I often find myself wondering what people's breaking point it. Everyone has a breaking point, some just snap faster than others. I believe it's the same with cultures, nations, organizations etc. What does it take to bring people in upheaval? How far must one be pushed before they're ready to stand up for themselves, even radicalize?
We're in a period of protest. Every other week I see a new group of people angry at some other group of people. More often than not, it's groups seen as less powerful or less in control that are the truly angry ones. In particular, we're in a time where more than ever before, citizens are taking their governments to the sword. I look at Hong Kong, traditionally the most non Chinese part of China (and trust me, they don't wanna be Chinese) that had a visceral reaction to Chinese law creeping into it's own state. They violently reject the Chinese and have been, at the time of writing, at war with their own government for months. All due to Hong Kong's leader essentially bowing to Chinese will which has historically been filled with incredibly nationalistic worldviews and pro-censorship sentiment. To me, the Hong Kong protest are as good a litmus test for anti-authority sentiment as I could find. There are few parts of the world that value authority as much as the eastern countries. If they're angry, you know it's going to have something behind it.
The time we live in now is to me, the second coming of punk rock. Few times in history have shown such violently anti-government, anti-establishment and anti-authority views as the time we live in now and particularly for younger people. It seems as though everyone is on edge. Something could break at any moment. I look to the US where tensions could not be higher, in particular among opposing groups. But it seems as though there's a new protest every week and I kind of love it.
Whether it's climate protests, equality protests or general anti-government protests, everyone has something to say about how screwed up everything is and that's amazing. More and more we see people remember the fact that they, as the people can use their democratic power to shape the world they live in. Granted, sometimes their view can be skewed and distorted or down right wrong, but I preserve the sovereignty of each individual.
If there is anything that shows the power of the people, it's the changes seen in the middle east. Recently, for the first time in almost 40 years, Iranian women were allowed in football stadiums in Iran to watch their nation play football. A truly beautiful sight as many women had to suffer, protest and fight for that right. But that just shows the power that people still have. How we can still get things done and say goodbye to the old ways many still try to preserve.
Then of course, there are still many countries that would rather implode than change. Or rather, to put it bluntly, there are many self-serving, entitled, greedy and power-hungry leaders that will to anything to squash dissent. Russia, China, Venezuela, you name it. These are countries that have used force, often times deadly force to stop the revolution. The sad thing is, it often works. Too often you see peaceful protests turn not so peaceful. Riots break out, counter protesters appear, anti-riot police squads appear and quash any hopes of dialogue. The biggest issue then becomes the branding of the protests. What was once a peaceful plea for dialogue and change now becomes and enemy of the state and then an enemy to public security. That's not even the worst part, sometimes it's outside forces that twist what was supposed to be the public voicing its concerns into something the leaders can then call "childish tantrums" and then sweep to the side because the violence immediately delegitimizes a legitimate concern and that's the frustrating part. When you know you're in the right but get taken for immature, violent and the like. It's a spit in the face of the cause and can derail any campaign, especially when it's these same organizations you fight against that use guerrilla tactics to undermine your cause. Take for example the occupy wall street protests. Those got violent pretty quickly and there's some evidence that may point to wall street companies hiring people to act as protesters and then incite violence. There's some conspiracies of the same thing happening in Hong Kong as well. This undoubtedly hurts any chance for legitimate change, unless the violence becomes so severe that the state has to bow down simply to stop the civil unrest and avoid casualties. But that's a side that I doubt many would want to be on. The age of peaceful protests might be over, maybe it was never even a very effective tool to begin with. Oftentimes, it takes seismic action to move the immovable. People are starting to think that simply voicing opinions aren't enough to budge elected officials anymore. They believe it takes something much more visceral, it takes complete trust in the cause that this is the right way forward. Often in cases like Mexico, Venezuela, China etc, it takes your life. Change often takes sacrifice, sometimes it takes the ultimate sacrifice. But no needle has been pushed by thoughts or feelings. The needle moves, even by the smallest margin, by the martyrs pushing it. Civil rights weren't enacted before the deaths of many black American citizens, the Tsar weren't overthrown simply by the literature written in that period, the Hatian people didn't free their nation by asking nicely. It took grit, it took the will to be free, it took the love of freedom and it took the blood of those that fought for their liberation.
Let's talk culture. Earlier in this post I wrote how we're in a new age of punk rock. Unfortunately, punk rock itself hasn't made a return but the sentiment still stands. It's not about the music, it's not about the art itself, it's about what it represents. Few, if any, revolutions have been carried out on the back of simple rationality. Revolution is carried on the back of the people's will. Nothing will shape the people more than the culture they live in. And culture is of course shaped by art. Poems, paintings, sculptures, music. I often talk about the importance of art and it serves many purposes in culture. On one hand, it's the thoughts and ideas of the people in those cultures, their behavior, idiosyncrasies, etc. But it's also what motivates the people to seek their ideal. Take for example rap music in the US over the passed few decades and particularly in the 90's. Only punk rock itself rivals hip-hop as a vehemently anti-establishment form of art. Rap music has gone a long way to showcase what black youths in the US, in particular black males, have to go through and is a testament to how oppressed groups view authority. With anger and disgust.
