In the end of every year, Time magazine choose a person that they think contributed to do the world a better place, somebody that they would like to highlighted for doing beyond in his or her profession. In 2010, they chose Mark Zuckerberg, the creator of Facebook. In 2009, they chose Ben Bernanke, US Federal Reserve President. In 2008, they chose Barak Obama, US President. In this report I am doing a summary now, they explain who they chose in 2011 and why. I totally agree with them. It was published at Time.com at Dec.14,2011 and was written by Rick Stengel. The title is above.
History often emerge in retrospect. Events become significant only when looked back on. No one could have known that when a Tunisian fruit vendor set himself on fire in a public square, he would spark protests that would bring down dictators in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya and rattle regimes in Syria, Yemen and Bahrain. Or that that spirit of dissent would spur Mexicans to rise up against the terror of drug cartels, Greeks to march against unaccountable leaders, Americans occupy public spaces to protest income inequality, and Russians to marshal themselves against a corrupt autocracy.
Is there a global tipping point for frustation? Everywhere, it seems, people said they would had enough. They dissented, they demanded, they did not despair, even when the answers came back in a cloud of tear gas or a hail of bullets. And although it was understood differently in different places, the idea of democracy was present in every gathering.
Technology mattered, but this was not a technological revolution. Social networks did not cause these movements, but they kept them alive and connected, but this was not a wired revolution, it was a human one, of hearts and minds.
Everywhere this year, people have complained about the failure of tradicional leadership and the fecklessness of institutions. Politicians cannot look beyond the next election. That´s one reason we did not select an individual this year. For capturing and highlighting a global sense of restless promise, for upending governments and conventional wisdom, for combining the oldest of techniques with the newest of technologies to shine a light on human dignity and, finally, for steering the planet on a more democratic though sometimes more dangerous path for the 21st century, THE PROTESTER IS TIME´s 2011 PERSON OF THE YEAR.
Spur - encourage.
Unaccountable - irresponsible.
Dissent - disagreement with a widely held view.
Autocracy - system of government in which one person has total power.
Hail - large number of things through the air.
Restless - unable to rest.
Fecklessness - lacking strengh of character.
Steering - guide.
Upending - set something on its end.
