{"id":1424,"date":"2012-02-01T17:14:13","date_gmt":"2012-02-01T13:14:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theanalyticon.com\/?p=1424"},"modified":"2012-05-10T10:50:32","modified_gmt":"2012-05-10T06:50:32","slug":"what-did-the-year-2011","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theanalyticon.com\/en\/%d0%bd%d0%be%d0%b2%d0%be%d1%81%d1%82%d0%b8-en\/what-did-the-year-2011\/","title":{"rendered":"What Did the Year 2011?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"By Armen<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>GRIGORYAN
\n<\/strong>Chairman of the\u00a0NGO “Democracy for Development”
\nYerevan<\/strong><\/p>\n

It is commonlyaccepted that it is\u00a0difficult to make predictions<\/em>,\u00a0especially<\/em>\u00a0about the\u00a0future<\/em>.\u00a0 Srdja\u00a0Popovic,\u00a0one of the foundersand\u00a0the main organizer\u00a0of the “Otpor” movement in Serbian, has an interesting story\u00a0about this.[1]\u00a0He says\u00a0– imagine\u00a0that, in December\u00a02010\u00a0you\u00a0were able to\u00a0predict\u00a0what\u00a0will happenin\u00a02011, and\u00a0you are invited\u00a0to appear on TV\u00a0and tell\u00a0everything you\u00a0know\u00a0about 2011.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

You tell that in\u00a02011, Ben\u00a0Ali,\u00a0Mubarak\u00a0and\u00a0Gaddafi\u00a0will be down\u00a0and judged.\u00a0You add\u00a0that thousands of people\u00a0will take to the streets\u00a0of London,\u00a0Athens, Madrid and\u00a0New York and require\u00a0social justice from their government, stating they are inspired with the Arab\u00a0revolutions.\u00a0While\u00a0still on air you would\u00a0have\u00a0been interrupted\u00a0with a suspected\u00a0mental disorder.<\/p>\n

There are lots of\u00a0explanations\u00a0as to why\u00a0in 2011 the\u00a0world substantially\u00a0altered. One of the versions is\u00a0that this was due to social media\u00a0and the Internet.\u00a0Quite often there is a view\u00a0that new technologies\u00a0have led to\u00a0the Arab\u00a0spring andrallies\u00a0in various\u00a0cities around the world.\u00a0But this approach\u00a0is quite weak in arguments.\u00a0In this regard,\u00a0former\u00a0U.S. Secretary of State\u00a0CondoleezzaRice\u00a0has a very\u00a0interesting opinion[2].\u00a0She thinks that\u00abtechnology is transforming the way we live every day. But it isn’t the cause of that transformation; it’s just accelerating everything. We’re living in a faster and faster world\u00bb.\u00a0In addition, people\u00a0took to the\u00a0streets\u00a0from time immemorial,\u00a0and the revolutions occurred\u00a0in the world when\u00a0there was no\u00a0technology.<\/p>\n

Among the\u00a0causes of the 2011 crisis was also mentioned\u00a0the polarization of\u00a0wealth\u00a0in virtually all\u00a0parts of the world. In the\u00a0societies\u00a0that experienced crises\u00a0in recent times,the mentioned problems\u00a0are present.<\/p>\n

Recent\u00a0UN reports\u00a0contain more frequent\u00a0warnings about\u00a0the growth of\u00a0inequality\u00a0in the Arab world.\u00a0By examining the\u00a0available statistics,UN Report\u00a0on Middle East\u00a0found\u00a0that the region has\u00a0seen uneven\u00a0growth of inequality.\u00a0For example,from 1980\u00a0to 1990\u00a0in Egypt the income share of the richest rose from\u00a021% to\u00a028%,\u00a0and it happened\u00a0in a situation where\u00a0a group of wealthy people\u00a0wasnot largely\u00a0replenished\u00a0with new people, even though\u00a0income share has increased.\u00a0So,\u00a0this polarization\u00a0eventually led\u00a0to Arab revolutions.<\/p>\n

A wave of riots\u00a0having started at the beginning of\u00a0the year\u00a0in the Arab\u00a0world,\u00a0by the end of\u00a0the year\u00a0went beyond\u00a0the region.\u00a0In August,\u00a0this wave\u00a0swept\u00a0up to\u00a0London and\u00a0other British\u00a0cities.\u00a0Some studies shown that\u00a0one\u00a0of its main causes\u00a0wasa form of\u00a0economic organization\u00a0and\u00a0its consumerist ethos, which went out of control.\u00a0According to\u00a0the report of Tullett\u00a0Prebon\u2019s research center, rioting reflects a deeply flawed economic ethos.\u00a0The report\u00a0leads\u00a0to the conclusion that recklessly borrowed consumption, breakdown of trust in institutions, and severe failings by governments over more than two decades are the main reason for discontent and riots.<\/p>\n

In the fall, the wave of protests swept up from Europe to the North America. On September 13, in New York, very close to the famous Wall Street financial district, the \u201cOccupy Wall Street\u201d movement has emerged. The protesters were complaining for social and economic inequality, high rate of unemployment, corruption and similar injustice. For many years, the free market system has weakened the country\u2019s system of democracy. As a result,\u00a0nearly\u00a035% of thewealth\u00a0was\u00a0concentrated\u00a0in the hands of\u00a01%\u00a0of the population.\u00a0The causes\u00a0of inequality\u00a0were also\u00a0the emergence\u00a0of new\u00a0monopolies\u00a0in the economyand the tax policy, forcing Warren Buffett’s\u00a0secretary\u00a0to pay higher taxes\u00a0than the\u00a0Buffet himself.<\/p>\n

