Revolution

The word revolution means a drastic change in the ways that people think and act. A revolution can be caused by many different abstractions. Perhaps, the three largest causative factors are religion, politics, and economy. All of these generally tie into large changes in one way or another. However, I believe the largest of them all to be politics. Whenever you have some large changing factor there is almost always a shift in government or power of some kind.

Take the time period of the renaissance as an example. It was a time of great revolution or change. Up until that time and even during that time the people listened to the words spoken by the church. They were all careful to follow under its rulings. The pope for the most part ruled over everything. He was considered to be a god on earth. People did their best not to sin because the main goal of the era was to simply keep moving through your life and make it to heaven. Not to mention that the ways of the church were wholly accepted by society at that time as well. It would be considered social suicide to go against the grain.

The people of this time period underwent major changes that effected how they viewed daily life and even themselves as human beings. This was all due to politics and alterations that they underwent politically. They had been under the rulings of the church for many years and this was their big breakout. The church began to lose its control as new ideas began to reveal themselves. The three greatest men of that era that encouraged this change were Erasmus, Martin Luther, and John Calvin (in that order). They helped people to see other ways of life and brought the fall of the churches rule. As the political power began to shift ultimate change began to occur.

This was not a one time occurance by any means of the word. Politics has always played a big role in revolutionary time periods. Without political change revolutions could not occur. They would simply be ideas that were never acted upon. For example it was not until Hitlers take down that the Jews could begin to breath easier again. If he had continued to hold such great military power many more could have been persecuted. Even today we see similar examples all around us, such as in Iraq. They were under the rule of the terrible and cruel Saddam. It was not until the Americans invaded and took over and even tour down his statue that they began to see anything revolutionary occurring.

Some might argue that it is economy or religion that bring about revolutions. They would have a valid and arguable point. Economy does play a big role. During the Renaissance they were giving 10% to the church and could not do any banking because it was considered to be a sin (usury) so when this switched over into what we have today it would be considered revolutionary. However this would not have occurred without changes politically. If the church was still in power, than people would still be paying their 10%. The economy generally does under go change as does everything else when revolutionary ideas hit. It is not however, the main causative factor.

As for the religious aspect of revolution, one would perhaps have an even more arguable point. It is very true that what people believe in at the time is a large part of change. Like politics it is almost always present during revolutionary time periods. For example, during the renaissance it was not until people began to see things from outside of a Christian viewpoint that change occurred and people basically worshipped Hitler during WW II. However, unlike politics it can not simply cause a revolution by itself. If the Americans had not lent a hand secret Hitler worshippers may have still been in existance today. It takes a shift in power before vast majorities of people will band together to be different.

A final argument perhaps may be that people will only do what is socially acceptable. That social is the main causative factor of revolution. This is far from being true. It is true that people like to do what others are doing and that people slowly catch on to the spread of an idea. Political still holds its domain over this idea though because something can not be fully socially accepted until it is politically accepted. People did not want to be shunned from their families or churches during the renaissance and therefore refused to be different. During Hitlers rule soldiers did as they were told and followed his orders and it was socially accepted at that time. Though many of them may have had doubts they never really bonded together and brought about any change until Hitlers take down.

Though others can be justified it is easy to see that politics is clearly the most causative factor of revolution. It most likely will continue to be for many years to come. It has reshaped and changed history into what we have today. Revolution brings about ideas and how we react to them, as the general public, will reflect on our current government. Without politics where would we be today? Perhaps still under the complete rule of the church? Would we have banks throughout every state or simply in the back room of stores where money is passed under the table? Personally I feel politics to be a crucially important factor in all cultures and a part of every piece of society.