In my Political Ideologies class, we're currently covering Karl Marx and many of those who followed after him. Marx thought that, in order to overthrow capitalism and free the proletariat from the oppression of the bourgeoisie, there would need to be some kind of revolution, potentially a violent one, resulting in the proletariat taking over the government. Some of the political thinkers who followed after Marx disagreed, believing that positive change could be made through peaceful political reforms, including just voting for the kinds of changes you want to have made. Fortunately, these revisionists seem to have been right. Conditions have improved for most people, partly because of laws that were passed and programs that were established to help those who needed help the most. Lives have been improved, and no lives had to be lost in the fight to make that possible.
I'm grateful that I live in a country where progress can be made peacefully, politically, and not necessarily through violent revolutions. I'm glad that lives are getting better and that suffering is diminishing. I'm grateful for the hope that we can justifiably have that life will be even better future generations than it has been for us. And I'm especially grateful that I didn't have to physically fight anyone to help make this possible. I'm glad we can vote to improve this country peacefully, so that no one has to overthrow the government in order to make change.
I'm grateful that I live in a country that is so blessed that conditions can be good and get even better over time. Of course, it's good to have the option to revolt when revolution is necessary, but I'm grateful that it hasn't been necessary because life is already really good and still getting better.
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