I heard all this was caused by one person who got tired of the government taxing his business soo much he truely can`t support himself so he set himslf on fire . but remember the freedom these folk crave can easily be radical islam. remember the ME was one of the most advance civilizations on earth and they VOLUNTARILY decided to stopped.
sounds like Liberalism kills everything, everywhere & everyone...
If it were just tax, maybe you would be right. But it had nothing to do with taxation and everything to do with the corruption that plagues this entire region.
Liberalism is a corrupt philosophy that doesn't take the individual person into account. It never takes into account people only a way of thinking. One size fits all except for the people in charge. They of course are exempt from everything.
Actually, I was going to come back and change my statement to you after thinking a bit more.
Regardless of your opinion of liberalism (a very broad term which can mean many different things to different people), large parts of the world function quite well and happily with a heavy dose of it. The Scandinavian countries - the most "liberal" (read: socialist) of all - consistently rank highest in ratings of personal happiness.
What happens in the Middle East is not liberal. The people DO get taxed heavily, but there are very few tangible benefits - a necessary exchange for a system like that to work. In places like Libya, Syria, Egypt, the money goes to line the pockets of the corrupt while the people suffer horribly. That is a stupid system ripe for revolution.
Now let me tell you about heavy taxation without tangible benefits where I live. (Although the situation in Jordan isn't so corrupt compared to the rest - this is just well and truly a very poor country with hardly any natural resources and taxation is the only way - in most cases - for the country to function.)
The situation is enough to make me want to revolt. GST of 16%. Hidden taxes and duties on anything you might want to buy except for the most basic of life's necessities. On top of that, heavy payroll taxes. In short, the cost of living here is much higher than in the U.S., but at the same time, I am making less than 1/2 of what I would be earning in the U.S. (Amman is the most expensive of all Arab countries, in comparison to the salaries of the people.) In fact, the AVERAGE salary in Jordan is $300 USD per month.
Let me break that down for you:
-- If you want to buy a car, you will pay 100 - 150% MORE than you would in the U.S. So if a car in your dealership in the U.S. costs $15k, in Amman it will cost $30 - $40k. (I never thought I would live to see the day where I'd be eyeing a Hyundai like it was a Cadillac.)
-- I bought my son a Nintendo Wii for his birthday. I paid
$650 for it.
-- A dinner at Applebees for 2 people; 2 entrees (basic - not the most expensive thing on the menu); no appetizer; Pepsi only - no drinks: $80-$90.
Just an example. Of course, all of the above are considered luxeries here.
Here are all of the benefits that I would personally expect in a system where I am subjected to a socialist-like tax - NONE of which are given to anyone here:
-- High quality health care for all with minimal out-of-pocket costs. We pay for it. (There is low-quality healthcare that poor people can get for free if they petition the government, and when I say low-quality, think 3rd world hospital standards.)
-- A buttload of holiday and vacation time; we actually get about the same as in the American system, and adding insult to injury if a holiday like Labor Day lands on a weekend, tough - they don't adjust to the first or last day of the week. (A government worker had the gall to quip, "Well, you all have the day off anyway, right?)
-- A high quality infrastructure - ours lacks in too many ways
-- Free or low cost QUALITY education - in Jordan, no sane person would send their kid to a public school, so private schools have become the norm. Very, very expensive and the ones within our budget ($5000 - $7000 per year for 1st grade) aren't that great, by American standards. We would need to pay $12000 to $15000 per year to get really high quality.
There are more examples, but the point is, when a people are taxed this heavily, if there are no returns on the investment, how long can a system like this be stable? Now, add horrible corruption in so many other ME countries and it's like throwing a lit match on a gas spill.
