Monday, March 21, 2016

Things we understand

... that government perhaps does not.

1. The bottom of the ladder isn't something you

choose, it's done to you.

No one chooses to live without enough for food and shelter. No one chooses for their children to be deprived or to grow up without a chance for better. No one chooses to trap their family in a bad neighborhood among dangerous people and destructive influences. It's done to you on a rather large scale, a part of class discrimination and exclusion by race, ethnicity, wealth, lineage, or what ever might be used to divide 'us' from 'them'.
More than 20% of children in the U.S. live in poverty. (2016)   

2. History helps.

There have been a few cultures and civilizations that didn't insist on wealth for the few at expense of everyone else.  Just a few.  There have perhaps been governments that favored the citizenry over the elite. There have even been dictators (just a few, known as benevolent dictators) that ruled for the general good.  In the absence of adequate controls, however, power corrupts governments, organizations, and individuals.

When things get bad enough, protest and revolution always follow, and it can take decades to recover. Decades.  (Socioeconomic upheavals: the American and French revolutions are in the list, as are the Cuban revolution and hundreds more.  Among the primary causal factors, economic oppression.  As has been noted, "Show me a highly unequal society, and I will show you a police state or an uprising. There are no counterexamples. None." ~Hanauer)


3. Power depends on inequality.

There have been attempts at equal opportunity and mutual benefit, at caring for those less fortunate. Today in America, the wealthy have a great chance at a great education, a great career, and a great income, but the lower echelons can expect much less. For fifty years, they've lost ground, the GAP has widened. Why might that be?

"Occupy Wall Street, the Arab Spring, the African uprisings, even the anti-austerity stance of new political parties in Spain and Greece, all have one thing in common: the recognition that the only way for a tiny group of people to become obscenely rich is for huge masses of others to be kept chronically poor."  ~JASON HICKEL, JOE BREWER, AND MARTIN KIRK 03.12.15

Is this perhaps a good time to reopen the discussion? It's called 'economic inequality' or the GAP, and it has spread through our financial system and trade agreements to the world. When 'too big' is part of the conversation, there are needed adjustments that are perhaps unlikely to be easy.

Is Trump the leader we need? Or Sanders? Or Clinton or Cruz?

Income and Wealth Concentrations have returned to 1920's levels

In 1848 as an example, the gap between the elite and the peasants, the rich and everyone else, prompted revolutions across Europe and beyond aimed at the privileged and their governments.  It remains the most widespread revolutionary wave in history, but within a year, most uprisings were crushed. The revolution began in France and quickly spread to most of Europe and parts of Latin America.  More than 50 countries were affected.

Among the causal factors: widespread dissatisfaction with political leadership; demands for more participation in government and democracy; the demands of the working classes. Tens of thousands died but little structural change followed despite decades lost in reconstruction; ideological conflict continues as injustice and inequality boil up through the years and today.  What might we expect?  On whom might we depend?
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For some historical perspective, here's a (very roughly assembled) list of just major rebellions, revolutions, and violent uprisings. The purpose of such a list is to note the frequent instability following oppressive and unjust rule. There is a point at which a father will refuse to tolerate such abusive practices against himself and his family. He will fight and if need be die for the sake of his children and their future. Such efforts often fail. In most cases, win or lose, the attempts are accompanied by economic upheaval, a significant death toll, and years in arduous recovery for participants. In some cases, it's many decades.

