This is a response to Mohamed Jemmali’s letter to the Oregon Daily Emerald, dated Feb. 11, 2011. I can’t decide whether his clumsy argument is the result of an imperfect grasp of English, or whether he was emotionally heated while writing. Either way, I don’t believe his letter was addressed to the University’s student body. It was addressed to a specific group of disenfranchised youth amenable to his suggestions.
After crediting Tunisia for spreading “the seeds of revolution across the Arab world,” Mohamed Jemmali goes on to state that not all Arab dictators feel threatened by the possibility of overthrow — only those whose countries suffer high unemployment. From there, Jemmali leaves behind all rational discourse regarding Tunisia, dictatorships and unemployment. Instead, what follows is a litany of ills befalling people everywhere governed by corrupt powers.
Jemmali notes that every nation in the world is in debt, with the United States leading at around $14 trillion. He also tells us that by 2050 half the world’s nations should be bankrupt. In addition, we are consuming six barrels of oil for each one extracted. The world population will reach 7 billion next year. One billion of the existing people are starving children dying at a rate of one every five seconds. Dictators ignore the numbers. Democratic leaders ignore them as well, thinking, “it’s going to be another president’s problem.” The suggestion here is that Jemmali’s readers should include democracies among the corrupt powers, including the democracy of the United States.
Adding to his list, Jemmali states that Wall Street makes “money out of debt,” which is the “No. 1 industry in America.” Prisons are now being privately run, and people are being thrown into jail for nonexistent reasons. To press home the need for alarm, Jemmali asks, “Are you next?” One must assume by this rhetorical question that Jemmali’s intended audience feels persecuted and is at some risk of unlawful imprisonment.
In the middle of his tirade, Jemmali explains that at a Zeitgeist Lane County meeting, participants were brainstorming survival plans in anticipation of “foreseeable government shutdown.” Foreseeable government shutdown? Apparently those who attend Zeitgeist Lane County meetings are convinced, as many were at the approach of the year 2000, that society is on the brink of collapse. By mentioning their plans in his letter, Jemmali plants the suggestion that seeds of revolution are growing in the United States as well.
At his letter’s end, Jemmali takes his stand. He states that “no corporate president or CEO cares about you” and that “the Democratic and Republican parties are one corporate party with two heads wearing different makeup.” He concludes it’s “time for a change we live in, not believe in for few years before we realize it’s for the richest 2 percent of the country again (sic).”  If this is not an open call for the replacement of our existing economic system, our political parties and government, I don’t know what else it could be.
Let us summarize Mohamed Jemmali’s argument, such as it is:
       The seeds of revolution are bearing fruit across the Arab world.
       Unemployment is a precursor to an overthrow of dictatorship.
       Nations worldwide are going bankrupt.
       Shutdown of the United States government is imminent.
       The world’s oil supply is running out.
       The world’s population is exploding, and children are dying.
       Neither democratic leaders or dictators care.
       Wall Street makes money out of debt.
       You are at risk of unjust imprisonment.
       No corporate president or CEO cares about you.
       The Democratic and Republican parties are part of the same corporation.
       Conclusion: Replace the existing socio-economic/political/legal system.
Of course, Mohamed Jemmali shies away from proposing a replacement socio-economic/political/legal system. He is merely trying to open doors in the mind to possibilities. As to his intended audience, I have no idea how many there are. If even a small number of disaffected youth are paying attention to Jemmali’s rhetoric and are inspired by the idea of revolution and some “foreseeable government shutdown,” then the University has a safety issue. If it sounds as though I believe there to be a sinister motive under Jemmali’s words, I do. And I’m appalled that the University would have on its faculty an instructor actively employing the techniques of influence and persuasion on students in their own newspaper.
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