Revolution: can it happen?

Up until very recently, I was a devout supporter of a worldwide Marxist revolution to overthrow the corrupt establishment. I procured these views from reading many Marxist books and literature. I was desperate for a removal of the current capitalist system that is enslaving 99% of people and benefiting only 1% of the population. Prior to my revolutionary thoughts, I was extremely materialistic whilst I was growing up. Every single time my mother took me out I would always request for her to purchase me something, whether it be designer clothes or trainers. The majority of the products I desired were unnecessary and not helpful to my well being  As a working class citizen growing up in a materialistic consumer based society such as the United Kingdom, I desired products which I did not need. I felt that not having these products would make me “uncool” amongst my peers. My mother did not possess the monetary funds to purchase these products I so desperately craved and as a result, I would throw tantrums and strop. This process continued until I started to grow and mature. I then started to listen to a music artist called Lowkey. 

Through listening to Lowkey’s music my entire disposition changed. He was a complete aberration from normal rappers. He rapped the complete truth. He spoke out against: capitalism, consumerism, war, poverty, racism, women rights abuses, religious immorality, and many more. I became so deeply into his music that I told every single one of my friends about him, which showed how strongly his music touched me. After listening to his music, I genuinely believed that I could bring change to the world and through a concerted effort, I along with many others will march to the streets and take back what is rightly ours. However, after doing some serious thinking, I have realised that this is not the case.

Throughout history, there have been many revolutionaries who have tried to overthrow the status quo and all of them failed in their quest. All of them were either assassinated, sabotaged or put into exile. All of this occurred without any protest or revolution happening in their name. This started to put doubts into my mind as to whether a revolution is possible. Furthermore, it is well known that the rich 1% control the majority of the wealth in all capitalist countries but all revolutions against the establishment have been scarce. The only notable movement in the western world was the occupy Wall Street movement which is yet to lead to a removal for the current system and it looks evermore unlikely that it will. So the fact that the majority of the masses remain passive while the rich billionaires hoard our planets resources is shocking. Karl Marx prediction was wrong. The proletariats are not uniting in unison to take out the bourgeois. One needs to ask themselves why? Why are the workers of the world not uniting? Then I came across the reason as to why this is the case. Human beings are born with a natural tendency to be greedy. It is no coincidence that the majority of people we see on a daily basis love designer clothing. Furthermore, most people still have aspirations of making it into the top 1% even though the chances of social mobility for the poor are decreasing rapidly and a good portion of rich people inherited their fortunes. 

Nevertheless, the capitalist system is so entrenched within society that the average person does not even think about revolting against the system that exploits them and robs them. So, overall the rich 1% has used their financial muscle to manipulate the minds of the masses through media and politics to make us believe that we have the possibility of joining the top 1%. They have also hijacked humans natural greed instincts and have made the masses of people purchase products that they do not need through forceful advertising. Greed has proven to be humans greatest weakness, since the system that works to benefit only a small minority of people is seen as okay by the masses because they one day dream of being in the top 1%, or in a lot of cases, being richer than they currently are. This is not to say that there are many people out there like myself who are deeply saddened by the worldwide system and see straight through the capitalist media and finance. However, we are only a minority who have been able to supress our greed instinct through knowledge. I still have a slight hope that one day things will get better, but at the present moment this is looking ever the more mythical.          


Written by Aaron