"Whatever you can do, or dream
you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it." --
Goethe "In this age of wonders, no one will say that an idea is worthless because it is new. To say it is impossible because it is difficult is again not in consonance with the spirit of the age. Things undreamt of are daily being seen. The impossible is ever becoming possible." -- Mahatma Gandhi Introduction
The World Revolution is an idea for a new, global grassroots social movement for progressive social change. It attempts to resolve in a definitive and comprehensive manner the major social problems of our world and our era. The following is an overview of major aspects of the World Revolution, as it has been initially conceived. The World Revolution as a Social Movement The World Revolution is intended to be a large-scale,
mass social movement. By
social movement we mean several of the following things: Social Movement.
The World Revolution is intended to follow in the tradition of
past social movements. Examples
of exemplary past social movements include:
the Indian independence movement led by Mahatma Gandhi;
the African-American civil rights movement in America in the 1960's
led by Martin Luther King, Jr.;
the Women's rights and liberation movement; the labor movement;
and the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa with leaders such as Nelson
Mandela and Desmond Tutu. Furthermore,
a social movement means large numbers of people mobilized to advocate
certain political objectives. It
is different from a formal organization or institution such as traditional
NGO's. Kinds of activity.
As a social movement, we envision certain kinds of activity, such
as protests, marches, sustained campaigns, and activism.
Specific kinds of organizing and activism include protests, marches,
letter-writing campaigns, petitions, media activism, public education
& awareness, picketing, distributing literature, holding events and
meetings, civil disobedience, direct action, sit-ins, etc. More organized and coordinated.
We envision the WR to be more organized and more coordinated than
traditional social movements. This would include having more structure and more complexity
of organization than traditional social movements. For example, there might be a network and system of "WR Project
Groups" which form the basic organizational unit of the World Revolution.
And there might be major sectors of activity to differentiate the
different kinds of a work of the World Revolution, such as Planning, Resources,
Recruitment, Communications and Activism. Popular and grassroots.
By social movement we also mean a popular and grassroots movement.
This means ordinary people, concerned citizens, and activists working
together in large numbers to create social and political changes. This is as opposed to traditional non-profit organizations
and NGO's which have hired, professional staff who do high-level work,
but who do not necessarily involve the general public or even their supporters
in the actual work which they do. Larger than traditional movements.
Also, we envision the World Revolution to be much larger than traditional
movements. Whereas traditional
social movements have largely been focused on either a particular issue
or a particular country or region, the World Revolution aims to encompass
multiple issues and multiple locales. We envision the WR as a mass social movement operating globally
and involving thousands and ultimately millions of people. The Nature and Elements of the Not an official organization - a free and open movementThe
World Revolution is not an official organization, but rather a free and
open social movement. Official
organizations are formal institutions that oftentimes have a board of
directors, more structure, are registered with the government of their
host country, have paid and salaried staff, and strict budgets.
They often time focus on a particular issues in a
particular region. The
World Revolution, however, is intended to be a free and open social movement.
This means it is a less formal and less structured entity - and
is a free association of individuals working together for a common cause. Financing & ResourcesThe
World Revolution will have to depend largely upon voluntary contributions,
donations and financial support, wherever such support is needed.
The mechanism for soliciting and managing such financial support
have yet to be worked out. However, we feel that much work and activity can be done without depending upon financial support and without serious financial resources, through the voluntary efforts of participating activists. The
World Revolution Agenda
The
World Revolution will most likely have a comprehensive agenda for social
change. By agenda we mean
a complete list of issues and objectives, including specific policy objectives,
that the World Revolution aims to advocate and implement.
The basic issues of the agenda are the same as those listed in
the "State of the World" section above.
To restate those aims, there are four major areas: Peace, Human
Rights, Environment, and Development.
The WR Agenda will most likely be a central aspect of the World
Revolution - it will be a comprehensive platform of objectives and action
that will define the World Revolution and the focus of its activities.
The WR Agenda will have to be developed and will have to evolve
over time, undergoing a continuous process of revision and updating.
This will have to be done through an ongoing process of deliberation
by any and all WR activists who are interested in being a part of this
process. A basic, initial
version of the WR Agenda can quite easily be drafted by simply outlining
the same list of issues that are listed in the "State of the World" section
above. Global, internationalThe
World Revolution is intended to be global and international in it's scope
and scale. Oftentimes revolutions
are considered within a framework of national politics.
The World Revolution is unique in this respect - it aims to effect
changes on a global scale and its realm of concern is the whole world.
Unification of effortsOne
of the central aspects and goals of the World Revolution is to promote
the unification of efforts of the whole international community of organizations
and activists working on various different issues and causes. The World Revolution is based on the belief that there exists
a "unity of the causes" - that all the various issues and concerns, such
as those listed in the "State of the World" section above, are part of
the same single, unified goal and broad objective of building a better,
more human and just world. Furthermore,
it is strongly believed that by unifying the efforts and activities of
all the various organizations and activists working on these issues, we
can become much more effective in creating positive social changes and
be more effective in reaching our common goals.
