“The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again: but already it was impossible to say which was which”. These were the closing words of one of the most famous quotations of George Orwell’s Animal Farm. Animal Farm is an allegorical fable about how a group of farm animals overthrew the farm owner who made them work from morning till dusk but with little to show for their pain. The adage “hard work pays”, might have left the animals wondering why Boxer was never rich. When the animals overthrew the farm owner Mr Jones, they aimed to set up an equal society where all the animals worked and shared the benefits of their labour.
Written in 1945 as an allegory for Communist Russia under Josef Stalin, the book set out to satirise how political ideologies, even with the best intentions can be corrupted. It showed how power easily corrupts and how absolute power corrupts absolutely. The book illustrates how the hope of the animals to create a society where animals can be equal, free, happy and away from animal intervention is quickly consumed by the very forces it planned to replace. Sounds familiar? These days, politicians promise to build bridges even where there are no rivers.
It is no secret that the prevalence and regularity of protests and uprisings taking place around the globe is not only becoming an issue of normalcy but also insidiously alarming. From the USA, to Hungary, Kenya, Cote D’Ivoire, Poland and right down to Israel and the UK, it is common to see the public rising against what it sees as injustice, double standards, inequality, high cost of living, racism, fascism, complicity and etc. But why the increase in frequency and regularity these days? There are many factors that could account for these. Thanks to social media, it is relatively easy to organise protests across nations and on a global scale.
The power of the internet and social media.
Thanks to the power of the internet, the world and its global population has shrunk to a global village. The concept of mass communication has taken a life of its own. With increasing access to the internet and social media, the narrative on the world’s status quo has changed beyond recognition. Those days are gone when information and the trajectory of the news media was controlled by “the chosen few”. Those days when “the chosen few” decided on when, what, how and which news or information to disseminate are no longer the case.
Since knowledge is power, it is obvious that those who held the power, by virtue of their handle on the news are slowly but reluctantly losing their grip on that power. The duplicity of the mainstream media has led to a noticeable loss of trust by the public. Mainstream media has now become synonymous with FAKE NEWS. This is because of their agenda to promote vested interests and attempts to hoodwink the public. This is becoming increasingly difficult, thanks to alternative media outlets from various angles. It is now virtually impossible to fool all of the people, all of the time these days.
In spite of the pitfalls associated with the veracity of stories on Social media, the constant churning out of news stories means that it is miles ahead of the mainstream media. Mainstream media requires editorial boards and CEOs approval for their news stories. By the time a story gets through the approvals of those with editorial licence, social media would have made sure that it is old news .The public’s perception is that those who pay the pipers call the tune in mainstream media. In English, mainstream media is adulterated.
Another factor is that such news stories can be accessed on the go and this makes it more attractive to the public. These days, it is not surprising that many get their breaking news, filtered, unfiltered, and faked, AI ed, Chatgpt, etc from social media. There is a lot of propaganda and mind bending taking place on social media. However, the fact that individuals and the public feel that they can be part of the narrative gives some sense of ownership and the power to effect and affect. The public feels as both collective producers and consumers of news, rather than the old days when news was fed and rammed down the throats with reckless abandon. These days, the public feels that they are not told the truth and the whole truth.
So, why the increase in protests?
To all intents and purposes, there is a growing sense of disconnect in politics, and a widening chasm between the people and the politicians. The public see a blatant connivance between the ruling governments, ruling parties and their respective oppositions. The public see the opposition parties as hand in gloves with their governing counterparts. Take for example what is happening in the USA. Since the Democrats lost the election last year, they have been licking their wounds from the political whiplash. Donald Trump’s assault on the rule of law, on democracy, and anything and everything that Once Made America Great appears to go unchallenged by the Democrats, save for lone wolves like Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Pete Buttigieg. Many see the Democrats as been in a political coma.
It will be an understatement to say that Trump’s policies are controversial. His mass deportation or complicity in atrocities committed against the Palestinian people have been the bane of the public’s angst. The deafening silence from the Democrats on these matters does not only render it irrelevant as an opposition, but also complicit in the whole sordid affair. The public’s perception of the opposition as the voice of the voiceless is waning. This has left the public believing that both political parties are one and the same on policies and ideologies. The public’s loss of confidence in both, and especially in the Democrats to fight its corner has created a political vacuum.
This political vacuum is now taken up by grassroots organisations across the globe. As “The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again: but already it was impossible to say which was which”, just like the public no longer able to distinguish between the governing party and the opposition. Is this what might be brewing into third political forces? Are communities and societies now looking for anyone that is ready to stand up to the status quo as the saviours? At a time when Trump is launching unprecedented attacks against immigrants, who would have thought that Zohran Mamdani, an Asian Muslim immigrant and married to a Syrian wife would be leading the mayoral race in New York of all places? Should that serve as a political hint, which the public is fed up with the status quo and ready to throw the hat into the unknown? Looking back to 2016, does that sound familiar Mr Trump?
When Trump staged his birthday disguised as a celebration of America’s 250th anniversary of its military prowess, a well-coordinated “No Kings” protests across the country ensured that Trump’s birthday bash was a non-event. Trump is still seething with rage.
Is America planting the seeds for a revolution?
The American Revolution was mainly driven by mass discontent with British Rule. Americans did not like the over taxation without representation or the ever increasing ideological influences of control and regulation. These simmering tensions culminated in the American War of Independence in 1776. On the other side of the pond, the French society was structured into The Clergy, The Nobility and the Common People. Its Revolution in 1789 was driven by resentment for the bourgeoisie, heavy taxation, and the lack of representation or rights for the Common People.
If these factors sound familiar today, would the history of revolutions repeat itself?
Most, if not all political leaders have backers euphemistically called donors. They transform into lobbyist immediately after their horses win. Traditionally, they stay and operate in the shadows. This time, Trump’s oligarchs like owners of Meta, Amazon, and TESLA etc have publically shown their hands. But with increasing costs of living, increasing taxation (tariffs), with the rule of law assaulted at any given opportunity and to a point that the courts and the constitution are defied and bastardised regularly, does this create a fertile ground for a revolution? How do these conditions compare with those of the French Revolution or The American Revolution? TESLA is proof that Oligarchs can be easy prey when business and politics become strange bedfellows in public.
So, with all these demonstrations and protests taking place at random and without any defined political nomenclature, is this a gathering storm that will be blowing across the world? The death toll from Kenya’s anti-government protests last week has risen to 16. In Hungary, a reported 200,000 people defied a ban to march at Budapest Pride. Protests against governments are not new. However, it is the frequency and regularity that seem to denote a wind of change. Most of what is being protested against are commonly found in the in-trays of opposition parties. In the last twelve months, there were over 160 anti-government protests worldwide. With opposition parties hurtling towards irrelevance and in political comatose state these days, is it conceivable that Third /Independent Parties might just be the political vogue? Is it any wonder, that “The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again: but already it was impossible to say which was which”? “Those who make peaceful revolution impossible, make violent revolution inevitable” (J.F Kennedy).
Don’t forget to turn the lights out when you leave the room.
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