It is a wonder that any of us can live healthy lives when we’re poisoned with every breath. No, really, think about it. Think of how even the brightest lives are darkened by disruptive forces of prejudice and corrupted power. Think of how miraculous it is that we find anyone that shares the values that lead away from the easier roads of blind acceptance. It takes concentrated effort to find paths toward understanding and active participation. It is hard to participate. Nothing that is “normal” promotes agency.
Bitterly, the people that work the hardest for shared betterment deserve “normal” lives the most. Of course, it’s desirable to lie back and watch another show. It is a dream to sit on a beach and watch the rolling waves. There is nothing wrong with these activities either. Our worth is not bound in how hard we fight just as its not bound to our daily production. And yet…
It is hard not to be bitter toward those that are complacent. It is difficult to see them as allies when they are truly part of the problem. Pursuing a normal day-to-day feeds the machine, and the machine enjoys this knowledge.
Media paints revolution in many ways, and most of those portrayals are dark and harsh and uncomfortable and overtly negatively. Even Hunger Games, an arguably Realistic tale, makes the whole act of rebellion feel worthless and ambiguous with its rewards. The ending messages is that eventually you may share a wonderful life with terrible ghosts. Maybe. The people that were lost, the sacrifices made, were surely worthwhile; a terrible practice was ended, and thousands of people were saved from deadly inequality. However, it would not be surprising if a different message resonated to people that cherish peace above all else. How do you convince people that their comfort is villainous?
The Matrix portrayed it perfectly. To most, the status quos was more-than-adequate. Without the perspective of a Neo — without someone on the edge of normalcy — the narrative becomes barbaric. A small band of outsiders risk billions of lives to live in a world that is grim and grimy. The “real” humans shelter far below the surface in a militaristic colony that survives rather than lives. Waking up and acknowledging the truth is painful, and pursuing a meaningful life afterward may never happen. There is promise of a better world — later — but we never really see that better world. It’s a tragically accurate look at transition; it’s the struggle between accepting lies because it might be easier and pursuing truth despite the pain it will cause.
I believe in pursuing truth and revolution despite the darkness of our stories of the same. Pursuing truth would better everyone’s lives. Revolution toward equity would rejuvenate the world. It is difficult to envision, but that’s because we do have to recognize the difficulty of a way forward. We cannot ignore that changing the world will be a cataclysm.
But do not mistake the desire for violent change as a pursuit of violence itself. None that want true change embrace violence as an answer. I would hope that we embrace the fact of violence as accepting what already exists. It is an acceptance that this world is not currently made for the comfort of its people. It is made for the comfort of a diminishing few. That is the cause of the violence of revolution — the entrenched will not give up their spoils in kindness.
Those well-entrenched forces bear an existence that inflicts violence on everyday lives to continue this world as it is. Everyone loves that quote, “An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind,” but many use it as a reason to abstain from change altogether. “If we start something, we’ll all end up blind!” There’s plenty of truth to that, but not because of those that want change. No, the pain of revolution is inevitable, but the revolutionaries do not seek to inflict pain. The revolutionaries only want to escape this slow squeeze that strangles us with each passing day.
