A People’s Will
Collective will is the most powerful force in the universe. If a people are oppressed, dominated, and manipulated, then those people eventually will take their future into their own hands. When a people is devoted to a cause, and when they are made to be outraged enough, they will respond with an outpouring of their fear and their hatred and will fight to take what they believe is owed to them. No external force can eternally resist pressure from a people who share a common idea of what they want.
But that does not always stop everyone from trying. In non-democratic governments, regime change is often a violent and contentious issue, bringing the people into conflict with the state. If the leader does not yield to the wishes of the people, then the stage is set for a confrontation. The state against the people. And if the people are angry enough, if the people believe in what they are fighting for, they will get it. For what is a government, if not an institution of the people over the people? How can an extension of the people themselves continue resisting the wishes of those they are supposed to lead? How can any people continue to allow themselves to be marginalized forever?
They cannot. And so we see riots and rebellions, people fighting for their rights and for their freedoms. We see peoples becoming frustrated, and this frustration leads to a desire, nay, a need for change. And when pushed far enough, the people will push back.
These pushes do not always result in immediate success. Wenceslas Square, Prague. 1968. Tienanmen Square, Beijing. 1989. Neither resulted in victory for the people demanding change. But the Czechoslovakian people did not forget their devotion to freedom, and 20 years later, once again rose up and took charge of their own fate. China has not yet reached that point, though it is slowly inching towards political freedom. But have the Chinese people given up on fighting for their rights? To say they have would be insulting.
It is fascinating, then, to learn about the struggles of people who are as we speak fighting for what they believe is right. The Tunisian people fought their battle against Ben-Ali. From there, the winds of change swept to Yemen, Algeria, Sudan, and, most strikingly, Egypt. It is this last one that has grabbed the world’s attention – every movement made by the protesters in Tahrir Square is eagerly recorded and written about by the international media. The narrative of the Egyptian protests has focused the world’s gaze onto a single Middle Eastern country as a representation of things to come.
The protests in Egypt are about the people finally acting on their emotions, about finally standing up to an oppressor that they believe has been around for far too long. They are about people standing up for themselves, and refusing to be cowed even in the face of aggression. They are about people! Whatever one may think on the validity of the protester’s concerns, none can deny the strength such demonstrations have. The millions demonstrating in Cairo are fighting for their own future – and is that not a a just goal no matter the reason?
Northing can stand forever in the face of collective opposition. Not Mubarak, nor any other leader in history. A people will always continue fighting for what they believe should be theirs – and with that belief, any obstacle can be overcome.
February 6th, 2011 at 8:13 PM
Sometimes we only think about the trouble and destruction that the protestors are causing/creating and forget the beauty of it all. They are so passionate to fight for the rights they deserve that they are willing to risk their lives. Their purpose is strong and hopefully they will be able to overcome any obstacles in their way and win this struggling battle.
February 8th, 2011 at 5:23 PM
Liam you say that if the people are angry enough and if they believe in their cause, then they will get what they want. This is usually true, but not always. It does not matter how angry you are or how much you believe you are in the right if you have a bullet in your brain. Governments can continue to oppress their people if they have adequate force and use it effectively. Admittedly, over the long run, the government is unlikely to keep its power, however it is possible.
Also, if a government can successfully impair or eliminate communications between potential rebels/revolutionaries then their position in power is all but guaranteed, for there is no such thing as a one man revolution and if people are not able to communicate and to conspire together then a potential revolution will not have a chance to get its feet off the ground.
A people may also be oppressed, if they do not know who their oppressor is. No matter how angry you are, if you think that, for example, a foreign power is responsible for your oppression while in fact it is your own government, then even if you take action, you will be taking action against the wrong person and therefore, remain oppressed. Take the American war of independence for example, as Howard Zinn’s A Peoples History or the United States brings to light, the people were not all that much better off under American rule than under the rule of the British.
However I do agree with you that collective will is most powerful, and that usually, but not always, things bend to the will of the general population.
Whether this is their genuine own will or whether it has been manipulated to the governments best interests is another matter entirely however…
February 8th, 2011 at 5:41 PM
You have a fair point, Nick, but as you say, one has to think in the long run. If you can name me a single government that has withstood the will of the people for an extremely long amount of time, be my guest.
Revolutions do not have to be planned. The 1917 February Revolution in Russia, which brought down the Tsar,was spontaneous. It was not a one man revolution by any means, but it was leaderless.
Your point about oppression being not necessarily what it seems to be is valid. But the people still get what they want, even if what they wanted was perhaps not quite the best thing they want. The American people still gained freedom from the British imperialists, and that was their goal. The people’s will was still reached.
February 8th, 2011 at 10:07 PM
Well, you must of course define “long”, but I know that some countries, like Iraq haven’t exactly been pleased with their leadership, and didn’t really show any signs of doing anything about it. Then the US invaded and kind of brought change upon them. The natives, are another example. They certainly weren’t pleased with the Europeans, and were treated at white-man’s will for a couple hundred years.
And revolutions, in order to be successful in the long run must be more or less planned, preferably by a relatively small group of uncorrupted (or as close to it as possible) people. While the Russian 1917 February Revolution was pretty much leaderless, the government that they set up didn’t last 10 months before the Bolsheviks had their own revolution and seized power.
You are right in the sense that people will usually achieve their specific goals (overthrowing a dictator more/different rights etc…) but their larger goals (for EVERY man to be equal for example) is often not realized as the people do not know how to go about achieving it (overthrowing the wrong person for example).
You are right in the sense that after a while the people usually get what they want, but just keep in mind that this is not always true.