(2020 Update: there have been 20+ uprisings and rebellions since 2016.)
2016 Yemeni Civil War, continuous since 2015
2016 Second Libyan Civil War, continuous since 2014
2016 Iraqi Civil War, continuous since 2014
2016 War in Donbass, continuous since 2014
2016 South Sudanese Civil War, continuous since 2013
2016 Central African Republic conflict, continuous since 2012
2016 Syrian Civil War, continuous since 2011
2016 Sudanese nomadic conflicts, continuous since 2009
2016 War in North-West Pakistan, continuous since 2004
2016 War in Darfur, continuous since 2003
2016 Somali Civil War, continuous since 1988
2016 Peruvian conflict, continuous since 1978
2016 War in Afghanistan, continuous since 1978
2014 Ukraine - Revolution of Dignity
2014 Burkinabé uprising
2014 Abkhazian Revolution
2013 Eritrean Army mutiny
2013 Egyptian protests, which led to Mohamed Morsi being removed in what he and his organization accuses of being a "coup d'état"
2013 South Sudanese political crisis
2013–14 Tunisian protests against the Ennahda-led government.
2013-current Rojava Revolution
2012 Tuareg rebellion
2012–present Central African Republic conflict François Bozizé, president of the Central African Republic, is overthrown by the rebel coalition Seleka, led by Michel Djotodia.
2012–2013 M23 rebellion
2011 The Egyptian revolt ousts Hosni Mubarak.
2011 Post-civil war violence in Libya
2011 The Libyan Civil War kills the leader Muammar Gaddafi.
2011 - present -- the Syrian uprising
Bahraini uprising of 2011
2011 Iraqi protests
2011 Jordanian protests
2011 Omani protests
2011 Yemeni revolution - the revolt that lead to the eventual resignation of Ali Abdullah Saleh as President of Yemen.
2011–12 Moroccan protests
2011–12 Saudi Arabian protests
2011 Israeli social justice protests
2011 Azerbaijani protests
2011–12 Iranian protests
2011–13 Russian protests
2011–13 Spanish protests
2011–12 Maldives political crisis: Public protests and police mutiny lead to resignation of President Mohammed Nasheed
Libyan Civil War (2011)
2011 Yemeni Revolution
2010 Kashmir pro-independence protests
Kyrgyz Revolution of 2010 
Anti-austerity protests in Ireland in 2010, notably the 2010 student protest in Dublin and the March for a Better Way.
Greek protests against austerity measures in 2010-2012.
2010 G-20 Toronto summit protests
2010-2011 'Putin must go' protests in Russia.
2010–2012: Arab Spring:
2010 The Tunisian revolution (2010–2011) forces President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali to resign and flee the country, and sets free elections.
2010–12 Algerian protests
Kyrgyz Revolution of 2010
2010 Tunisian Revolution
2009: 2009 Iranian presidential election protests, leading to development of Iranian Green Movement
2009: 2009 Bangladesh Rifles revolt took place in Dhaka, Bangladesh killing 57 army officers.
2009–2011: A civil uprising popularly known as the Kitchenware Revolution brought down the Icelandic government after the collapse of the country's financial system in October 2008.
2009: The 2009 Malagasy political crisis in the Madagascar
2009: The Dongo conflict In the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
2008: 2008 Armenian presidential election protests
2008: A Shiite uprising in Basra.
2008: Attacks in Lanao del Norte in the Philippines by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front led by Kumander Bravo and Umbrfa Kato.
2007–2015: The Civil war in Ingushetia
2007–2009: The Second Tuareg Rebellion in Niger.
2007: The Burmese anti-government protests, including the Saffron Revolution of Burmese Buddhist monks.
2006: Democracy movement in Nepal.
2006: The 2006 Oaxaca protests demanding the removal of Ulises Ruiz Ortiz, the governor of Oaxaca state in Mexico.
2006–present: The Mexican Drug War.
2005: The Cedar Revolution, triggered by the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, asks for the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon.
2005: The Tulip Revolution (a.k.a. Pink/Yellow Revolution) overthrows the President of Kyrgyzstan, Askar Akayev, and set new elections. This is the fourth colour revolution.
2005: April 15 Intifada – Arab uprising in the Iranian province of Khuzestan.
2004–present: The Shi'ite Uprising against the US-led occupation of Iraq.
2004–2005: The Orange Revolution in Ukraine. After Viktor Yanukovych was declared the winner of the presidential elections people took to the streets in protest demanding new elections. This was the third colour revolution.
2004: A failed attempt at popular colour-style revolution in Azerbaijan, led by the groups Yox! and Azadlig.
2004–present: The Naxalite insurgency in India, led by the Communist Party of India (Maoist).
