A New Revolutionary Paradigm

The hands of tyranny are strangling humanity’s limitless potential. We do not live in a world led by benevolent civil servants. And, contrary to popular belief, we never have. In only remote corners of the globe during fleeting phases have people ever been completely free from hierarchy and oppression. Our world is, with very limited exceptions, ruled by hardhearted bureaucrats who care little for the common man. They have, for many centuries, buried the many towering achievements of their societies under the weight of constant conflicts and political bickering. Their thirst for war and willingness to waste the lives of those they see as beneath them are harrowing things. Their obsession with their own inability to ever be wrong has dragged the world into madness countless times now. They are a plague upon humanity, and their evil influences are an obvious result of the positions they occupy. It is not because of their personalities that all those in power end up serving the establishments they once spat upon. It is because, as has been said before, power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. The problem lies not with a certain party or section of society. It lies with the very fabric of a system we must kill at all costs.

This is not news to the masses. As a matter of fact, most people see themselves as valiant defenders against the evil influences of “the other”. They are almost all mistaken, and this is because they have been misled by the very people they claim to hate. It is commendable, at least, to carry the rebel banner in innocent gullibility. However, it is not enough in our modern world to be commendable. Only the truly revolutionary may ever make their mark upon the Earth. All those who rally against the current establishment are fulfilling the roles of fools, for they fail to see that no one system can ever satisfy everyone’s needs. The entire reason we have to deal with tyranny is because people wish to see their own visions reigning supreme over all others. If history has taught us anything, it is that utopian dreams always end in bloodshed. Only when we collectively realize the futility of imposing our ideas on our peers will we see real progress. To strive to oppress our ideological opponents while simultaneously ignoring our real enemies is to sentence ourselves to enslavement. We must all organize outside the normal political sphere and unite to build a more dynamic world. Kill the system. Free the people.

This sort of mentality is growing at a rapid rate all across the world. The downtrodden are finally seeing that they are not the victims of one individual’s evils or one party’s misdeeds. They are the victims of a horrendous system that has been breaking the backs and quieting the minds of the common population for countless years now. And, as it seems, we live in a crucial time when this system just might be challenged. We stand at the precipice of worldwide totalitarianism. The soaring brilliance of liberty is not yet dead, though. There is still a chance to save ourselves and the generations to come from an existence of endless suffering. We need only come to a conclusion that has become increasingly clear to many of us already. This conclusion is that unity is the sole path to salvation. Freedom will never be achieved by a loose collection of aimless groups. Real change never arises from one faction’s ability to convince all others to bow before them. It arises from the ability of all factions involved to band together to face a common foe. The revolutionaries among us desperately need the same sort of cohesion that their authoritarian enemies already wield. Thus, all lovers of liberty must stand as one to fight for freedom.

The need for unity is, perhaps, an obvious conclusion. What is not so obvious, though, is exactly how unity may be achieved. It is, indeed, a tall order, but it is by no means impossible. Many a man has attempted to unite his revolutionary peers under a grand new group. This method has rarely worked in the past, and we should not expect it to ever work in the future. People are simply too attached to their preexisting political allegiances. There are, however, already a variety of radical groups in existence. Perhaps, instead of trying to take membership away from them with a competing organization, we should reach out to them instead. No current groups need to be disbanded, nor do any competing schools of thought need to agree with each other. They just need to realize that they shall accomplish nothing alone. Unified Defiance, as it is to be called, shall be both a platform for debate and cooperation. Anyone from any walk of life shall be welcome to discuss their differences and opinions with the rest of what shall, with any luck, be a vastly varied collection of people. Only the inclusion of existing groups may achieve cohesion in revolutionary circles, and only cohesion can spur any meaningful action.

This cooperation and combination of different revolutionary groups shall inevitably be a lengthy first step. It will take many passionate individuals incessantly reaching out to many renegade leaders, and there is no guarantee that even this will work. It is still necessary, however, to map out the options Unified Defiance shall have if it does unite the radical factions of the world. Thus, let us begin by laying to rest a widespread lie; voting our way to liberation will not work. Or, in the words of Emma Goldman, “if voting changed anything, they’d make it illegal.” To affiliate Unified Defiance with the political establishment in any way is to doom it to failure. The group would instead need to, amidst a continual background of internal debate, coordinate efforts to propel themselves into the mainstream. The possibilities for these efforts are endless. Graffiti, political leaflets and online campaigns could all serve as excellent starting points. No lone rebels writing rebellious messages in chalk will do any good. Dozens of simultaneous messages appearing across the nation, however, may make quite the stir. Only once the masses are listening may the revolutionary word be spread with any success.

