WHERE IGNORANCE IS BLISS, ‘TIS FOLLY TO BE WISE

Almost 10 years ago, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi of Libya was overthrown by Western-backed Libyan rebels during the heat of the Arab Spring. Prior to his overthrow, Libyans were among the happiest people on Earth. Libya had no sovereign debt; houses were in abundance for all. There was universal healthcare, constant and affordable electricity, and water. A teacher who earned $700 a month then, now earns $200 a month with no government-provided social amenities.

Libya 🇱🇾 is now technically in a Civil War, with virtually no infrastructure, constant electricity and water, and good healthcare. It all began during the so-called Arab Spring, which began in the spring of 2011. It was ignited by the self-immolation of Bouazizi (a vegetable seller) in Tunisia: this was the Jasmine revolution that toppled the government of Tunisia and restored democracy.

Through social media such as Facebook, but especially Twitter, the Arab Spring quickly spread throughout the whole Arab world, leading to the toppling of governments in Egypt (Hosni Mubarak was overthrown by the Tahir Square uprising) and Libya (through a Civil War). Besides Lybia, it led to Civil Wars in Yemen and Syria, which are now literally mass refugee camps, flooding Europe with refugees and destabilizing their social order and polity.

Whilst uprisings in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia 🇸🇦 caused some changes in social laws, little or nothing has changed in the lives of these nations after the devastating Arab Spring, a decade on. This isn’t new.

The Russian (Bolshevik) and French revolutions that overthrew their respective monarchies drenched these countries in protracted wars, oppression, reigns of terror, and ceaseless bloodshed.

An Egyptian anti-government protester holds a defaced poster of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, with the words “Mubarak, get out” written above, during a demonstration in Cairo in January.

Everyone wants change, but mass protests for change are usually hijacked by power-hungry tyrants who ride on the back of such protests to power and kill the leaders of such protests. An example is the killing of other revolutionaries by Robespierre and his own killing, the annihilation of opposition by Adolf Hitler and his Gestapo, and the mass murders of Vladimir Lenin…

Current economic hardships resulting from COVID-19 has generated a lot of Twitter-based protests in Ghana 🇬🇭, for instance, with many youths and celebrities joining in #Fixthecountry and #Fixit campaigns, making several requests of the government. As a student of history, I only sit back and smile, but with caution. I still remember the Biafran Civil War and numerous Coup d’Etats of Nigeria🇳🇬. The bloody June 4 uprising and “let the blood flow” jeers in Ghana 🇬🇭 that killed thousands and pushed thousands more into exile. The wars for change in Liberia and Sierra Leone, the erratic seizure of white farms in Zimbabwe. What changed? Are those countries better off today?

After a decade, the Arab Spring only brought destruction!! Social-media-initiated protests and hashtags do not bring about genuine change. It only changes leaders but restores the problems in higher degrees. The world is just broken and will continue to spiral downwards. What did the death of George Floyd and the #BlackLivesMatter protests change? Has it stopped the killing of black people in America? No!

Adam and Eve never knew what they had until they left the Garden of Eden to farm outside it.

For where ignorance is bliss, it’s folly to be wise.

Let’s appreciate our lot and make the best out of it. As 2 Peter 3:13 puts it, “We wait for a new Heaven and a new Earth, wherein dwells righteousness”. No revolutions and protests can change our lot, give us maximum security, or ensure perpetual economic insurance. Only God can help and save us, and we must yearn for the New Jerusalem He has promised His Saints.

A happy blessed Sabbath to all the saints of God.