2004–2013: The Kivu Conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
2003: The Rose Revolution, second of the colour revolutions, displaces the president of Georgia, Eduard Shevardnadze, and calls new elections.
2003–present: The Iraqi insurgency refers to the armed resistance by diverse groups within Iraq to the U.S. occupation of Iraq and to the establishment of a liberal democracy therein.
2003–present: The Darfur rebellion led by the two major rebel groups, the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM/A) and the Justice and Equality Movement, recruited primarily from the land-tilling Fur, Zaghawa, and Massaleit ethnic groups.
2001–present: The Taliban insurgency following the 2001 war in Afghanistan which overthrew Taliban rule.
2001: The 2001 EDSA Revolution peacefully ousts Philippine President Joseph Estrada after the collapse of his impeachment trial.
2001: Supporters of Philippines former president Joseph Estrada violently and unsuccessfully stage a rally, so-called the EDSA Tres, in an attempt of returning him to power.
2001: Cacerolazo in Argentina. Following mass riots and a period of civil unrest, popular protests oust the government and two additional interim presidents within months.
2001 December riots in Argentina
2000–2004: The Second Intifada, a continuation of the First Intifada, between Palestinians and Israel.
2000 The bloodless Bulldozer Revolution, first of the four colour revolutions (in 2000, 2003, 2004, and 2005), overthrows Slobodan Milošević's régime in Yugoslavia.
1999–present: The Second Chechen Rebellion against Russia.
1999–2003: The Second Liberian Civil War against the government of Liberia.
1999: The Iran student protests, July 1999 were, at the time, the most violent protests to occur against the Islamic Republic of Iran.
1998–2003: The Second Congo War in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
1998–1999: The Guinea-Bissau Civil War against the administration and government of President Joao Bernardo Vieira.
1998: The Indonesian Revolution of 1998 resulted the resignation of President Suharto after three decades of the New Order period.
1998: The election in Venezuela of socialist leader Hugo Chávez known as the Bolivarian Revolution.
1997–1999: The Republic of the Congo Civil War
1997–1999: The Kosovo Rebellion against Yugoslavia.
1997: The 1997 rebellion in Albania sparked by Ponzi scheme failures.
1996–1997: The First Congo War in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
1996: An Islamic movement in Afghanistan led by the Taliban established Taliban rule.
1994–1996: The First Chechen Rebellion against Russia.
1994: The Zapatista Rebellion: an uprising in the Mexican state of Chiapas demanding equal rights for indigenous peoples and in opposition to growing neoliberalism in North America.
1994: The 1990s Uprising in Bahrain, Shiite-led rebellion for the restoration of democracy in Bahrain.
1992–1995: Bosnian War of Independence.
1992: An Afghan uprising against the Taliban by United Islamic Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan, or the Northern Alliance.
1991–2002: The Sierra Leone Civil War against the administration of president, Joseph Saidu Momoh.
1991: Somali National Movement rebels establish the Somaliland administration in northwestern Somalia, and declare the region independent from the rest of the country.
1991: The Shiite Uprising in Karbala, Iraq.
1991: The Kurdish uprising against Iraqi President Saddam Hussein in Iraqi Kurdistan.
1991: The Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front take control of Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, after dictator Haile Mariam Mengistu flees the country, bringing an end to the Ethiopian Civil War
1990–present: United Liberation Front of Asom launch major violent activities against Indian rule in Assam.To date, the resulting clashes with the Indian army have left more than 10,000 dead.
1990–1995: The Log Revolution in Croatia starts, triggering the Croatian War of Independence.
1990–1995: The First Tuareg Rebellion in Niger and Mali.
1990–1992: Anticommunist forces led a National Democratic Revolution that overthrew President Ramiz Alia and ended with the win of elections by Democratic Party of Albania the biggest anticommunist party in Albania.
1989–1997: The First Liberian Civil War
1989–1991: The Singing Revolution, bloodless overthrow of communist rule in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
1989: The violent Caracazo riots in Venezuela. In the next few years, there are two attempted coups and President Carlos Andrés Pérez is impeached.
