Revolution a Long-Term Already Happening Phenomnon

Rebecca Solnit, writing for Orion magazine did a great article on the fact that we are already in a revolution entitled, "Revolutions per Minute, Radical transformation is all around us." Going back to the 60's when many of us were just waiting for the revolutionary event, she takes us through many of the changes by showing how nonplussed we are by many things today that in the 60's would have excited and startled us. Examples are gays out in the open, women in politics, awareness of global warming, the environment and our food system. It's worth a read, but no matter how hard I tried I could not get the link to work here. Try going to Orion Magazine and go to the article on June 14th. It's the best I can offer.

Wikipedia defines revolution as:A revolution (from the Latin revolutio, "a turnaround") is a significant change that usually takes place in a long period of time. In light of this definition, we might take heart. Things are not the same as they were twenty years ago. Movie making is getting into the hands of regular people. Farmer's Markets are back in vogue. Hybrid cars are becoming common. Yes, there is a lot that needs changing, but I THINK if I really honestly look back without rose colored glasses, there are things to cheer and places to look for hope.

That's not to look away from the mess we are in, but to say that we are capable of change and actually things are moving at a fairly fast pace sometimes in a better direction. Other countries are showing improvements that very few U.S. citizens even dream of. Some ways of our European neighbors, which have much older cultures than any of our save our indigenous ones, are much more advanced. Health care, prison reform, drug treatment, environmental care, child care, and good work are some areas where we already have great examples of better proven ways close by. South America is leading us toward more rights for a greater number of people and away from the domination of Multi-national corporations. Even the fact that we have an eloquent African American man running for president is a sign improvement.

I say, let's not give up on REVOLUTION, but let's also not expect it to happen over night. Our culture is impatient and expects instant coffee, which tastes terrible if you are accustomed to slow brewed, carefully grown and roasted luscious cups of coffee. I'm all for fairly traded, carefully tended REVOLUTION. JJ