I've Never Seen a Bloodless Revolution... But Maybe it's Necessary

Simplified.

Protestanta revolted against the Catholics control of information.

Democracy revolted from the Kings control of political power.

United States revolted from Britain's control of the monetary system.

Simplified. It's Freedom from Oppression. It's a fight about control.

And in my simplified world there seems to be two ways to fight against it. Either work from within for gradual change, or leave it altogether and change it from without... God help you when the two forces finally collide.

The greatest example of this is the differences between the French and English revolution. The bloody revolution in France (from without) set against the gradual revolution of Great Britain (from within). From this one particular example, it seems clear that change from within is better, but I think the most important question to ask is... would the revolution in England would have been possible without the mess that arose in France?

And the answer effects us all.

For it appears that every generation has their own form of revolution. Every young person faces the entrenchment of the older and must determine how they will face it. Gradually... through the slow, torturous.. process of time... change minds... or immediately, band together with like-minded individuals and 'revolt'.

The answer is not so simple. It probably depends on how willing the elders are to change, or maybe the younger are to learn. It depends on patience. And how much time can really be given to the process.

So... in turnt... the first question is

1) Speed... working from without makes the change quicker... but more volatile...

Governments, groups, councils, boards are set in place to make sure change is slow, deliberate, and safe... but conditions happen where change needs to be faster. If a person is on their deathbed should you spend time talking about how they should eat better or get more exercise to help their cholesterol? No, you quicken the pace and get a heart transplant?

That is why in any time of peril the Romans would elect leaders and give them ultimate power over the land in order to quickly address the problem... in hopes that once the peril was overcome these men would return, give their power back to the people, and once again put on the clothes of an ordinary citizen.

BUT

... working from without can cause the same sort of absolute control of leadership that they hated in the first place. For example, although it sped up the process of getting things done, Rome was finally overcome when a few generals refused to give their power back to the bureaucracy... and, millenia later, only by a stroke of luck was Washington able to convince the American generals to give their power to the American people after the revolution...

2) ... working from without makes the change cleaner... you don't have to parse through loads and loads of accumulated junk and precedent... you begin with a clean slate and make what you want... there are no half-measures. If something doesn't work you scrap it. If entrenchment is too deep you cut it.

... this is probably the kind of measure that President Obama wishes he could do with health insurance. Completely overhaul the whole thing and begin again... And might be the only solution to save it.

BUT

... working from without will also mean you lose your history. You throw out Frankenstein only to realize how valuable some of the parts really were. Systems in place set up in the course of history to address real problems that arise when working with people in a community. A completely new health care bill will most likely miss a lot of the necessary care now set in place in the present, confused system.

... in some cases...

... you lose resources. You lose people, support, money, and a host of things that are available to people who choose to work from the inside out.

... you set a terrible precedent. You make it acceptable to do the same thing you just did in the future. It's hard to hammer out the value of sticking to something through hard times when your own life is a testament of rebellion. Sulla took over Rome only to give up power once his changes were enacted, but setting precedent for Caesar years later...

... you create enemies. People actively opposed to the way you do things... or maybe just hesitant to lend you support because they disapprove of your methods. And sometimes all it would have taken was listening just a bit to have them as allies...

... So I guess I'll repeat what I said at first... if possible, change from within is better... but sometimes it's just not possible...

Dream Diary

So, like the riddle, I'm trapped in a square room with no doors and no windows... except this time there's a door on each wall... 4 in total... all open... but the problem is.. if I walk towards the door, and am looking at the door, it closes and locks... BUT... if I walk to the door, and not looking directly at it, the door stays open and I can go through. It's about this point, asleep and dreaming, I realize that I'm in the process of discovering some amazing.. self... -er... discovery... or something... Some ultimate truth... and then it all becomes clear... maybe... just maybe... I should never ever watch where I am going... except out of the corner of my eye... and only then in such a way that the magical door doesn't realize that I can see it in my peripheral vision... because that's how I get to Candyland...

Tailgating

It is ultimately so frustrating...

... To speed up every passing section on the highway... without fail... only to slow down once it's back to a single lane... without remorse...
... To never let yourself get passed... An innately human and oh so competitive trait the we have... this selfish gene demands one never get passed on the highway... one never get beaten... ever... and we have no control over it... it's the animal part of our instincts... look around... our school systems... our wars... this same story is written over the entire history of human civilization... keeping others down... keeping them behind you... rising above... making sure they won't make it to Calgary until after sunset... here is every dictatorship that ever existed... on display in the extremely mundane... right at that second... right as I'm already pulled over and driving beside them... they follow an instinct...

And talk about keeping the man down... cops choose these passing areas to run radar on... right at the very end... right as you're speeding to juuust pass that one last car before it ends... and again... To radar you at the bottom of a downhill section... as a vast majority of drivers happen to be in neutral coasting down to save on gas... picking up a way too much speed...

I'm just lucky everyone else was doing the same speed and I wasn't the one culled...

I Wanna Grow Old With You

The cutest old couple I ever saw was a man and wife in Charleston that used to come to our Stingrays games... matching knit Stingray sweaters with a Stingray blanket to cover them, and the wife with an old blue jofa Stingray hockey helmet for protection... Came to every game... he used to help her walk down the stairs...

The second cutest old couple was this afternoon walking arms around each other... his arm around her shoulders... her arm around his waist... her head leaning on his shoulder... in matching super small steps... with their cute little dog in a sweater following just behind them...

Wrong Way

There's nothing more embarrassing than turning the wrong way down a one-way street... except for, in your attempt to turn off that one way, to ONCE AGAIN turn the wrong way down a one-way street.

Miss Manners

It's amazing how stubbornly some people refuse to make eye contact with you. Pretend that they don't see you or are aware of your presence. Pretend you don't exist or that you're not worth anything. It's very unnerving. It's what, I guess, some homeless people must feel from the side of the street as they watch people going about their day. Ignoring the only words you remember. The only conversation you have left. The way you ask for money. It's horrible. It's what I feel today as I rush to catch an elevator as the doors are closing... and I know they hear my footsteps... and I know their stares at their feet are guilty... and I know they will let it close...