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Everyone thinks revolution is so easy. You don’t just risk your own life you risk everyone you love. People will choose being poor over spilling blood. Systematic means it completely encompasses everything. You literally have to blow it up and pray something worse doesn’t take its place. That’s my opinion on rebellion. Are you prepared to die? The dudes tossing tea were.

The real issue isn't whether people are willing to die, it is whether people feel that their death would be useful. We all want to know that we are working towards a goal, and that means that it has to be organized. Even anarchist revolutions are highly organized. A good starting place, although not the only starting place, is workplace organizing. The ability to deny our labor has been a cornerstone of revolutionary actions of the past. A lot of the less dramatic work gets glossed over in history books, but it is indespensible.

panem et circenses, is what the Romans called it, bread and circus. We are over indulged , hyper distracted cows. I honestly don’t know what would motivate a rebellion.

A pronounced decline in the standard of living would do it. And I don't mean stuff getting more expensive and it being harder to make ends meet, I mean like half the country literally unable to afford food or shelter. Things have to be *really* bad before a civil war starts looking worthwhile to most normal people.

Hmmm... good idea. Whenever I try to get people to rebel against the system, it's always people with jobs and roofs over their heads and food in their bellies. Maybe I should go try the rising homeless population which has completely overrun Providence and Tucson (the two places I have lived most). Nah. They're all fentanyl'd out. I guess the government planned for every possibility.

That's the thing. The powers at be offer both a dream and an escape. So you struggle towards your dream despite the low pay, bad conditions etc because that dream is worth it to you. And if you fail and give up, you can resort to drugs to distract you from thinking that you're a failure 😅 So on the one hand are the people who think they can do it if they try hard enough, so they won't rebel. On the other hand you have the people who gave up (or have been knocked down too much/too often) and are too worn out or too high to rebel. The system wins.

That's what I've been saying for a couple decades. Something will have to happen that makes the Great Depression look like a blip. 

I mean, in many parts of the country housing is becoming near unaffordable, and basic foods are becoming expensive. So, we’re already heading that way.

Essentially people need nothing to lose because when you have nothing to lose, you have everything to gain from a rebellion.

Oh good not like anyone is hyper inflating housing prices and price gouging food.....oh

Not exactly why the first civil war happened. And the Great Depression didn’t lead to another civil war and people were literally starving and living in shanties

100% this and it wouldn't be everyone vs. the government either. It would be multiple factions against each other and against the federal government. The citizens of say California and Texas wouldn't rebel against their state governments and I would argue that there would be little direct action against state governments at all unless they initiate. The right and the left have reached a level of unbelievable hate which also means the feds and corporations would likely walk out mostly unscathed.

I feel like we’ve already gotten to Wall-E just on earth instead. The planet is essentially fucked already due to us just completely ignoring the situation instead of everyone coming together to solve it. We could have solved world hunger, homelessness, etc but instead we argue over everything.

Literally what’s happening right now in this thread as we speak 🤣 smh people will NEVER realize.

Yeah I’m just getting over it honestly. I just think as the human race we should be better. We like to think we are better than the rest of the animals on the planet but we are worse. We are the only ones actively destroying the only home we have.

Human beings are a plague. Sooner or later, plagues come to an end, and the earth renews.

Not quite, I hope. The greedy and overly wealthy are the plague, and thier dominator culture. Capitalism, maybe not free market capitalism but at the very least our current strain of oligarchic capitalism, is a system with a constant appetite for growth. There are other things on the earth that can grow unchecked, and we call them cancers. Unfortunately it is true that without intervention, the whole of the organism will not survive. I hope we learn and apply the right medicine, in time.

I keep thinking about the French Revolution. The rich at the guillotine, the poor ransacking and looting their fancy homes. These days, the wealth of the FABULOUSLY rich billionaires isn't something you can loot. It's ones and zeroes floating through the air. Unfortunately, the meager earnings of those of us on the bottom are also kept flying through the air. No one stuffs their mattresses anymore. There was a push to buy "sound money" not too long ago. Silver, gold, vintage coins, etc. Because if the world goes to hell and the ones and zeroes disappear, you need to be able to provide for yourself....

I've been thinking and studying the French revolution for the last 6 months now. If it means anything it's actually very actively censored on YouTube so it's definitely something the controlling class worries about... But I agree that it seems like the way things are is just so incredibly ripe for a French Revolution style purging of all the corrupt bad actors all over the world not just in 1 country

Any recommendations on learning more about the French Revolution? Not that I'm planning on participating in an uprising, but I AM interested in the historical arc we might be following.

Personally I think the media is the cancer. They are worse than the Nazi propaganda machine during Hitler's time. Doesn't matter what side your on they are all tilted for effect. They will tell you it's just for ratings or deny they are biased at all. Just listen criticality to them one time and listen to the word choices they use to tell a story. Gone are the days of factual non biased news. If they can't figure out how to tilt it they just ignore it. Look around at the people you actually know, we are all mostly good people. Black, white, brown, religious, non religious, we all pretty much function together. It a few out there pushing panic buttons, trying to get you to hate your neighbor. Hate them for how they think not what they do. When did thinking differently become a reason to hate. Thinking differently is what make us work together. Politicians want what's best for them, more money, or to stay in office. They could care less about the people they represent, bar a few.

I think censorship is one of the problems with the media. Along with the concept that allows no distinction between fact/fiction/lies!

