REVOLUTION; noun
1. an overthrow or repudiation and the thorough replacement of an established government or political system by the people governed.
2. Sociology . a radical and pervasive change in society and the social structure, especially one made suddenly and often accompanied by violence. Compare social evolution.
3. a sudden, complete or marked change in something: the present revolution in church architecture.
Given the state of the union it seems reasonable to think about the revolution needed to revive the vision that was once a free democracy. For me part of the debate revolves around the effectiveness of a peaceful revolution and wondering if it doesn't take, at the least, some property violence to power the change. But the word "revolution" needs to be used with some thought. When used in relation to politics and government "revolution" immediately brings to mind guns and bullets and cities reduced to rubble. Basically revolution via civil war. While that may well be a possibility in the near future for the US, it does not seem very likely. The revolution that we need is more in line with definition No. 2, a social revolution that drags a protesting government along with it.
The first pervasive change we need is a near universal rejection of the corruption that has become our government. The OWS protests are a good first approximation of what is needed, but on a much larger scale. Those who have benefited most from the corruption, and those who have done the most to facilitate it, need to be driven from power by shear force of public opinion. (As stated in other places in this blog, the Robert's Court would be as good a place to start as any.) I think a good argument can be made that the leaders of both major political parties are knee deep in graft. This would be a good time for them to take their millions and head off into the sunset somewhere. Let them play golf and write books to explain how they are not actually thieves that belong in jail as we will have a much better chance of fixing the future without them around. Filling the streets of Washington DC until a whole slew of "leaders" goes away would be a fair portion of the revolution needed.
(By the way, Mr. Obama is surly in as deep as any of the Republican leaders. His inner circle is recruited mostly from Wall Street, the wars go on, defense spending goes up, and the economy is still on its ass even though Banks and the Stock Market are doing pretty well. It isn't clear how we could get rid of him though. Of the current 18 names in the line of succession none look to be free agents that would act in the best interests of the people of the United States. The upcoming "election" is a total farce. And that is kind of a depressing thought.)
A second pervasive change would be a robust anti-war movement. The US has become a war mongering nation. By nearly any accounting we spend more on the military and weapons than all of the other peoples on the planet, combined. We have amassed, by far, the largest collection of WMDs on the world and have repeatedly demonstrated a willingness to use them. We are the only nation now using unmanned drones to kill, at a distance and inside the boarders of countries that we are not a war with, targeted individuals who we think might be a minor threat at some point future. That we are killing mostly civilians is not even a regular part of our national conversation. Our love of killing is completely entwined in the relentless propaganda of the military / corporate system that is largely responsible for the corruption of our democracy. But that does not absolve our individual guilt for going along with the brutality. A simple change in mindset from, "war is good" to "war is evil" might just be the most jarring revolution that could happen in our society.
We need to reject the notion of war that has seeped into every bit of our national conversation. Ever notice that we are "at war" with everything; poverty, drugs, socialism...there is a war against Christmas (and now a war against Thanksgiving)? The Christians think everyone is at war with god and the Muslims think they are at war with everyone in the world. Yet the reality is that the human species is successful insofar as we are cooperative. Sure, in the past, the tribe that cooperated the best subdued the rival tribe. But now we are all one big tribe of humanity inhabiting one increasingly crowded planet. We need to find ways to disagree, discuss, compromise and move along without reaching for a gun and going to war. And that means we, as individuals and as a nation, need to reach for hate a little less often as well. It has become our favorite emotion, the driving force behind our politics, the lens though which we look at the rest of the world, and forms the foundation of much of our religion.
We really need to reject religion, or at least acknowledge that the particular religion "I" happen to follow may not be the only description of reality. Give a little room for different interpretations based on a different history or geography. (For example, the Muslim idea that women should be covered from head to toe would never have come from a society that lived in the tropics.) If nothing else at least admit that the Jewish / Christian / Muslim tradition that most of us follow is based, at its very core, on war; war in heaven, war on earth, war in the soul. Our worship of war is not helping. More to the point the idea that there is a god who endorses any of the political, corporate or military leaders currently tearing up the world, is near total insanity.
We could all do with a little less consumerism and, eventually, will be forced to concede that unending, exponential growth as somehow a sustainable economic model is pure foolishness.
Point blank, the best thing you can do for your family, yourself, your friends, your community and maybe the world at large is to turn off the TV more often and never, ever, listen to talk radio again. We need to visit with neighbors, friends and strangers, working once again to find our common connections. We need to think for ourselves, put in the effort to learn what is happening rather than just passing along the gossip that keeps the talking heads in money. (We need to quit taking the gossip as gospel as well!) I'm pretty sure that talking through a microphone doesn't improve one's I.Q. or make one an expert in every subject under the sun. Microphone talkers are primarily pitchmen, out to sell us whatever their sponsors want us to buy.
We need to admit that most of the people who got rich by talking got rich by lying to us. It worked, they are rich, now we need to just walk away without embarrassment, remorse, or recrimination. In addition to giving us all a chance to clear our heads a little this will have the added benefit of reducing the avenues for consumer propaganda and deflating, at least a little, the political coffers of the powers-that-be. It might even make for a little more money in your pocket. How much was that cable bill again? How much stuff would you actually decide you needed to buy if it wasn't relentlessly pitched to you by pretty people with perfect white teeth?
As individuals we need to be basically disgusted by the corrupt; we need to be anti-war, and need to be moderate in our consumerism. Then we need to force these views onto the powers the be through the market place and in the streets. Eventually that will allow us to enforce these views in the voting booth, but not yet. With both parties completely engulfed in the current putrid system of lies and propaganda and war, with all elections tainted by special interest money and every potential candidate vetted by those already in power before they are allowed on the ballot, voting is still a waste of time. In fact, at this moment in history, voting helps keep the corrupt in power by allowing them to proclaim a "mandate." Before voting can matter again a whole bunch of people need to be driven from power, a few people really, really need to go to jail, and a large number of international corporations need to be brought to heel, (or at least prevented from buying elections).
So the revolution that will salvage the American Dream actually starts with definition No. 3; "a sudden, complete change in something. That "something" would be us.
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