You Say You Want A Revolution

You say you want a revolution
Well, you know
We all want to change the world
You tell me that it's evolution
Well, you know
We all want to change the world

But when you talk about destruction
Don't you know that you can count me out

Don't you know it's gonna be alright
Alright, alright

You say you got a real solution
Well, you know
We'd all love to see the plan
You ask me for a contribution
Well, you know
We're all doing what we can

But if you want money for people with minds that hate
All I can tell you is brother you have to wait

Don't you know it's gonna be alright
Alright, alright, al...

You say you'll change the constitution
Well, you know
We all want to change your head
You tell me it's the institution
Well, you know
You'd better free your mind instead

But if you go carrying pictures of Chairman Mao
You ain't gonna make it with anyone anyhow

Don't you know it's gonna be alright
Alright, alright

Alright, alright
Alright, alright
Alright, alright
Alright, alright

I don't usually endorse John Lennon but oddly enough, he made some excellent observations in this tune. Whether that was the result of an acid trip or how he truly saw things I can't say...
 
Thomas Jefferson famously stated, "A little rebellion now and then is a good thing," emphasizing the importance of resistance to tyranny and the need for occasional revolution to maintain liberty. This reflects his belief that the spirit of resistance is vital for preserving freedom in a society.
 
subllibrm said:
The review is tempting me to read the book myself.
Click to expand...
Big surprise.

Mr. Edelstein rejects the commonly held view that the modern revolutionary tradition emerged from Christianity.​

No way!

Christians, this argument holds, replaced the ancient pattern of cyclical time with a linear, progressive history, running from creation to Christ’s second coming.​
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Hence our BC/AD reckoning of world history...er, I mean BCE/CE :rolleyes:

But to Mr. Edelstein, Enlightenment historical progressivism had “little in common with earlier religious cosmologies.” His insistence on this point can be a tad stubborn, and he ignores some monumental events such as the Reformation, which Voltaire himself understood as the seedbed of modernity. Certainly soul- and God-centered Christians could never understand the cities of men as the culmination of history.​
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Yet Mr. Edelstein does not fully consider the possibility of modern Revolutions as antireligious, rivaled rather than inspired by Christianity. They unleashed terrific violence on churches, priests and “old believers” of various stripes. They devised “catechisms” and “martyrs” of their own. If Christianity did not beget the revolutions of the modern age, perhaps secularization, or godlessness, did.​
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...​
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The American Revolution was of a different quality. It emerged from the British tradition of mixed constitutionalism and what Mr. Edelstein calls “radical conservatism.” “Rather than transforming their world,” he writes, Americans “wished above all to preserve the state.”​
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It seems fitting that you would seek insight on the American Revolution and populist movements from a secular historical revisionist. :cool:
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