Are We Ready for a Revolution?
By Hana Afifi
Bread, freedom and social justice have been chanted for since January 25, 2011. With torture in police stations and random arrests, of course we wanted freedom. But that’s not the only kind of freedom we longed for. Another kind that is deeply rooted in everyday life is more central to the problem – freedom from capital. In the capitalist order of the world we live in, the people’s working conditions are getting worse while profit is still multiplying.
And the capitalist society legitimizes social injustice through a state ruled with a minority, and a majority that suffers to fulfill the basic needs. Was it an uprising against capitalism? Or against social injustice? Or was it against the state? It does not really make a difference because they are all interrelated. The state is controlled by a capitalist economy that legitimizes social injustice.
The time came when people from almost all social classes refused to succumb to the exploitation and economic conditions. People had enough consciousness to stand up for their own interests and not the state’s interests.
What was then the initial consciousness that was allegedly replaced? It was a false consciousness. Antonio Gramsci, an Italian sociologist of the early 20th century, viewed the capitalist state as working most on making the people believe in the culture and worldview of the ruling bourgeoisie – believe in a false consciousness. The people will then stop thinking of their own interests and will be convinced that this is how it is supposed to go. ‘You are supposed to secure your life and try to fulfill your basic needs; you work, get your wage, and profit is made, but it is for the owners and rulers’. That way, people spend their lives trying to secure a living. They do not have to do what they love – but they are supposed to live. This is the false consciousness that supposedly led to revolting, when enough people were aware of it.
But none of this changed. People have the same world view. Some voices try to stand up for freedom and change. I mostly see it in the underground art scene where social differences dissolve in the realm of creation and of raising voices. As for the state, it continues to exploit the majority of the population and restrict freedoms. And it seems that many people choose to settle and close their eyes in the face of violations, longing for stability.
Do we want change? Do we really believe in it? As a society, we are not ready for radical changes. But revolution is radical change. Are we ready for revolution?
