Here is a question to ponder: What is the most effective form of revolution? When i say effective, i mean a long-lasting, world changing type of revolution.
Is it the French Revolution type, with blood flowing unbridled? Or the Enlightenment type, with people depending solely on their minds to elevate society? Is it best sparked by words, or are actions the most useful impetus? Are they fueled hottest by a yearning to get away from something bad or is the best fire the one that burns up the passions of those seeking to attain something higher, deeper? There is a difference, i'm convinced. To leave something bad and to have nowhere to go is to thrust yourself into only another cellar, one that may even be worse than the one you've just left.
It is interesting. The French revolution gave way to much bloodier ones. Just look at the civil war that has ridden Rwanda and much of Africa. The picture above is of a man who did not support the genocide taking place in Rwanda, was placed in a concentration camp, nearly starved to death, and hacked with machetes. He was rescued by the Red Cross. (See the last post concerning foreign aid.) If you aren't familiar with the revolutionary genocide that took place in Rwanda, it was, very simply, this: between 800,000 and 1 million people were slaughtered in 1994. Over 300,000 children were orphaned. (There is much more involved, and i would encourage you to read about it, because it makes this story so much more powerful.)It was a revolution. A bloody one that no one likes to discuss. But was it effective? As you think about the question i posed, you should read this article. It is an absolutely amazing account of how one revolution was replaced by another. It is simply unfathomable what this kind of revolution can do. Read it. Think about it. Look into the gacaca courts and the incredible hand they've had in rebuilding the nation of Rwanda. And then ask yourself again, "What is the most effective form of revolution?"
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