Revolt is necessary to solve our most pressing problems. The existing industrial paradigm and its narratives are blocking genuine progress and killing the planet. Challenging the status quo is imperative.
Revolt begins with asking radical questions. The word radical is derived from Latin, ‘radix’ meaning ‘the root’. Imagine the first step begins by asking questions that get to the root of the matter. What do I need to know to make a qualitative difference in the world to increase my ability to survive and thrive? What is my responsibility to the environment, to others, to friends in the animal kingdom and myself?
Revolt is afoot every minute of every day somewhere on the globe. Individuals are standing up to say “no” to old narratives, inequality and environmental destruction, and “yes” to a different future. Many are committed to direct action, while others to creating alternatives through new forms of personal, social and applied technological innovation.
What individual acts and social and economic experiments are you undertaking to make the future more humane?
Without Revolt slavery would be legal; women would be unable to vote; the 5-day workweek would not exist, civil rights would have remained the private dream of Martin Luther King and the environmental movement would be dead—along with 1 million more species.
Holly Figueroa O’Reilly, Director of Blue Wave Crowd Sourcing, captures the spirit of so many activists and engaged citizens: “We are not merely resisting values and practices that we detest; we are promoting values and practices we love.”
Citizen courage characterizes our era. Individuals young and old have committed their lives to making a difference for all of us: The grandmother who stands up to stop a coal processing plant from polluting ground water in the Philippines; the man who gave his life protecting Monarch butterflies in the reserve in Mexico; citizen activists are engaged in shaping the future of their countries as dissimilar as the U.S., Hong Kong, Puerto Rico, Lebanon, Chile and Brazil; and in regions as fundamentally different as the Arctic tundra, and Amazon Rainforest.
Revolt to live is a call to action, and social innovation. It’s a way to use our imagination, learn from others and participate in creating a viable future. It’s psychologically better to revolt than live with half-truths and lies.
Your Psyche and Revolt – Why revolt is good for you
Individuals who revolt are psychologically healthier than those who adapt to existing norms. Revolt means challenging the status quo, and getting beyond what you have been taught in school or at work. It’s a process of questioning and shedding an old skin and adopting a new one.
Revolt, as presented here is a life enhancing choice, an action infused with meaning and compassion attached to the goal of social innovation. Revolt may seem like an odd word to use since it is usually associated with images of violence, a kind of storm the bastille, or ‘Johnny Get Your Gun’.
Most of us have been subject to the ‘banking practice’ of education. What you put in is what you take out. Information is deposited into our brains, then we take tests, and the results are arrayed on a bell-shaped curve that indicates how smart we are.
Why would a society instill this ‘dumb-dumb’ model of education, which has more in common with training? It bets on students and eventually employees to leave their questions, challenges and critical thinking at the door—or at home. And many do.
Blocking the capacity to revolt is the full time job of most schools, and employers. They work in tandem, especially as corporations want students trained for work. Training is functional and honed for efficiency.
Reducing education to rote learning and performance on tests, paves the way for your brain—your uniqueness— to be replaced by machines. Dr. Craig’s rule is: the more your intelligence is defined in pre-determined ways—cognitive ‘scripts’, and predictable behavioral outcomes—- the greater the probability that you will be replaced by a machine. The score, from this perspective, is machines 1, humans 0.
Andrew Yang, former candidate for president of the U.S., is right about technology and its potential negative impact: Accenture, the global consulting firm, has teamed up with MIT to chart tasks of all job categories. They are focused on innovation: “employees will complete tasks in new ways”; and “we’ll generate more profit for industry”. What wasn’t said is: we’ll generate increased earnings for employees.
The dumb-dumb routine will result in more boredom at work, and higher need for you to pay bills through the “gig economy”.