Are we entering a new age of Revolution?

[JCMach1]

I don't want to bash too much, but it seems like each day we are bombarded by multiple threads about the impending collapse of civilization due to__________ (fill in the blank).

Of course, there are any number of problems facing the planet and many of those have been extrapolated fairly well by my fellow DUers.

The question I want to raise is: Is collapse the only alternative?

As we always look back at history for guidance, I wonder if it's possible we might (instead of impending collapse) be entering a new age of revolution a la 1848.

Following are a few of the reasons (at least from my perspective):


CONCENTRATION OF MORE WEALTH IN THE HANDS OF THE FEW

This is a world-wide phenomenon, much of which can be directly traced to increased gloablization. Harddt & Negri (2000) layout much of my thinking on this subject in their book, "Empire".


NATIONS UNDER THREAT AND STRESS LEADS TO LESS PERSONAL FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY

Can anyone argue that Americans are more free than before 9/11? What about the rest of the world? In a world where there is more conflict based on many of the issues below, how can anyone build a free society?

A HOT AND CROWDED WORLD MEANS MORE CONFLICT OVER NATURAL RESOURCES

Shifting climate patterns, exploding urban populations (despite a birthrate that seems to be lowering somewhat) means additional stress on a stressed system. Take the example of Yemen. Already experiencing resource and water stress, this country. With a population of around 30million, they add appx. another 700,000 each year. Yemen's population is already greater than Saudi Arabia's. What will happen in the future should massive numbers of their southern neighbors come calling? The have nots are literally on the doorstep.

GLOBALIZATION= LESS ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY FOR INDIVIDUALS

Imagine starting a business from the ground-up and wanting to solely base yourself in the U.S. (especially manufacturing)... Now, no matter how little you pay your workers (or how much), just try to get financing to expand your business beyond startup. In most cases, your unit margins are not going to be enough to get you credit to expand. Why? Well, the global market-place of slave labor wages determines what margins are acceptable. No matter how great the idea, the bank would probably insist you increase your profit margins, or no loan. This kind of thinking deserves a serious :wtf: . But, it's once again reality.

Additionally, corporations and the elites are skewing the laws to make it harder on small businesses. Just try to sell milk, or chicken eggs from a home farm and see what happens. What about opening a simple restaurant? Check your local regulations, there is nothing simple about it! Then there are the taxes, forms, regulations, licensing fees and the whole regulatory gauntlet to run. You think McDonald's would have such a hard time? They have even turned these types of issues into mass production. Now, how are mom & pop going to compete with a fleet of lawyers, economists, designers, etc. with years of experience?

SETTING THE STAGE FOR REVOLUTION

Revolution has always been the 'R' word in America. After all, we already had ours in 1776... right? Well, it's not 'just' us of course. There are many countries around the world experiencing exactly the same conditions. Even the revolutions of 1848 did not fall evenly. For example in Britain, increased suffrage, food supply. and other freedoms prevented much of the revolutionary zeal in England.

I think it is quite possible the world is setting the stage for a new age of revolutions. What is yet to be determined is form that they will take. Peaceful or Violent... Socialism, Capitalism, or Something new...

I am afraid we have been doomed to live in interesting times.

[TBF]

1. You've pinpointed the problem -

"CONCENTRATION OF MORE WEALTH IN THE HANDS OF THE FEW" - and that gap is not going to lessen under Obama, as he has made abundantly clear. With austerity measures being put in force in most "civilized" nations we will see this trend continue. People die or they fight back, ain't much middle ground there.

[ladjf]

4. Good post. nt

[RKP5637]

2. Excellent analysis! Yes, I think if one removes the names of countries from a

global perspective millions are in the same boat, pissed off at being used to highly profit a minority of wealth holders and governments complicit in the ripoff of millions.

I still think many have their head in the sand, struggling day to day and not the time to lookout and question WTF is going on, why are we in this situation. IMO Obama, for example, is propping up business as usual. I see no great change. We are going to muddle along in this mess treading water and hoping it doesn't get worse. And certainly the R's have no solutions than the same stupid rhetoric they always pitch.

[JCMach1]

3. There is a kind of tipping point (think the French Revolution) when groups that actually have some

power collectively get pissed-off at the social system.

For that to happen in America, the middle-class would have to rebel. Because we are so conditioned to resist the 'R' word here, Revolution is more likely to happen at the ballot box... i.e. incremental change rather than manning the barricades.

It will take a new progressive movement at least a generation to take government out of the hands of the new robber barons.

And this is where it gets interesting... I don't know if people will have that kind of patience in America today.

[rhett o rick]

5. We are seeing the incremental change today and the increments are not small.

But the change is for the worse. I dont see any possibility for that to reverse. Every day the Corp-Cabal gets stronger and we are bled more and more. Our choices at the ballot box are bad or worse. How do you turn that around. Plus a big share of the population follow the Repukes like sheep.
We are in the last throes of the capitalism whirlpool.

Doesnt mean I am going to give up.

[TheKentuckian]

12. Patience is only part of the story. We are pressed for time, another generation of wealth disparity,

environmental destruction, massive debt with no value added, more expansion of the police state, continuing to fail top invest in critical infrastructure, ongoing deterioration of public education, and with the vampires from capital sucking us dry neither we nor our ideals will survive other than half remembered seed of thought.

