They're goin' off right now in Libya, Bahrain and Yemen. They've already gone off in Tunisia and Egypt. Oman, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Iran...who knows what's next?
Exploitative dictatorships and "monarchies" across the world are, suddenly, in very deep shit. Why?
The internet. It's as simple as that. Almost overnight, it has become literally impossible for anyone - even Big Brother - to keep information from the masses. And make no mistake - information is power.
Gaddafi switched off the internet last night across Libya, just like Mubarak did a few weeks ago in Egypt. It didn't save Mubarak, and it won't save Gaddafi. People have satellite connections, mobile phones hooked into facebook and youtube; thousands of online friends in other countries to help them share information, photos, videos and messages of hope and inspiration. The technology has reached the point of no return, and there's just no way to stop it. Not with batons. Not with bullets. Not with tanks.
Orwell was a smart guy, but if he lived today he would surely shake his head in wonderment at how badly he got it wrong. His disturbingly chilling vision of the future was founded on the idea that all information was controlled by the State. Big Brother was the only channel you could ever watch: a never-ending broadcast of lies. The constant stream of dis-information helped to keep the people in an un-knowing, entirely subservient state of oppression. And so it has been in Tunisia. In Egypt. In Libya.
Until now.
Big Brother don't surf...but we do.
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