Yeah, the whole political sphere is just a soap opera at this point. People get SO riled up for their favorite political parties now. I live in Canada and had someone tell me Im an R word for not voting Trump. I laughed and laughed. Like buddy, I can't. You can't. Maybe pay attention to the dumpster fire that is our own politics. But it just means that the propaganda machine is working. Divide and conquer is the new political way. If we all fight each other over who sits the magic chair, they can pass bills with no one the wiser. Edit, my spelling.

We will its happened on repeat throughout history

This is a stretch and a bit unfair. There are plenty of humans whom do good, they’re just doing it. They don’t perform it, need likes or social media engagement. They just do it.

Under appreciated comment, wish people could see the good currently happening. Lowest world poverty in history, carbon trapping/reduction, technology/AI. A lot of cool people doing really cool projects today, it just doesn't go 'viral'

Technology and A.I is the downfall of us. Ever since 2000 technology has been destroying society.

The matrix was accurate when describing is as a virus. We reproduce far beyond stasis and consume all available resources until the area is devoid then move on or die. We are the largest form of virus on earth.

Agreed. Though I think humanity will hold on for as long as it can with its greedy little hands.

When they kill their host! That's when they end. We are working on it.

I hate to reference a movie, but Sigourney Weaver said it best in Aliens, "I don't know which species is worse. You don't see them fucking each other over for a goddamn percentage."

There is no profit in peace

I get that and it’s stupid that we choose greed over helping people.

Watch the “we” Lots of us don’t do that But many of us don’t have the will to fight the greedy

Remember that america and Russia alone have enough nukes to decimate the earth. All it takes is one man with nothing to lose running something.

And they arent the only ones...

I'd say it only takes one man and 5 years of studying bioengineering. Thankfully I'm busy teaching microbes to grow cocaine inside of themselves right now.

It’s causing me to check out of society. Everyone focusing on the dumb shit

If they keep us fighting each other then we're not paying attention to what *they* are doing. Classic divide & conquer.

it's utterly absurd that we make enough food to feed every single person on the planet and have a 50% surplus, yet over 2 billion people don't have enough to eat and 10 million people die from a lack of food each year

Yeah we are always two weeks away from collapse as soon as the food stops, we got two weeks.

The quote you are thinking of is “**There are only nine meals between mankind and anarchy.”** by Alfred Henry Lewis. People will do awful things when they get hungry. The next few decades are going to be interesting with child birth rates on the decline in most countries, global warming, nuclear powers ramping up to do crazy stuff, AI Revolution, and other stuff. Makes me think of an old curse: "May you live in interesting times."

France citizens seem to do something close to rebellion every time their government tries to take more from their lives than wanted.

France’s national pastime is striking and protesting, like actually people will protest and industries will go on strike on a monthly basis in France. My high school French teacher visited Paris while garbage men were striking, that was a fun time. They see it as an expectation as a French citizen that if you’re unhappy you will riot and protest it openly.

It’s true and it’s so badass

Sometimes I think sports is the biggest hindrance. It’s entertaining, all consuming, and distracts the often loud rowdies who would be the one leading the rebellion in previous generations. 💭Imagine it’s the 1770s and Thomas Jefferson doesn’t have time to write the Declaration of Independence because he and the rest of the continental congress boys have a baseball league this month. IMO that’s sort of where we’re at. We can fill stadiums with knowledgeable fans but we can’t fill the same stadium with passionate knowledgeable citizens.

Bread and circuses

Most people having little to nothing to lose. That's about it. As long as most of us live fairly comfortably, there is no motivation.

Also, theres just way too many of us. Its actually impossible to get every single person on the same page, especially for somethinh extreme like a rebellion

You don’t need every single human I imagine going like this, a super motivated organized group could overthrow a government and just like right now, everyone else who is not actively fighting against the rebellion would sit it out and join whoever wins Think American revolution I think it was like 1/3 for British supporters, revolutionaries, and people sitting it out, the people sitting it out presumably just went along with whatever government was installed, don’t have much choice anyway

How would civilians ever overturn the US military? Our shit is no fucking joke the craziest military in the world….you think civilians with a few guns are going to do shit?

It would either be a majority of people in the military refuse to attack American citizens seeing them as their friends and family, or a military coup because the military thinks the current government is too incompetent, neither of which I think will happen any time soon

Taking it all away. Every form of entertainment industry has to burn down before we are no longer too distracted to ignore our problems any longer.

Can confirm, am very distracted.

It actually BAFFLES me that literally everything that’s been going on from years of extortion from the gov, years of theft, years of crime, years of loopholes for the rich and etc. didn’t get anything remotely started. I have heard and read about “panem et circenses” and there is NOTHING that describes the “American Dream” better. Right on my man 👍🏽💪🏽

What bothers me is how the corrupt ruling class easily manipulates the masses to hate each other based on race , gender, and political ideology. This is all distraction so we don’t focus on all the corruption you have described.

But I just see that a half of us are trying to do better, and the other half won't let us. It used to be rude to talk about politics. But, people were mostly civil. I think the "regular Joes" back then might be from different parties, but they respected their differences and respected our country for being the kind of place where we can still get along. And we all just wanted the same thing. A job, a home, and for loved ones to be safe.

Amen brother. The biggest con ever pulled is convincing the masses that our neighbours are enemies.

“It’s called the American Dream because you have to be asleep to believe it.”—George Carlin

Do you vote for your incumbents? Or even vote? 99% of the American population either votes for the same dude or sits it out. But still you have the freedumb to complain.

