Walking anywhere (and we are presently in the Highlands of Aberdeen) is a good time to let the mind roam free. Yesterday on a fairly strenuous 7 miler, I was thinking about the current events in Libya. Specifically, I was hoping that those doing most of the fighting and bearing the brunt of the casualities would get their just rewards in the type of society that eventually emerges from the chaos. I don't know for certain but I would surmise that these people are predominantly from the lower/working classes. My problem is that my analysis of past 'revolutions' indicates that those who come out on top are the middle and upper classes and that, for Joe Ordinary, not a lot actually changes. Such thoughts brought two song lyrics to mind. The first comes from around the time of WW1 and was apparently very popular with the troops (you'll need to research some of the verses to understand why!)
It's the same the whole world over,
It's the poor what gets the blame.
It's the rich what gets the pleasure.
Ain't it all a bleedin' shame?
The second comes from The Who's 'Won't get fooled again'.
I'll tip my hat to the new constitution
Take a bow for the new revolution.....
Meet the new boss
Same as the old boss........
And I'll get on my knees and pray
We won't get fooled again.........
We won't get fooled again? We will; we will. 'Twas ever thus. And it will take a seismic shift in the political system to make it any different. Sadly, not in my lifetime - but I'll go down trying!
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