Saturday, August 6, 2011

Grassroots protests: A world revolution?

On Facebook, the owner of a page talked about a so-called "world revolution." I said I'd write an article, but I never got around to it until now. Looking through articles, videos and posts across the internet, I have found events that eventually fit into a puzzle of directly connected pieces.
It is accepted by some websites across the internet that a world revolution is a “world socialist revolution” envisioned by former American news reporter and philosopher Karl Marx: “When Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels implored workers of the world to unite, they announced a new vision of international politics: world socialist revolution...the struggle for world socialist revolution.”[i] The difference between world socialist revolution and world revolution is one that distinguishes the organized revolt.
There is no way it is a world socialist revolution. The revolution consists of protests against governments across the world[ii], a revolt against powers that be, the ruling class or leadership class of just about every country. Some revolts that started as peaceful are becoming more violent and some going the opposite way. Some in the U.S. even call for a peaceful second American Revolution on Facebook[iii] (a violent revolution against the government is illegal under federal law). The page does not explain its purpose completely, but is pretty obvious that the creators believe the current U.S. government is crooked. In the Mideast, which I call the Orient, people are angry with the dictators or oligarchies that remain so they are arming themselves with deadly weapons. In Libya, a protest against Muammar Gaddafi became inflamed when NATO and support of the “industrialized world” was added in a situation that has become a civil war. It is debatable if the protest was violent to start with as countries like France may have started the violence with secret intervention, but it is obvious that Libya has descended into civil war. Also, in the American-backed dictatorship in Yemen seemed to be led by armed activists as the revolution continued. However, only a few days ago, protestors have told people to be patient and continue their peaceful revolution until they oust all "remnants" of the regime.”[iv] I went all the way back to what gave me the idea for this blog, a Facebook post I commented on:

The world revolution has its roots in France where the “European Revolution” was dubbed by protestors began. According to europeanrevolution.net[v]: “At least 20 of the most important cities in France have their square occupied by youth protesters. Calling themseleves the Indignés…France seems to hold a leading position in the new European Revolution...They demand a Constitutive Assembly to make govern[ments] ‘remember’ that ‘people [are] sovereign’…stress…inequality of o[p]portunities and priorities between represented and representat[ives], between reality and ideologies. They ask [their voice to be heard by the governments].” The demands juts articulated shows that people (possibly in the millions) are serious with their concerns and want a changed world order. These mobilized citizens do not want a international order planned out by the elites since the early 1900s. Certain ideas, like the Federal Reserve (formulated by private bankers and big business in 1913, before it was introduced to Congress as the Federal Reserve Act) advanced this idea. To see the impetus for the action in France, you have to go back to the protests in Spain. At one point, protesters called for a world revolution and future reforms as written on Raw Story[vi]: “From Tahrir to Madrid to the world, world revolution," said one of the placards, referring to Tahrir Square in Cairo which was the focal point of the Egyptian revolution earlier this year...Calling for "Real Democracy Now," the protests, popularly known as M-15, were called to condemn Spain's soaring unemployment, economic crisis, politicians in general, and corruption.” These protests may have been organized by Anonymous, the organization that uses hacktivism (combination of hacking and activism) to complete its objectives. The organization has two major goals: making the internet free for the people of the world and punishing those that try to box the users of the world wide web in. The group had a video on LeakSource[vii] about how to prepare for a world revolution and what to do to go against the world elite. Underneath the video was the infamous saying on the internet that is feared by the leadership class, encapsulating the hopes of the protestors (bolded sayings) :
We are Anonymous
We are Legion
We do not forgive
We do not forget
Expect us!"

The convergence of hacktivist groups (such as Anonymous and Lulz Boat), active citizenry across the world and advocacy groups has created a World Revolution. Some have called 2011 the year of revolution[viii] and I can’t agree more. Protests that started in Spain were influenced by young people who called for the end of overarching governments and the creation of democracies across the Arab World. Other Europeans had similar thoughts, causing organized disagreement across the region. International underground organizations seized on this opportunity and tried to convince internet users worldwide to protest against the global elite by creating short YouTube videos in some cases. An example is Global Strike[ix] (made by Anonymous), which explained how to stop the world leadership class and asking YouTube users to create their own videos in response.

The ways to stop “the system” from overpowering you is so simple as the video points out, actions everyone could do, such as (groups that came up with these ideas are bracketed) :
- Not buying anything for a week [Anonymous] (My take: It could face opposition from consumers internationally who just buy and buy)
- Storing up food, not buying it [Anonymous] (My take: Like the previous idea, this one could also face opposition from those who love capitalism and just want everything. But a concentrated effort could solve this problem)
- “Stop supporting companies that you know are harmful.”[x] (My take: This is easy to do, all you have to do is be an informed citizen and if you buy products, then you must choose companies that will lead to a better future.)
- Growing your own food [Anonymous] (My take: Many people do this already with side gardens, victory gardens, backyard gardens, live on farms, etc… So, it wouldn’t be the hard to transition.)
- Go out on the street and protest against the elite [Anonymous] (My take: I believe that many Americans are used to the culture of surveillance, born out of the age of “terrorism” and would be afraid to participate. I am not so sure myself if I should participate in this activity since I feel I could be labeled as something I’m not.)
I have tried to do all of these listed items to the best of my ability. I’ve forced myself to not buying anything for a week (I am fiscally conservative with my money, so I don’t spend much anyway). Also I grow my own food and I am protesting by writing this article to educate people about the #worldrevolution[xi]. When I buy products I always try to use those products that are not from companies that abuse their workers or commit other abuses, are American-made and definitely not made in China as another listed item suggests. From my own analysis, certain groups don’t want people to buy anything because the money is controlled by the world elite. Federal Reserve Notes, the money I am referring to, is legal tender in America (“This note is legal tender for all debts, public and private”). U.S. dollars are printed by a private bank, an action that isn’t allowed by the U.S. Constitution.

I believe that from everything that has happened, it is now the time to “say no more…will the many allow the few to ruin our planet and our lives....We [the people of the world] can change things.”[xii] People must act against those who push a non-democratic “new world order” and push for government that work for the people, not the secret governments that exist across the planet which could lead to a one-world government as some have theorized.

So, now you if you want to learn more about this “world revolution,” I found pages on facebook that advocated for it that you can use for more information:
- World Revolution: Real Democracy (where I found out about whole world revolution)
- In a facebook search more pages can be found[xiii]
In addition, Twitter has a number of people tweeting about the subject. Here’s a list of users I complied, that talk about this information, including:
- @GlobalRevol (sorry it’s in Spanish, if you are not good at Spanish)
- @Zed_Lepplin (to some extent)
- @takethesquare (connecting Spanish Revolution and trying to apply it to the world)
Hashtags #worldrevolution and #globalrevolution on Twitter you can use for information.

[iii] Facebook page of American Revolution 2011
[viii]political fail blog page about world revolution [A page that has since been deleted from the website]