1989: Armed resistance breaks out in the Kashmir valley against Indian administration.
1988–1991: The Pan-Armenian National Movement frees Armenia from Soviet rule.
1988: The 8888 Uprising In Burma or Myanmar.
1987–1991: The First Intifada, or the Palestinian uprising, a series of violent incidents between Palestinians and Israelis.
1986–1991: Somali Rebellion as a result of military dictator Siad Barre beginning to attack clan-based dissident groups.
1986: Khalistan Commando Force started armed movement for the establishment of Khalistan, an independent Sikh homeland. The movement, as is the case with other Sikh nationalistic movements, was fueled in part by the Indian army's Operation Blue Star. The armed struggle resulted in thousands of mostly civilian deaths.
1986: The People Power Revolution peacefully overthrows Ferdinand Marcos after his two decade rule in the Philippines.
1985: Soviet and Afghanistan P.O.W.s rose against their captors at Badaber base.
1984–1999: Kurdish uprising for independence from the Republic of Turkey
1984–1985: Pro-independence Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front (FLNKS) forces in New Caledonia revolt following an election boycott and occupy the town of Thio from November 1984 to January 1985. Thio is retaken by the French after the assassination of Éloi Machoro, the security minister in the FLNKS provisional government and the primary leader of the occupation.
1983–2005: The Second Sudanese Civil War was largely a continuation of the First Sudanese Civil War, and one of the longest lasting and deadliest wars of the later 20th century.
1983: Prime Minister of Grenada, Maurice Bishop, overthrown and subsequently executed by high-ranking government officials.
1983: Overthrow of the ruling Conseil de Salut du peuple (CSP) by Marxist forces led by Thomas Sankara in Upper Volta, renamed Burkina Faso in the following year.
1983 Beginning on July 23, 1983, there was an on-and-off insurgency against the Government of Sri Lanka by the LTTE, also known as the Tamil Tigers.
1982: General Hussain Muhammad Ershad seizes power through a bloodless coup, deposing president Abdus Sattar in Bangladesh.
1981: Second Entumbane uprising in Zimbabwe.
1981: Assassination of Ziaur Rahman in Bangladesh sparks protests and riots.
1980–2000: The Communist Party of Peru launched the internal conflict in Peru.
1980: First Entumbane uprising in Zimbabwe.
1980: The Santo Rebellion in the Anglo-French condominium of New Hebrides
1980: National Socialist Council of Nagaland launches its struggle against Indian administration and the establishment of the greater Nagaland.
1979–1992: Salvadoran Civil War
1979: New Jewel Movement led by Maurice Bishop launch an armed revolution and overthrow the government of Eric Gairy in Grenada.
1979: Cambodia is liberated from the Khmer Rouge regime by the Vietnam-backed Kampuchean People's Revolutionary Party.
1979: The Iranian Revolution overthrows Shah Reza Pahlavi, resulting in the formation of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
1979: The popular overthrow of the Somoza dictatorship by progressive/Marxist Nicaraguan Revolution.
1978: The Saur Revolution led by the Khalq faction of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan deposes and kills President Mohammad Daud Khan.
1977: Egyptian Bread Riots the riots were a spontaneous uprising by hundreds of thousands of lower-class people, at least 79 people were killed and 800 wounded.
1977: The Market Women's Revolt in Guinea leads to a lessening of the state's role in the economy.
1976: Student demonstrations and election-related violence in Thailand lead police to open fire on a sit-in at Thammasat University, killing hundreds. The military seizes power the next day, ending constitutional rule.
1975–1991: The Western Sahara War was a conflict between the Sahrawi national liberation movement named POLISARIO against the armies of their neighbours, Morocco and Mauritania, who have entered the territory when the Spanish colonizers troops fled.
1975: Lebanese Civil War lasted from 1975 to 1990.
1975: Coup led by Brigadier Khaled Mosharraf and Colonel Shafaat Jamil in Bangladesh to depose President Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad. Three days later a counter-coup by Colonel Abu Taher puts Ziaur Rahman in power.
1975: A revolution in Cambodia.
1975: 15 August, coup led by young military officers and the Assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in Bangladesh.
1974–1975: The Carnation Revolution overthrows of right-wing dictatorship in Portugal. Lead to the independence of Cape Verde
1974: A revolution in Ethiopia.
