SUMMARY
The ancient discussion about the purposes of wealth and the conflict between oligarchy- rule of the rich - and democracy- the rule of the demos/the people comes to the fore once again within the current systemic crisis, from the Arab Spring to the Occupy protests, to the Arab Fall. Even as counterrevolution and growing regional and global turbulence - political, economic and military - appear to be triumphing over the new wave of democratic revolutions and rebellions, at least in the Arab world, with the threat of regional and global conflagration all too real, the underlying structural causes reality of a militarized capitalist world-system in deep crisis will ensure continued waves of antisystemic protests for years to come.