What would a "Revolution" look like?

[Goldstein1984]

Who would be fighting who?
What would the tactics be?
Where would it start? And where would it spread?
When would it start?
Why would it start?
How would it progress?

I'm just wondering, because all I see is millions of people who believe just about any political bullshit they hear and are distracted by entertainment, moderately-priced beer, and cheap consumer goods that look a little like the stuff the rich folks have, except made from plastic in Asia.

Chaos? Maybe if ESPN goes out of business. Revolution? I don't think we have it in us anymore.

Revolution? From domesticated rabbits? I doubt it.

[NoPasaran]

1. Brussels Sprouts Weeping

[Tuesday Afternoon]

2. chaos.

[JanMichael]

3. It will come from the outside and not from within.

We take advantage of other poorer nations all of the time and even our poor folks who should be to the Left are just well enough off (not saying great but "better than the alternative") that it will never happen here.

But it could happen when the rest of the world finally gets fed the fuck up with rich western nations exploiting them.

[Goldstein1984]

5. I think that's beginning in Latin America

Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador.

I hope I live to see the empire crumble.

But revolution at home? Decay, maybe. Chaos, probably.

Civil war is more likely than revolution.

[eleny]

4. People are being pushed more along racial or religious lines

Before a revolution it'll probably erupt in racial and religious violence.

Working class Americans are being manipulated into fighting amongst themselves for the crumbs that fall from the high table out of a sense of lost privilege or desperation.

[Goldstein1984]

6. I recently advocated for a general boycott of nonessential goods

And the response was that we'd hurt the working class more than the ruling class.

As if that weren't intentionally built into the system that's created a domesticated herd of producer and consumer units.

[eleny]

13. I think people are cutting back on the non essentials

I'm seeing signs of that around me this summer. One small example - my grocery store always sells out it's hanging baskets by end of June each year. Now they've marked them down to a very deep sale and there are still two whole 3-tiered displays of them sitting there. Definitely non essential and being passed up to the point where they haven't been replaced with an abundant offering of potted autumn flowers like chrysanthemums. Flowers just aren't as important as they used to be when the electric bills have gone up around here due to a new scheme by Xcel.

I hate to imagine what hitting rock bottom is going to look like.

[Goldstein1984]

17. I'm seeing a lot of that, too

Without going into detail, my wife and I suffered an economic setback during the Great Recession, from which we have recovered. We no longer have to be frugal, but we learned to enjoy being frugal. But we have relatives who aren't doing as well, and who knows what tomorrow brings, so we've decided to abandon accumulation of goods for accumulation of portable wealth that can be shared as needed.

We finally sold our house in the Midwest. But we've been enjoying renting so much, that we've decided to keep renting. (Mobility is better, and we learned what a ball-and-chain a house can be.) We traded dinner out for going out for coffee (Dinner costs $30 - $40, or even $100, while coffee costs about $5 for both of us). We stopped going to the theater, and also buying the DVD, and we just do an occasional pay-per-view. Electronics are only replaced when they are obsolete, not when the latest and greatest thing comes along. Before I buy a new book I check the used bookstore first.

I could go on. Basically, if an economic recovery depends on a return to previous spending patterns, the recovery is going to have to depend on people other than us. We're doing with our money what the banks did with the bailout money--keeping it.

[eleny]

19. It's like we've learned the lessons of the Great Depression generations

My mother being one of those I learned to cut back when necessary and splurge when I think I need it. I'm still frivolous at times (don't ask!). But this house thing is starting to roll around in my head, too. The other week I told my husband that if he just doesn't want to take care of the day to day chores a house demands, I would be willing to full time it for 5 years in a used RV. There are many of them around for sale. His health likes good weather year round and our winters cause him grief. So 4 months here and 4 months etc there could keep him in ideal climates. In the end it's not much different from renting a place. He said he would feel too untethered. But I think it's important for him to know he has options and for me to hear myself say it out loud. Health problems are enough of a ball and chain.

Anyhow, the upshot is that I hear you. You two are kind of like two young people just starting out.

[Goldstein1984]

22. I understand the "untethered" feeling.

It took awhile to get used to the idea of not having a place, but being tied down to a place we couldn't use cured me of that. If the economy in Alaska goes bust, we can be out of here in a week with no strings. Our landlord is prisoner to both the location and the economy.

We have four (soon to be five) grandchildren scattered around in three family units. On one of the three families is here in Alaska with us. No telling were the economy is going to take them, or when it will take them there. Better to be frugal and mobile.

I like the idea of the RV for a few years. We've considered it ourselves. Maybe staying anchored in Alaska, building a small home we can call home for residency and tax purposes, and move around the country, six monthes here, six months there.

Who knows. What we're in the process of untethering ourselves from is the system as it has been. If it goes back to what it was, it will get along, or not, the same without us.

Thanks for "listening." :)

[Goldstein1984]

18. Duplicate deleted

[Rosa Luxemburg]

7. Start by shutting down Fox News

[Goldstein1984]

8. What?

So soon after they took over Helen Thomas's front row seat in the White House Briefing Room?

[Rosa Luxemburg]

16. they won't get time to get their seat warm

[pinboy3niner]

11. I thought we were the ones who DON 'T believe in censorship

Our challenge is to counter them, not shut them down.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

14. I has no problem with shutting them down

or if I could buy them out

[Odin2005]

9. Marching into the masions of the great investors and confiscating their "property".

[pinboy3niner]

10. It's the RIGHT that fantasizes about a new American revolution...

...spurred on by their demagogues in talk radio and cable television.

Ironically, they profess to have studied the Constitution and U.S. history. Yet they talk very casually about the prospect of taking up arms against the U.S. government. What is amazing--besides their wholly-imagined justification for such a resort--is their utter lack of understanding of the consequences of a new civil war in America. We don't regard these RW extremists as 'nutjobs' for nothing...

[Goldstein1984]

12. I think there could be a nonviolent revolution if the people

recognized that they ultimately control both production and consumption.

Unfortunately, the Many are being expertly managed by the Few. They think their enemies are the people on the other side of the tracks, not the people inside the Beltway.

[pinboy3niner]

15. Thanks for reinforcing my point

On the LEFT, we fantasize about NONVIOLENT revolution.

The Southern Poverty Law Center identifies militant militia groups. I'm open to being proved wrong, but I don't believe they've listed any LEFT-wing militia groups.

It's one more irony that it's the wingnuts who constantly spout off about the Constitution who are so ready to talk about violating it, while the moonbats, however dissatisfied with the status quo, tend to trust in the Constitution and its avenues for redress of grievances.

[TroglodyteScholar]

20. I think it looks like this...

[Starry Messenger]

21. Once people need revolution to survive, they will organize.

I don't think it's something you can just plan, like a wedding. Once the middle class feels as much pain as the working class, we might see some shifting.