1. Jordanians have been forced to be interested in politics and public affairs. It’s Politics 101 for many young Jordanians. (Question from a young colleague at the office: “Ahmad.. What is a ‘Leftist’ party?”)
2. Students, workers and other groups suddenly have a voice after years and years of not being heard. Political organizations reflecting their voices are being born everywhere (compare that to the pathetic political scene during the last election, where slogans mostly ranged from the mundane to the nonsensical).
3. More people than ever are actually reading the constitution for the first time in the life.
4. People, in Amman, suddenly realize: oops, Amman is not Jordan!
5. The older generation is joining Facebook and Twitter to understand what the hell is going on.
6. Suddenly, there are public conversations between the most unlikely of conversation partners.
7. Most red lines and taboos have fallen. People are discussing everything, everywhere.
8. Al-Rai newspaper, the bastion of jordanian state conservatism is in revolt.
9. We discovered that there are people among us who have no problem using sticks and stones against peaceful protesters.
10. We discovered that some of our “cool” and “educated” friends are actually ignorant and insensitive to the rest of society, and only want “things to go on as they were”.
11. The flag business has become very profitable.
12. A whole new generation of future leaders and politicians was born. The business of recycling the same political elites is probably coming to an end.
13. Many of the privileged members of society got a wakeup call. We lost our illusion of “everything is ok”. Developing Jordan into a truly modern country will be a long, long, hard road.
14. We realized that the divisions that exist within Jordanian society (that have been swept under the carpet and never discussed openly) can be utilized by politicians to ruin the peace on our streets.
15. JTV is having to open up a bit. (But they are still a dinosaur).
16. Ammanis will be electing their entire city council and maybe even the mayor.
17. Corruption is back on the public agenda.
18. There is a national dialogue committee discussing election, political party and related laws. Some of the members of the committee are tough and are keeping the discussion interesting.
19. Social media now means more than “social media marketing”.
Comments
5 responses to “19 things we have gained/learned already in the struggle for reform in Jordan”
Welcome back – good stuff – as usual
I think this is the most true one: “19. Social media now means more than “social media marketingâ€.”
Thank you for what is ,in my opinion, one of the few positive posts on what is happening in Jordan.
After all the talking and discussing, it great to see someone bring it on the table, clearly, simply and consciously. Thank you Ahmad
this is funny
“We discovered that some of our “cool†and “educated†friends are actually ignorant and insensitive to the rest of society, and only want “things to go on as they wereâ€.
u r ignorant if u think that’s what we want you facebook soldiers are nothing but a hopeless case…ur the ignorant and silly ones but u just think you’re heros LOL