Clashes Rise in Tunisia as Protesters Are Tear-Gassed and Thousands Demand Resignation of President

Tunisia. Where dat? What does this mean to anybody? Peacenik's google alerts about food shortages are swamping Peacenik's inbox. What kind of match will it take to get food riots going in your neighbourhood. The cost of food is already skyrocketing. Unemployment is very high. Homelessness is growing. If you were sitting under some overpass, cold, hungry, with no money and no access to food, do you think you might be motivated to protest. Riots are like viruses. They are infectious. They can sweep across the globe in an eye blink. You think North America is immune? Peacenik doesn't.

Police have fired tear gas at protesters outside the interior ministry in the Tunisian capital, Tunis, activists say.

Protesters chant slogans against President Zine El Abidine Ben Aliin during a demonstration in Tunis, Friday, Jan. 14, 2011. Thousands of angry demonstrators marched through Tunisia's capital Friday, demanding the resignation of the country's autocratic leader a day after he appeared on TV to try to stop deadly riots that have swept the North African nation. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

"We heard shots, I believe they were shooting in the air but for sure they were shooting [tear] gas bombs, and they are trying to disperse and spread people," Youssef Gaigi, an activist at the scene, told Al Jazeera.

"There were some clashes, police on their bikes and cars hitting people. Things quickly changed. Before, this morning things were totally peaceful, we had people from all social classes, we had people from everywhere come here to Tunis and now they just decided to use violence."

The protesters are seeking the immediate resignation of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, the president, and are refusing to disperse until he steps down.

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The Wealth and Poverty of Nations (and Neighbors)

Sharon

A while back there was a study that suggested that it is more expensive to be poor in the US in some ways, than it is to be rich. And to anyone who has actually been poor, this probably made perfect sense. Among the ways that being poor cost you money:

1. Your infrastructure is limited, so you are limited to what fits in your infrastructure - for example, you don’t have a car, so you can only shop at the convenience stores or those on your bus line, which are more expensive than the Walmart outside town. Your house or apartment is underinsulated, so your utility bills are extremely high. You have to have food and heat, so you pay them, and struggle.

2. You are less likely to have insurance, or to have exhausted your safety nets, so you are more likely to find yourself paying for acute costs because of things you’ve let go - instead of routine dental care, you don’t got the dentist until there’s a major crisis, involving multiple root canals. You can’t afford to have the roof replaced, so you wait until things start falling on your head.

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Peacenik finds something almost reassuring about Sharon Astyk's description of the poverty of people and states. The process, the road to poverty is the same. And people and states are now poor, although many are still in denial. Sharon is talking about community and social capital. These are the things that will insulate society from the Mad Max scenario. Society still has choices that it can make. It looks like right now society's leaders are choosing to side with the wealthy. Leaders are still determined to protect the bankers and brokers. Peacenik things society will eventually side with the poor. How quickly society's leaders make this transition will determine which scenario plays out.