“This freedom, like all freedom, has its dangers and its responsibilities.” –James Baldwin
Revolution burns in the hearts of the youth. The youth are optimistic. They are passionate. They are fearless. We all know that they can also be wreckless. History shows us that most revolutions are started by young people. This present time we are living in also confirms this. Daily we are seeing revolutions in Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Yemen, and the list keeps getting longer. Revolution is contagious.
When does the fire of revolution make you turn guns on the people you said you wanted liberate? Gaddafi rose to power in Libya when he was only 27years old with good intentions. When does the fire of revolution make you enact oppressive social and economic stipulations on the very lives of the people who rallied behind you? Fidel Castro overthrew Fulgencio Batista when he was 33yrs old. When does the fire of revolution burn out in your heart until you yield to the very thing you fought so hard to eradicate in your community? In 1966, at age 24 Huey P. Newton with the help of Bobby Seale established The Black Panther Party. I have been pondering what triggers the mind or the heart of the revolutionary to make then begin to rule by fear and oppression. The very things that they joined the revolution to eliminate they fell prey to. How does the fire of revolution turn into compromise? How does the fire of revolution make you turn on your brother (Nation of Islam to Malcolm) or tear down your organization from within (The Black Panther Party)?
When you join the revolution you also assume a certain responsibility to maintain its integrity and yours as well. When the revolutionaries start to take hits from the drug called “power” they lose focus. Power makes their vision hazy. Instead of seeing the poverty stricken and working class as their comrades power makes them see them as the enemy. This is when power tells you to control them instead of unifying with them. Power begins to tell him (the Revolutionary) to hold on to him (Power) at any cost and no matter how many lives you have to destroy. Power becomes an addiction. When the addiction gets out of control you have a situation like what is happening in Libya.
I pray for the peace of Libya and that Egypt gains the structure it needs.
All power to the people!
2 comments:
Vern, honestly, what do you think is going to happen in Libya if the kids are successful in the slaughter of the existing government? What do you think is going to happen in Europe if the kids are successful in the slaughter of the existing government? You bring up two good examples, but you fail to follow through with the philosophical analysis.
Name ONE revolution that has brought about anything other than oppression and slaughter. There has only been one that did accomplish that, you know?
Honestly, I don't know what will happen in Libya. That was the point of the post. It seems that if the youth succeeds in revolution they can't maintain its integrity. If you are referring to the amerikkkan revolution it to led to the oppression of Africans and Native Americans.
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