I kind of ramble in this blog so the point is that revolution does not always look like you think it should. It just might be already underway.
Ever since I attained legal adulthood, I remember (and somewhat listened to) the call for revolution – if not screamed in the foreground by a Huey Newton-type, then as a quiet expectation in the background as whispered by Stewart Brand (Whole Earth Catalogue). The symbolic and iconic “Burn, baby, burn” was torn from the angry chants of the Black Panthers around the violent times of the LA Watts riots. And the back-to-the-land movement of the early 70’s was a kind of quiet, gentle manifestation of similar revolution opposing working in offices in grey flannel suits and living in ticky-tacky boxes all in a row. But both were revolutionary messages for my era.
One died with a whimper and maybe one last Viagra. The other clings to life as a hot sauce.
I guess, though, that I have always considered that revolution would still show up in one of those two ways: either burning riots or quiet retreat. But, I may be wrong…………It won’t happen by way of voting, that’s for sure. The very act of voting and politely awaiting the outcome of a system that always results in the status quo is simply a ludicrous expectation. The system is incapable of major change. You can’t get change by remaining the same. But I digress…..
So, where are the riots? Or where is the exodus?
I don’t see it.
Or do I?
It actually may be happening right now and I didn’t recognize it because there just weren’t enough Afros or long-haired hippies involved. Maybe the revolution is underway….?
Bear in mind that there is nothing in the word ‘revolution’ that necessarily makes the rebels right. Fifty thousand rebels can be wrong even if the ones they are fighting are also deemed the bad guys to some extent. Both sides can be wrong. The enemy of my enemy is NOT necessarily my friend.
Put another way: ISIS is revolting against the modern status quo – their status quo as they define it in a Western based world. They are revolting against capitalism, materialism and western ethics. But they are not revolting against the status quo that I am inclined to rebel against – which is that part of the same enemy as theirs which pollutes the planet and exploits the poor in pursuit of greed and excess. My rebels are good guys like the Sea Shepherd Society and Green Peace. Their rebels are just worse bad guys than the Military Industrial Petroleum Capitalism Greed machine I normally rail against.
Put another way again: I think I prefer my greed-motivated enemies to the beheading types who have begun the ISIS revolution. They are up-front worse than my bad guys because I have hopes for my bad guys to learn from their constant stream of mistakes. The old greedy guys pretty much have to learn eventually since they are killing the planet and that part is fundamental to life for all of us. My bad guys are just stupid and greedy.
ISIS, on the other hand, is crazy-mad.
And me? I am merely a frightened, naive and optimistic old hippy with a better road to follow. Obviously the road less traveled.
But back to the point: could this ISIS-like crap be the revolution for which we always had an expectation? They don’t look like leaders of any revolution I could imagine. And, to my way of seeing, they are NOT heroic in any way. But they still may be a pretty good definition of rebels………….
….and they may be bringing the revolution…?
Don’t get me wrong. I don’t believe that ISIS and the peripheral crazies that they attract are targeting Canada and ‘our way of life’ in the manner that that fear-mongering Harper is claiming. I don’t see ISIS as a bigger threat than I do Harper and his gestapo by any stretch. But they are revolting over there in the Middle East and Europe.They are revolting against the Harper-cum-sociopath-cum-Cheney-cum-Putin ‘petro-establishment’ that makes up the great bee-hive of modern economics and society over there. And here. They (ISIS) just don’t like what they see ‘going forward’ in the modern world.
I confess that I am not so keen on what I see ‘going forward’ either. But nor do I like what I see ‘going backwards with the crazy-mads’. They (ISIS) want to go back to the good ol’ cave-man days of wife-beating and idol-worshiping. Pretty ignorant, ugly, brutish stuff. But I am also concerned with what the world seems to think is forward thinking: greed, exploitation and a larger police state, not to mention global warming. Backwards or forwards, the paths being offered are not desirable.
I’ve chosen. I’ve gone the way of the hippie. ISIS has escalated the revolutionary rage like that of the Black Panthers to psychotic religious, homicidal levels in a Middle Eastern and European setting. Their way is attracting more followers. Mine isn’t.
Mind you, there are quite a few off-the-gridders (they estimate 2,000,000 in the USA and 300,000 in Canada) but we are still peacefully engaged in society to a large extent; we just live farther from the malls, is all. They have 50,000 or more armed-to-the-teeth goofballs who even dress the same and march around chanting slogans and blowing stuff up. This does not bode well for a peaceful, green, hippie outcome with sharing, cooperation and free love.
You might want to start packing.
Our Off the Grid Home 
Saudia Arabian pop 29 million, under the age of 15 – 30%, between 15 and 60 – 65%, over 60 -5%
Iran: pop 75 million, under 15 -24%, between 15 and 60 – 69%, over 60 – 8%
Indonesia: pop 245 million, under 15- 29%, between 15 and 60 – 63%, over 60- 8%
Pakistan: pop 180 million, under 15- 34%, between 15 and 60- 60%, over 60- 6%
Turkey: pop 75 million, under 15- 26%, between 15 and 60- 63%, over 60 -11%
Several muslim countries that have fairly consistant population ages with at least 30% entering their teens and at least 55% in their working years, Very few retirees.
