North Africa has awoken, its people are speaking out and suffering the consequences. I believe that the wave of insurrection we see spreading throughout the northern section of this great continent in some respects has parallels with the forces released by such movements as enlightenment, reformation, and renaissance. Europe experienced great upheaval during all of these movements as we grew in both philosophical and political terms. We awoke in the renaissance from the dark ages at which time we became free for the bondage imposed by feudal systems, capitalism was born and the freedom we gain burdened us with responsibility. Corrupt religious rule was shattered by the reformation, great wars where fought in Europe between factions until we became sickened by the killing and settled for tolerance separating the influence of the church from the seat of political power. (This cannot be said for the U.S.)
The birth of reason in the enlightenment movement created ideas that formed nations and lead us into the modern world.
Western thinking has been diverging from that of eastern intellectual development and our religious and political expression takes an entirely different form. The people of North Africa have in a world illuminated by information been able to express themselves and have rebelled against dictatorial rule. I wish them success and hope that the freedom that emerges serves them better than ours has done us.
This illustrative project you are doing is fantastic and informative. Thanks for sharing it.
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