Reply #45: You raise some excellent questions here. [View All]

I have no issue with the current revolutionary experiments in Latin America. The leaders there (Chavez, et. al.) seem to be doing a good job of effecting change with a minimum of bloodshed and disorder.

That said, the level of violence present in any revolution seems to depend to a great degree on the level of violent resistance or repression resorted to by the reactionary powers that be. Consider the current situation in Bolivia for example. In the beginning of Morales' government, the reactionaries grumbled and obstructed, but did not actively, violently oppose. However, as secessionary tensions rise and the threat of the reactionaries forcibly dissolving the nation of Bolivia, Morales has had to resort to force to hold his country together, and has been met with equal violent force on the part of the reactionaries, who have employed mercenaries to assist them.

In the United States, any popular insurrection that actually threatened the status quo, particularly the moneyed status quo, would be crushed mercilessly. The corporate powers would provide the bankroll. If the government proved too weak to adequately resist revolutionary forces through military and law enforcement powers, the reactionaries would make use of Blackwater and other paramilitary forces. Furthermore, do not underestimate the power of media control under these circumstances, remember the power of hate radio in Rwanda. We have already seen a few disaffected individuals take the vitriolic rants of Limbaugh, Savage, etc. to heart and try to strike against the "enemy within" surely under such unstable circumstances a few words from "El Rushbo" would be sufficient to send many who would merely resent revolutionary changes in this country (regardless of how much they would benefit from them) armed and into the streets. We would swiftly have a ideological/partisan civil war on our hands in this country, one that would cost the lives of millions, exacerbated by the fact that the citizenry of this nation are far better armed than the Bolivians or the Venezuelans.