! I pretty much share all of what you said.
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