[lit-ideas] A Revolution in the USA?
- From: "Andreas Ramos" <andreas@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 13 Aug 2006 21:49:32 -0700
A few years ago, on the Fourth of July, a bunch of friends got together for a picnic and to
watch the fireworks. The sun went down and the fireworks went up.
In the group, there was a 20-something and after a while, she said "yes, but why are there
fireworks? What's the connection?"
There was a long awkward silence. Finally, I said "well, it's to celebrate the American
Revolution."
She scoffed "Oh, c'mon, there's never been a revolution in the US."
And that caused a great deal of nervous laughter, because, well, she was right. She can well
be excused for thinking there has never been a revolution in the USA. Lawrence and his
friends would certainly deny any revolution ever happened.
The history of the USA and the UK is very odd. Only because of history books do I know that
the British also had a Glorious Revolution. But if I ignore history books, then who could
possibly imagine that the British ever had a revolution?
The French had a revolution, and everyone is well aware of that, even 200 years later.
Germany tried to have a revolution in 1848, but it was crushed. What might have been if they
had been successful? The Russian Revolution and later, the Chinese Revolution threw the 20th
century into turmoil.
But a revolution in the USA and the UK? Really now.
The US thinks of itself as a progressive country that is an example for others. Yes, during
the US revolution, it was. But like Soviet revolutionary slogans, the idea has remained
while the leadership has replaced it with its opposite.
The Nazi were also revolutionary. Revolutions aren't always leftist: there have been
conservative revolutions, monarchist revolutions, theist revolutions, and so on. The
Fascists wanted to install a New World Order (starring only themselves). Similar to
Revolutionary France vs. Everyone Else, it became Fascists vs. Everyone Else. The Soviets
were first allies with the Nazi (unbelievably) and then, just to show that the Goddess of
History is a joker, the Soviets became allies with the USA. WWII was essentially an upstart
country trying to seize land and other countries resisted. The UK and the USA were the
conservatives of the 1900s. The USA beat down every possible form of socialism and social
justice in the USA with Red Scares, witch hunts, and, well, just plain shooting them. There
are very very few Americans who are revolutionary, even in the sense of the original
American Revolution.
The USA, born in revolution, became the leading power for conservatism. Perhaps it was
slavery that killed the revolution while it was still a baby. The men who led the revolution
and signed the Constitution were slaveholders. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,
but only for the elite. All others are dogs. The American revolution limped on throughout
Jackson and up to Lincoln, where the boil finally broke. The North won, but... it was the
Southerners who had led the revolution and had the high American ideals. They lost and
Northern industrialisation wiped out the country gentleman farmer. Up to the early 1830s,
90% of Americans worked their own farms and were self-substaining. After industrialization
(and even up to now), 95% of Americans work for somebody else. The idealists of the
revolution lost and were replaced by merchantilists and industrialists.
As people became workers, they became politically passive. The elites write the laws and use
the laws to protect their property (and that property includes land, minerals, factories,
and the workers in those factories.)
Thus the USA and the UK and other industrialized nations that were born in revolution and
liberty have become essentially conservative. Even the Soviet Union, born as the Russian
Revolution, became conservative by the 60s. Conservative countries only join together when
they have to fight wars against upstarts that threaten the system of exploitation and
ownership. They joined together to defeat the fascists and Tojo Japan (and rightly so: both
were destructive enterprises.)
The conservative countries keep citizens under control by using the revolutionary slogans
(democracy, rights, liberty) and even uses them against revolutions that are indeed
progressive. Ronald "The Great American" Reagan used these very ideas to attack the
Nicaraguan Revolution, which has overturned a hated authoritarian government.
Thus we have the USA, where conservatives despise "Liberals". Liberals, of course, were the
revolutionaries who created the USA, fought the War of Independance against a British
aristocracy, and wrote the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, some of the finest documents
in world history. Those liberals are now widely viewed as treasonists. If alive today,
they'd be hunted down, locked up in Guantanamo, and tortured forever. George Washington,
Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, and others used terrorism to fight authority, fought a
guerilla war while hiding among the population, and called for others to overthrow
established governments sanctioned by God. Clearly enemy combatants.
It isn't only the US that has developed this way. Communist China is (very) quickly turning
into a capitalist state.
Quite a reversal, no? A political movement, born in revolution, becomes conservative and
uses the slogans of revolution as justification to destroy further revolutions, thus
becoming ever more conservative.
That's why a 20-something can scoff and say there's never been a revolution in
the USA.
yrs,
andreas
www.andreas.com
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