Start a Revolution

I wonder if every generation is always on the verge of a revolution. Thomas Jefferson once wrote: "Every generation needs a new revolution." It feels as if we are on the very precipice of one. This nation (U.S.A.) became this nation because of a revolt. And it seems that people are always unhappy over something. I guess the fine line between grumbling and the real thing is just how far people have been pushed. The proverbial last straw that breaks the camel's back. Is "revolution" defined as something out in the open? Or can one work at it behind closed doors? Maybe it's the inevitable outcome, the public-ness of it. Would you consider the underground railroad a revolution? Or was it only a step into something bigger to come? We grumble about the "rich getting richer and the poor poorer" and we've been grumbling for decades. We grumble over the state of our economy, over our standard of education, living etc. We watch "The Fabulous Life of..." and are aggrieved at how the rich spend their money, while the rate of poverty just goes up faster and higher. And yet we keep it at a low hum. When will we finally raise our voices? Tell them we wont be victims any longer?

And yet it's laughable. Who's writing this? Someone in the upper middle class, who doesn't have any real grievances towards anybody. I like my moviestars and their stardom, I like my car, my security, my life. The person who should be writing about revolutions should be the "lower class", but I don't know if I write it because they can't. They're stuck in their minimal wage jobs, supporting their families, perhaps not having the time to write it or even to have time to conceive the thought of revolution. I don't know if they know from where I stand how bad they have it. It's that whole "keep 'em dumb" motto. Slave owners refused to teach their slaves how to read or write so that escaping would be harder. Weren't women told to look pretty but never to express an opinion?

But by having a revolution... where does it get us? Wouldn't we come up with the same b-s again? We'd return to our hierarchy; the rich and the poor and the people in between. Same crap, different people. If we did overthrow our current government it's only 50/50% chance that we'll get something better. Maybe even 70/30 that we'll end up worse than before. George Bernard Shaw wrote: "Revolutions have never lightened the burden of tyranny: they have only shifted it to another shoulder." Maybe the conclusion is that we'll just go back to grumbling and watching "The Fabulous Life Of..." and passing the torch to the next generation, who'll have the balls to do it when their turn comes.

So I end it here. Gotta run to the store.

Me.