As a unified movement, our voices will be louder and our actions
stronger and more effective. To
state a possible slogan for the World Revolution, "Activists of the World,
Unite!" Long-term,
yet urgent
The
World Revolution is a long-term project, yet urgent at the same time.
The initial estimate for the length of the project is 25-50 years.
We consider this an urgent time-frame for achieving comprehensive
social change and transformation.
The United Nations has itself created definite goals of solving
major problems within this time frame.
One example is their goal of reducing global poverty by half by
the year 2015. This would mean reducing all of poverty by 2030 - or in 30
years, which is a similar time frame that we are projecting and striving
for. Obviously this is a
long time-frame, but we consider this to be appropriate considering the
scale and magnitude of the problems that we are trying to resolve, the
scope of the changes that we are trying to achieve.
The World Revolution is attempting to effect comprehensive social
and global change, including widespread changes in the global political
system - 25-50 years would be an appropriate and realistic time frame
for such objectives. 50-100
years might be a more conservative estimate, and we feel that 25-50 years
is a more urgent, yet attainable estimate. Comprehensive
The
World Revolution aims to effect comprehensive social change on a global
scale. This is one of the
unique and defining characteristics of the World Revolution.
Whereas many existing organizations, groups and movements focus
on a particular issue or narrow subset of issues, the World Revolution
aims to resolve global issues and create social changes in a comprehensive
manner. By
comprehensive we also mean that that the WR aims to work on multiple issues
together and concurrently. It
aims to look at the whole spectrum of issues and consider them together
as part of a unified set of concerns.
Therefore, the World Revolution can be called a "multi-issue" social
movement. Definitive
The World Revolution aims to be definitive in its efficacy. This means the World Revolution aims to achieve its objectives and achieve lasting solutions to major global problems in a definite and effective manner. There are many organizations and groups working on various global issues - but they have yet to achieve definite solutions to the world's problems. The World Revolution aims to bring about definite changes and lasting solutions. Critical
mass
The idea of critical mass
is another concept central the World Revolution.
Critical mass is the idea that true change will only come about
when the number of people advocating certain causes reaches a certain
level or threshold. When
these numbers of people are sufficiently large, then change begins to
take place. Thus,
the World Revolution aims to consolidate an initial world revolutionary
constituency -- with sufficient numbers of people so as to be able to
influence the values of the rest of the populace as well as to effect
national opinion and policy. IdeologyThe
ideology or ideological perspective of the World Revolution is based upon
and includes several different perspectives and elements. Leftist
and progressive political perspective.
The ideological perspective of the World Revolution is largely
a leftist and progressive perspective on questions of politics and society.
The characteristics of a leftist and progressive political perspective
include: an emphasis upon solidarity and concern for the oppressed and
those who are suffering, disadvantaged, poor, or downtrodden; a concern
for equality of all peoples and, hence, and emphasis on justice and fairness
in social relations; a disapproval of violence, organized violence, oppression,
and domination; and placing a priority on human welfare and on life in
general above other concerns such as the pursuit of wealth.
Furthermore, a leftist and progressive political perspective is
concerned with such concepts as peace, justice, freedom, equality, human
rights, and ecology. Commitment
to moral and ethical principles.
Second, there is a commitment and a belief in principles of philosophical
and social ethics such as truth, justice, love, compassion, harmony, and
equality. These can be called
moral, ethical and social principles and values. Social
concern and engagment.
Third, there is a commitment to social awareness, concern, responsibility
and engagement. Global
perspective.
This includes thinking globally and having a concern for the world
and the human family as a whole. Violence
vs. Nonviolence
A
question regarding strategy and tactics for the World Revolution is whether
we are to use violent and non-violent means. We
envision a predominantly peaceful, non-violent revolution. Non-violent tactics include marches, protests, demonstrations,
vigils - even civil disobedience and direct action. This is as opposed to armed rebellion and resistance.
We do not feel, however, that it is necessary to advocate an absolute
commitment to non-violence.
The
term 'World Revolution'
There
is a question as to whether the term "World Revolution" is appropriate
and desirable as a name for the project of building a mass social movement
for global change. We believe
it is appropriate for several of the following reasons. First, we believe that the term "World Revolution" is inspiring. It creates a sense of excitement. Second, we believe that it is empowering. It gives people the sense that they are part of something significant, powerful and strong. Third, we feel that it is an accurate and true description of what we are trying to achieve and create. Michael Albert of Znet and Z Magazine has written about this question in an article entitled "Resurrect the R-word". The following is a quote which helps support our view on this question:
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