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A Primer on World Revolutions
All popular uprisings from the American Revolution to Gilets Jaunes to Hong Kong follow a classic pattern. They start out as brush fires until something or someone inspires them to grow, and then they fragment into chaos or form a core that turns into a coalition, resulting in a fury of unpredictable forces. In the case of the Hong Kong protests, we know we are at the beginning stages. While we can’t tell how it will end, according to my old history teacher, Norman F. Cantor, we do know how it will play out. I have noted Cantor’s primer on world revolutions below, and his reasoning can be profitably applied to any abrupt change in the status quo, from a new technology to a new ideology.
Nine Phases of Revolutions
Phase I: Rejection
The purpose of all revolutions, whether peaceful or violent, is to influence social change. World revolutions start with frustration and align their future to a new ideology. Change is manifested by a rising tide of rebelliousness in one or more of the 4 Gs: generations, geographies, gender, and groups (which can mean ethnic, race, and ideological groupings that may have been marginalized but now seek to rise above their status quo).
Phase II: Power
Revolutions start as radical fashion and end as convention. The purpose of revolution is to shift…