The clock is not eternal and I'd suggest that there is little evidence that patience will be some magic cure.

It is imperative that we start going in the right direction rather than pretend that time will erase all such wounds. The actions taken during the time set the course, not play the one day by magic game.

[earthside]

6. A More Depressing Prospect

The era of feudalism in Europe lasted about five hundred years ...

It is also entirely possible, indeed perhaps more likely, that there will not be any kind of revolution bringing dramatic changes to our economic and political systems.

Instead, we could see a general, slow, decline into a high-tech version of the medieval ages. And, we could be stuck in those kinds of times for at least a hundred years.

The currently reigning plutocracy is well on the way to consolidating its power, with the help of the federal government, we could soon see further oppression of our individual liberties and a further impoverishment and then extinction of the middle class. The U.S. is even now on the path to a demoralized peasantry with no ability to 'revolt'.

There are all kinds of dystopian novels and movies that portray various versions of this kind of society.

[OneGrassRoot]

7. I vote for something new altogether...

My hope is that more and more will start to focus on the life we choose to create, rather than stay focused on the ills that exist.

Don't get me wrong: I'm not saying to ignore the injustices and crimes and inequalities that drive us to despair, but instead put the energy into creating something new.

Something WAY outside the box.

Something that hasn't existed before on a large scale.

We need to think completely differently, about everything.

I don't know WHAT, exactly, as I leave that to those much smarter than I, but I do hope more and more of us will support those who are thinking outside the box and at least entertain different ways of moving forward. Ways that aren't part of history. Again, something brand new.

For example, here in the States, for the life of me I don't know why we aren't creating more cooperative structures -- true co-ops -- that benefit more and more individuals and the communities themselves, rather than continuing to support traditional huge corporations.

Co-ops are much more than food or utility co-ops. We can use this structure to create a new way of doing business altogether.

Time banks, bartering....so many options to start moving toward in order to create a (r)evolution.

I've written about this before but few respond. I've been gathering a lot of information about this and hope to soon move forward with seeking legal guidance about the best structure, given our current structural limitations in the US, to move forward with co-ops.

Beyond legislative revolution, there are other types of (r)evolutions that are within our power to start implementing now.

There is a (r)evolution being felt by many, though not the type one would expect. I'm seeing more and more people recognize that we need to have a basic shift in how we see ourselves (and others) in the world. A shift toward empathy, compassion and optimism.

On that note, Hannah Bell posted a wonderful sharing by Howard Zinn yesterday:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=439&topic_id=104335&mesg_id=104335

An optimist isn't necessarily a blithe, slightly sappy whistler in the dark of our time. To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness. What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places — and there are so many — where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction. And if we do act, in however small a way, we don't have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.

I also highly recommend by RSA Animate:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AC7ANGMy0yo&feature=play...

"It's more realistic to see ourselves as integrally connected to the natural & social world rather than a separate, wholly autonomous entity." RSA Animate


And, finally, my own sharing, having proclaimed 2011: The Year of Compassion & Empathy

:hi:



edit for typo

[MilesColtrane]

8. Are we entering a new age of Revolution?

Not in the U.S.

[leveymg]

9. Seizure of power by some sort of authoritarian strongman more likely than a real Social Revolution.

I agree that the U.S. is entering an era of increasing strife, instability, and a breakdown in governmental and economic norms. However, for a real Social Revolution that fundamentally changes the social order, the Great Revolutions -- France (1789); Russia (1917); China (1949); Cuba (1959) -- required the building of a dual-sovereign, a new form of governance and leadership cadre that actually takes over the tasks of running society. We are not even close to the first stages of organizing that sort of contending revolutionary order.

The more common pattern for countries in crisis is the emergence of strongman figures who lead military coups or militarized mass organizations -- there were many of these in the 20th Century. We have not yet seen the emergence of such a charismatic mass leader figure in the United States, but that does not mean that it's impossible. Other elites tend to be highly distrustful of such figures and their mass organizations, as it means ceding some power and resources to them. Many times, once a strongman consolidates political power, there is the very real temptation to take control over the most profitable institutions. Therefore, I would think this outcome would be resisted by most ruling elites.

More likely, the banksters and multinationals will simply strip off remaining portable assets and relocate offshore, and continue to control and manipulate U.S. politics and what's left of the American economy remotely by essentially the same proxies and processes that are already in place. The means of control is likely to become more forceful over time, and the private space needed to organize an effective opposition has all but disappeared for anyone who is not part of elite institutions and groups. Whatever challenges are tolerated will likely come from contending elites and factions, not as a spontaneous uprising from below. Efforts at popular armed rebellion are likely to be swiftly detected and ruthlessly suppressed in the name of anti-terrorism.

The prospects for a real Social Revolution in America are bleak for the foreseeable future.

[Doctor_J]

10. No. Hate radio will keep the masses at bay

The fact that it has gotten this bad with no bloodshed among the rulers convinces me that we're just going to succumb. We just re-elected the same bunch of criminals that destroyed the country from 1994-2006 - we're too brainwashed to revolt.

[mmonk]

11. More like the end of a counter revolution.

[nadinbrzezinski]

13. Yes it is like 1848 in many ways

But we might still see a civilization collapse for many complex reasons. They are not contradictory either.