Eventually, They'll Shoot Me

When I was young I was a bit of a rebel.

Don't you just love understatement?

I behave a lot better now, but in many ways, I am still the same person. But back in those days, I actually had a dream that I was caught by some sort of authoritarian regime and shot. I felt it. Weird.

I have joked ever since that the cause of my death will be "execution by goon" and I'm never really sure if I'm joking.

If the revolution comes, and it just might, we all know I will not suddenly be quiet.

I love this.

There was, of course, a famous singing revolution, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singing_Revolution just in case you were unaware. Where the hell were you?) but the results obtained were only partial. If you know anything at all about how democracy works, you also know that most of the time it doesn't. Not properly, anyway, so there is, in fact, an ongoing struggle, even when things are mostly democratic.

It doesn't have to be violent. We don't have to riot or burn things down to make a point. In fact that sort of thing can be awfully counter-productive. Not much point winning the city back for the people if it's in ruins.

Just find the line you won't cross, and don't cross it.

People like me like to remind you of all of this to shake you out of your complacency, because if you are not trying to make things better in your own small way, then you are part of the problem.

If nothing else, you can stay aware, and help others be aware - you can educate. You can pass on facts. You can call them out on their nonsense. There is a huge advantage to the modern network of information. Use it to your advantage. Yes, it's a good idea to object to them spying on you, and trying to stop that, but at the same time, just remember, we can use the same network to keep an eye on THEM.

That "Share" button is a powerful revolutionary tool, so use it.