August 6, 2007
Talkin’ About a Revolution
Filed by Bil at 11:31 am under Activism, Politics, Social Issues
Lately I have seen headlines that make me cringe and I have been making myself ignore them. I don’t usually notice these headlines when it is convenient for me to be outraged or depressed, so I tend to just roll my eyes and move on with my life. It’s nothing new, I figure, nothing useful or good.
Like this headline:
Bush committed to tracking al-Qaida
Sometimes I can’t help but start to read it, but then I see the opening paragraph:
CAMP DAVID, Md. - President Bush said Monday that with the right intelligence U.S. and Pakistan governments can take out al-Qaida leaders, and wouldn’t say whether he would consult first with Pakistan before ordering U.S. forces to act on their own.
This is both laughable and frightening, and I’m at work today, so I stopped reading that one right then and there.
This is a problem. My impotent rage is slowly turning into forced apathy. I sign petitions and send letters to my congressmen and I tell anyone who asks that hell yes, we absolutely must impeach the vice president.
But I can’t help feeling like it’s not doing enough. I mean, yay, Democrats got elected and overtook congress…barely…but now they’re not really doing much. Some stuff got done early on, but they have lost their momentum and now are retreating again at every balk. Bush threatens a veto at every corner, and they back down. Yes, it’s a real threat, and he probably would veto anything from the Democrats at the drop of a hat, but that is no excuse to not try and send it to his office anyway. This is doubly frustrating, because it hardly inspires one to run for office and try to make a change from within, seeing as how this is the way it works. We’ll see if things improve during the next election cycle; maybe they’ll have even more control of congress and will feel much more confident.
In the meantime, our country is doing no better. Any chance at making real change gets aborted early because people don’t want to wait around. It’s hard to fight bureaucracy with bureaucracy.
And it bugs me that I feel as though I can’t change any of it. Part of it is because I’m not willing to devote myself wholly to one whim. There are plenty of causes right now that require devotion; which one would I pick?
And I’m not alone. Few people are willing. Cindy Sheehan was, and she is a rock and roll goddess for it, but how many others are there who will give up everything just to make a point? And how happy is Cindy Sheehan right now?
Most people agree by now that Bush is a bad president and that Cheney is the devil incarnate. If they were up for reelection right now, I don’t think even Karl Rove could pull it off. So why are they still there?
I do theatre. That’s my skill, that’s my passion. At this point in time, I don’t know how I could possibly use theatre to inspire revolution. For one thing, I would have a really hard time reaching a significant number of people. For another thing, plays themselves don’t hold the answers. Though many plays have anti-war themes and anti-corruption themes, none of them teach us how to start a successful revolution. I am not willing (right now) to try and write a play on this matter; I don’t know much more than anyone else, and I have never served in the armed forces. If I were to write something serious, I truly believe that it wouldn’t be very good. That’s just my feeling, and as long as I’m feeling that way, I will make it true. Maybe something will pop into my brain later on, but for now, I can’t just write a social problem play as though I were writing a Pepsi commercial.
Where does that leave me? In a bind. With the rest of us.
Part of the problem, I am convinced, is that the war is not happening at home. It is far, far away. This is also a very good thing, as I would certainly not appreciate the war being fought here, but it does have the downside that it is easy enough for most Americans to ignore when they want to, including me. If a war doesn’t impact their immediate life, why should anyone choose to impact their immediate life themselves, like Cindy Sheehan?
The worst effects will be the long-term ones. The war isn’t the end of the world. But the downfall of our economy, the loss of our international good graces, the destruction of our environment and the depletion of all our resources (natural and intellectual) very well might be. That’s why we need change, and we need it now.
But how? That’s the question. How does one start a revolution? How can so many generations from so many different subcultures unite and bring about a change? And how big does one have to think? Should we count on one hero to stand up and lead the people in a crazy-ass riot-filled national coup? Maybe, if we find such a hero. But waiting around is not a wise idea. My guess is we all need to think on a local level.
I’m open to ideas. I’m very open to non-revolution; if we carry on with the attitude that this simply will not do and it would only be prudent to correct a few errors (like the war and the environment and equal rights, you know, little things like that), then that’s fine with me. We don’t need a “revolution;” we just need change.
Well?
“We must be the change we wish to see in the world.”
–Ghandi
That is all.
Fantastic! I love Ghandi! LOVE him!
What else?
This is the same attitude Congress is taking, and look at what’s happening. Ridiculous! That they stood by and granted Bush still more wire-tapping privileges has eroded the last of my trust in our government. I’ve even stopped reading Crooks and Liars and Daily Kos. I can’t take it anymore. It’s poison, and nothing is getting better. Our founding fathers fled theocratic persecution, and I’d say history has finally come full circle. In the words of Sinclair Lewis: “When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.”
