The same ideas come to my mind every time I think about “power”: government, country, militaries, leaders… Since we were children, media and all the structures that shape our identity have been building the power´s image as something outside us that implies a hierarchy. There´s always some people on top of this structure and a majority at the bottom. We’re also told that power means corruption and conflict and It´s not trustworthy.
The recent events in the Arabian world are changing this perception. These happenings are switching the word’s meaning by showing us another perspective, maybe forgotten, of this term: every one of us has the capacity to change, create something new, influence in positive terms. We’re powerful.
This word has started changing its meaning because of an special story. A young man in Tunis committed suicide because he thought that he had no future in his country. After getting his degree, he tried to get a good job but he couldn´t. At the end, he took up selling vegetables and make a living from it. One day, the police took all his belongings away because, according to them, he had no work permit. The situation discouraged him and he became hopeless, gave up struggling and put an end to his life. People who witnessed it started realizing how rotten their government was and they became aware of the social and economic situation.
It was the starting point of the story. From that moment on, they became organized through Facebook calling for a change. Tens of thousands of people took to the streets in demonstrations that were spread across other countries. This situation has sparked the awareness of social inequalities and corruption in the Arabian world. This makes me think about the importance of another concept: community. People coming together are more powerful that an individual. So not only we must be aware of our capabilities as beings but also about our sense of membership. It seems to me that we´ve got used to not being responsable for our society. We believe that we don´t have strength and even commitment.
I’m eager to see what’s going on in our societies. The world is changing very quickly and for the first time in many years individuals instead of government or other powerful institutions are leading this switch. Have you ever think about what would happen if every single personal around the world was committed to changing, to improving his or her society?
We have tools to make it possible. Facebook and other social media are changing the individual´s communications and relationships. We have no excuses for procrastination, for not believing in ourselves. It´s time to realize that we´re part of a society and we shouldn´t leave this responsibility in others´s hands.