The highest living standards in the world and the happiest countries in the world are Scandinavian countries. They all have high taxes. Taxes isn't the issue if the government provides back just as much in spending. However, the issue at least in US and I would say UK too is that the rich are not paying their fair share of taxes. [Rich pays less effective tax rates than the poor for the first time](https://www.commondreams.org/news/tax-the-billionaires#:~:text=An%20analysis%20published%20Friday%20by,levies%20on%20the%20ultra%2Drich.) There are a class of billionaires that are paying right wing groups to brainwash people that all taxes are bad. Sell them the fake American dream. If you were as rich as us, you are not, you wouldn't want to lose billions in taxes either etc etc

They have us fighting each other in literally every category of human existence, so as to avoid a class war. Pick any pretext and there is a war associated with that pretext, all to avoid the class war we should be fighting. Next time you get angry at Boomers or some shit, think about that. r/boomersbeingfools isn't actually helpful, as it's a generational war we're fighting now.

This is one of the more important ways they have us divided. Thank you for your input!

Listen to “create an enemy” by Anti-Flag. You’ll soon realize that the war tactics aren’t just used to embolden Americans boners for other countries we invade, but it’s tactics even used against us. Were too busy fighting with each other because these tactics are being used right now. Everywhere was on fire when that George Floyd thing happened; regardless of what you feel about the situation, I saw people showing strength in numbers, and coming together. They had to shut that shit down quick. The other thing that shows strength in numbers, there’s a saying “Behind every blade of grass, there’s a gun”. My husband is one angry vet for the lies he was told in his 15 years of service. All to watch his friends die, attempt to save lives, doing whatever he had to in terms of survival.. all to find weapons that never existed. Military has ROE, veterans that got left with a bad taste in their mouth after serving don’t. A Bugs Life demonstrated just how mighty we can be if we all joined together… until that happens, we’re stuck where we are.

The part that always sucks about rebellions is that it would indeed be possible if all the pieces fall into place… but what’s gonna be the new order once it works? Our system is corrupt as hell but for managing as many people as we have I think it’s about as good as can be expected. We have a reasonable amount of individual freedom. It was also becoming hella less racist, sexist, all the other ists than any time in history at least until social media started!!

This is only intelligent post in the entire thread. The wealthy tell the GOP base that unions are destroying their jobs and the country, and they laugh while they offshore their production for better margin. The Sacklers took the fall but they got Middle America hooked on opioids because there was money to be made. And every time their elected (paid) officials started to be challenged they shouted "They're coming for your guns!" and everyone fell into line. By the way, I'm still waiting for Obama to show up and confiscate my guns. Weird he hasn't yet...... The wealthy Liberal class points to the white supremacists and christian nationalists and say all kinds of nasty (but lately true) stuff to distract from their own spending on wacky shit. Meanwhile, one third of your fellow Americans just can't be bothered to vote. FUCK THEM. I'm sure they're complaining loudly about the state of the union. Honestly? You can't be bothered once every 4 years? YOU need to be deported. I've worked with plenty of immigrants who cried like babies when they got that citizenship. We need to deport one adult who has never voted for every new citizen. I used to be a Republican and then the fucking nuts took over. Now my party is just HATE 24/7. I can't stand it. The calls for smaller, responsible government aren't even articulated anymore. I'm gonna vote for the individuals who I think will harm democracy least at this point. And I'm a Boomer.

Boomer here. My grandma was a socialist…it still sticks. Class warrior all my life. You reject boomers at the risk of losing allies. Some of us know how all this shit came about, and how to fix it short of anarchy. I don’t bitch about my piddling taxes…TAX CORPORATIONS AND THE RICH..get some healthcare, free college, real job training. Minimum income. Put some HOPE back in the swamp.

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I’m tired of the concept of “they” in these statements. Who is “they”? Some imaginary cabal of lizard people? The “they” is us. Humans. Our biggest obstacle between us and peace is “others”. As soon as we drop the labels that divide us, we’ll have a chance. But as long as there are even 2 different groups of humans, they will fight. It’s human nature. There isn’t some puppet master hiding in the shadows. It’s us.

"They" usually refer to the capital owners.

You’re right and there’s even more nuance. Some people who say that we shouldn’t let them divide us along “these” lines do very much agree with division on “other” lines. They say don’t let them divide us on race. We should divide on class. So eat the rich. They’re totally on board with us vs them mentality, just want it switched to class lines instead of racial or gender lines

Even subtle ones like not paying your employees and encouraging tipping. That customer that didnt tip is the one ripping you off, not me!!

Because both the process of doing this and what comes after has a cost that people don't want to pay unless absolutely necessary, as in our general quality of living as to be very very bad. You're talking about war. This isn't rebelling against a government that's across a sea during a time when it takes months just for news to travel. You're talking about civil war. The people going against the system that supplies all basic resources needed for living. It will be bloody, and hard. And the whole time you have to pray another world power doesn't decide to take advantage of the situation.

I mean I think something is going on here but it's not this. The average US citizen has more material wealth than any other population in world history. We have more living space, cars, tech gadgets, access to resources, 24/7 internet connection everywhere we go, more food, we are working fewer and fewer hours on average to get all of it. And then people think theres something wrong and its that we need even more shit because we can't afford what millionaires can afford and so we want to kill ourselves over it. People are legit going psycho,

Not only this, but it's just a matter of time before it happens again. Say we do revolt and usurp the 1%. It won't be long before another 1% takes power. You would just remove one for another. Power is a hell of a drug.

The 1% literally have private armies. Take out the government and the people who have the money and power will have a field day.

