“When dictatorship is a fact, revolution becomes a right.” Victor Hugo
“A revolution is a struggle to the death between the future and the past.” Fidel Castro
“Poetry is the lifeblood of rebellion, revolution, and the raising of consciousness.” Alice Walker
Given all the disinformation proliferating in the world, it seems to me that we should be more concerned with convolution than revolution. Are we living in the midst of the next great, history-shaping revolution, or in the midst of an historically unprecedented convolution of truth? To answer that question, let’s quickly review how the major revolutions in history shaped world events. First, let me define the terms.
Revolution is defined as a forcible overthrow of a government or social order, in favor of a new system.
Convolution is defined as twisted. In mathematics, convolution is a new operation on functions – a new way to take two functions and combine them. For the purposes of this post, the two functions are 1) pretending to tell the truth and 2) intending to tell lies. It’s a sick way of twisting the narrative.
In 1765, The American Revolution grew out of tensions between the British Empire and it’s 13 American colonies and was triggered by the introduction of the Stamp Tax. Protestors, resenting the new taxes, voiced their discontent which grew into a crescendo with the Boston Tea Party in 1774. In 1776, the first Continental Congress formed as a governing body of the colonies for the transition to Independence. By 1783, in the Treaty of Paris, the British abandoned all claims on the newly formed nation. Hooray for our side! Unfortunately, we have not done a very good job of fulfilling the promises contained within those declarations. While our country was founded on a noble revolution, it is being torn asunder by nefarious convolutions.
In 1789, the storming of the Bastille in the French Revolution abolished the French monarchy which had ruled for centuries. It demonstrated the power of the people to make a difference. With the exception of the lavish lifestyles of the French nobility, people lived mostly in squalor. Ultimately, citizens armed themselves and attacked the Bastille, the symbol of the monarchy’s absolute power. In 1793, King Louis XVI was executed by guillotine resulting in ten months of terror. The conflict came to an end when Napoleon seized power through a coup d’etat. Although France is currently struggling with its own political, economic and social issues, it still serves as a beacon for freedom in the West. Viva la France.
In 1791, the slave rebellion in Haiti left its impact across the Americas. Haiti, a French colony since 1659, was inspired by the French Revolution. In this case, a group of enslaved people rose up to fight their oppressors. Over 100,000 formerly enslaved people joined the cause, killing plantation owners and destroying their property. By 1792, the revolutionaries had taken control of the island. To stop the bloodshed, the French National Assembly granted rights to the people of color in Haiti. In 1793, the white population joined with Britain to re-conquer the colony and restore slavery. Spain also entered the conflict because one of their colonies was located nearby. In 1804, however, Haiti became the first Black republic and renamed the colony to declare its independence. The Haitian Revolution is considered to be the most successful slave rebellion in the Western World. Sadly, Haiti is a complete mess now without a positive reinvention in sight. It is a convolution of the principles on which the revolution was instigated.
In 1911, the Chinese revolution established the New Republic of China. After a series of failed wars, the Qing dynasty was quickly losing power in Asia. Sun Yat-sen led several revolts to quash the Qing army. In an attempt to stop the bloodshed, the Qing court tried to establish a constitutional monarchy, but the Chinese provinces declared their allegiance to the Revolutionaries. Sun Yat-sen was elected as the provisional President of the new Republic of China. The revolution of 1911 paved the way for the Chinese Communist Revolution in 1949 which established the People’s Republic of China under the rule of Mao Zedong. The world is still reeling from the impact of that revolution and the convoluted policies of its current leader Xi Jinping.
In 1905, due to the depressed state of their country, Russian workers protested against the monarch which led to the Bloody Sunday massacre. At the beginning of the 20th century, Russia was one of the most underdeveloped and impoverished countries in Europe. In 1917, Russian army officers swore their allegiance to the October Revolution at the Winter Palace. Even though it turned out to be a failed uprising, revolutionary fervor continued to boil. During the February Revolution, protesters once again took to the streets of Saint Petersburg and were joined by a significant number of soldiers who had lost faith in their ruler. A new provisional government was formed, Tsar Nicolas II abdicated the throne, and the Romanov dynasty and imperial system was brought to an end
The new Russian government supported engagement in World War I, thus worsening an already damaged economy. World War I crippled the Russian economy and devasted its population with its high death tolls. The Revolutionaries, led by Vladimir Lenin, created a government ruled by a collective of peasants, laborers, and soldiers – notably with no capitalists. This revolution, however, was not accepted outside of Saint Petersburg by imperial loyalists. For five years, civil war consumed Russia, resulting in a victory for Lenin and the establishment of the Soviet Union. We all know how that revolution turned out. The whole world is now suffering from the convolutions of one of worst imperialist pariahs in history.
