Revolution

Cathartic but less effective than talking to people

You say you want a revolution. Well, you know, we all want to change the world. But when you talk about destruction, don't you know that you can count me out. --Lennon/McCartney

Revolutionize Revolutions

Historically, revolutions have led to one of the following outcomes:

1. Revolution fails, leaders are killed or imprisoned. (Vast majority)
2. Revolution fails, remaining factions resort to terrorist tactics. (IRA, ISIS, FARC, etc.)
3. Revolution succeeds, but is unable to create a stable government. Factions vie for power, leading to long-term instability and chaos. (French Revolution, Early USSR)
4. Revolution succeeds and a new government is established. But authoritarian enforcement of revolutionary ideology simply creates a new oppressor. (Stalin, Mao, etc.)
5. Revolution succeeds and establishes a new and stable government that significantly improves the quality of life (America, India, and other colonial independence movements)

Although every revolution tries to achieve outcome #5, only a handful of modern examples exist that have, and the vast majority were overthrowing an occupying, colonial force rather than established local power structures. Therefore, anyone looking to find a better system than the one we have should focus on finding alternatives to the traditional method of resorting to violence.

Evolution, Not Revolution

It is not practical nor desirable to tear down the institutions of an advanced society and attempt to rebuild them from scratch using some ideological or utopian model. If we look to history for examples, we find only a few examples where revolutions have not simply replaced one oppressor with another. Since the means is the ends, violence rarely provides a path to peace.

Incrementalism is the necessary approach to social change in modern society. This is not to say that big changes that impact many lives is not possible, but these must be achieved within the framework of democracy in order to achieve them without coercion via actual or implied violence.

The modern revolutionary is self-defeating. If you believe that the overthrow of modern capitalism and/or socialism is the only way to fix the system, you can sit back with self-satisfaction, telling yourself that when the revolution happens you'll be on the front line. In the meantime you don't have to do anything because democracy is broken and participating in the charade is pointless. It's a way to feel like a heroic radical while doing absolutely nothing for the cause.

Voting for someone who promises to break the system is similarly fraught. We need a remodel, not a wrecking ball. You want a nicer house than the one you got, but you're going to hire a demolition crew to get it? Find a general contractor that knows what they are doing and if there are some parts that need a tear down they can sub that out. The guys with sledge hammers will only leave you rubble.

Change can happen in democracy if people focus attention and build consensus one issue at a time. The most effective protest movements in recent (American) history--civil rights, Vietnam, environmentalism, LGBTQ+ rights, Occupy Wall Street, Black Lives Matter, etc., have all created long-term conversations about a single issue until the public awareness and opinion shifted dramatically. While we are all sick of complacence, we must still be patient. And focused, which is increasingly hard in a society addicted to social media.

This approach also has the advantage of actually appealing to a majority of people, unlike any major revolutionary upheaval which will only ever attract a radical minority. Broad consensus can be built around the incrementalistic approach in the same way that we broadly agree with democracy, regardless of who we choose to vote for. If we build a sustained movement to raise awareness of why we need democracy, balance of power, trust in institutions, and the possibilities of consistent, incremental change, we can get people to stop thinking about breaking the system and to start working on fixing it.

Evolution, Not Revolution Revolution

Songs of the Revolution

A lot of great songs about revolution. Here are a few.

Beatles - Revolution

Gil Scott-Heron - The Revolution Will Not Be Televised

Bob Marly - Revolution

Nina Simone - Revolution (Pts. 1 and 2)