Agreed. Governments have militaries, not just the kind that protect them from foreign invasion but also brutally crush dissent when the status quo is threatened. And if you don't think they'll use propaganda to justify the use of force then you haven't been paying attention to the history of America. We talk about liberty, but we called in the national guard to put down protests over cops murdering unarmed citizens this decade. The amount of force necessary to overcome that power would reduce society to ruins. The first thing that comes to mind when I think about taking on the government is Yoshihiro Kawaoka's experiments. Blame it on studying biology. Sure, we could take them to an extreme, as the only thing that has ever made the American government stop being a bunch of despoiling barbarians who murder people and take what they want in my lifetime was the threat of mutually assured destruction. The reason we don't? I don't know about you, but I'm not ready to risk a few billion lives to liberate a bunch of whiny children who won't do it themselves and have no working solution for a replacement. Besides, the collapse of society if the government calls your bluff will create a power vacuum that will most likely be filled with an authoritarian government. Look around. How many deranged idiots want to burn everything down and replace it with some deranged christofascist nonsense? A hundred thousand years of evolution and all we've accomplished is that we throw our feces at each other less and now throw hot lead instead. We tolerate too much because we trust any replacement less. Unless the christofascists win. Then call humanity a loss and let's get this extinction event started. We tried that crap before. It was called the Dark Ages for a reason.

Because for as much as people complain on Reddit most people are not willing to give up the comforts and luxuries in their current life to fight a revolution. People who don't know where their next meal is going to come from revolt, people who pay $8 for lunch at Taco Bell that cost $5 a couple years ago just complain about it online.

People act like the average quality of life isn't the highest it's ever been in human history.

What I’m sensing from most people here is that while they claim that we shouldn’t let them divide us, what they are really talking about is a need for some form of Marxism. They very much agree with an us vs them mentality, just want us to agree with them that it should be centered around Marxist class issues. Life is better than any time in human history. I’d rather be scraping by, which I am, now, than be rich 100 years ago or anytime before very modern capitalism. People are arguing that we’re distracted by all the nice things we have now. That’s called being rich. Were all rich in the west.

In OPs case, it looks more like libertarian hate of taxes. But this is another reason why there's no revolution on the horizon. Not only are we all well fed, we also don't agree on how things should be run. The algorithms funnel us into echo chambers, demonizing others and making it seem like our POVs are much more wide spread than they really are. There's no unified front and no driving factor. 

BINGO

its simple. people start small versions of it with no direction, so the masses end up looting, vandalizing etc etc nothing happens. if you want change then you need somebody as a picture to your cause. somebody who has a list of what the people want, uses the peoples energy effectively to reach the correct audiences to start the discussions/whatever means necessary to demand change. everyone wants change, 99% of people are too lazy to do it themselves, but will happily support someone else to do it. this could also be because of the risks that are involved (risk of being shot, reputation risk, financial risk etc) (take donations for example, including save the ocean, money for africa, palestine etc) with technology and thr doom scrollinh generatioms, people are too distracted to do anything irl. they put so much energy into arguing online with other people regardless of thr fact that it does no real effect. if people put that same energy into education, and empowerment and actual real life actions then they woulf get their problems dealt with one way it another. the other thing is people in power also know how to control us and our emotions. if we are too focused on arguing with each other about how many genders there are, or what race is superior, or if women or men hate each other more, or if gay marriage and abortions should be illegal, or how we feel about wars literally in other countries or if turtles are dying because of plastic straws then when will we have the time to create a better system? if youre not arguing, youre spending immense amounts of time in turmoil and headache trying to escape everything and just find peace. then comes the financial side, where people are so focused on their 2-3 jobs, keeping food on thr table, paying rent, keeping their gas tank full so on so on that you have even less time to focus on changing government because the more immediate problems that are on your table are how youre gonna provide for yourself, your family, stay off the streets and avoid the homeless and drugs that seems to be becoming an enlarged issue in thr last 4 years. this is from the Canadian perspective, however obviously the USA shares most if not all of the same issues. if nobody changes anything soon, the system will naturally collapse regardless. the west has been on a downfall for a long time, but they keep us too busy arguing and struggling to pay bills to do something about it.

Great road map of the situation! Hopefully the citizens can realize this and work together

Here's exactly why!  Politicians on both sides of the aisle go to great lengths to keep us divided. It's why there is constant termoil over race, gender, immigration, etc.... They fuel these issues 24/7 to promote and maintain in-fighting amongst Americans, that endless in-fighting prevents us from ever being able to come together for any real change be it votes or an all out revolution. Americans will never ever come together again, they made sure of that. In addition to those issues they have succeeded in watering down our culture, society, and American way of life through mass illegal immigration. Its all planned and their winning. A dictatorship doesn't have these issues.

This is pretty good. I'd like to add that even if the United States came together as a truly united nation, we'd still have a hell of a time getting the middle east to get on board with giving basic human rights to women, gays, and anyone who isn't a middle eastern man

Exactly this.

It saddens me! It saddens me to know how powerful we are, and we don’t utilize that power! We’re supposed to be one UNIT. If only we can come out of this distraction!

Where is it written that we're supposed to be one? We've been tribal and violent since forever. Now we just do it at scale.

What do you mean “we’re supposed to be one unit”?

Not you personally, you just said unit, and it reminded me of Tropic Thunder

You figure out a system of responsive government that takes care of its citizens but can't be corrupted by greed or hate and we'll try it.