Kinda like Canada and the US in the 1960″s
Remember the demonstrations in the 60’s and early 70’s? Those rabble rousing teens and 20 somethings sure like to stir up shit.
Now look at OUR ageing countries.
Canada’s pop 35 million, under 15 – 16%, between 15 and 60 – 63%, over 60 – 21%
US pop 315 million, under 15- 20%, between 15 and 60- 60%, over 60- 20%
Next: Europes RAPIDLY aging society
UK pop 63 million, under15- 18%,between 15 and 60- 58%, over 60- 24%
Italy pop 61 million(and dropping), under 15-14%, between 15 and 60-58%, over 60- 28%
Germany pop 82 million(and dropping), under 15- 13%, between 15 and 60- 60%, over 60-27%
France pop 64 million, pop under 15- 18%, between 15 and 60- 58%, over 60- 24%
I could go on but I think we see a trend here of Arab countries with young (some VERY young) populations that are locked into countries with almost nonexistant democratic rights. Add to that very high unemployment, access to internet(imagine what the riots and demonstrations of the 1960’s would have looked like if they had internet………….)
We are seeing the Arab world going through it’s “1960’s” under dictatorial regimes.
And, while im disgusted at the “appeal” ISIS or any of these other opportunistic scum waving a jihadi flag of convenience. Especially with muslim kids born and raised in Europe.
I cant say im surprised.
LikeLike
The seizure of the Grand Mosque in Mecca in 1979 is a seminal event in the evolution of Islamist terrorism. Yet the seizure is mostly a footnote in contemporary history. It shouldn’t be. The attack was led by Juhayman al-Oteibi, a fundamentalist preacher and former member of the Saudi National Guard, and Mohammed Abdullah al-Qahtani, who claimed to be the mahdi. The two men openly called for a revolt against the Saudi monarchy, accusing it of having betrayed Islamic principles and sold out to western countries. The revolt was put down by the Saudis, the attackers were killed some 67 by beheading in a public square, over 500 attackers dead and the Saudi state further responded by becoming more conservative. The Grand Mosque take-over was not an al-Qaeda operation by any means. But it would become an inspiration, and a stepping stone, to al-Qaeda less than a decade and a half later. More recently it has inspired ISIS to chart a very conservative path. The Saudis have had their conservative revolution and now ISIS also want to turn back the clock to Sharia law.
In Canada we also have a push for laws that through away the key, allow police to break the law, arrest people on the premise that they are about to break the law. gut the Charter of Rights and roll back the social progress made in Canada over the last 50 years: gay rights, female rights. abortions, safe injection sites, in short Canada has had its revolution so the claw back of progress begins
LikeLike
I’d say the Western world’s Military Industrial complex has contributed to the extremist surge . Their greed knows no bounds, their intrusions even if not noticed by the sheep are well known to the rest of the world. With full control of the media we sheep are shown the Boogey Man every day on the TV!!! It seems they are wanting to march us off to war again only this time the consequences and scale may result in a depopulation event. Best way to stop terrorism is to turn off the TV. False Flags are being raised everywhere in my humble opinion in an effort to cover up a failing financial system that is on it’s last legs and is ready detonate at any time.
Dwayne Donald Mclean
LikeLike
Carful what you wish for. If the financial system “collapses” then all bets would be off.
The term “eat the rich” would become a reality and since there are only 1% of the population that are “rich” ………who’s next?
No electricity, no supermarkets, no law.
Would even being ‘off the Grid” be far enough away?
Buckshot , beans and (most importantly) toilet paper stored in the basement……….
Ahhhh thats the life.
LikeLike
Don’t forget; there are more than the two paths to revolution I originally expected: riots and retreat. Seems jihad is a third and I suspect that a fourth might be the one preached by anarchist Dan Dicks that one should lead an honest, learned life and act with integrity at all times so as to set the new behavioral standard one person at a time. I would have thought him hopelessly naive until jihad and beheadings seemed to gain some traction. So, if they can sway others, surely integrity and truth can do a better job?
LikeLike
As you note there are many paths to achieve an utopian vision. As you do, I prefer the one with out blood shed.
LikeLike
Now, now…don’t put words in my mouth…I can’t do anything without bloodshed (my own). Let ’em bleed. Seriously, I don’t really need utopia. They can lie and cheat and rape and pillage til their heart is content. It’s what they do. Lions eat lambs, crime is inflicted on the innocent, victimization seems to be the basic rule. We even raise sheep and chicken for snacks. It’s the poisoning of us all in the process by way of species extermination, pollution and climate change that I want to see changed. Maybe a few morals and ethics thrown in for colour would be nice…?
LikeLike
I get it. It’s not about counting one’s blessing but about counting one’s fingers.
LikeLike
You must be amused by the conservative ethos building in many areas of the world. A deeply conservative energy whose object it is to restore certain power relationships to the detriment of human rights gains of the last fifty years.
LikeLike
Not amused so much…………..
LikeLike