From Left Field: Deconstruction of a Revolution
August 10th 2011 10:11
Link: twitter.com/khalfaniking
In an age where the line between the label Freedom Fighter, Revolutionary and Terrorist gets more and more distorted with every life lost in conflict; it’s become of the utmost importance that we go back to the drawing board to find a relevant definition for the word revolution.
As long as human beings have had the luxury of building and maintaining advanced societies there have always been forces that have found fault with the “Powers That Be” and sought to tear down the status quo in an effort to build something of their own.
World history is filled with stories of empires that were torn down by revolutions and counter revolutions that have led us to the place we are at now.
A place many scholars said would be impossible to sink to in the modern age because of the miraculous heights achieved in the field of medicine and improvements in standards of living across the globe compared to the desperate situations that sparked the violence that toppled monarchies and government houses in the not so distant past.
When it came time for us to take a deeper look at revolution in the modern age many people in the conversation chose to thumb their nose at the crisis happening in the Middle East.
A crisis that was deduced to the things that happen when men, women and children were oppressed by rogue regimes and chose to rise up from their circumstances in search of more effective leadership.
While this simplistic story made for pretty headlines and snap judgments for people removed thousands of miles away from the situation; the reality of things that happened when the people in Egypt, Syria and Libya chose to take their anger to the streets is the same reality that is happening in Greece, London and will soon happen in the United States of America if we continue to ignore the problem.
The problems that happen when a global rise in fuel prices affects the price of food and millions of people around the globe are unable to maintain and find employment.
While these may be the most basic factors to explain the anger on streets of cities around the globe there are many other factors that branch out from these simple facts.
Simple facts that are creating panic and disruption of the notion that we have somehow advanced past being worried about the basic necessities because of the technological advancements we have over third world nations and the societies of past generations.
When it comes down to it, the formula for revolution is the same now as it was in 1776 and 1789.
When the people of a society cannot find change through the processes built within a system of government they will seek other means to find satisfaction.
No matter how much we spin the Middle East Uprisings into a need a for regime change or pass off the riots in London or Greece as youths acting out in nonsensical violence we must pay attention to the elements of anger that remain the same.
Anger in the failures of their government, anger in the situation they have found themselves in with the daily struggle to put food on the table and anger with a broken system that has no remedy for improvement.
It may have been partisanship, lack of fiscal responsibility or general disregard for the plight of the working class that brought us to this desperate place but it will be the human ability to come together that will either dig us out of this situation or will be the catalyst for a new world order.
The time to choose our poison is now but the window to do so is closing in on us faster than it has in any generation that came before.
The Global Economic Crisis is not something that will remedy itself nor is it something that can be fixed by using the same failed strategies of deficits, fuzzy math and stringing words together that makes it more confusing than it really is.
Solutions will not be found in groups of power nations that make up rules to benefit the few while the many suffer nor will they be found by making cuts to benefit one group while the other suffers.
Revolution will be achieved in the 21st Century in one way or another.
Whether this revolution happens with the breakdown of modern society as we know it or if it is an intellectual revolution in the way governments decide to change the way they do business is up to the people of the world that have the privilege of having their voices heard in the voting booth.
For the original picture used in this blog along with news and information from Courier Mail.com about the London Riots please visit the link below.
London Riots
As long as human beings have had the luxury of building and maintaining advanced societies there have always been forces that have found fault with the “Powers That Be” and sought to tear down the status quo in an effort to build something of their own.
World history is filled with stories of empires that were torn down by revolutions and counter revolutions that have led us to the place we are at now.
A place many scholars said would be impossible to sink to in the modern age because of the miraculous heights achieved in the field of medicine and improvements in standards of living across the globe compared to the desperate situations that sparked the violence that toppled monarchies and government houses in the not so distant past.
When it came time for us to take a deeper look at revolution in the modern age many people in the conversation chose to thumb their nose at the crisis happening in the Middle East.
A crisis that was deduced to the things that happen when men, women and children were oppressed by rogue regimes and chose to rise up from their circumstances in search of more effective leadership.
While this simplistic story made for pretty headlines and snap judgments for people removed thousands of miles away from the situation; the reality of things that happened when the people in Egypt, Syria and Libya chose to take their anger to the streets is the same reality that is happening in Greece, London and will soon happen in the United States of America if we continue to ignore the problem.
The problems that happen when a global rise in fuel prices affects the price of food and millions of people around the globe are unable to maintain and find employment.
While these may be the most basic factors to explain the anger on streets of cities around the globe there are many other factors that branch out from these simple facts.
Simple facts that are creating panic and disruption of the notion that we have somehow advanced past being worried about the basic necessities because of the technological advancements we have over third world nations and the societies of past generations.
When it comes down to it, the formula for revolution is the same now as it was in 1776 and 1789.
When the people of a society cannot find change through the processes built within a system of government they will seek other means to find satisfaction.
No matter how much we spin the Middle East Uprisings into a need a for regime change or pass off the riots in London or Greece as youths acting out in nonsensical violence we must pay attention to the elements of anger that remain the same.
Anger in the failures of their government, anger in the situation they have found themselves in with the daily struggle to put food on the table and anger with a broken system that has no remedy for improvement.
It may have been partisanship, lack of fiscal responsibility or general disregard for the plight of the working class that brought us to this desperate place but it will be the human ability to come together that will either dig us out of this situation or will be the catalyst for a new world order.
The time to choose our poison is now but the window to do so is closing in on us faster than it has in any generation that came before.
The Global Economic Crisis is not something that will remedy itself nor is it something that can be fixed by using the same failed strategies of deficits, fuzzy math and stringing words together that makes it more confusing than it really is.
Solutions will not be found in groups of power nations that make up rules to benefit the few while the many suffer nor will they be found by making cuts to benefit one group while the other suffers.
Revolution will be achieved in the 21st Century in one way or another.
Whether this revolution happens with the breakdown of modern society as we know it or if it is an intellectual revolution in the way governments decide to change the way they do business is up to the people of the world that have the privilege of having their voices heard in the voting booth.
For the original picture used in this blog along with news and information from Courier Mail.com about the London Riots please visit the link below.
London Riots
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