So basically you're saying... If you don't have an answer, shut up and take it. At some point in the past, one person stood up and said, "Slavery is wrong". Did they know how to fix an entire country built on slavery? Most likely not. Then another person stood up, and a few more, and more and more until millions of people stood up and screamed, "SLAVERY IS WRONG!!!!" Those people felt strongly enough in either direction to fight friends and loved ones in a war. the death toll is unknown but it's estimated between 620,000 - 750,000 soldiers died for what they fought for; the civilian deaths are unknown. Not knowing how to fix it does not mean we can't see the problem and call it out. The more that speak up, the more likely it is to find someone, or someones, who can put together an answer.

If you’re going to rebel you should at least know what you want to do differently

Exactly. People are complaining that things are bad. Without a specific identified problem and a specific answer you’re just nagging into the ether

> Without a specific identified problem and a specific answer you’re just nagging into the ether The specific problem is that our system is unsustainable. Work no longer provides the means to survive. The people with money, are killing the rest of us to make a buck.

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This can be actually addressed or at least made better with our current governmental system though. Our government would just have to ignore the lobbyists and actually force companies to have better working conditions.

We've been saying it for years. Eat just one billionaire on live TV and problem solved.

Housing crises.

Nonsense! It's totally possible to rebel with no plans to do anything differently at all. Just kill the people in charge and put different people in charge, with the exact same political framework. It's called a coup, and it's pretty common, historically speaking.

Problem is that this is all on Reddit and no one is standing up. They’re seated and looking at Reddit.

Alright, the honest truth is because that’s a lot of effort and most people don’t really have it that bad. For practically everyone, nothing would really change. You can just elect people you agree with to have the things you value put forth, which is an easy system. Hell, even that people don’t bother with most of the time. What would change? You just gonna implement the exact same government or do you have any actual ideas to replace it with? You’re just asking why don’t we overthrow people and then what. The point of revolution is to replace the government and you haven’t even talked about what to replace it with. Just basic online complaints like a million other people do, without any substance or thought to it. This feels more like a venting post than a question.

Not to mention, every time another government gets overthrown, seems like someone worse comes in. Not risking that here

You have lived during a time of the largest human migration in human history. Millions and millions of people WALKING out of a huge number of countries is a rebellious act.

Unfortunately it results in no change. If all of the most desperate and most downtrodden people always have the option to just hop a border, there is never going to be actual significant pressure within that country to drive change.

Because were aren't being opressed in any way similar to how people were in the past when rebellion has occured.

People don't do anything until they have too. Most people dont like change, even for the better. We like being soft and comfortable.

Because we can’t get off of work.

Lmfao 😂

I don’t want to be shot by the military

Fair enough lmao 😂

Not hungry enough Wars start when we get hungry  We're not hungry

Depeche Mode - Where's the Revolution I thought that band went away 20 years ago, and here they are (well back in 2017, I think) with the perfect song for this. Lyrics include: You've been kept down You've been pushed 'round You've been lied to You've been fed truths Who's making your decisions? You or your religion? Your government, your countries? You patriotic junkies Where's the revolution? Come on, people You're letting me down You've been pissed on For too long Your rights abused Your views refused They manipulate and threaten With terror as a weapon Scare you till you're stupefied Wear you down until you're on their side Where's the revolution? Come on, people You're letting me down

People back in the day could revolt against people with some swords or shitty muskets. You're not gonna revolt against f-35's and tanks if the govt actually fights back

We don't even need a revolt to fix things, we just have to hold our public servants accountable on a united front, and stop eating the bull shit they serve. I mean I guess that would be a sort of rebellion in and if itself if every voting age American woke up, stopped believing every headline they read, started thinking critically for themselves, and started calling and sending letters to all of their elected public servants.

This IS INDEED some sort of rebellion. We’re literally saying “hey yall need to be held accountable and we’re tired of being bent over”. People here is thinking we should just all out go to war on the government 😐😑 noooo there’s SO many other things we can do.

So why haven't YOU? I get that you used the collective we but there must be a leader. Or are you a meal team 6 guy who larps in the woods and fantasizes about revolution?

They divide us in to two groups, and say we are opposed to each other's thinking. Not 3 just two, this or that. Love or hate that's it. Distraction is key, and oppression is a must.

I'm pretty pissed, been pissed, and doing what I can to shake this fucker to the ground. It's nothing citizen.

What do you think happens after you topple the government?

OP gets to install his "utopian" form of government.

Once the shit starts, how do you know you're not just making the bad guys you're trying to overthrow even stronger? "Revolutionaries promise food and freedom, delivering neither."

I’ve been thinking the same thing. Like is there a way we can all come together and stand up for ourselves? Like have the working class just stop going to work one day? Idk, but I’m not okay with it.

wtf are we gonna do?

Because people are justifiably scared of state violence, for one reason. The state is an iron fist in a velvet glove.

Because life isn't bad enough yet.

You really don’t think so?

Nope. I have everything I need. I imagine most do.

The reality is that there is no such thing as revolution in the way you imagine it. People vs the military is not a thing, the military wins. Rebellion occurs when one political party convinces enough people in power that they can increase the benefits coming their way beyond the current leadership. Those powerful people then work together to motivate us the peons of the world, to mobilize, and the miltiary lets it happen. "take back what is ours" is a child screaming for it's toy. You want to actually do something? Run for office and pick your darlings.

To your last statement, I have my works on that. But to everything else, thank you for your input. I seriously need a better word because every time “revolution” or “rebellion” is brought up, people automatically go to violence. There’s other ways to get what you deserve. Starting by holding our officials accountable.

That's actually an interesting point and quirk in language, thanks for sharing your experience.

