Revolutions of the Third Kind

Revolutions are nothing new; uprisings have plagued humanity for many centuries, perhaps forever. Always about wealth and power, which are essentially the same, styles of revolution vary, however.

In general terms, revolutions are of three kinds. There is revolution by the disenfranchised poor against the wealthy. As noted, wealth is power. The wealthy are always fewer in number than the poor but they customarily control the levers of power; this is why it so often takes the form of armed rebellion by a disenfranchised mob to dislodge the powerful few. The American, Russian, and French revolutions are examples; think King George, Marie Antionette, and Czar Nicholas II. Armed rebellions are Revolutions of the First Kind.

Then there is jostling between existing power blocs; these revolutions typically take the form of coups where one power bloc pushes out another. It’s happened in Egypt, Argentina, Nicaragua, Iran, and many other countries. Often, leaders of the armed forces are involved but sometimes political rivals take the lead; think Victor Orbán and General Augusto Pinochet. Coups are Revolutions of the Second Kind.

This brings us to the rise of oligarchs and kleptocrats, the transfer of power and wealth from the bottom and middle classes to those at the very tippy top. Think Saudi Mohammed bin Salman, billionaires Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and yes, Donald Trump. It’s happened here before with Robber Barons Andrew Carnegie, JP Morgan and the like, and in Russia and Europe. Now it’s happening in America again: Welcome to Revolutions of the Third Kind.

Influenced by Charles Darwin, Karl Marx tied his pseudo-scientific theories of revolution to evolution, predicting the ultimate and final form of economic and social organization on the control of the means of production. According to his view, the transfer of power from capitalist ownership to control by the proletariat working class was to be the final evolutionary form of society. Marx, however, was a product of his times, as are we all.

Revolutions of the Third Kind bear a striking resemblance to classic patterns of monarchy, where wealth and power are accumulated and transferred through succession or inheritance; we’re witnessing the oligarchic rise of American royalty. Facilitated by digital technology that allows a wealthy elite to seize control of information, we voluntarily share our private selves – our likes, dislikes, friends, purchases, and travel – to kleptocrats who then sell it to the highest bidder. Like lambs innocently headed towards slaughter, we enable Revolutions of the Third Kind.

Revolutions are messy; people get hurt, particularly when things get highly emotional and promulgate episodes of mass hysteria. Historically, Revolutions of the First and Second Kind have produced terrible suffering, misery, and death. Think Nazi Germany, Pol Pot in Cambodia, and Mao in China. Such is the nature of wealth and power, how it is taken, how it is used and how it is abused. Were America not so large, the actions of the riotous mob on January 6, 2021 could have presaged a violent revolutionary pattern. Ask Nancy Pelosi.

Revolutions of the Third Kind are not armed rebellion nor the exercise of raw power through violence and terror. Because our current digital age is unlike any other it is impossible to anticipate how it will play out. Combine the rise of Artificial Intelligence with the seduction of digital technology and it results in great uncertainty. Resistance? Texting torch and pitchfork emojis just won’t cut it.