Protesters’ need for recognition has been harnessed to a darker, divisive movement and new heroes promising them greatness
Thousands of people in Tahrir Square chanted the slogan: “Bread! Dignity! Freedom!” It was 2011, and the height of the Arab spring. Standing on my own in the crowd, I recalled a middle-aged worker I’d met in Buenos Aires a decade earlier telling me why he and his colleagues had taken over a factory during Argentina’s economic collapse. He rattled off reasons such as hunger, poverty and inequality. But then his voice changed: “And the boss … ” he said. “Well, he never said good morning to us and, you know, that destroys your dignity.”
Defending one’s dignity sometimes tastes sweeter than the bread – yes, even when you’re hungry
Continue reading...from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2tm8Mh6
