tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8607800420076996356.post3441353314377542905..comments2010-09-16T04:14:39.429-07:00Comments on Mollys Polls: mollymewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10608757779720671118noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8607800420076996356.post-34619287865043124072009-01-05T11:01:00.000-08:002009-01-05T11:01:00.000-08:00That's a good question. Historical revolutions tha...That's a good question. Historical revolutions that are something more than doomed rebellions HAVE always lasted "years". The example of the French Revolution, from 1789 to the rise of Napoleon, the Russian from 1917 until the final consolidation of the Communist dictatorship in 1921 and the Spanish from 1936 until the final victory of Franco in 1939 come to mind.Similarily the Chinese Revolution. The "new Russian Revolution" that replaced the commisariat with a new class of kleptocrats and managers was also a matter of years. The relatively "quick" episodes in that revolution such as Romania and Albania were mere sidelines to the lareger changes in the ex-Soviet bloc. <BR/> Come to think of it there has NEVER been a "revolution" in the sense of a extremely fast overthrow of fundamental "changing power relations in those societies". Lots and lots of coups-des-etats but no "revolutions". Perhaps the idea of revolution is not just obsolete but was ALWAYS an historical mirage. Something to think about.mollymewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10608757779720671118noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8607800420076996356.post-54200850986452372662009-01-04T12:12:00.000-08:002009-01-04T12:12:00.000-08:00What about "gradual revolutions"? I am not being e...What about "gradual revolutions"? I am not being entirely facetious here, for this seems to be what is unfolding in a lot of Latin America. - Processes that go on for years and then (hopefully) end up changing power relations in those societies in a fundamental way. Fundamental change is what revolution is about anyway. The idea of a quick rising up and a smashing of the state and capitalism is obsolete, for sure.Larry Gambonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04965037776214596919noreply@blogger.com