The Butterfly and the Boiling Point

É o título de um texto escrito por Rebecca Solnit, no qual se reflecte de forma eloquente sobre a imprevisibilidade da revolução, a propósito dos movimentos revolucionários em curso no Médio Oriente e Norte de África.

Um extracto:

"When a revolution is made, people suddenly find themselves in a changed state -- of mind and of nation. The ordinary rules are suspended, and people become engaged with each other in new ways, and develop a new sense of power and possibility. People behave with generosity and altruism; they find they can govern themselves; and, in many ways, the government simply ceases to exist. A few days into the Egyptian revolution, Ben Wedeman, CNN’s senior correspondent in Cairo, was asked why things had calmed down in the Egyptian capital. He responded: “[T]hings have calmed down because there is no government here," pointing out that security forces had simply disappeared from the streets."