> This is not, in other words, Syria or Egypt, where political repression is
> the immediate concern.
As noted in the following articles, among others, this was not the case:
http://insurgentnotes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Mouvement-Communiste-on-Egypt-72211.html http://insurgentnotes.com/2011/08/on-tunisia/ http://viewpointmag.com/from-egypt-to-wall-street/
At the last of these, we read:
"Deep in the land of Hannibal the Carthaginian, who once challenged the power of another global empire, Bouazizi was born to a construction worker, living his entire life in Sidi Bouzid, an agrarian town. The 26-year-old scraped together an existence for himself and a large family by selling fruit. Relatively speaking, he did well to have even that hustle, as the New York Times reported that unemployment reaches as high as 30% in his area. There was a nearby factory, but that only pays around $50 a month. Even the college educated were heading to the coast, where they too struggled with underemployment.
"A veteran fruit vendor, Bouazizi was used to the authorities that policed the fruit stands. Sometimes he paid a fine, other times a bribe. But on the morning of December 17, Bouazizi refused to do either. He also refused an attempted confiscation of his fruit, commodities that are often bought on credit by the para-legal vendors. The representative of the state eventually won the first battle. Beaten and humiliated, Bouazizi quickly tried redressing his grievances at the governor’s office, requesting that, at the least, his scale be returned. Ignored at the governor’s, he was reported to ask, “how do you expect me to make a living?” He set himself ablaze and ignited a global movement."
So, using the outlines of your either/or universe, what's at play here, economic repression or political repression? Would have to be political repression, right?