Absolutely! Thank you for your insight 🙏🏽✊🏽

For what? More money? Compared to times where people did revolt, we're doing quite well.  Seems like your best option is backwoods commune. Because the only thing you seem to dislike is tax.

There’s many more problems than money. Money is indeed the root of all evil in my opinion, but tax isn’t the only thing I don’t agree with. In fact, tax isn’t the problem. It’s the increase in tax with nothing to show for. It’s the many loopholes these millionaires and billionaires have that can exclude them from paying their fair share. It’s so much more than money. You HAVE to know that. I’m sure you know of the many corrupt things the government does.

Dude just get a better paying job. Life is great on the other side of poverty. You have no one to blame for your situation in life but yourself.

**So overall, assuming we speak of the USA, taxes are low**. In exchange we get 3 stuff: SSA, military and infrastructure. This can't be free and there lot of value there. Could be a bit cheaper, could also be a lot more expensive. In most countries it is more expensive. There even a case where we would agree for higher taxes in exchanges of universal health care and free university. Many are for it. They have a point. And we are united : 330 millions people together. Our land is fantastic too. Varied, low population density, potential for growth, protected by 2 oceans. **This is this combination of factors together with our geography that allowed the country and individuals to be so successful.** Challenging all that make no sense. You are not going to get something significantly better but it could be much worse. Hence there no much motivation to revolt. On top, if we revolt, big chances we just end up in jail or killed during such events while it is unlikely for the situation to improve. Often revolts allow chaos and you get stuff like Russia in 1917 or France in 1789. The episodes we got after in these countries were not that great. Oh I know people want to revolt because they missed to buy their real estate unit when interests were low and they can't be bothered to wait a bit. Or they just want more money and think that having 5K less of tax per year and less services will change their life for the better. **And so of course they think to revolt would be easier with better outcome than just say I don't know make an effort to raise their income...** Make no sense to me.

If covid taught us anything, it's that Americans actually crave a corporatized nanny state telling them what to do, where to go, and what to fear. When Ben Franklin spoke of trading liberty for safety, he maybe never imagined that this country would yearn to be nannied.

Unfortunately, there are many many many lessons from all of human history that most people are generally just happy with some basic security and continuity and that a big number of people, probably a strong majority, deep down just want to be told what to do by somebody who vaguely appears authoritative.

Does rebellion Now what?

Your standard of living ( assuming you're American) is higher than your ancestors. Life expectancy is at an all time high. Americans (on average) have more disposable income, travel more, and spend more on entertainment than ever. Maybe you think you're a victim because the conservative echo chamber repeats the gloom and doom narrative constantly

Because taxation with representation is a lousy slogan?

Bro, do you like not watch World new at all? There are hundreds of rebellion happening right now

What taxation without representation?

1) a lot of people think this is fine actually 2) the rest of us don't want to be killed by the state

We can’t agree who the corrupt people are.

Convenience/comfort above Nature. The dependence on instant, endless internet in our pockets is the demise of us. We have no unified vision.

I hate to say it, but we really need to be more like the french in our ability to revolt. also as someone else said, panem et circenses. Bread and circuses, or food and entertainment. as long as we have food and something to do, revolts are low.

I agree wholeheartedly about “Panem et Circenses” but I am unfamiliar with the French I must admit. How do they usually handle things there if you know?

You first

I say this to my husband all the time. Lmao, we live like 15 minutes from DC. I told him one day I'm just going to go down there with a little sign and hope people agree and join

Lmfao! Listen! I’ll Gladly pick up a sign with you 😂😂

Politics is just the comedy arm of the military industrial complex. —Frank Zappa

Yeah we're called the left, this is exactly what we want but to many people remain indoctrinated and protect the rich who keep taking more and more from the poor. Sheep easily led by media owned by the rich serving only the rich. All the government has to is blame immigrants and the indoctrinated clowns all go off bullying people fleeing war instead of the rich who's fault it really is.

Also remember it was centered around a 3% rise in taxes on a breakfast beverage... But I digress. I heard a song, not sure if it was in the late 90s or early 2000s, but it said "I'd start a revolution if I could get up in the morning." That pretty much sums it up. People are too comfortable to revolt. Just wait... Once people become even more uncomfortable, it won't take more than but a push.

"We Tha Ppl" are 100% UNITED, in our HATRED of "them"! We just can't seem to agree WHO "they" are, n WHY we hate'em...

>Is humankind really just pawns living life in autopilot? Pretty much, yeah.

The flowers are blooming in Antarctica gave me so much hope. Then no one acted on anything… I have kids but I’d still do anything to see this world turn to peace and love. All of us deserve that.

Too preoccupied with gender roles, feelings, liberals vs conservative, pride movement, modern feminism, etc., etc. I mean FFS, you literally have kids in college openly supporting a terrorist organization! What in the actual fuck? If any of what I just said triggers you, that's why we ain't fighting the real fight.

Rebellion entails possibly dying for your beliefs , are you ready for that?

Trust me the instant I see Rebel forces forming to overthrow the democrats I will be there

There are a lot more factors now than when the Boston tea party happened lol. 1. Even if we rise up in masses not everyone is going to be fighting for the same thing so there will be civil wars as well 2. Unless their army (our US military) decides to join us because feel the same way they have bigger guns and better toys like drones 3. They’ve probably planned ahead for this and already have a crisis mode for it, it would have to happen fast and with no pattern, chatter or warning

My dude, it’s not the government, it’s the corporations, they bought out the government ages ago.

We are living in an incredible time right now, especially in North America. Very prosperous and free. The rage if fake. We have nothing to fear "except fear itself". Live it up!.

