"They see the inequalities that exist in this country," Rep. John Larson of Connecticut said of the American protesters. "Everybody ought to take heed that it's not only an 'Arab Spring,' but there is an 'American Fall' as well."
Larson is right about inequality. By every measure - income, home ownership, education - the gap between our haves and have-nots has widened. That's why I'm a fan of the Occupy America demonstrators, who have shone a bright light on these facts.
But it's also why I deplore facile comparisons to the Arab Spring, which harm the credibility of anyone who makes them. Consider that an estimated 2,900 people have already lost their lives in Syria alone, according to the United Nations' human rights office. More than 800 died in the protests in Egypt, and nearly 500 in the demonstrations in Tunisia, Yemen, and Bahrain.
But all these figures pale next to the death toll in Libya, which could be as high as 30,000. To be sure, some of these were loyalists fighting to protect the ousted dictator Moammar Gadhafi. But untold thousands lost their lives trying to overthrow Gadhafi, who reportedly ordered a wave of murders after protests against his regime began.
In New York, meanwhile, 700 protesters were arrested on the Brooklyn Bridge and released several hours later. A ham-handed response by the police? I think so. But an "American Fall"? Please.
Calling it that insults the martyrs of the Middle East and gives too much credit to the American demonstrators. Most of all, it papers over the key distinction between democracy and autocracy: one allows citizens to criticize their leaders, and the other doesn't.
