Revolution. It is a small word with different variations across languages that strikes fear into the minds of all leaders, from fascist dictators to democratically elected presidents alike. For such a powerful word, however, “revolution” has a bit of a paradoxical set of themes in its definitions. For those of us here on this pale blue dot, we imagine a wave of impoverished peasants taking arms and flooding the streets, tearing down fortresses as if they were a child’s sand castle built too close to shore. They parade the bloodied heads of their oppressors on rusted rakes, shouting for “Revolution!” while crimson banners as red as the blood spilled on the streets are being blown by the winds of change. And yet, on an astronomical scale, the
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It is a continuous cycle moving in a never-ending, repeating motion. A flat circle. And it seems the path of revolution this country has taken since its inception has followed the latter definition. A once idealistic nation founded on principles of freedom and independence, with promises of waking up one Sunday morning to the smell of sprinklers splashing on the warm summer sidewalk outside one’s home with a white picket fence, has now found itself with its economy in ruins, and its government plagued by corrupt bureaucrats and lobbyists violating the constitutional rights of its citizens. From the fraudulent businessmen in Wall Street, to the institutional racism found in the justice system, the many problems that lie inherent in these establishments primarily stem back to one single institution: The government. The tide has swept back from the previous revolution, but now it is time for it to build back up. There must be a political revolution to change the way things are done. And hopefully this time, the change will not turn …show more content…
The threat of government surveillance that was once attributed to the asinine beliefs of conspiracy theorists has become reality. In this post 9/11 world, fear has become the source of motivation for the abolishment of our civil rights. It started with the “Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001”, also known as, the USA PATRIOT Act. Kudos to the creative team responsible for that acronym, it is a brilliant way to delude the masses with government propaganda by implying that one is a “true patriot” for supporting a bill that violates the First and Fourth Amendment rights of one’s fellow Americans. The fact that many Americans are aware of these civil rights violations and have not spoken out against it is already astonishing on its own, but the fact that some will outright support it is absolutely terrifying. Former NSA contractor Edward Snowden was even immediately branded a traitor by many of his own countrymen after leaking reports of mass surveillance programs by the United States and its allies, programs which collect and store data such as phone calls, text messages, emails, internet search histories, and private, intimate moments one makes in the confidentiality of a private citizen’s own home. That is not to say however, that these people are acting irrationally.
It is a continuous cycle moving in a never-ending, repeating motion. A flat circle. And it seems the path of revolution this country has taken since its inception has followed the latter definition. A once idealistic nation founded on principles of freedom and independence, with promises of waking up one Sunday morning to the smell of sprinklers splashing on the warm summer sidewalk outside one’s home with a white picket fence, has now found itself with its economy in ruins, and its government plagued by corrupt bureaucrats and lobbyists violating the constitutional rights of its citizens. From the fraudulent businessmen in Wall Street, to the institutional racism found in the justice system, the many problems that lie inherent in these establishments primarily stem back to one single institution: The government. The tide has swept back from the previous revolution, but now it is time for it to build back up. There must be a political revolution to change the way things are done. And hopefully this time, the change will not turn …show more content…
The threat of government surveillance that was once attributed to the asinine beliefs of conspiracy theorists has become reality. In this post 9/11 world, fear has become the source of motivation for the abolishment of our civil rights. It started with the “Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001”, also known as, the USA PATRIOT Act. Kudos to the creative team responsible for that acronym, it is a brilliant way to delude the masses with government propaganda by implying that one is a “true patriot” for supporting a bill that violates the First and Fourth Amendment rights of one’s fellow Americans. The fact that many Americans are aware of these civil rights violations and have not spoken out against it is already astonishing on its own, but the fact that some will outright support it is absolutely terrifying. Former NSA contractor Edward Snowden was even immediately branded a traitor by many of his own countrymen after leaking reports of mass surveillance programs by the United States and its allies, programs which collect and store data such as phone calls, text messages, emails, internet search histories, and private, intimate moments one makes in the confidentiality of a private citizen’s own home. That is not to say however, that these people are acting irrationally.