The Evolution of Revolution

Revolutions have become sanitized affairs in the Western World. Far removed from the guts and glory days of the French Revolution, there has been an ebb towards making these socially up heaving events part an parcel of our daily lives. Most people in the west don't even notice the revolutions really; they just go from one default state to another without really prompting or even questioning their own motives. I guess it's all in the packaging.

I have lived through a revolution IRL. The fall of Apartheid is one of the those defining events of the 20th century that in years to come will creep out of Political Science text books into Management courses as a primary example of change management, done by a concerted management team led by Nelson Mandela. Make no mistake—there were extenuating factors that made the transition possible, but it truly was revolution in a bottle.

One default state in 1989 shifted to another in 1994. Five years to change a 300-year legacy is truly awe-inspiring. An oft overlooked factor these days is the role the Web played post 1994 in South Africa.  I would like to claim that the web is one of the pillars that this young democracy is built upon as it was the first country whose social state could be scrutinized by the whole world on a personal level. Some might claim that Russia is another example, but language is a barrier. I really believe that the rise of the Web from 1995 onwards helped South Africa tremendously in implementing its social changes and also maintaining a healthy sense of righteousness. The whole world was looking (and of course the westerners, being westerners, had an opinion).

But that was a real, clear and present revolution with lots of anger and expectation management. It's with this in mind that my mother-in-law and I discussed revolutions in general on Sweden's National Day. Sweden has had 200 years of peace, and the biggest revolution here was probably the release of the Norwegian cheese slicer. I asked her how she felt about all the changes that she has experienced.  Being a 30-year-old in a 71-year-old's body, she has very clued-in opinions about everything. She claims the current change in the fabric of society, induced by technology, is bigger than anything she has experienced—bar none. Nothing comes close. Not the first female breast that was shown in a mainstream movie in the 50s in Sommer med Monica.  Not the Beatles with their long hair. Not Jimi Hendrix playing in Stockholm, not students getting shot at Penn State, not Germaine Greer fighting for women's rights. Not the fall of Dictatorial Communism. Nothing in her 70 years comes close to the liberation of her ability to communicate. Having said that, it has come from two directions—the ability to consume information via a browser window and then to communicate undiluted information further via a mobile phone.

Where as previous revolutions have been about external issues, the communication revolution is not about a WHAT issue (racism, communism, equality, peace, et al) but rather about a HOW issue. It's addressing the fundamental way all our next revolutions will come to pass. Everyday is a revolutionary day these days, and we have become desensitized. But revolutions have become quiet and subtle affairs. We can our banks whenever whereever and talk to anyone at any time. Like Kevin Kelly says in his TED 2007 speech: Everything is amazing and no one is amazed.

As I believe that we are still in Frontier Lands of our new social order based on the Web, our expectations of our revolutions will also become more tempered.  However, we will expect and demand them nonetheless.

P.S. I have a fantastic relationship with my mother-in-law.