The purpose of a revolution is evolution, meaning a social change beneficial to society. The dilemma is identifying what change needs to be made, and getting those satisfied with the way things are to buy into it. Not making the right changes stunts growth, which leads a society into regression and consequentially recession. Luckily, we are not blindly making these decisions, since history offers a multitude of examples of errors we can avoid repeating. Sadly, our current crop of leaders doesn't understand the present circumstances, much less the lessons of history.
History is not simply the study of the past. It is the reality of humanity and the natural laws that transcend generation after generation. When man transgresses against natural law, history has already rendered a verdict. For example, if someone jumps in front of a moving train, the outcome is predictable.
Hard choices have to be made. The people have to decide if they want a government that takes care of their needs, or their wants. The ability to differentiate between a social need and a populist want is what dictates the level of political maturity a nation has achieved. When leaders fail to make decisions, and try to give the people everything they want to obtain popularity, the government becomes so large that it topples over. This is because the legs that support government, the private sector, become crippled by the unnecessary burden it must carry through excessive taxation.
Every revolution has its moment where the pot boils over and circumstances require change. The politicization of our economy, law, educational system, environmental policies, etc... has had severe consequences. Yet, it was the economic crisis that forced Americans to realize that politicians were not protecting their interests.
The difficulty in getting any changes today is that so much is decided behind the scenes, with money. This is why even though the people have the right to vote, special interests dictate to the politicians what policies will be implemented. Since these same entities own the media, whom the populace relies on for information, the public lacks the ability to discern between truth and fraud.
So, if the government isn't really running the show, whom do you rebel against? One of the reasons democracy has such appeal is that it gives people the opportunity for revolutionary change every election cycle, in theory. The problem comes when elections become illusions of representative democracy as politicians pursue the interests of corporate America and the big public sector unions.
Since people don't know how to identify what process to use to make changes, democracy fails and revolution takes a nasty turn. This disorganized, uninformed reaction has the potential to be manifested in many negative forms. Crime and riots being two which America is already familiar with.
Recently, I listened to Wisconsin's Governor Jim Doyle whine about the cuts he would have to make due to the "unforeseen" economic situation. The problem is not that these economic problems were unforeseen, but rather that not one leader had the spine to make cuts to deal with the problem sooner. The longer the wait, the bigger the hole.
Every department in the state has an incentive to get bigger and become less efficient. Greater size means more political power to pressure politicians for more money, which provides funding for more lobbying. This is why once everything is politicized, a state is doomed to failure. Politicians have difficulty refusing money to departments whose unions will punish them at election time, regardless of the long term damage this waste does to the state. A cycle of departmental failure is created when failure is rewarded by being a justification for more funding. This is why government services are worse than ever. Look at our public schools, roads, prisons, etc... Yet the cost has never been higher!
When budget cuts come as a result of a recession, departments are not rewarded for competence. Politicians, like Jim Doyle, propose across the board cuts to all departments. True leadership would be manifested by identifying the most ineffective areas and then cutting waste within those departments. Politics however, require that politicians not appear to pick on any specific department. Across the board cuts that are senseless from a practical point of view, makes perfect political sense.
The failure that we now have did not happen by accident. A multitude of special interests have done quite well. However, their selfishness will not serve anyone's interests if chaos reigns on the streets. There are steps that a society can take that are either positive or negative. The more steps you take in one direction, the more momentum you gain, and the more difficult it gets to change course. Once people become so frustrated and desperate that they give up on the political process, you risk the possibility that they will take matters into their own hands.
Why do gangs exist? Institutions like family, school, and work fail and artificial institutions are created to fabricate feelings of belonging and accomplishment. Once a thought process is entrenched that allows people to accept breaking the law as an option to solve their problems, you don't just flip a switch to undo it.
As a society, we must understand how we've failed and how we need to make changes. I have written a book, "Essays of a Penitentiary Philosopher," which shows how politicizing our crime problem has resulted in failed policies. Please read it for free, as well as my other blogs, at www.crimeandculture.com
