You cannot hold back the tide of history

News reports from Libya reveal Col. Gaddafi’s crackdown on demonstrators. The Dear Leader’s security apparatus has killed scores of people; people who were only trying to do what he himself did all those years ago. Namely remove an unpopular leader in a bloodless transfer of power. He’s having none of that however. Unlike Hosni Mubarak, the army is in his pocket and I think he will take a few more Libyan lives before the situation resolves itself. But like Mubarak, he is on the wrong side of history. If you’re a student of history, as I like to think I am, you come to the realization that time and time again, leaders forget one crucial thing. They remain in power only as long as the people want them to. As soon as there is a critical mass of fed up citizens, they better pack their bags. Whether it’s in a democratic system and there is a landslide victory for the opposition, as most recently seen in the Republican Party congressional wins, or in a military dictatorship like Egypt, as long as the people are truly fed up then the leaders of that nation are living on borrowed time. My history teacher in high school told me that ‘history repeats itself’ and I must say he was right. Poring over books and trying to cram as much information as I humanly could, I learnt to love the French Revolution. I mean, those were some interesting times. An entire nation, fed up with a mediocre aristocracy decided “off with their heads”, literally. Louis XVI said famously “l’etat c’est moi”; well, the Parisians retorted “non monsieur” and sent him to the guillotine. This scenario has been played over and over since 1789. Whenever the leadership takes it people for granted, the people will rise up each and every time. What occurred in China after the Tiananmen Square protest in 1989 is something that political leaders should study under a microscope. The Chinese leadership at the time, after crushing the protest, realized that the only way that they could avoid bringing out the tanks again would be to raise the standard of living for the Chinese people. So, a compromise of sorts was reached between the people and their leadership. The people wouldn’t ask for too much political reform from the government and the government would make sure that the people had full bellies. The result of this unwritten contract? China has now overtaken Japan as the world’s second biggest economy and the lives of the Chinese people are better than they have ever been. However, this compromise is simply a stop-gap measure. I believe that people want more than full bellies; they want to determine their own futures. Mankind always wants more. It’s like the pyramid of wants. After taking care of the basic needs (food, shelter, employment and such) man starts getting ideas. Ideas of self realization and intellectual fulfillment. The Chinese people still haven’t taken a full belly for granted but when they finally do, the Communist Party will have to reform the political landscape. “One man, one vote” will be the new Party slogan. Or else, people power will sweep it into the dustbin of history On another note, I recently read an article in the Economist magazine that made my blood boil. Titled ‘A warlord goes about his business’ the Government of Rwanda is shamelessly tarred with the same brush tarring DRC General, Bosco Ntaganda. The article connects the alleged smuggling of minerals by the Congolese national to President Kagame simply because both men are ‘Tutsi’. And then it concludes that ‘if Rwanda ended its support for the man wanted by the ICC that could help repair the damage to its reputation’. I don’t know where to start with this article. There are so many stereotypes in the piece that I’m left wondering whether anyone actually edited and fact checked it. I urge each and every reader of the Sunday Times to go online, read the article and give the Economist magazine a piece of their mind. sunnyntayombya@newtimes.co.rw