On Qat and Revolution

People have been wondering if the wave of revolution against the soon to be (hopefully) old Arab order can spread to Yemen. I’ve seen the Yemeni Qat chewing habit evinced as an argument against revolution there. But the Qat chew enables passionate discussion. It's like grass roots democracy, with debates going on all the time, despite an unfree press. Thanks to Qat chewing there are no secrets, everybody talks, even ministers participate, and the information travels and spreads. Qat is a stimulant; its not like being in an opium den. It makes you want to do things. It leads to agitated discussions. It doesn't prevent activism. And Yemenis aren't spoiled like the rest of Gulf's residents. Imagine a demonstration in the Gulf: you’d have people driving up with their expensive cars  with no central location of any importance for them to gather around.