I disagree with you regarding the idea of “non-revolution” (implying what? non-violence? I’m with you that far, at least) as there are more than “a few errors” but rather a system that has rotted to the core. But I love that wonderful Ghandi reference. It’s all we have, really. As for me, I will focus on being a loving, just individual and do my best to sail over the noise and hatred that is plaguing our country. Fear won’t get any of us anywhere if it doesn’t prompt us to action.
you don’t know me but a friend who worked with you on a show sent me your blog and I’ve been reading it.
I’m no economist or Math Wiz but I’ve been wondering what would happen to the economy if people just stopped spending quarters as an act of protest. At first I thought just Texas quarters, but that’s probably not enough - so all quarters. To just take that ammount of money out of circulation - and have it be known that it’s an act of protest against the war? It’s a start. And it kind of symbolizes people at home sacrificing “for the war” effort which we’ve not been asked to do. If people started to protest the war by spending less and not buying as much believe me they will notice.
Yes, passion and desire for an overhaul are very good things, but can we have a wave of reform built on passion alone? Remember, passion fades, regardless of who wins. I feel my own passion giving way to cynicism, and I really don’t like it. I don’t mean to be cautious; on the contrary, I mean to challenge. Because we must be smart. I want change now, but how can we funnel our passion into achievable goals? And how can we continue to build on those goals all the way to the national level?
Think of all the people that live on your street. How many of them would support gay marriage? How many of them have you asked?
Building on that—what I feel is important is to help the American people make connections between ideas and big government. Like pointing out there’s no point in bewailing the loss of American jobs if they are shopping at Wal-Mart which gets 90% of its goods from China. Or the fact that Halliburton is allowed to dig for oil in Iraq without having to submit to any kind of competitive bidding. I know once I started seeing all the connections within the bigger picture I got more pissed off and more political—so maybe that is one way to help get the change going. To remind people that it IS okay to ask questions and to demand more from their government. Our founding fathers set up a government we could ALL participate in, and it still works—we just need to do our bit and stay informed.
Bitch magazine had a very good article last month about a photoshoot for “America’s Next Top Model” featuring the women dressed up as sexy murder victims. Feminist bloggers, then smaller ‘zines and finally mainstream media got ahold of the story, and eventually the network was forced to cut down that episode and not re-run it like they normally do. One little action snowballed—that’s what we who are informed are, we are the snowballs. Everytime we ask someone to justify their lockstep positions, we are chipping away at their blind faith.
Sorry, this turned into a treatise. My bad.
You mean I missed the sexy murder victims? Why doesn’t anyone tell me these things?
Bil, thanks for making me read this; it was a lot more relative to my apolitical self than I had expected. What exactly does a revolution look like and how does an interested party start one? ‘Tis the million dollar question. It’s my personal opinion that people today are generally too concerned about consequences for a revolution to take place. Risk (and the opportunity for it) are becoming endangered species at the hand of cleanliness and convenience and corporatization, among other things.
Anyone with a an idea of revolution has an idea of utopia, and once again returning to that Gandhi quote, they are most effective by living within the ideas of that utopia. I mean, really, none of us here have any expectation of changing Bush’s worldview — the goal is the construction of a new American viewpoint with less war-mongering, etc. Yeah, there’s always impeachment, but by this point in time, that seems like spitting in the wind, what with the time-consumptive nature of the process and the depths to which we are already plunged. Sure, it’d be better than no impeachment, but do we seriously expect our current government to fix our current government’s problems fulfillingly, not to mention relatively quickly?
Bush has the worst approval rating a president has ever had while maintaining the office. Of course, not all of these diapproving citizens are seeking revolution or even know what they are disapproving of, but for the few, the proud, just what level of revolution are you looking for? And why aren’t you living that level? This is why I find those “Don’t buy gas today” boycotts kind of silly. Yes, if everyone actually played along, the government would get the message — “Just look how reliant you are on your constituency.” And then, the next day, as everyone went back about their business, the government would get one more message — “And just look how willing your constituency is to play into your hands.” If the reliance on oil is the issue you find most pertinent, stop buying gas. If global warming is your thing, do whatever Al Gore says. It doesn’t matter if it’s one or thousands of revolutionary topics that matter to you, it only works if you play by your rules and do so consistently. Revolutionaries talk less than they act.
Yeah, I’m in no position to talk, but that’s the way it seems to me. If you want revolution, you better be acting like there’s a revolution goin’ on. If you want change, you better be facilitating it. And that way, even if it never does catch on (as oh so many revolutions and changes don’t), at least you won’t hate yourself for playing a game you hate all your life.
And I know it’s gauche for anyone who isn’t a neocon to rip on Sheehan, but I’ve got an idea about some other reasons she’d choose to immediately impact her life so. Self-obsession and egoism don’t sound too far off the mark, either.
