You hear it whispered all the time " We are on the verge of upheaval if the inequality keeps growing". It's worth taking an an historical snapshot of where U.S. Society is now in terms of its long term stability. A solid historical analysis is the work
by Harvard Historian Crane Brinton "Anatomy of Revolution".
Brinton analyzed the British, American, French and Russian revolutions to find their commonalities and difference. He was far from a advocate of the principles of any of the 4 big Revolutions. Revolutions are like volcanos: sudden, violent and very difficult to predict, but also have tell-tale warning signals, like tremors.
- Sheer Incompetence of the Doomed Regime. All great upheavals share a government that just stumbles its way into being overthrown. Anybody think of examples close to home in the last few years?
- Economic Crises. Economies of France and Russia were terrible just before the 2 revolutions. In America and Britain, it was taxation, and the perception of unfairness of the economy. How many crises can you count on this web site?
- Treason of the Intellectuals. The nattering classes become increasingly vocal and open in opposition to the Regime. How striking that so many commentators today speak of the populist
uprising we now have.
- Military Misadventures. In America and Britain, ham-handed use of force against the Puritans and Patriots backfired. In France, the unbearable expense of support for the American Revolution bred resentment. In Russia, World War I was a disaster, blood bath and military fiasco. But then, now in America, we can feel just great about Iraq, and Afganistan, can't we?
- Polarization of Politics and Society. Haves and Have-nots.
Ideology et cetera. This one is easy and so dangerous in this
time we are in.
Ya say ya want a revolution, well, well, ya know
We all want to change the world.
Brinton - Anatomy of Revolution.
This book is from 1965. I think people want to be represented is what is happening and they plain are not being represented. The U.S. government is surrounded by special interests, lobbyists, foreign government influence and seemingly the last who are heard at all are the American people. That said, I don't think people want revolution, more they want major reforms.
I tend to agree with Robert here.
A revolution is simply not likely at this point. People are not necessarily looking for revolution - they simply want the power of representative democratic government put back in the hands of we the people rather than the corporatists, globalists and special interests
There are two simple indicators that lead me to this assessment - the first is the folks most likely to lead such a revolution are the gun nut/militia types - and thanks to the right's pandering to the NRA are firmly in the right wing extremist camp - the republicans were very smart to keep these guys on their side - god, guns and gays is a powerful message among the blue collar , red state, and rural vote.
Secondly is that we continue to have the "whats the matter with Kansas" phenomenon - low information voters are too easily swayed by emotional and wedges issues, sound bite politics and drive-by news reporting to pay any attention to their own economic interests.
And on the authors point of the nattering class - it seems that most of the punditry and nattering class spend more time defending the status quo than pointing out the real structural problems facing our country as well as precious few in the MSM are reporting about populist issues, spare Lou Dobbs like him or not. Even the blogosphere is devoid of much real discussion of populism, save a few sites like this, and many, present company excepted, venture too far out into tin foil hat land to have much credibility
Leave the gun rights alone.
Leave the gun rights alone. It is because of gun ownership that we were able to form a government. Yes you are correct in that there is a great need for a reform back to basics.The Federal Government should be concerned only with providing a currency/banking system; a military; a customs and immigration service; and a court for states to resolve their differences. Beyond that the states should govern themselves.
gun rights?
Firstly I don't think you read the title of the site and secondly, thinking government is the problem is really fiction. The problem is corrupt government, special interest government, electing people who have no clue on how to manage such a large organization called the Federal Government, not the concept of government itself.
We're an economics site. I don't believe there is one line on this site about gun rights because it off topic on our focus.
What's with you guys? Because this is too difficult to understand the answer just becomes "small government" and don't mess with my guns? Believe me, when the next disaster happens you're going to want and need federal government to come in and do something...
Unfortunately that's not the case currently (do the right things for the U.S. citizen/worker/middle class, Americans).
So, can we get ya all to put down your guns for awhile and quit with the sound bytes and start doing some reading? And no, Glenn Beck is not giving you an education here, as most TV shows and radio shows are not. Ya gotta crack the books.
A point on "incompetence"
Sure the rights front man really is incompetent, but they are incompetent like foxes. It is all going as planned - put cronies and industry insiders in key regulatory positions, and spend like the dickens to justify gutting and defunding the social safety net programs like SS.
Re Revolutions
Many revolutions, like France(1789), Britain's Crowmwellian period do not take place along with long civil wars. Violence is usually confined to the periods of Terror. I only suggest
warning signs, because history shows almost all revolutions are disasters, to be avoided if at all possible.
Far be it from me to predict things like revolutions. The next one in this country could likely involve a devolution of powers toward much more limited government and a more direct democracy. Changes management are usually irrelevant.
Burton Leed
Disaster Capitalism
This is a very interesting book, The Shock Doctrine that is probably write up your alley if you are studying the History of Revolution and conditions thereof. Milton Friedman I suspect also studied conditions of revolution and this is an astounding manipulation of a crisis to push corporate laden agendas onto a people in desperation.
People do not want Revolution - Government is pushing that way
Consider the infamous HR 1955. This bill is against 'domestic terrorism' on the face. But look deeper and you can see it seeks to muzzle anyone with influence casting them as terrorist. Its very quiet now on the domestic terror front. It is populist ferment that is so feared by the elite, not terror
Goverments like Czarist Russia, Britain's Charles II, France, Louis XVI France, and George III make laws like this. Governments who stumble and goad their peoples into revolt. Doomed regimes behave this way, for no reason.
HR 1955 was passed in secret without debate. There is no Committee Report. The typical spin on such bills by Reid-Pelosi is that these bills are way too trivial. But there is nothing trivial about 1955. This is the point about
stumbling, military misadventures - this pattern has happened over 400 years with the same outcomes for the doomed regimes.
is nothing trivial about HR 1955.
Burton Leed