We must now create a clear vision of the future for those who cannot yet see. Once up and running, Unified Defiance would host a grand online forum consisting of both collectives and individuals. There, all kinds of viewpoints could clash to no end about specific issues. No boundaries would exist on who could enter this alliance of independent thinkers, so long as they accepted its main goals; liberty, equality, and fraternity. The manifestation of these bold principles failed long ago in the turmoil of the French Revolution, but history is not always doomed to repeat. We have a chance to turn our world around and build the utopia our ancestors yearned for. To falter now would be to forfeit the future to tyranny. Thus, as debates rage between the group’s many members, coordinated campaigns would help drum up exposure. This would likely continue for months as more and more people would be attracted to the group’s overall ideas. Slowly but surely, organized debates and polls could start creating a consensus on how to best achieve shared goals. Larger and more elaborate efforts to garner attention in the mainstream political world could be enacted. In a perfect scenario, an immense coalition of the defiant and the disenfranchised could finally arise.

Thus, with an idea of how the group itself would function in mind, we must turn to its interactions with the masses. It would, at first, be occupied with advancing three distinct kinds of freedom that the powers that be have suppressed for centuries. The first and certainly most ambiguous of these is freedom of thought. It is oft ignored because of its said ambiguity, but this need not at all be the case. It is, at its essence, a simple realization; if all people are unique, then all worldviews should be as well. Thus, we need the ability to break away and hold those opinions which others deem to be terrible. An acceptance of individuality is necessary, for to live as a carbon copy of those who surround you is to not live at all. All these things may seem mundane, but in truth, they are more revolutionary than many of us would like to admit. Very rarely do people with radical ideas ever get any more time in the limelight than it takes to ridicule them. Very rarely do we even entertain thoughts that do not fit our accepted narratives. For the sake of the future, this must end. Unified Defiance must let people question the validity of all authority, and it must encourage total freedom of thought for the newly disillusioned.

This liberation from the confines of accepted ideas shall do nothing on its own, though. Freedom of thought must always be supplemented by freedom of speech. One cannot think the thoughts of a prophet while playing the part of a slave, for no prophecy ever does any good unless it is spread. Thus, Unified Defiance must strive to widen the political and philosophical conversations within it. Only a robust forum of intelligent and unafraid debates may attract members who would otherwise stay silent. We must keep in mind that the public is already enraged. The challenge now is to turn this negative energy into a force for positive change. For this, we must be bold. It is not enough to mutedly grumble one’s contempt for the system. It is not enough to only engage with those already of revolutionary leanings. It is not enough to type bold statements online and then cower before authority in the real world. Only unapologetic and intelligent discussions can make a change. No movement afraid to step out into the public eye can ever hope to grow. Constant opposition to tyranny and steadfast adherence to basic principles shall be necessities. And, above all, Unified Defiance must never falter in its commitment to a free discourse.

The final step in achieving lasting liberty is, of course, the inevitable dismantling of the tyranny that threatens to ruin us all. Of course, this may only occur once a large enough portion of the public has united in its opposition to authorities. Such a moment might be decades away, but it matters not. What does matter is what to do when it does come. We must realize that violent actions will elicit violent responses. No American uprising would work anytime in the foreseeable future. What is thus needed is a slow disassociation with the state. If Unified Defiance succeeds in staying unified, it could serve as a crucial source for mutual aid between members trying to separate themselves from the establishment. Rulers without consenting subjects are no rulers at all. If the governed withdraw their docility, the government will have no other options than to enforce its authority by the sword. When this inevitably occurs, the revolution shall succeed; for in the eyes of the many, the aggressor is always the enemy. These claims are all clearly controversial, but only bravery may lead to salvation. Alone, we may do little. Together, we may obliterate oppression and build a new order for all of humanity.

All change seems utopian until it becomes a reality. To scoff at new ideas simply because of their audacity is the mark of a fool. Through the pursuit of true liberty, equality and fraternity, we may set in motion the most remarkable revolution our world has ever seen. No longer is it an option to swap out one institution for another and let the underlying issues that threaten us go ignored. We cannot rely on others to better our lives for us. We can, however, make ourselves into the people we wish to be. And, acting as such people, we can then build the world we need. The solutions that have been presented are not meant to build one more tyrannical institution to bog down humanity. They are, instead, meant to light the fire of ideas within the masses’ minds. No world that is without consistently conflicting philosophies challenging and sharpening one another may flourish. If we fail to question how we live today, we are sacrificing tomorrow to mundanity. Every moment is a miracle waiting to happen. Every day we spend doing nothing is a day we could have spent doing everything. Radical change is, indeed, possible. The question lies in how to achieve this change, and the answer lies in coming together to achieve the greatness that rests at our fingertips.