gerald wrote:In thinking through this "revolution" thing, I wonder about the effect of contemporary communication on this issue.
In the past an event could occur and people would learn of it days, weeks, or months later ( if ever ), due to the limited and controlled level of information. The response might have been, it is over, so what, what can we do about it, unless of course, it simmers and later leads to revolt.
Today, with instant communication, the Internet, camera/phones etc. people can push information uncensored or verified and create an incident.
This creates a multifaceted problem -- what is true/valid vs fabricated -- who to believe -- the individual or the state --- they all have agendas. And information it's has value.
Another issue is, are there more, "revolution inspiring events" now, then in the past? Or does communication just make it seem so? hmmmm
Maybe, --we are we simply waiting for an Archduke Franz Ferdinand event. To Quote Otto von Bismarck, "One day the great European War will come out of some damned foolish thing in the Balkans."
Humans seem quit irraional,-- hmmmm
Interesting --
from
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-01-3 ... tic-fringe
The Rise Of America's Lunatic Fringe
"Anyone who spends any amount of time on the internet has seen them.
They are the moonbats, the wingnuts, the whackjobs, the Conspiratorialists. They are America’s new Lunatic Fringe, and their numbers are growing.
While the rise of the internet fed a segment of society that has always existed, when the cyberworld became an increasingly important source both of entertainment and information, an entirely new demographic joined what was already amongst us.
Who are they and what do they believe? The Lunatic Fringe is not uniform in either its background or beliefs. Some clearly seem to be emotionally disturbed. Some are racist and hateful. Others are simply naïve and gullible, or uninformed. Still more are frustrated by an economy and a government that are behaving out of whack with what most people expected from life and from leadership. They want to believe America stands for something noble, but it is increasingly felt by them that it does not. They are confused, frustrated, and disappointed. They feel violated and betrayed. They grow angrier by the day. Some harbor a diffuse rage which could blow at any time."
From the comment section
Wed, 01/30/2013 - 22:59 | 3201359aerojet
"It's not supposed to be a research paper, it is an attempt to capture a snapshot of what is currently taking place in the US--it is capturing the revolutionary mood that the regular people are in because our government has completely and utterly failed us. So the choice is either broad reform and real solutions or we soon reach the point of no return. The whole thing only awaits a spark at this point; for example, if cops in NY actually had begun seizing newly outlawed firearms frome people in large numbers. But that didn't happen. No matter, the spark could be almost anything now. There is unbelievable anger felt by so many people because they know that they worked hard and still got screwed and they feel betrayed and betrayal causes hatred, then violence."