Why Do Revolutions Happen

WHY DO REVOLUTIONS HAPPEN? In this essay I will explain the causes of revolutions. In addition to doing it through various arguments, explaining them with supporting evidence, I will also raise and comment on some questions related to this topic, which will be useful to understand what I want to convey. But first, in order to expand on this topic, we must define the term 'revolution.' This term has many meanings, and for this essay, I am going to focus on those related to political science. According to the dictionary, 'revolution' means: - “A sudden, radical, or complete change. - A fundamental change in political organization, the overthrow or renunciation of one government or ruler and the substitution of another by the governed. - Activity or movement designed to effect fundamental changes in the socioeconomic situation” (Definition of revolution, 2020) Simplifying it in other words, a revolution is a change. The 'accumulation of something’ may cause this change: when 'something accumulates,' a revolution can occur. By this 'something' I mean several things, for example, an accumulation of knowledge, as we can see in technological revolutions, or an accumulation of discontent or discomfort of the population, which if the revolution occurs, would lead to a change in the political, economic or social system. Nevertheless, whenever there is an accumulation there is a revolution? No, since sometimes those who experience an accumulation of discontent decide to 'take another route' rather than protest or make themselves heard. In his book "Exit, Voice and Loyalty," Albert O. Hirschman explains three options that can be carried out when the population is not happy with the system. The first option (Exit) consists of ceasing to be part of the system, separating from it. The second (Voice) is the one that would result in a revolution, and finally, the third (Loyalty) would mean trusting the system to change by itself, to hope for gradual change. (Hirschman, 1970). These three options or ways of acting are all those that can be taken when there is an accumulation of discontent in the population, only resulting in a revolution as a final result if the second way of acting (Voice) is chosen. Revolutions can be caused because a change is necessary, when people need a change in the system, either because they feel oppressed or because there are injustices: when people are fed up with a particular situation, they tend to raise their voices in protest mode. However, this idea of the uprising of the people is an idyllic revolution, which rarely happens. It is a paradigm of a revolution that occurs in few situations. Most of the time in modern revolutions, there is someone behind the uprising, someone with their own interests, who organizes, directs, and monitors the protest. Some of these theories may seem conspiratorial, but others do not, and in any case, in the global world and with current social networks, they seem to be quite possible. We can see examples of these theories in the Wall Street Protests around America. In 2011, protests against corporate greed began in New York and other large cities in the United States, stating that rich people were getting richer while most of the population was suffering. In their article "Who is behind the Wall Street protests?", Mark Egan and Michelle Nichols explain who may be behind these protests, organizing and monitoring them 'from the shadows': “There has been much speculation over who is financing the disparate protest, which has spread to cities across America and lasted nearly four weeks. One name that keeps coming up is investor George Soros, who in September debuted in the top 10 list of wealthiest Americans. Conservative critics contend the movement is a Trojan horse for a secret Soros agenda. Soros and the protesters deny any connection. But Reuters did find indirect financial links between Soros and Adbusters, an anti-capitalist group in Canada which started the protests with an inventive marketing campaign aimed at sparking an Arab Springtype uprising against Wall Street. Moreover, Soros and the protesters share some ideological ground.” (Egan and Nichols, 2011). This argument reflects that the investor George Soros may be behind these protests to further his own interests. But why? Why was one of the ten richest men in America behind a protest against corporate greed? The answer is simple, “Like the protesters, Soros is no fan of the 2008 bank bailouts and subsequent government purchase of the toxic sub-prime mortgage assets they amassed in the property bubble.” (Egan and Nichols, 2011). We can find another example of someone monitoring a protest or revolution in the article “U.S. Groups Helped Nurture Arab Uprisings” written by Ron Nixon: “Even as the United States poured billions of dollars into foreign military programs and anti-terrorism campaigns, a small core of American government-financed organizations were promoting democracy in authoritarian Arab states.” (Nixon, 2011) This would mean that U.S. organizations helped carry out this revolution, even if they only gave help and it was not they who organized it: “We did not fund them to start protests, but we did help support their development of skills and networking,” said Stephen McInerney, executive director of the Project on Middle East Democracy, a Washington-based advocacy and research group. “That training did play a role in what ultimately happened, but it was their revolution. We did not start it.” (Nixon, 2011) In conclusion, revolutions can occur due to various factors, such as the accumulation of discontent or discomfort in the population and the need for a change to occur in the political, economic or social system. There is also the possibility that someone will lead a protest or revolution to pursue their own interests, and although they may seem conspiracy theories, some appear to be possible.