...but to suggest revolution without really having tried on a large scale any meaningful change over time is very knee-jerk. our lot is very good compared to many other countries and peoples over the scale of human history. there were many small protests in the 50s and 60s that led to very positive changes.
Certainly I am
not acting in a knee-jerk manner. My comment about revolution was made as a warning of what
could happen if we don't change course. It was
not a call to action. My reference to guillotines was made purely in jest. I believe my comments were
quite clear in both cases.
That being said, I have worked toward meaningful positive change for 30+ years by repeatedly volunteering my time and effort to numerous progressive organizations and social causes, making frequent charitable and political monetary contributions and by showing up at the voting polls without fail
each and every time there has been an election since I was old enough to vote. I have witnessed, however, very little real change for the better during that period of time. Individual civil rights, economic opportunities for the average worker, and environmental protection laws have all suffered.
...a person or group pushed into a rage can easily be pointed into any particular direction, and then manipulated into doing whatever the lazy and cowardly power-hungry types want
You don't think that is what is happening right now with all these racist, birther, reactionary nutjobs led by the raging mouths of Beck and Limbaugh, financed by the Koch brothers, and pandered to by the likes of Michele Bachmann, Sarah Palin, Sharron Angle, Jan Brewer, and Scott Walker???
Ignorant people who allow their emotions and superstitions to rule their intellect have increasingly made themselves the pawns of the far right political movement in recent years. These people get out and vote with regularity. The apathy of younger voters and the disenfranchised, meanwhile, has kept them away from the voting booths. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts and his ultra-conservative cronies have further stacked the cards by allowing unlimited political campaign contributions to be made by big corporations with deep pockets. The result is having governors like Snyder of Michigan and Walker of Wisconsin take office.
To sit idly by and not speak out in protest against the decidedly authoritarian, undemocratic and unilaterally partisan actions of these activist politicians would be just about the most unpatriotic thing I can imagine doing right now. I will continue to speak out loudly and without apology until our leadership changes direction from its well-trodden path of international aggression and nationally-destructive personal and corporate greed. I
might shut up about it once I have given up all hope and moved my arse to France or the Netherlands. :wink:
I thought that's what television sets were .... .really, it's just my opinion, but here in north america, maybe things haven't been so hot for a short term of history, but to suggest revolution without really having tried on a large scale any meaningful change over time is very knee-jerk. our lot is very good compared to many other countries and peoples over the scale of human history. there were many small protests in the 50s and 60s that led to very positive changes. 