Actually, this is an issue I’ve been thinking about for awhile and I’m so glad you’ve brought it up.
What I keep thinking of is the film and comic “V for Vendetta” and its tagline “People should not be afraid of their governments; Governments should be afraid of its people.” If you haven’t seen it/read it, go do so now. It covers much of this very subject and questions how much are you willing to take, how long as you willing to wait before taking a real stand? It’s very interesting…
I think this is when groups of us need to sit and dialogue - like this one you initiated - and start reviewing history. What worked and how? How did Gandhi get his message heard and in movement? How did the Women’s Suffrage Movement finally get the word out and get men to allow women to vote? How did the Abolitionists fight to get the Emancipation of the American blacks? Unions in the face of men like Henry Ford? Each one of these movements have things in common - literature, protests, organization - though they all took different methods. But they all had leaders, people who stood up and outlined what could be done and how.
And here we stand. I think our generation is looking around for leaders, for men and women of ideas AND action. I can hear Ayn Rand now, hoping for the mind to conquer the physical. We are a strange generation of Americans… fat, spoiled, comfortable. It’s difficult to convince the comfortable that there is something they need to get up and fight for… hell, that’s why Oprah is so damn amazing! She got America to read again (and then came J.K. Rowling).
I have no solutions or ideas yet… but you have those cogs oiled and they’re groaning to a turn… In the meanwhile, I’m interested as to your response.
A revolution of some sort would be a good idea. As long as one walks into being a revolutionary while realizing a couple of things.
Firstly revolutionary fervor is great until you take office, then it gets in the way of actually running things. Every time I watch a revolution succeed in some part of the world all I can think is: Ok can you take care of the garbage, and pay people, and make the economy work and uphold your principals in a practical way? And generally most of them fail in this department. Because, depending on your society (what its gone through and such) you have 1-3 years to get things working before your populace starts think that the old regime wasn’t that bad. At least back then at least public services worked and there wasn’t constant crime and other bad things (for examples see Iraq, Russia, Germany, etc). So one has to back up reasonable guarantees made during the fighting, or lose everything in the next looming revolution, which may bring back the last party out of nostalgia. On the other hand you could just crack down and form a police state, and not worry about these things.
Plus this applies to any revolution violent or not. Because if, say, the Greens were to win the presidency and most of congress, this would then be a legitimate point in that circumstance as well. So as long as we are aware of this so we can prevent this stumbling block to the best of our abilities.
Frankly the other problem with revolutions, or at least the one we had over 200 years ago, is that after a while the reasons one fought for are diluted by your descendants. It’s inescapable that at some time in the future your society will need a good shake to insure the maintaining of the principals you hold dear. Or they won’t keep the old and slip into a new paradigm that you could have seen when you put it together in the past. And how does one keep the system working for the people in the way it should as time passes by and the memories of what happened to create the nation fade or are transmuted into silly kids stories.
Modern information technology might help us with this, or not if the materials are morphed and corrupted by advancing info tech and its users.
These were just a couple thoughts that popped into my head with this talk of revolution, or just changing things for the better. And frankly the points I raise are legit under both circumstances. Which means there a real tightrope to walk if we were to continue to walk down this path. So there ya go.
Thanks for the blog Bil!
Okay — this is great. I agree with a lot of what I’m reading. I disagree with some of it, too, but at least it keeps me thinking. And it’s very good to see other people with similar views. Thanks, everyone.
I’m gonna try to redirect us all right here. Instead of focusing on the generalized overview of change, I would like to see what specifics we can come up with.
Like I said, it’s unreasonable to ask people to change their whole lifestyle. Even the most disillusioned will resist it.
Light bulbs are a good example. It’s a big favor to ask everybody to change all the light bulbs in their home to compact fluorescents, but let’s ask everyone to change at least two. Two of them won’t break the bank. And I know some people have a problem with the way the light looks — it’s hard to disagree with that — so let’s say just change the bulbs in rooms with no mirrors or heavy decorations. Like the kitchen. If your kitchen has mirrors and decorations, chances are the rest of your place does, too. The kitchen light being fluorescent won’t hurt the look of the home. And how about the front or back porch? And if you want your friends and family to change their bulbs, how about getting them some for Christmas? Or their birthday? Or just because?
Think how this minor change — MINOR change — on even just a community-wide scale — think how big a step that is in the right direction.
And hey — the Green Party did pretty well for themselves in the last Illinois mid-term election. Things would definitely be different if the Greens won over the senate and the presidency, and I think it would be a very good change. But it’s not gonna happen anytime soon. However, they made good strides in Illinois last mid-term election. Why not, for now, concentrate the state legislature? Or hell, vote for a Green governor?