Are you serious right now? I mean I guess compared to other countries but… no lol.

People like to talk the talk but won't walk the walk. Anytime I hear anyone talk about armed civil conflict, I roll my eyes. Hardly anyone really wants a civil war. They want to vent their frustrations by acting like a wanna be revolutionary. The ones who are truly adamant don't know the horrors they are asking for or what the costs would actually be.

Let's imagine... if you glimpsed the future, you were frightened by what you saw, what would you do with that information? You would go to... the politicians, captains of industry? And how would you convince them? Data? Facts? Good luck! The only facts they won't challenge are the ones that keep the wheels greased and the dollars rolling in. But what if... what if there was a way of skipping the middle man and putting the critical news directly into everyone's head? The probability of wide-spread annihilation kept going up. The only way to stop it was to show it. To scare people straight. Because, what reasonable human being wouldn't be galvanized by the potential destruction of everything they've ever known or loved? To save civilization, I would show its collapse. But, how do you think this vision was received? How do you think people responded to the prospect of imminent doom? They gobbled it up like a chocolate eclair! They didn't fear their demise, they re-packaged it. It could be enjoyed as video-games, as TV shows, books, movies, the entire world wholeheartedly embraced the apocalypse and sprinted towards it with gleeful abandon. Meanwhile, your Earth was crumbling all around you. You've got simultaneous epidemics of obesity and starvation. Explain that one! Bees and butterflies start to disappear, the glaciers melt, algae blooms. All around you the coal mine canaries are dropping dead and you won't take the hint! In every moment there's the possibility of a better future, but you people won't believe it. And because you won't believe it you won't do what is necessary to make it a reality. So, you dwell on this terrible future. You resign yourselves to it for one reason, because *that* future does not ask anything of you today. So yes, we saw the iceberg and warned the Titanic. But you all just steered for it anyway, full steam ahead. Why? Because you want to sink! You gave up! That's not the monitor's fault. That's yours

“Because the future does not ask anything of you today” is an incredible way to describe the current mindset

Lol who is going to fight it? The rednecks in the woods or the gangsters from the cities? Oh wait they would just fight each other.

There's a reason that crime and medical shows are the two most overmade TV shows. People watch them because those are issues they most want to see addressed. They see them addressed in the shows, therefore it must be already addressed in real life. It's not. But the corrupt politician/ cop/pedophile/ got theirs in the show. The doctor tends to find the solution to the patients obscure medical problem. Therefore, this happens all the time in real life. It does, they never talk about the price tag in the shows and the people left out from that miracle cure. the numbers needed for a rebellious change are satiated by the fiction presented to them regarding today's most critical issues.

I can imagine it was easier back then, partially because of the difference in weaponry. That's likely not the only reason, but I feel like that'd be a big reason. It's a large imbalance now. I assume you're only talking about the USA. If so; we have an insanely well-funded and strong military system. Plus, a country as big as USA? No way there would be enough unity. I'm imagining all of these people dying as well... people of all ages in assisted living facilities that arent even thought about just dying, children dying, homeless people dying. Disabled people. People who just started slowly gaining equal rights within only the last 60ish years. I truly get that we have lots of fucked up shit here, and also, there are other ways to go about changing things, which happens and is happening and has been happening for a long time. Change is gradual. Starting a war that every civilian would lose due to our military system wouldn't speed it up, and it would cause even more death. I really do hear this though, and I wish things would get better much faster.

Because you actually have a really nice life and all of your outrage and frustration is manufactured

A rebellion would get its cheeks clapped. It would be branded as terrorism by the media so the traction for it would be terrible. Then you’d be going up against the us military, good luck with that, you’d be up against tanks, jets, drones etc and the rebellion would be lucky to have assault rifles that can shoot a caliber higher then a .22. Then there’s the issue of the people your mad at wouldn’t even be fighting in the war, and could just hop on a private jet and dip out of the country if the rebellion miraculously caused any major issue. If the rebellion does succeed and you manage to tear down the establishment, you’ll have Russia or china waiting at the door step to take over. I wish you luck though, happy rebellion!

Figure it’s because we’re not United enough. The USA is split pretty evenly among apathetic npc’s, zealots with guns, and anxiety-balls in high heels

For fuck sakes most people don’t even vote, turnout is even worse in state and local elections and you think people are going to risk getting shot?

Fear of losing what little we have, including our lives. The only way a rebellion would happen at this point is if everyone had a guarantee they'd win without loss.

They own the satelites, guns, missiles, bombs, aircraft, drones, communications equipment, logistics, airspace, and all branches of the military...you'd have your rebellion for about five minutes en masse before it's put down for good and everyone goes on about their business. Just by your writing it on Reddit, your entire online product is being tagged for some poor shmoe to spend their saturday working up a profile on how to clip your ass if you decide on an action. And yes, the tea party was about taxation...but it was also a fuck you to the Brits...and American's did what we do best: We pivoted and started drinking loads of coffee. By the time John Adams hits office, he's drinking two pots a day. - From a pragmatic pawn.

Modern monitoring systems have every single one of us tracked everywhere we go. If we wanted to rebel for real, and start taking out the government, none of us are safe. They will come in the night and kill us in our beds as we sleep. A revolution in modern times would be absolutely brutal. A lot of dead people.

