Time’s
choice this year couldn’t be a further departure from their history,
especially given that last year’s person of the year was Mark
Zuckerberg, the man behind the now wildly popular and controversial
Facebook.
Instead of honoring a
politician, businessperson, or other single individual, Time took a
great leap in giving the award to “the protester.”
This
year has been marked by significant upheaval and popular protest
throughout the world, especially in the Middle East as we saw with the
now famous “Arab Spring” revolts across several nations.
We
have also witnessed the “Occupy” movement rise to prominence, starting
in New York City and spreading throughout the United States and then the
world.
While
the demographics of these protests vary wildly, all of the protesters
have one thing in common: they are upset and they aren’t going to sit
back and take it anymore.
Yet despite all of the opposition and
inhumane treatment so many of the demonstrators have experienced, they
refused to give in, take no for an answer and go home.
It
is clear that while in the case of the United States, no radical change
has been achieved as of yet, at least the demonstrators have been
making an impact on the hearts and minds of Americans and others around
the globe.
The mainstream media can
no longer ignore and marginalize the protests and the popular discontent
as some kind of fad or passing craze.
The
people of the world are upset and they’re not going to take it anymore.
It is great to see popular publications with massive distributions like
Time are beginning to realize that they had better embrace this
movement or be left in the dust.
Hopefully
this encouraging trend will continue and the protests will start to
actually bring about meaningful change and with it a more peaceful
society that works for equality and justice for all, not just the
absurdly wealthy and politically connected.
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