<
https://www.fff.org/explore-freedom/article/revolution-rising-expectations/>
"Starving peasants storm the Bastille because oppression has driven them beyond
the limits of human endurance. It is the quintessential image of political
revolution. But what if it is wrong? Or what if there is an equally powerful
force that also creates revolution and contradicts this received image?
The phrase “a revolution of rising expectations” became popular after World War
II. It refers to a situation in which a rise in prosperity and freedom leads
people to believe they can improve life for themselves and their families. It
leads them to seek political changes that will allow them to pursue
opportunity. World War II destabilized the power structure of the world. Former
colonies threw off the old imperialism and embraced the prospect of
independence, all the while longing for the prosperity of the West. Average
people in poor and oppressed nations began to hope for a sliver more of
prosperity and freedom.
In the 1950s, a revolution of rising expectations and demands created political
revolutions from the Far East to Latin America and Africa. The political
instability often ended badly, as revolutions that turn violent do, but that
fact makes the phenomenon no less remarkable.
It is a truth that tyrants and despots have long known: downtrodden people obey
because they believe there is no option; no other action is likely to better
their lives. Totalitarian regimes quash any sparkle of nonconformity because it
expresses choice and it cannot be controlled.
The same is true of hope. Hopeful people want to control their own lives, and
they demand or simply take the political space to do so. They are especially
prone to doing so when culture and news flow freely around the globe, allowing
people to compare their standard of living and freedoms with those of others.
That makes control of information a top priority for regimes that wish to
maintain power. Happily, few things are as difficult to contain.
All that means that improving the lives of average people is a profoundly
revolutionary act whether or not those who do so intend it as such. The mere
act of producing goods and services produces freedom as well because it makes
people aware of their choices and the possibility of expanding them. The
opportunities ushered in by the free market establish a thirst for more. Unless
a person is willing to cheat and steal, the “more” requires freedom."
Via Muse.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
