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About that revolution thing

05:18 / 07.08.01

I confess. I don't really know too much. I'm a kid. Here's me being naive.

I've talked about starting a revolution with many people. I also know that a shitload of other people have talked about it. I know that something happened in the 60's. Why isn't anything happening now? WHAT CAN WE DO?

CAN WE DO ANYTHING? How is 2001 any different from 1969? Fill me in. I'm sick of pretending to know things.

There.

05:54 / 07.08.01

Hey Rage, glad to see you are still around. I'm currently endorsing the idea that if we STOP HAVING KIDS, then we can undermine society.

No Babies!

06:32 / 07.08.01

...but the process of making them is just so much damn fun (envisioning a trailer with me wife and 30 kids sitting on the stoop, shiver)...but, yeah lots of people = lots of problems. But since I'm here already, don't mind if I start passing judgement on the ones who aren't here yet.

As far as revolution goes, figure out what you can do best for your cause, don't be afraid of dying (if you want to do it right), and speak to other passionately about your ideas...chances are there are people who aren't only thinking what you are, but moving along the different paths of action from it. And if you don't agree with how they're doing it...tune those ideas, get people to know about it and wait for a response.

Anyone want to be subversive on the net? Wouldn't mind talkin' about it.

07:22 / 07.08.01

In the 60s young boys were being taken from their familys and shipped overseas to die in a place that few Americans had heard of, let alone knew anything about (and forget about understanding the political motivations of the government in charge). It takes a hell of a lot (war) to motivate people in this country to want change.

Revolution = change. Change is scary. Scary is bad. Things could be worse, couldn't they? Better to remain still and hope nothing happens. The next generation can always fix our mistakes. And so it goes.

It occured to me a long time ago that most of the hippies and the peace and love crowd of the 60s were, in all likelihood, a bunch of followers doing what was, for a short time, the cool thing. This (combined with drugs and a lack of mainstream credibility) would explain why:

A)The movement couldn't last

B)So few of those flower children are continuing to make an impact.

"CAN WE DO ANYTHING?"

What should be done? What kind of revolution do you want? What are you unsatisfied with? How would you go about changing it? Violence or Non-violence? What becomes of the people who like things the way they are?

Can we do anything? the question i've been asking myself lately is "what can I do?"

08:28 / 07.08.01

Revolutions are not made, they come.

Not original, still true.

z3r0

14:54 / 07.08.01

While you're thinking at it, throw some stink/smoke/property-damaging bombs around. It is better than thinking about it and doin' nothing.

15:35 / 07.08.01

quote:Originally posted by Rage:
I've talked about starting a revolution with many people. I also know that a shitload of other people have talked about it. I know that something happened in the 60's. Why isn't anything happening now? WHAT CAN WE DO?

CAN WE DO ANYTHING? How is 2001 any different from 1969? Fill me in. I'm sick of pretending to know things.

First up: don't be fooled by the idea that "something happened" in the 1960s that isn't happening now. See the links below for evidence of that.

Secondly: realise that, as this thread sadly demonstrates, Barbelith isn't an activist site. Not to say that there aren't people who post here who are involved in some verey worthwhile causes, not that those causes don't sometimes get discussed here in interesting and informative ways, but for better or for worse (and perhaps only for now) the focus of the Underground is not political activism. Thus the Underground is not a reliable source of information on what's going on around the world and in your area.

However, such sources do exist. Try Indymedia or No Logo.org for starters.

Thirdly: work out what issues you're concerned about, and how best to make your concerns know. Educate yourself. I'm incresingly coming to the conclusion that the most revolutionary stance on any issue in this day and age is a well-informed one.

Fourthly: as far as how 2001 is different from 1969 is concerned, you might want to listen to this address by Naomi Klein, one of the so-called leaders of the so-called "anti-globalisation" movement - there's a really good bit (near the beginning

), where she talks about not being a leader at all, and how this movement differes in structure from the movements of the Sixties. I think it's pretty inspiring.

15:44 / 07.08.01

Absolutely. Learn--and focus. What outcomes do you want from your revolution? Specify. Concentrate on the outcomes and they will suggest the means.

Good luck.

05:46 / 08.08.01

And of course while thinking about the difference between the 60's and the 2000s, why not either write a paper on it or wait for the "Mourning Revolution" issue of parallax to come out?

click here

07:43 / 08.08.01

quote:Originally posted by z3r0:
While you're thinking at it, throw some stink/smoke/property-damaging bombs around. It is better than thinking about it and doin' nothing.

Of course, if you can get it, there's always putrescene - fits in a syringe, and hangs around for days. With good timing, you can get in, make a quick squirt and get out before anyone notices. Just make sure you look as respectable as possible. I suggest wearing a business suit, but get it from a charity shop 'cos if you splash the nasty on it, the suit's ------. Mind you, so is the multinational you just hit - they'll smell bad for days.

Putrescene is a byproduct of decomposition in muscular tissue, and the stuff that makes roadkill/rotten meat/dead people smell bad.

[ 08-08-2001: Message edited by: Laughing Tiger ]

ynh

15:26 / 08.08.01

Is that the same stuff the pentagon had the scientist in Philly working on that Haus mentioned here?

15:57 / 08.08.01

As long as the majority of Americans are living comfortably, as long as they are hypnotized by the media, as long as they are forcefed propoganda from the filtered news, then we will never have a revolution.

But, here is some encouraging advice...

"When you make peaceful change impossible, you make violent change inevitable." JFK.

21:16 / 09.08.01

quote:Originally posted by Teela - O - MLY [NH]:
Is that the same stuff the pentagon had the scientist in Philly working on that Haus mentioned?

Nah, this stuff's been around as long as we've been keeling over. It just happens to smell really bad and is impossible to get rid of.

Obviously, I'm not advocating such a course of action, but imagine walking into your local branch of, say, a well known coffee chain only to discover it smelt like a dead weasel that had been in the sun for three days. That sort of thing can cause people to shop for their tasty caffeine beverages elsewhere - at a locally owned store for example, where they will no doubt enjoy themselves a lot more.

deletia

10:30 / 10.08.01

But then they won't be able to enjoy a tasty frappucino.

Frappucino. Hmmmmmm...delicious.

Moderator's note: ignore this edit - it was a bit of a joke, but one which in retrospect was bad form. Nothing has been changed. The Moderator has been spanked. Carry on.

[ 11-08-2001: Message edited by: The Flyboy ]

ynh

05:22 / 11.08.01

Sanctimonious pissant.

Regrettable Juvenilia

05:22 / 11.08.01

Adds [Your Name Here] to 'camps' list.

11:14 / 11.08.01

Thread rot is seriously discouraged, but this level of moderator involvement is excessive. Please reconsider your tone OR BE EXPUNGED.

Regrettable Juvenilia

13:15 / 11.08.01

Sorry! I got kinda carried away there, albeit in jest... It won't happen again.

We're The Great Old Ones Now

15:54 / 11.08.01

Don't yield to the Hegemon! Get your putrescene and rebel!

Oh, hi Tom. Uh...

We love Big Brother?

Um.

Sorry.