Think about immediate changes, little tiny easy changes, that can have a lasting effect. Spending less money isn’t going to change the government. It won’t last, for one thing. And it’s not like the government SHOULD be able to help that — we have a laisser-faire government, or at least we’re supposed to, which means businesses (where we spend our money) are on their own. And CEOs aren’t likely to pay themselves any less if a business starts to falter. They will cut costs by laying off the people at the bottom. And that, if exaggerated, can lead to a depression. Save your own money, by all means, but do it for yourself.
We shouldn’t worry about sending little signals to the elected officials. You want to let them know something, flood their inbox with e-mails. You want to change your neighbor’s point of view, talk to your neighbor.
Let’s be grounded and realistic for now. What kinds of little things can we do to help bring about these big changes that we already know we want?
Bringing about change only really works if there is a common goal. Because of the diversity of opinion in America, many of the issues going on right now, such as the war,global warming and the decreasing availability of resources are not easily solved problems because nobody can agree on whether the problem needs to be fixed. To complicate the matter, the people who recognize the problem needs fixing can’t agree on how to fix it. The war is a good example of this. Few of these problems will ever be solved by Congress, especially with this administration, so I agree that it’s left to us to bring about the change. The easiest issue for the general public to take charge of now is probably global warming. Using more efficient light bulbs is a cheap, easy way to start making a difference, but the key thing to keep in mind is patience. Global warming is something that is by no means a quick fix. Even if we started now, it would be years before we saw a marginal difference, especially considering that nobody really notices the effects that global warming has had already. It is unlikely that even if progress was made towards reducing global warming people would believe that their sacrifices are creating an effect. The general public expects to see results from any sacrifice they make, which makes global warming a tricky problem to solve. The only advice I can offer is persistence. Keep encouraging change within the community. Tell as many people about the problem as possible and educate those who are unaware of the issue (which is a disgustingly high number). Eventually those people will start telling others in their communities. And above all, tell people not to rely on their government officials to fix the problem for them. Governments change and those in power never stick around long enough to take action. The nature of global warming is different from issues like the war in that several consecutive administrations are required to produce a long-lasting effect. The moral of the story is to take action into your own hands and encourage others to do the same. I’m not gonna tell people to buy hybrid cars, because it’s not reasonable. Small sacrifices like replacing the light bulbs in your home with more efficient ones are cheap and can have just as big of an effect as a couple of people buying hybrid cars. The key is to be persistent. Keep at it and others might notice. The bandwagon is a powerful influence.
Steve, thanks for that — very astute, in my opinion. Especially about not relying on the government to solve our problems. Daily problems are for daily people. Of course, it’s not fair that our government can start a war that the people can’t stop, but it’s like you said: diversity of opinion prevails. It can be as much of a curse as a blessing.
As for persistence, that brings up another question: is it reasonable to ask those who are passionate and willing to sacrifice to stand up and take charge? Think about Cindy Sheehan: what could anyone rightfully expect from her that they weren’t willing to do themselves?
I realize this is a pretty old comment, and I wonder if anyone will even still read this, but just in case…these are questions that will undoubtedly lead to more theoretical talk, so I’ll just toss in a reminder to think about the mundane things we can change for the better (CFL bulbs as gifts, finding ways to increase fuel efficiency, and so on).
Well two small things that would possibly help make a more irresistable public would be a official day off for Nov 2nd Election day and Primaries too. Additionally 2-4 years of Civics in High School would help make better voters, or at least ones that went out and voted more often. Though this would take about 5 years to make a noticeable difference.
Hows that for small changes?
Inky, these sound like fine ideas. But they’re not small changes — those are actually really big changes. As it is, most business that give paid time off at all already give two hours of the day paid time to go and vote in national elections. Because we live in a capitalist society, businesses would fight tooth and nail to not lose the other six hours of productivity. And honestly, those who need the most encouragement to vote typically work in places that don’t close on holidays anyway (Starbucks, MacDonalds, etc.).
As for changing the curriculum of any one school (private or public), let alone many schools…good luck. Do you know how hard it is to get in one semester of government studies? Then tell them they have to give two years of it? Again — administrators would rather die than create a change that big.
So — while I and I’m sure many other would LOVE it if these ideas could become a reality, the question is: how much of our own time, energy, and money are we willing to devote to seeing them carried out?
See how easy it was to shoot that down? It sucks, but that’s the mindset one faces. Here’s my idea: write a proposal to a local superintendent. It never hurts to write a letter, and it costs less than half a dollar still to send a piece of mail. I think I’ll do that tomorrow, actually. A small change is better than no change. And a small change leads to other small changes, which eventually add up to a bigger change.
Actually, I think that’s what I’m getting at. Lots of little changes that everyone can cope with over time will bring the changes that we need. Wow. I suddenly feel much, much better about it all!
I’m going to find out who the superintendents are in my area. And then I’m gonna go buy some CFL bulbs.