Revolution, Change and the Status Quo

I've always found it interesting how many people purport to hate the ostensible status quo, and will go to great lengths to find ways — real or imaginary — to essentially "stick it to the man."

And yet?

Oftentimes these people who protest the way things are offer up virtually no tangible and functional solutions as an alternative.

Well... at least they don't offer up any viable solutions, they just offer up that we "need to tear the system down." However the problem with that tends to be that the "alternative" they are proposing is ultimately some form of "revolution" which is not actually a building solution it's purely a tearing down solution.

So then what?

The difficult fact that we often don't really want to face is that quietly altering the status quo is typically a much better solution for effective change than having an outright revolution.

Now, I use the term "revolution" somewhat loosely... taking it to mean the complete destruction of whatever system is in place and replacing it with something completely different. Typically, that's what revolutionaries do... or think they want to.

But if we look at parts of the world that have favored the approach of revolutions much of the time you end up with one revolution simply leading to another revolution as the pendulum of public opinion swings from one extreme to another.

I'm not here to criticize revolutionaries or "change agents" but more to point out that going from one extreme to another is seldom the answer to anything. In fact, when you do just that you typically end up with a situation in which about half the people are unhappy with the way you are doing things.

In terms of efficacy and longevity — assuming your objective in life isn't to spend your lifetime living in some version of a military banana republic — quiet grassroots change that slowly makes the infected and undesirable parts of the status quo largely irrelevant and powerless tends to have more chances of succeeding... in the long run.

But people tend to be impatient. They want results... now.

Regardless, I suppose we might label that form of gradual change as a "peaceful revolution" of sorts. Nothing huge and dramatic and world changing happened, but over a period of a generation or two the way things were done radically changed. But millions of people didn't have to die as part of the process and half the population didn't have to live with their homes in ruins as a result of violent sudden change.

Revolutionaries tend to run through the streets screaming "change now, change now!" but perhaps that is more of an effective tool to gain the attention of a broader segment of the population that something is out of order.

and so, movement can start, but it is not a hastily enacted summary decision to completely destroy what is and hope that something better grows from the ashes... because it's pretty rare that something better actually does grow from the ashes.

And there's always the risks that they violent revolution will simply replace one form of dominance and tyranny with a different form of dominance and tyranny.

Just a few random thoughts, pay no mind to me.

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great rest of your week!

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Created at 2025.05.14 01:17 PDT
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