"Tens of thousands of Iraqis surged into the streets Friday in at least a dozen demonstrations across the country, storming provincial buildings, forcing local officials to resign, freeing prisoners andotherwise demanding more from a government they only recently had a chance to elect.
"At least 23 protesters were killed as Iraqis braved security forces to vent shared frustrations at the nearest government official. Sunnis, Shiites, Kurds and Christians, they shouted for simple dignities made more urgent by war - adequate electricity, clean water, a decent hospital, a fair shot at a job.
"I have demands!" Salma Mikahil, 48, cried out in Baghdad's Tahrir Square, as military helicopters and snipers looked down on thousands of people bearing handmade signs and olive branches signifying peace. "I want to see if Maliki can accept that I live on this," Mikahil said, waving a 1,000-dinar note, worth less than a dollar, toward Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's offices. "I want to see if his conscience accepts it.'"
I wonder how much longer these protests can continue, and in how many countries, before people start naming the real root of their problems...... CAPITALISM.
Some of the complaints are dictator-specific, but a common thread that seems to be running through all of them seems to be anger with the sort of radical income inequality that is an inherent component of free-market capitalism. Take for instance, the widespread reporting on the shocking amount of wealth consolidation among a very small portion of the population in these Middle-Eastern countries that the press keeps dutifully reporting as abhorrent. What would it be like to live in such a country?!?! I can't imagine.
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