Rebels' Commemoration Thread

[financeguy]

Here we commemorate those rebels and revolutionaries who fought, and in some cases died, that others may be free.


- George Washington, US rebel and freedom fighter

- Wolfe Tone, Irish revolutionary

- Constance Markiewicz, Irish revolutionary hero

- Nelson Mandela, who spent many years in prison.


Feel free to post more examples of rebels you admire.

 

[WinnieThePoo]

Leon Trotzky ???

 

[financeguy]

Well if you say so but it wasn't the first name that came into my mind.

 

[nbcrusader]

Ronald Reagan

*puts on flame retardant suit*

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

Rosa Parks
MLK
Nelson Mandela
Susan B Anthony
Robert Kennedy

 

[financeguy]

Good list MrsS.

 

[BVS]

Ronald Reagan

This is an interesting one. Can you please give me examples of how Reagan was a rebel?

 

[hiphop]

This is an interesting one. Can you please give me examples of how Reagan was a rebel?

I wanted to ask the same question for a moment. but then I decided it doesn´t interest me at all and you can all continue to celebrate your rebels while I make my own revolution Bob Marley sang "I´m a rebel". He also sang "How long shall they kill our prophets".

 

[AvsGirl41]

Michael Collins--terrorist, but he was a careful terrorist and he refused to take the fight to civilians.

Lev Trotsky--the man was a brilliant organizer. Everyone gives credit to Lenin, but it's Trotsky who did 1905, 1917 and won the Civil War. Do I find his methods admirable, no, but I still believe the Soviet Union would have taken a much different and possibly more successful path.

William Wallace


Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony

Joan of Arc

Anne Hutchinson

 

[Kieran McConville]

Interesting thing about Russia, AVSgirl, is that both revolutions happened in their (the bolsheviks') absence initially... who knows, if they'd been a little slower it might have gotten away from them.

 

[nbcrusader]

This is an interesting one. Can you please give me examples of how Reagan was a rebel?

I'd say more revolutionary than rebel (we could choose either). For those who remember living in the 70's, Reagan brought a new mood, direction, and self esteem to the country - the malaise was gone.

 

[financeguy]

^ Sounds reasonable enough. Many people in Britain would have felt similarly with regard to Margaret Thatcher.

 

[melon]

For those who remember living in the 70's, Reagan brought a new mood, direction, and self esteem to the country - the malaise was gone.

Yes. The climate of his administration made unabashed greed and religious intolerance virtues instead of vices.

I guess some would call that revolutionary. I call it a step backwards. And I doubt most living in the "Rust Belt" would agree with your "self esteem" notion.

Melon

 

[AvsGirl41]

Interesting thing about Russia, AVSgirl, is that both revolutions happened in their (the bolsheviks') absence initially... who knows, if they'd been a little slower it might have gotten away from them.

Oh yeah, you're completely right. They were all in exile for February 1917, and decided to come back and "direct" the revolution which seemed to be doing just fine on its own.
If the Provisional Government not decided to continue the war, I think they'd all have been left railing on a street corner and disappeared into history. But the situation was left open for them, unfortunately.

And even though it was obvious things were going badly for Kerensky, Lenin kept delaying, delaying, delaying...he wouldn't pick a day, he wouldn't make a move. Trotsky was the one who finally launched it. If they hadn't had him to spark it, another group might have launched the coup, or Kerensky might have gotten his government together. Who knows. It's an interesting thought.

 

[nbcrusader]

Yes. The climate of his administration made unabashed greed and religious intolerance virtues instead of vices.

I guess some would call that revolutionary. I call it a step backwards. And I doubt most living in the "Rust Belt" would agree with your "self esteem" notion.

I grew up in the rust belt and lived through the era.

The status quo did change for many, some were not willing to adapt.

 

[melon]

I grew up in the rust belt and lived through the era.

The status quo did change for many, some were not willing to adapt.

For the record, I was fortunate to have been young enough to attempt to adapt myself. But telling a bunch of middle aged adults that they have to go back to school--and then not have any of the financial support that exists in Canada and Europe--is an impossible proposition, particularly when you have things like mortgages and families. Merely saying you're for "family values" is meaningless when you treat people like this.

I also think it's a recipe for disaster to assume that only white-collar labor deserves a middle-class lifestyle. Not only is about 3/4 of America "blue collar," but, in the future, we risk creating a lopsided workforce, with too many white-collar laborers compared to the number of jobs, with not enough people willing to do blue-collar jobs. Hence, the allure to hire illegal immigrants will be all the more attractive.

Anyway, I have a habit of looking too far into the future, and since Americans aren't too good at preventative measures (they, instead, prefer to fix problems as they occur), I guess we'll have to wait a generation or two for this to occur.

This is why I don't have a particular affinity for Reagan and supply-side economics. It's too short-sighted and greedy, with no focus on long-term prospects.

Melon

 

[yolland]

I also think it's a recipe for disaster to assume that only white-collar labor deserves a middle-class lifestyle. Not only is about 3/4 of America "blue collar," but, in the future, we risk creating a lopsided workforce, with too many white-collar laborers compared to the number of jobs, with not enough people willing to do blue-collar jobs.

I am always floored by how many people dismissively respond to statistics about declining real wages, the terrifying numbers of uninsured, and the struggles workers in the mushrooming low-paid "services" sector face supporting their families with the tired old "Improve yourself and get a better job!" line. It is not as if these sectors are anywhere near small enough to justify classifying them as transitional work and nothing more. By saying this, we are implying that if you hold one of these jobs, then you deserve to be uninsured, you deserve to always live one misfortune away from disaster. The days when there was room in the economy for everyone to reasonably aspire to "move up" to a solid middle-class existence are long-gone.