After listening to Marcos Perez’s lecture, the idea of why someone would want to become a revolutionary was something that I was considering seriously. The common response given would be to begin a revolution or to create a change in society. These are things that anyone can wish or dream of doing, but being a revolutionary isn’t necessarily all it is chalked up to be and it can actually be a very dangerous title to hold especially when its over controversial issues. An easy example of this is a revolutionary such as Martin Luther King Junior, who was a martyr for his revolution, and if this is the case, and revolutionaries that are attempting to rewrite the future in a new way from history are at risk of harm, why do people still want to become revolutionaries today? As we know revolutions are constantly occurring all around us, and a good example in our modern day were the protestors of the North Dakota Access Pipeline. These people chose to become a part of a revolution, instead of sitting back and watching the future take its course and watching us run a massive construction operation through sovereign land. The question however still remains, and that is what was so appealing about getting involved in this revolution?
Perez’s lecture focused on the definition of a revolutionary, a revolution, and where they are both likely to be found. He addresses the issue of why someone would want to join a revolution by discussing the financial and social repercussions of joining a revolution. Perez stated that revolutionaries could potentially lose their children, families, and normal lives when joining a revolution. This is an incredible thought to consider because it makes you realize how truly passionate these people must be about the issue, to be willing to risk their normal lives to help make a change for that controversy. This is controversial to what some people consider revolutionaries to truly be fighting for, especially when people think about revolutionaries as people who are fighting to protect the rights and lives of their own family members or race. However, risking their families normal lives or their own normal lives leads to the question of whether or not revolutionaries have their priorities straight in terms of self interests over the priority of the cause or the change they wish to make in society. This topic raised by Perez was very intriguing and interesting and made me truly consider what one person must be going through mentally to be able to fully dedicate themselves to their cause as a revolutionary.
We know that revolutions, even when they are extremely backed by support and logically sound, are not guaranteed to occur. For this reason it is even more interesting to consider the mental process of devoting yourself to a cause. It is a risky thing to commit yourself to a movement that you are not sure whether or not will have success in changing its desired reaction. This likely drives many people away from wanting to become a revolutionary, and as Perez acknowledges it clearly takes some boldness and gutsiness to become a revolutionary and devote yourself to a movement. Perez’s breakdown of revolutionaries and the revolutions they desire provided listeners with an ability to recognize the life and inspiration that revolutionaries truly have surrounding their movement. This lecture was very powerful and entertaining to sum up our semester of revolutions and revolutionaries. The semester included revolutions of science, sociology, history, climatology, and even modern day revolutions. Professor Perez’s description of a revolutionary and their impactfulness on movements and revolutions in general was a very sentimental and inspirational ending to our semester long study of revolutions. In conclusion it clearly takes a certain type of driven and dedicated person to become a revolutionary, and it clearly takes a certain type of controversial and important issue to deserve a revolution.