This is something I think about a lot. Like around July 4th. Or when my employers make a new rule that I don't like. Or when I see a group of people protesting something (preferably something worthwhile). Or when I think about Cuba or China or IRAN. Especially Iran. Especially now with the re-"election" of Ahmadinejad and all the accompanying protests from the minority groups. Because who really believes that Ahmadinejad won the election fair and square? I kind of doubt it.
But it makes me wonder what I would do if I were an Iranian living in Iran and angry with the election. Would I be one of the movers and shakers who formed the protests, or, in a more extreme circumstance, a revolution? Would I be too afraid to start the movement on my own, but readily join as soon as I saw others involved? Would I agree with the revolutionaries, but not actively participate? Or would I sit back and keep my mouth shut?
Perhaps I'm just being a romantic, but I think that I'm somewhere between the first and second group- if I had enough friends to get fired up with me (M, for example), I'd probably be among the first. Otherwise I think I'd be more likely to join a revolution, but not start it.
Do you have the heart of a revolutionary?
And just in case your mind is racing with excited thoughts of Che Guevara racing through your heads, he is most definitely not my idea of the ideal revolutionary. So if you're a lover of Che, I would not call you a revolutionary. I would call you something else. Something else I won't be putting up on my blog.
3 comments:
This post reminds me a little of your loyalist/rebel post from a year (a few years?) ago. But I like the different groups and levels of participation that you outlined here. I would like to think that I would be a revolutionary, and I think that I would take action in some form. I think it would depend on how dedicated I was to the cause. Although I might hesitate or refrain from participation if it meant putting myself or my family in physical danger.
If you were around and we got riled up together, though, there might be no stopping us! We could go on a rampage, burning things down and rallying people to our cause! :)
Kelly, I think you would have a really hard time sitting back and keeping your mouth shut if you really didn't believe in something. You would totally be a revolutionary. I don't know if you would be the instigator but you wouldn't sit back and do nothing. I am sure you would jump on board and I would like to think that I would join you and most of our friends fighting some injustice. Hopefully if something ever did happen we would do something about it. I think that most people do nothing because of fear. Fear for their lives or the lives of their family. I hope that like our founding fathers I would be willing to sacrifice my life for something I believe in.
I've read a lot of books about revolutionaries I always come up with the same question: How do you know if you're fighting with the "good guys"? The current leaders of Iran and Cuba were put in power by revolutionary uprisings, but I don't think the people really got what they expected.
I day dream about being a revolutionary a lot, but I'm not sure how involved I would actually get.
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