These revolutions not only shaped the country in which they took place, but usually influenced other countries across the globe. The themes are consistent among all five of these examples: Oppression, frustration, revolt, and overthrow. Some emerged stronger. Some continue to founder. None has been able to adhere to the principles on which they were founded.
To me, what’s different between these revolutions and the one we just witnessed on January 6 in the United States, is that they were based on hard, cold facts which the majority of the population agreed were true. The revolution we are facing in the United States today is not based on “facts” on which the majority agrees. It is based on a convolution of facts to which only a minority agree. Sadly, that minority is hellbent on imposing its vision of reality on the majority. While a few in the minority are using guns and violence to achieve their goals, most are weaponizing words to taint America’s soul. Here are five weapon words the radical right uses to fight their culture wars.
Woke: The word “awake” is mentioned in the Bible 89 times. For example, in 1 Samuel 26-12, we find: “No one saw, and no one knew, because no one was awake.” Woke simply means to be aware of and accept facts. It means to work toward an honest understanding of history. How do you twist woke into something weak and wrong?
Liberal: The word liberal means being generous and willing to respect or accept behavior or opinions different from one’s own; it reflects an attitude of openness to new ideas: How do you twist liberalism into something to fear?
Socialism: The defining characteristics of socialism are equality, provision of basic needs, and social justice. It means treating people fairly and respectfully. How do you twist the ideas of equality and social justice into something evil?
Freedom: In October, 2022, prior to the US mid-term elections, I wrote a post on two narratives of freedom (https://rickbellingham.com/2022/10/01/two-freedom-narratives/) I argued that people on the right and on the left define freedom in different ways. For example, Liberals tend to define freedom as being free to make your own choices on your body and freedom from hate. Conservatives tend to define freedom as being free to carry guns anywhere and freedom from regulations. Liberals and conservatives both have access to the same set of facts, but they are making entirely different conclusions. In my opinion, the left is more likely to make science-based decisions and conservatives are more inclined to convolute the facts to support their own narratives. How do you twist the idea of freedom into something that looks more like control?
Welfare: Welfare refers to government-sponsored assistance programs for individuals and families in need, including programs such as health care assistance, food stamps, and unemployment compensation. Most welfare programs result in long term benefits for recipients and robust ROI’s for the country over time. How do you twist the idea of welfare into convoluted and contrived images of welfare moms driving Cadillacs and eating steaks?
Hey, given these definitions, call me a woke, liberal, freedom-loving socialist who supports welfare. I prefer that label to a MAGA loyalist with no hesitation.
It seems to me that the right fears revolution and the left is tormented by convolution. The revolution to which the right is so vehemently opposed is an overthrow of white, Christian supremacy – the fear of losing status and power. The convolution which causes the left to pull out its hair is an overthrow of facts by twisted narratives and conspiracy theories.
What we saw in the five history-shaping revolutions reviewed above was the confirmation of Victor Hugo’s quote that revolution becomes a right when dictatorship is a fact. In each of the examples, imperial “leaders” were imposing their views on their constituents and ignoring their pleas to be treated with dignity and fairness.
What we are seeing today in all the political, environmental, social and technical turmoil we are facing, is a confirmation of Fidel Castro’s quote that revolutions are struggles to the death between the future and the past. For the most part, the liberals are creating possibilities for the future while right wing conservatives continue to cling to the past.
The shift we need to make in order to realize the possibilities on this planet is to recognize the powerful truth of the Alice Walker quote: “Poetry is the lifeblood of rebellion, revolution, and the raising of consciousness.” History shows us that successful revolutions don’t come from the barrels of guns – they come from the pens of our poets. Wise words trump brutal bullets.
In that spirit, let me end with a poem that Padraig O’Tuama reviews in his book, Poetry Unbound: We Lived Happily during the War by Ilya Kaminsky:
And when they bombed other people’s houses, we
Protested
But not enough, we opposed them but not
enough. I was
in my bed, around my bed America
was falling: invisible house by invisible house by invisible house –
I took a chair outside and watched the sun.
In the sixth month
Of a disastrous reign in the house of money
In the street of money in the city of money in the country of money,
our great country of money, we (forgive us)
lived happily during the war.
Every night, before I go to bed, I read a few of the 50 poems O’Tuama has chosen to help us open our worlds. Each night I am awestruck by his brilliance in deconstructing the poems and sharing his insights. Each night I am moved by the power of the poets’ words and by what he adds with his carefully crafted thoughts. Each night I am touched by the naked truth exposed in these poems. Each night I’m inspired by the possibilities for real revolution these poems could energize. I’m hoping that more of us will find poems that inspire us to revolution and help us to avoid convolution. May it be so.
Also published on Medium.
One of your best my friend!