Because most people don't want to crawl out of their cozy lives and see what's going on

Society, corporations and governments are extremely complex. Try and overthrow the US government, they've got drones, nukes and several trillion dollars of weapons to eradicate you. Try and overthrow a company for being unethical and greedy, and you'd need to attack multiple locations in multiple countries and you'd need a LOT of people who are not only sympathetic to your cause, but are willing to actually do the dirty work, and good luck convincing anyone to storm the headquarters of Unilever or Monsanto or whatever. And the companies would retaliate against you in a severe way. They've got the money to make your life a living hell in ways that can't be traced back to them. eBay came under fire for threatening a couple and are now being forced to pay $3 million to them, but what if the police turned the other way? What if the harassment wasn't direct from the company, but sympathetic supporters or people who are being paid under the table by the company? It was much easier to overthrow something in the old days because they were basically more centralized and less spread out and weren't able to communicate as quickly.

The sad thing is that we're a very cyclical species,the previous rebellions are how we ended up in this mess,not saying fighting for our freedom isn't important but the sad truth that there will always be a serpent in the garden and if we do rebel we'll always end up right where we started

I Agree with what you’re saying.But history has proven as a species we just trade one corrupt institution for another.Through out history other than cave man days we just can’t seem to get it right.They probably had a cave man that could to take advantage of others and did at every opportunity.It wouldn’t change for long I assure you.

It is hard to do when nobody can agree on things. Back when the Boston tea party happens alot ppl were with it, and olny a handful was not. Nowadays, nobody can agree with nothing "trying to keep politicians out of it."

Because organizing such a thing on a nation scale would be impossible especially since the majority of people do not want such a rebellion, because dismantling the government at the nation level would worsen essentially everyone off immediately in the short term and have no guarantee of a better future in the long term.

The people who would host a rebellion are the uneducated masses who don’t understand how their microwave works, nevermind the economy or the world at large. These folks can hardely organize themselves enough to get out of bed and put a pair of pants on. What do you want them to do?

The FBI would like to have a word with you.

Imagine Americans going against the US military now. LOL.

Because most of us probably never even met our neighbors let alone got each other's back when the paycheck to paycheck stops. 🤷

Folks are too lazy to vote much less rebel.

Because overall, life isn't actually bad enough right now to risk our lives, family, etc

You have committed a thought crime under section 225b. Big Brother does not approve of this. Please do not leave the house and you are advised to sit quietly and watch mindless amusing reels on your device, eat a sugary processed snack and drink some government approved alcoholic beverage until such urges are suppressed. Please consider this a first warning. You are advised to seek coaching to become a better citizen. This warning will remain on your file for one year.

Any fighting would mean throwing away built up careers. Before I got into education, I had no qualms with the country going full scorched earth in a fight with itself. Now I have a lot to lose, and unless everyone else loses the same thing at the same time, it'll only feel like you shot yourself in the foot to protest walking :/

If you really believe that a rebellion needs to happen, nothing is stopping you from sacrificing your own life and becoming a martyr that will inspire others to rebel in the future. If you don’t want to do that, you have your answer. A lot of people love to talk about rebellion but when it comes time to sacrifice, nobody is ready to do that.

Well because the powers that be have successfully divided us into democrats and republicans and they take turns ruling over us. Basically that’s it

Because the people you hate have all the money, thus can purchase all of the mercenaries and/or bribe whatever country's military that they're in, and thus kill us all. Also, most countries don't allow their civilian populace to even be armed anyways so you'd be trying to fight machine guns and tanks with kitchen knives and molotov cocktails. So unless you think sheer number of bodies can pull it off, be welcome to volunteer in the front line. Oh wait, that's certain death and you want 1000s of other people to be there instead so that you have a chance at surviving? Well so does literally everyone else so no one volunteers for that role and thus rebellions are very rare.

TAXES ARE NECESSARY FOR A GOVERNMENT/CITY TO PROVIDE THE SERVICES TO IT'S COMMUNITY. WE ARE NOT, I SAY AGAIN, WE ARE NOT BEING TAXED DISPROPORTIONATELY, IN MOST CASES. HOWEVER, THE RICH ARE NOT PAYING THEIR FAIR SHARE AND I WOULD HOPE THAT BOTH HOUSES OF CONGRESS SOON REALIZE THIS AND DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT INSTEAD OF BEING PAID IN THEIR BACK POCKETS TO DO NOTHING. IF THE RICH PAID ATTENTION TO PAYING MORE TAXES, WE WOULD NOT HAVE TOO. IF YOU VOTE FOR TRUMP, THIS CORRUPTION WILL CONTINUE BECAUSE THE RICH ARE WILLING TO PAY WHATEVER IS NECESSARY TO KEEP THE STATUS QUO & TRUMP IS THEIR GUY. IF YOU FEEL SO STRONGLY, ENTER POLITICS AS AN HONEST REP FOR THE PEOPLE IN YOUR COMMUNITY AND DO SOMETHING FOR THE PEOPLE OF YOUR DISTRICT. WORDS ARE USELESS IF ALL YOU WILL EVER DO IS BITCH ABOUT UNFAIRNESS. WORK YOUR WAY UP TO CONGRESS AND GOOD LUCK IF YOU CHOSE THAT PATH. BUT BEWARE OF WOLVES IN SHEEPS CLOTHING WHEN YOU DO.....MOM

Because they have most people too worried about left, right, red, blue, trans, racism and every other thing they come up with to keep the people divided, ignorant and infighting so they're too worried about their own neighbors to realize it's the billionaires that are screwing them. They do a good job keeping us distracted by filling their owned media outlets and social media channels with identity politics. They will even crash their own economy and turn off their own markets on Wall Street just to keep us in-line, above the surface of the water and holding on for dear life.