Is Revolution Coming?

Bev and I saw “Anna Karenin” last night at the Laurelhurst. The book of the same name was serialized between 1873 to 1877 in Russia.  Once again, as in “Hunger Games” and many others, we see the difference in life styles of the rich compared to the poor. In fact, Hannity just had a special titled Boomtown: Washington D.C.. There in D.C., we see the same lavish lifestyles, while the rest of the country is in a depression.

I got to wondering what makes a revolution, how many people must be involved for it to be a revolution. The recent revolution have been the American Revolution, The French Revolution, The Bolshevik Revolution, The Polish Revolution and all the Arab revolutions recently. Paid To Exist has some answers:

First, we need to define what it takes to create a Revolution…

• It has to be something you care deeply about and would be willing to devote your life to.
• It should be something that will help other people.
• It should have a long term impact.
• It has to be remarkable; it has to be worth sharing and bigger than you.
• Working toward a revolution often involves the pursuit of being an ordinary radical.
• Your revolution must have a distinctive quality to it that is caused by you working in it. It wouldn’t be the same if someone else did it. But it is definitely a collective movement created by similar values.

The necessary ingredients to every revolution:

1. A revolution can be big or small. Whether you’re trying to change the education system or change the way people look at folding underwear, what matters is that you are passionate about it.
2. Rally your tribe. No revolution is a revolution without a group of people that share similar values. If you get really clear about your cause, you will easily be able to spot these people and make connections with them. Before long, you will likely not even need to seek them out. They will come to you.
3. Tap into your outrage. Most revolutions involve some kind of outrage or anger. This is a good thing. Your anger can be a gift if you use it wisely and don’t let it consume you. Use your outrage and your passion to fuel your action for change.
4. The cause rules. Movement and direction of your revolution should be dictated by the demands of the cause. Guru worship or leader exaltation results in the cause becoming obscured. Avoid these things so the movement is centered on the mission, and not a single individual.
5. Break down actionable steps. What change needs to be made and how will those changes best be accomplished? If the status quo needs to be interrupted, how will you deal with the resistance? Are you willing to stay true to your cause despite the protesters you will be faced with?
6. Keep the end in mind. It’s easy to get side-tracked with things that might seem to benefit your mission, but are really just distractions. In order to be effective, you must learn to cultivate an unshakable focus on your ultimate aim. Triage ruthlessly. Anything that does directly or indirectly benefit your cause, is a weed suffocating and diluting your objective, and it must be pulled.

We have two movements in the U.S. right now; the Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street. According to Wikipedia:

“The Tea Party movement is an American political movement that advocates strict adherence to the United States Constitution, reducing U.S. government spending and taxes, and reduction of the U.S. national debt and federal budget deficit. The movement is generally considered to be partly conservative, partly libertarian, and partly populist. The movement has sponsored protests and supported political candidates since 2009

“The main issues raised by Occupy Wall Street are social and economic inequality, greed, corruption and the perceived undue influence of corporations on government—particularly from the financial services sector. The OWS slogan, We are the 99%, refers to income inequality and wealth distribution in the U.S. between the wealthiest 1% and the rest of the population. To achieve their goals, protesters act on consensus-based decisions made in general assemblies which emphasize direct action over petitioning authorities for redress.”

It seems to me we are close to Revolution in the U.S. We could broaden the income of the 99% by shrinking the role of the government politically. That would mean reining in the 1% by adhering to the Constitution by means of the Tea Party. Failure to shrink government and failure of the Tea Party will lead to a violent revolution by the 99%. Our fate and the fate of the America is in our hands.