I was reading
this article today about Brazil's leftists feeling that their President has abandoned the principles he said he would support, taking a more center-right approach to his policies.
Many feel betrayed, even if the President says that it would take more than two years for some of his policies to take affect. One policy that caught my attention was dealing with the social inequality factor, of which 1% of the population own half the land.
I saw that, and remember reading about the UN's proposal to cut in half the number of those living in poverty in 10 years. At the same time, I assumed it stood no chance of succeeding, not as long as the pro-business US says it's monetarily bad.
And then it hit me: our own battle for dealing with monetary control of our government and social inequality here may be bigger than we know. We could be standing on the threshold of another French Revolution - this time globally.
The world needs help like it never has needed it before, at least in my lifetime. The only catch is that the poor will not sacrifice their honor or their heritage or their faith for the chance at escaping poverty. They will not impugn their integrity for the sake of survival - some would rather just die than to turn their back on what they are.
But that is exactly what we are seeing here as "Christians" are forcing the conversion of these people to their faith before they can receive any help. What makes this unique is that people, knowing that starvation, disease and death are what lie ahead, are fighting back, telling these Christians that "their aid is welcomed, but do not convert us or we will throw it back in your face."
I'm sensing a growing movement in the world where the planet's most disenfranchised people are beginning to form, en masse, to take on this social inequality calamity. I'm not talking terrorism, but rather a movement of people that are determined to make their demands and requests be heard. It's happening in Africa, in Asia, in the Middle East, in America, in Latin America, across this globe. People can only take so much shit before they finally decide to toss it right back at those who dish it out.
On a slightly related note, the reason why the GOP continue to lie and lie and also try to re-write historical facts is because when they were given a little bit of leeway on this or that, it opened the floodgates for them to do whatever they want, whether it's lie to the American People into war and getting away with it, or stealing our tax dollars to pay for their own petty wishes and desires, or even rewriting history to support internment camps and even say that slavery in the US wasn't really that bad but useful. People have grown sick and tired of this continuing corrupt, inequality gap between citizens that I feel it is only a matter of time before the pendulum swings in the other direction.
That time will come when our economy collapses thanks to our European and Asian friends who will declare "no confidence" in our economic and fiscal responsibilities. I don't think it is mere coincidence that Bravo is airing the commercials they are about the French Revolution - the circumstances surrounding that pivotal time in world history are strikingly familiar to ours here, and those in Brazil and other countries. You can almost feel the drum beating ever so steadily amongst those who are ready to do something about this kind of global oppression.
People are not incorrect to state that we live in dangerous times. We do, but it's not because of terrorism. 9/11 did not provide the starting point of these periods. They have been slowly building up over the last quarter of the previous century. 9/11 was simply a blimp in the radar of what I fear may be more to come for all of us. We live in dangerous times because our planet has grown so populated and our governments have not protected their citizens from the injustices, the genocides, and other such human-made calamities, that people are starting to take matters into their own hands, right or wrong.
I saw the movie Iron Jawed Angels, which discussed the woman's suffrage movement. Just like the film Hotel Rwanda, the biggest force to instigate the change or the actions that were needed was shame. Whether it is through hunger strikes, or mocking human integrity and decency, people, and presidents, were shamed into action. The question however comes to what to do with people who have no shame, no conscience over the destruction they leave in their wake?
As history has shown, the voices of the oppressed remain silent for only so long, until a growing chorus emerges that demands righteous change, quietly or loudly, the easy way or the hard way. The US has experienced a few of those periods, most notably in the 60s with the Civil Rights Movement. I think the world is on the brink of yet another one of those moments. Governments will proudly proclaim these folks who fight against inequality and for their rights to be traitors and those who give aid and comfort to the enemy (whoever or whatever that may be), just as those who fought for human decency and rights did in the two movies above. Patrick Henry's "give me liberty or give me death" proclamation is not just tied to American history but is a universal concept now for many people here in America and around the world.
I pray that this revolution be quiet, but my gut tells me it will be the other kind. I hope I'm wrong.