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A revolution is effective only after its goals are clearly defined
by Joseph Earnest October 5, 2011
Newscast Media HOUSTON, Texas -- The year 2011 will be known as the year of revolutions, yet the ones that have been effective are those in which the goals were clearly defined. It is possible to start a revolution that is haphazard in terms of what it is attempting to accomplish, which only demoralizes the participants due to a lack of focus. True revolutionaries transform entire generations because they know their purpose and reason for existence, such that no amount of adversity can cause them to forfeit their calling.
If we consider Aristotle, his view of change was teleological, that is he emphasized the goal (telos in Greek) of change. Aristotle defined "purpose" as the fulfillment of one's functions in the cosmos. The purpose of a horse, for example was to be strong, fast, and obedient; the purpose of a rose was to look pretty and smell sweet.
Most revolutions are political in nature, as Aristotle noticed in his day when he said, "Man is by nature an animal intended to live in a polis." He literally meant man is a political animal.
Aristotle went on to say, "The human being who is isolated, who is unable to share in the benefits of political association, or has no need to share because he is self-sufficient, is not part of the polis, and must therefore be either beast or a god…A human being, when perfected, is the best of animals; but if he be isolated from law and justice is the worst of all."
In America, we have what some are calling a revolution against Wall Street, yet their goals have not been defined. Some participants view it as a social movement others as a political one, yet none can agree upon the intent of the desired outcome. Unlike the Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions where all participants were in one accord, the current demonstrations do not seem to have that factor and also lack in diversity.
But revolutions do not necessarily have to have large numbers to be successful. After one defines his or her purpose in life one single person can revolutionize the entire world.
Take for example Justinian, the emperor, who after ascending to the throne set out to accomplish two things: to build an edifice, the Hagia Sophia, which remains his principle monument, and to produce the first comprehensive review of Roman law called the Code. The Justinian Code constitutes the most influential legal collection in human history, and has affected almost every state and legal system in the modern world.
As for his monument, the Hagia Sophia was a church designed to be a representation of the place where heaven and earth touched, the vestibule of heaven. He succeeded in building the largest Christian church ever built, and upon setting eyes upon the Hagia Sophia after its completion Justinian looked toward the heavens and yelled, "Solomon, I have outdone thee!"
Between 1453–1935 it was converted
into a mosque by the Turks and is now a museum. It remained the largest cathedral to be built for over 1,000
years. Currently, St. Peter's Basilica in Rome is the largest in the world.
If those who undertake
revolutions seek to make a difference, they can take a page from the greatest
ancient Chinese General who has some practical words of wisdom. Sun Tzu
emphasized on having a strong sense of self, and also knowing and thoroughly
studying the enemy one wishes to fight, in order to achieve the desired outcome.
In his book The Art of War, Sun
Tzu wrote: "If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the
result of a hundred battles. If you
know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer
a defeat. If you know neither your
enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle." (pg. 15) Every revolution that has
political overtones is infiltrated by covert government agents. We saw it
happen in Egypt and Libya and certainly America is no different. The purpose of infiltration is to extract
intelligence that will give the government foresight into the psyche of the
demonstrators. This allows government
agents to either disrupt or predict the course of events, using their own spies
or participants of demonstrations. This
is characteristic of a COINTELPRO (Counter Intelligence
Program) operation. COINTELPRO is a covert operation that was
first developed here in America by the FBI and aimed at surveilling, infiltrating,
discrediting, and disrupting domestic political organizations. The
program has since been adopted by several governments across the world as a way
to disrupt peaceful protests. The program was exposed by a left-wing group
called Citizens’ Commission To Investigate The FBI, when they broke into the
FBI's field office in Pennsylvania, stole files and passed them on to
news media. Sun Tzu writes
about the importance of spies and says, what enables the wise general to
conquer and achieve things beyond the reach of ordinary men, is
foreknowledge. He believed knowledge of
the enemy's dispositions can only be attained from other men. However, Sun
Tzu warns against trusting anyone who appears to be an authority figure and
writes: "We cannot enter into alliance with neighboring princes until we are
acquainted with their designs." Many are
carefully watching the Wall Street protests as observers attempt to deconstruct
who is really behind them and how effective the demonstrators will be in
defining and achieving their goals in the months ahead.
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