Consequences of No Revolution

It is impossible to overestimate the importance of revolution in America. Both the benefits and detriments of revolution have played vital roles in the history of the United States, as previously mentioned. It is difficult to pinpoint any one issue related to this value considering that there is such a wide variety of revolutions occurring ranging from the environment to the American economy.

However, since present day Americans seem to have lost their value on revolution, obvious problems have begun to rise. Obviously, the economy and wealth distribution in the U.S. is a cause for concern. When one percent of the population controls the majority of the wealth in the country, problems such as homelessness, costly education, and etcetera start to become major issues. Although the Occupy movement has grown in response to this, many citizens still feel that OccupyWallstreet should not exist, or should at least not be disruptive (thus completely undermining the point of protesting).

The consequences of this overall attitude to revolution (not limited to Occupy) is that the underlying issues to the revolution lose focus to the protests themselves. As such, nothing actually gets solved. To address this, we must look at the reason for protests and use critical reasoning / judgment in determining whether or not the protesters are indeed justified (rather than jumping to the conclusion that they are not since they are undermining authority). Of course, not everyone arguing for or against some cause will have a valid point. But to ignore people with justified arguments would be to allow issues to further escalate until we are forced to deal with them.

The Death of Revolution and Civil Disobedience

For my upcoming topic, I plan on exploring how the value American culture has placed on revolution has started to die. While this may sound rather dramatic, no less can be said of the current state of the U.S. in its dealing with new "revolutions" concerning the economy, politics, etc.

The United States has historically been very supportive of the revolutionary spirit. From the founding of our country to the Civil Rights movement, the vast majority of Americans are proud to talk about the successes various revolutions have had over the course of American history. Of course, there is no denying that these revolutions were met with strife and conflict. However, American culture has always celebrated the overcoming of these conflicts, reinforcing the idea that standing up for one's beliefs is a noble and respectable act.

Yet, for however much we state that we are in support of the revolutionary spirit, our actions speak otherwise. One needs to look no further than the Occupy movement, arguably the biggest movement in recent American history, to see evidence of our rejection of revolution as an American value. Protesting unfair business and political practices, the Occupy movement has generally been met with strong resistance from authorities.

This movement has consistently striven to defend the American public from unfair practices by the so called "one percent". People of all backgrounds and from all classes (even the wealthy) have shown support for the movement. However, there appears to be an equal, if not greater, group of citizens against the Occupy movement. Many people believe members of the Occupy movement to be unjustified in breaking the law to support their revolution. They believe that, by not following the established system, the protesters are in the wrong. There are also many citizens who don't feel strongly one way or the other about the movement but who believe that the protesters shouldn't break the law in their demonstrations. Why not continue to protest, but do so legally?

A better question to ask: what happened to our value on civil disobedience? We are quick to cite Rosa Parks in the Civil Rights movement or George Washington and the founding fathers when describing American pride, yet we shun the Occupy movement for doing the same thing these spearheads of change did.

My paper will be exploring why this contradiction exists. Ultimately, I believe that the idea of revolution being a part of American values has come under strong attack. In my exploration, I will address what I believe to be the causes of this sudden change in thinking concerning the United States and the American Dream.

The Recession and the Dream

The economic recession of 2008 has put the American Dream into question for many people. The once possible goal of attaining economic security, a major component of the Dream, has now become seemingly impossible to achieve. For many, this has brought on a sense of disillusionment with the American Dream.

However, I do not believe that this means that Americans have given up on the Dream. Rather, I believe that Americans are fighting for their right to continue pursuing the Dream without impediment. Just because American citizens believe they cannot attain the ideals described by the Dream now does not mean that they think that they will never achieve this goal.

Additionally, I believe that the economic recession has allowed people to come closer together, strengthening community bonds and maintaining the social / cultural aspects of the American Dream. Although the Occupy movement has created a lot of controversy, the movement has also allowed for the public to gather together and rally for a common purpose: to stop corrupt practices in big business and Congress.

What do you believe the recession has had on people's view of the American Dream?