garysick:

John Harris in The Guardian takes a running start at the unanswered question beneath the Arab Spring, the Tea Party, the Occupy Whatever, etc.  Is this one of those moments like 1968 or 1989 or even 1848 when the world suddenly — and often inexplicably — changed?

He admits we don’t reallty understand what happened in the world wide youth revolts of 1968, and the 1989 collapse of the Soviet Union is not really similar to what is happening now. The European Revolutions of the mid-19th century? Maybe, but it’s not clear exactly how.

We know something is in the air. There is a spirit of revolt that extends from small towns in Tunisia to NYC and beyond. We know people are angry; we know they have new ways of communicating their anger; and, most important, we know that they have no idea what they really want. They know what they re against; they can’t define what they are for.

Frankly, I kind of like the 1848 comparison. That was a time when the failures of government — and ideology — led not only to political revolutions but also to the Communist Manifesto, skewering the failures of Capitalism. The universal anger at bankers, plutocrats and government toadies seems to  me to mirror that same sense of failure. 

Curiously, this is a wonderful moment for a leader to emerge who crystallizes all this angst into a political platform or movement toward a specific goal. Does that person exist? 

Unfortunately, it didn’t happen in 1968. Instead we got a conservative regression that led us back to where we started. In an eerie way, we are having the same 1968 revolt once again — by many of the same sorts of people — young, disillusioned, lacking the kind of economic and social prospects of their parents or grandparents, and ultimately just bewildered and angered. 

Are we going to go back to Nixon and do it all again, or does someone have a better answer? Courageous leaders, this may be your only chance. Please stand up!

I don’t think we are repeating 1968. I don’t think we will go back to Nixon. I’m not that pessimistic. But I do think there will be massive middle class anger and frustration because of the gradual decline of living standards. I don’t know how a leader can offer an answer that will fix that.