But art will always pave the way for revolution. Art is what captures the mind, the emotions, even for a single, fleeting moment. It's the lifeblood of revolution and the lifeblood of the people.
We're in a period of protest. Every other week I see a new group of people angry at some other group of people. More often than not, it's groups seen as less powerful or less in control that are the truly angry ones. In particular, we're in a time where more than ever before, citizens are taking their governments to the sword. I look at Hong Kong, traditionally the most non Chinese part of China (and trust me, they don't wanna be Chinese) that had a visceral reaction to Chinese law creeping into it's own state. They violently reject the Chinese and have been, at the time of writing, at war with their own government for months. All due to Hong Kong's leader essentially bowing to Chinese will which has historically been filled with incredibly nationalistic worldviews and pro-censorship sentiment. To me, the Hong Kong protest are as good a litmus test for anti-authority sentiment as I could find. There are few parts of the world that value authority as much as the eastern countries. If they're angry, you know it's going to have something behind it.
The time we live in now is to me, the second coming of punk rock. Few times in history have shown such violently anti-government, anti-establishment and anti-authority views as the time we live in now and particularly for younger people. It seems as though everyone is on edge. Something could break at any moment. I look to the US where tensions could not be higher, in particular among opposing groups. But it seems as though there's a new protest every week and I kind of love it.
Whether it's climate protests, equality protests or general anti-government protests, everyone has something to say about how screwed up everything is and that's amazing. More and more we see people remember the fact that they, as the people can use their democratic power to shape the world they live in. Granted, sometimes their view can be skewed and distorted or down right wrong, but I preserve the sovereignty of each individual.
If there is anything that shows the power of the people, it's the changes seen in the middle east. Recently, for the first time in almost 40 years, Iranian women were allowed in football stadiums in Iran to watch their nation play football. A truly beautiful sight as many women had to suffer, protest and fight for that right. But that just shows the power that people still have. How we can still get things done and say goodbye to the old ways many still try to preserve.
Then of course, there are still many countries that would rather implode than change. Or rather, to put it bluntly, there are many self-serving, entitled, greedy and power-hungry leaders that will to anything to squash dissent. Russia, China, Venezuela, you name it. These are countries that have used force, often times deadly force to stop the revolution. The sad thing is, it often works. Too often you see peaceful protests turn not so peaceful. Riots break out, counter protesters appear, anti-riot police squads appear and quash any hopes of dialogue. The biggest issue then becomes the branding of the protests. What was once a peaceful plea for dialogue and change now becomes and enemy of the state and then an enemy to public security. That's not even the worst part, sometimes it's outside forces that twist what was supposed to be the public voicing its concerns into something the leaders can then call "childish tantrums" and then sweep to the side because the violence immediately delegitimizes a legitimate concern and that's the frustrating part. When you know you're in the right but get taken for immature, violent and the like. It's a spit in the face of the cause and can derail any campaign, especially when it's these same organizations you fight against that use guerrilla tactics to undermine your cause. Take for example the occupy wall street protests. Those got violent pretty quickly and there's some evidence that may point to wall street companies hiring people to act as protesters and then incite violence. There's some conspiracies of the same thing happening in Hong Kong as well. This undoubtedly hurts any chance for legitimate change, unless the violence becomes so severe that the state has to bow down simply to stop the civil unrest and avoid casualties. But that's a side that I doubt many would want to be on. The age of peaceful protests might be over, maybe it was never even a very effective tool to begin with. Oftentimes, it takes seismic action to move the immovable. People are starting to think that simply voicing opinions aren't enough to budge elected officials anymore. They believe it takes something much more visceral, it takes complete trust in the cause that this is the right way forward. Often in cases like Mexico, Venezuela, China etc, it takes your life. Change often takes sacrifice, sometimes it takes the ultimate sacrifice. But no needle has been pushed by thoughts or feelings. The needle moves, even by the smallest margin, by the martyrs pushing it. Civil rights weren't enacted before the deaths of many black American citizens, the Tsar weren't overthrown simply by the literature written in that period, the Hatian people didn't free their nation by asking nicely. It took grit, it took the will to be free, it took the love of freedom and it took the blood of those that fought for their liberation.
Let's talk culture. Earlier in this post I wrote how we're in a new age of punk rock. Unfortunately, punk rock itself hasn't made a return but the sentiment still stands. It's not about the music, it's not about the art itself, it's about what it represents. Few, if any, revolutions have been carried out on the back of simple rationality. Revolution is carried on the back of the people's will. Nothing will shape the people more than the culture they live in. And culture is of course shaped by art. Poems, paintings, sculptures, music. I often talk about the importance of art and it serves many purposes in culture. On one hand, it's the thoughts and ideas of the people in those cultures, their behavior, idiosyncrasies, etc. But it's also what motivates the people to seek their ideal. Take for example rap music in the US over the passed few decades and particularly in the 90's. Only punk rock itself rivals hip-hop as a vehemently anti-establishment form of art. Rap music has gone a long way to showcase what black youths in the US, in particular black males, have to go through and is a testament to how oppressed groups view authority. With anger and disgust.
But art will always pave the way for revolution. Art is what captures the mind, the emotions, even for a single, fleeting moment. It's the lifeblood of revolution and the lifeblood of the people.
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