Notes on a Revolution.
Starting a revolt is harder than It would seem. I have a feeling that I’ve spent far too much time planning and not enough time exploding things. Not people mind you. I’m a pacifist by nature but a rebel by happenstance. No no. Terrorists destroy lives to inspire fear. Patriots destroy symbols to inspire revolution. Throwing tea in harbors doesn’t take lives, but it certainly does send a message. Good old fashioned insurrection.
The revolution I have in mind is a social one. Violence free for your enjoyment. I’m running for mayor on just such ticket. Revolutionary advancement in municipal representation. The belief that enough people, rebelling against convention, can unseat those in power. No blood requires. Not a shot fired or a bomb exploded. This revolution brought to you by democracy; serving humanity for over 200 years.
The wall I seem to have hit is that people are not springing to action. People don’t want a peaceful revolt. They don’t want to legislate themselves into a bright new future. If the plan des not amuse them there is no draw. There needs to be a flame to inspire these moth like masses. If I explain that a revolution can happen with a pen and not a sword people do not leap for their notepads.
No, what people want is a lone man in black defending the flaming remains of Paul and Babe with an inverted flag and a sword. Without this dramatic persona what’s the point? The call to action will only be regarded if screamed through blackened lung. The revolution will not be face booked. Not that this scenario does not appeal to me. There is a careful balancing act I daily perform to tip people’s opinion of me towards legitimacy and away from lunacy. If I received a dollar for every time someone has claimed I’m crazy I would be a rich man indeed. But in this mad world is not the maddest man king?
My ultimate plan sounds fairly crazy when I lay it out. It’s not a strategy I share often, and never in it’s entirety. To pull it off will require a vast quantity of resource and a great deal of trust. In the end my reward will be my death. Solar dirigibles. Thousand swordsmen army. Cows on the moon. The pastiche assembles itself, at the end, to create a genesis of hope and wonder. The absurdity aligns to physics and I sail into the sunset with nothing more than my head.
My only reason for continuing to press my disadvantage is the powerful believe that my ideas, if supported and nurtured to fruition, will create a far better world for our posterity. The hope that my imagination, and indeed all of our dreams, can create a far better world. The naysayer want us to throw up our hands and accept that the world is cruel and maligned. Despite a weariness that pulls at my heart I defy this convention with my every breath.
Yet still I am left to ask what I have to do to begin this revolution. Left to speculate at how much inertia is required to spin the wheel. The axel is most certainly rusted, but undeniably unbreakable. In the end my words can only grease the wheel and pray that with many hands the turn around will come sooner than later.
-JT Liend 8-9-08
The revolution I have in mind is a social one. Violence free for your enjoyment. I’m running for mayor on just such ticket. Revolutionary advancement in municipal representation. The belief that enough people, rebelling against convention, can unseat those in power. No blood requires. Not a shot fired or a bomb exploded. This revolution brought to you by democracy; serving humanity for over 200 years.
The wall I seem to have hit is that people are not springing to action. People don’t want a peaceful revolt. They don’t want to legislate themselves into a bright new future. If the plan des not amuse them there is no draw. There needs to be a flame to inspire these moth like masses. If I explain that a revolution can happen with a pen and not a sword people do not leap for their notepads.
No, what people want is a lone man in black defending the flaming remains of Paul and Babe with an inverted flag and a sword. Without this dramatic persona what’s the point? The call to action will only be regarded if screamed through blackened lung. The revolution will not be face booked. Not that this scenario does not appeal to me. There is a careful balancing act I daily perform to tip people’s opinion of me towards legitimacy and away from lunacy. If I received a dollar for every time someone has claimed I’m crazy I would be a rich man indeed. But in this mad world is not the maddest man king?
My ultimate plan sounds fairly crazy when I lay it out. It’s not a strategy I share often, and never in it’s entirety. To pull it off will require a vast quantity of resource and a great deal of trust. In the end my reward will be my death. Solar dirigibles. Thousand swordsmen army. Cows on the moon. The pastiche assembles itself, at the end, to create a genesis of hope and wonder. The absurdity aligns to physics and I sail into the sunset with nothing more than my head.
My only reason for continuing to press my disadvantage is the powerful believe that my ideas, if supported and nurtured to fruition, will create a far better world for our posterity. The hope that my imagination, and indeed all of our dreams, can create a far better world. The naysayer want us to throw up our hands and accept that the world is cruel and maligned. Despite a weariness that pulls at my heart I defy this convention with my every breath.
Yet still I am left to ask what I have to do to begin this revolution. Left to speculate at how much inertia is required to spin the wheel. The axel is most certainly rusted, but undeniably unbreakable. In the end my words can only grease the wheel and pray that with many hands the turn around will come sooner than later.
-JT Liend 8-9-08
Comments
I like how your plans always involve a vast amount of resources AND a great deal of trust…
I like how your plans always involve a vast amount of resources AND a great deal of trust…