This one percent of population, which concentrated in their hands the majority of the country\u2019s wealth, started to make huge influence on political decisions, and those decisions were largely guided by the interests of this small group, to the detriment of the public interest. This\u00a0was the reason\u00a0that\u00a0people\u00a0in the United States\u00a0took to the streets\u00a0todemand for justice\u00a0and equality.<\/p>\n

The polarization of wealth brings a great danger to societies, and\u00a0any economic model\u00a0is doomed\u00a0if it cannot\u00a0resolve the issue\u00a0of inequality\u00a0– whether\u00a0in a democratic orauthoritarian system of governance.<\/p>\n

In\u00a0the 2000s,\u00a0Russia, thanks\u00a0to higher oil prices, managed to secure economic growth, but\u00a0an inefficient\u00a0management system\u00a0did not\u00a0allow\u00a0distributing the wealth\u00a0as evenly as possible.\u00a0The governing system\u00a0created\u00a0by Putin\u00a0failed to solve the inequality problem.\u00a0And that became one of\u00a0the reasons that\u00a0by the end of\u00a0the year\u00a0a\u00a0wave of protests\u00a0reached Russia,\u00a0the country experiencing sharp polarization of wealth.\u00a0On December 3 a few ones could predict,which\u00a0transformations will Russiaundergo\u00a0after the parliamentary elections.<\/p>\n

What happened after the parliamentary elections\u00a0was typical\u00a0to 2011. The polarization of\u00a0wealth, the\u00a0abuse\u00a0of power,\u00a0electoral\u00a0fraud\u00a0and other\u00a0problems forced the\u00a0citizens of Russia\u00a0to go to the streets and demand political changes that can bring\u00a0social justice.\u00a0For the first time since 2000, a system established\u00a0by Putin is cracking.\u00a0The well-known\u00a0blogger,\u00a0anti-corruption\u00a0activist\u00a0Alexei\u00a0Navalny after a short\u00a0term\u00a0in prison\u00a0was released\u00a0and told\u00a0reporters: “I \u200b\u200bwent to the jail in one country and went\u00a0out in a completely different one”.\u00a0And he\u00a0stayed in jail for no more than two\u00a0weeks.<\/p>\n

Demonstrations on\u00a0December 10 and\u00a024\u00a0brought the largest number of people in Russia\u00a0over the past\u00a020 years.\u00a0The rallying opposition forces demanded for democratization and the rule\u00a0of law and\u00a0justice for all\u00a0members of society.<\/p>\n

In general, the 2011 events demonstrated that concentration of the most part of the national wealth in the hands of a small group brings threats for anycountry. Throughout the year, because of polarization of property and incomes, the regimes found themselves in the deep crisis both in authoritative (Egypt, Syria, Tunisia, Russia) and in democratic countries (USA, Israel, and UK).<\/p>\n

Throughout\u00a02011\u00a0the world\u00a0was discussing\u00a0the possibility of developing\u00a0new models of\u00a0governance as\u00a0the systems\u00a0of authoritarian\u00a0and democratic governanceare in\u00a0a crisis,\u00a0and new models are required which will be able to solve not only the problem of inequality but also other issues such as global warming, environmental problems etc. These new models should minimize inequalities. New models should also have the institutions of policy and economic development that would coordinate and effectively distribute the available benefits.<\/p>\n

In general, the year 2011 demonstrated that any regime may fall apart in any moment. The regime ruling in Tunisia for 30 years and headed by Ben Ali has fallen in 18 days. And not only in Tunisia. That is why all governments should take into account the 2011 events and try to develop policies that will solve issues of inequality, which then will enable the general public to participate in the governance of their countries.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014-<\/p>\n

1. Srdja Popovic: How to topple a dictator www.ted.com\/talks\/srdja_popovic_how_to_topple_a_dictator.html<\/p>\n

2. Foreign Policy Magazine.
\nwww.foreignpolicy.com\/articles\/2011\/11\/28\/the_fp_top_100_global_thinkers?page=full<\/p>\n

3.Stevens, Robert UN report on Middle<\/p>\n

East catalogues widening inequality
\nwww.wsws.org\/articles\/2002\/sep2002\/mid-s12.shtml<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Armen\u00a0GRIGORYAN Chairman of the\u00a0NGO “Democracy for Development” Yerevan It is commonlyaccepted that it is\u00a0difficult to make predictions,\u00a0especially\u00a0about the\u00a0future.\u00a0 Srdja\u00a0Popovic,\u00a0one of the foundersand\u00a0the main organizer\u00a0of the “Otpor” movement in Serbian, has an interesting story\u00a0about this.[1]\u00a0He says\u00a0– imagine\u00a0that, in December\u00a02010\u00a0you\u00a0were able to\u00a0predict\u00a0what\u00a0will happenin\u00a02011, and\u00a0you are invited\u00a0to appear on TV\u00a0and tell\u00a0everything you\u00a0know\u00a0about 2011.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[368,146,3],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theanalyticon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1424"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theanalyticon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theanalyticon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theanalyticon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theanalyticon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1424"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/theanalyticon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1424\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1867,"href":"https:\/\/theanalyticon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1424\/revisions\/1867"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theanalyticon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1424"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theanalyticon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1424"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theanalyticon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1424"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}