Last November I did a piece on the Euro-Contagion. One of the images was an adaptation of the "Euro Contagion" to a vector tracing of an actual virus. Several knowledgeable sources, including our own Reggie Middleton, complemented the simple model depicted in that image.

Last week a ZH reader asked me to do a similar model depicting the "Jasmine Contagion".

I have been thinking about this for several weeks. I have come to realize that there is an overwhelming temptation to cast the causes of the social unrest that we are witnessing into recognizable types that we are historically familiar with. 

But when you study the information that is coming through, you quickly realize that this is not a religious uprising, it is not an ideological revolution or a sudden violent outbreak of Arab nationalism.

These are people  who are (a) demographically diverse but primarily young, (b) relatively well educated (c) savy in information/communication technologies and social media, (d) economically despondent and disaffected with corrupt states each in varying stages of breakdown  and crisis and (e) well aware of the ongoing rebalancing of global economic wealth.

In the past these popular revolts  might well have been facilitated by the religious institutions that provide a convenient medium modus of logistical organization. However, as we have seen, these recent revolts are primarily enabled by social media platforms as a medium for organization. You know something very different is happening when a popular hero in Egypt is an executive of uTube and thousands of Arabs are watching a uTube video lampooning Muammar Gadaffi (sp?), a music video that happens to have been posted by a young Israeli from his bedroom.

I don't think I  would be alone in concluding that what we are essentially witnessing is a huge and diverse mass of people who have reached a social tipping point against totalitarianism, state corruption and egregious economic disparity. Demographically this mass is young, interconnected and readily inclined to mobilize and engage in many forms of civil disobedience.

I have come up with another simple way to visualize the so called "Jasmine Revolution" sweeping MENA.  I call it the "Jazzman Revolution" and when you think about it, it is certainly not limited to the Middle East. Sounds silly and yes it is a play on words, but here goes folks...

Satchmo was the great jazzman Louis Armstrong. who wrote a song that people literally all over the world love to listen to, "What A Wonderful World". For this purpose I'll call the lyrics the Jazzman Manifesto.

Here it is...

When you are watching all those brave people struggle on TV and you listen to all the MSM pundits try to tell you this and that about what is happening over there and why, here is my suggestion, hum this tune to yourself and don't take their convoluted explanations to seriously.

Why do people love this song? Read the lyrics and hum it. It's universal. This is the essence of what people want. They are not interested in being told what to do by a tyrant, a foreign operative or a holy man. They simply want their own "wonderful world." In the past they were unduly dependent on foreign powers and/or entrenched religious/social orders to achieve success. But in today's world, just like everything else, the protestors are now digitally empowered. So what we are seeing is a the new new hybrid of social unrest. Facebook meets after Friday prayers on twitter.

Now what happens when masses of people suddenly realize after many many years, that they are being robbed of their basic human right to live in a "wonderful world"? Sooner or later (and better late than never) they take action. That is what we are seeing in internet standard time.

And as is typically the case, the power elite do not want to simply hand over the keys to the oppressed so a violent struggle ensues.

So what happens next? Your guess is as good as anyone else's. Take a look at this map. 

This is a network graph of internet backbones and ISPs in the Middle East prepared in 2008. Over this you may overlay mobile and fixed line telephone networks and satellite broadcasting foot prints. These are the Jazzman Contagion vectors. They run allover the place and the connections are in many instances very robust.

Next look at the countries on the list. You don't have to be a CIA analyst to understand the "Wonderful World" implications. There are lots of places where the world is not so wonderful after all and word travels very fast.

Wondering why governments all over the world (including the good old USA) are quietly taking concerned notice of these developments. Here is the rest of the internet world. I don't know about you, but I want a "wonderful world" too!