No Butterflies-Rather Moths to the Flames

Submitted by M. Tovey (United States), Dec 19, 2011 at 18:06

Euphemistically speaking, the butterfly effect is a philosophical rendition of a more potent reality, that of cause and effect. It should be apparent that the Tunisian incident did have some evidence of reality: that as surmised by another, the officer was exonerated more than likely due to the color of law as practiced in that environment. It must be remembered, only in a few countries, an officer is held accountable for abuse of lawful power- we see how it works there.

But the more powerful thought is the over-the-top reaction of M. Bouaszizi to commit self immolation as it seemed the only way for him to respond to the abuse he perceived he had received. The court of the jurisdiction holding sway did nothing more than confirm that laws in that environment are treated differently and the lesson to be learned is do not confuse the Tunisian practice of law with that of any other jurisdiction. It is worse elsewhere-just ask a Syrian opposing his current form of citizenship.

That some will adopt a 'butterfly effect' in thinking that there was a connection to the Tunisian uprising to the subsequent uprisings seen elsewhere, somewhat in domino effect, is a subliminal dramatization of a series of events that were waiting for something, anything, to provide the right justification to overturn the ruling parties not following the Islamic revolution. Syria, on the brink, remains to be seen as its cocoons are being broken.

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".