Sunday, March 06, 2011

Optimism from the Arab world

Since the Arab revolt against the region's autocracies broke out in Tunisia, spread to Egypt and then both eastward and westward to other oppressive states, I've been glued to the English live stream from the television network Al Jazeera for the most immediate news from the region.

Wadah Khanfar, the Director General of the network, explained what he thinks his network is seeing and reporting in a TED talk. (TED is an internet non-profit devoted to spreading ideas.) This video loads a bit slowly and is a longer than anything I usually put up here [17:00], but it is absolutely worth viewing.



This is not an easy time to feel inspired here in the belly of empire. Our political system seems incapable of responding to the desires of most of the people, offering austerity and budget cuts when what we need is stimulus and jobs. Political demagogues distract from their failure to create prosperity and security by attacking union workers and Muslims.

At such a moment, it is encouraging to listen to someone who believes in democracy and progress and sees it emerging triumphant were hope was long buried. Take a listen to Mr. Wadah Khanfar.

H/t TechPresident.

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