1973: Wounded Knee Incident. American Indian Movement activists and Oglala Lakota besiege the small town of Wounded Knee in protest of government policies towards Native Americans and the corrupt Wilson Regime. Part of the Red Power movement
1973: Mohammad Daud Khan overthrows the monarchy and establishes a republic in Afghanistan.
1973: Worker-student demonstrations in Thailand force dictator Thanom Kittikachorn and two close associates to flee the country, beginning a short period of democratic constitutional rule.
1972: A revolution in Benin.
1972: A military-led revolution against the civilian government of President Philibert Tsiranana in the Malagasy Republic; a Marxist faction takes power in 1975 under Didier Ratsiraka, modeled on the North Korean juche theory developed by Kim Il Sung.
1971: The Bangladesh Liberation War led by the Mukti Bahini establishes the independent People's Republic of Bangladesh from the former East Pakistan.
1970–1971: Black September in Jordan
1970: The Black Power Revolution occurs in Trinidad.
1970: A rebellion in Guinea by what its government identified as Portuguese agents.
1969–1998: The Troubles: the Provisional Irish Republican Army and other Republican Paramilitaries waged an armed campaign against British Security forces and Loyalist Paramilitaries in an attempt to bring about a United Ireland.
1969: The Days of Rage occur, part of the Opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War.
1969: A mass movement of workers, students, and peasants in Pakistan forced the resignation of President Mohammad Ayub Khan.
1968: The King assassination riots, also known as the Holy Week Uprising, was a wave of civil disturbance which swept the United States following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4, 1968. Many believe it to be the greatest wave of social unrest the United States had experienced since the Civil War. Some of the biggest riots took place in Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Chicago, and Kansas City.
1968: The May 1968 revolt: students' and workers' revolt against the government of Charles de Gaulle in France.
1968: The revolution in the Republic of Congo.
1968: A failed attempt by leader Alexander Dubček to liberalise Czechoslovakia in defiance of the Soviet-supported communist state culminates in the Prague Spring.
1968: A coup by Juan Velasco Alvarado in Peru, followed by radical social and economic reforms.
1967–1970: Biafra: The former eastern Nigeria unsuccessfully fought for a breakaway republic of Biafra, after the mainly Ibo people of the region suffered pogroms in northern Nigeria the previous year.
1967–1968 Iraqi communists launched an insurgency in southern Iraq.
1967: Anguillans resentful of Kittitian domination of the island expelled the Kittitian police and declared independence from the British colony of Saint Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla. British forces retook the island in 1969 and made Anguilla a separate dependency in 1980. There was no bloodshed in the entire episode.
1967: The Naxalite Movement begins in India, led by the AICCCR.
1967 - 1973: The Opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War begins to turn violent, the violence later escalates. Incidents include the Weather High School Jailbreaks and the Greenwich Village townhouse explosion
1966–1998: The Ulster Volunteer Force was recreated by militant Protestant British loyalists in Northern Ireland to wage war against the Irish Republican Army and theRoman Catholic community at large.
1966–1993: A guerrilla warfare was conducted against the government of François Tombalbaye from the Sudan-based group FROLINAT.
1966-1990: A South African Police patrol clashes with militants of the South West African People's Organization in 1966, sparking the Namibian War of Independence. The conflict is part of the larger South African Border War and linked closely with South Africa's intervention in the Angolan Civil War. It largely ended with Namibia's first democratic elections in 1989.
1966: Kwame Nkrumah is removed from power in Ghana by coup d'état.
1966- The year it is estimated the Black Power movement began, with no exact official end date.
1965: The March Intifada in Bahrain: a Leftist uprising demanding an end to the British presence in Bahrain.
1964–present: The Colombian Armed Conflict.
1964–1979: The Rhodesian Bush War, also known as the Second Chimurenga, was a guerrilla war which lasted from July 1964 to 1979 and led to universal suffrage, the end of white minority rule in Rhodesia, and the creation of the Republic of Zimbabwe.
1964–1975: The Mozambican Liberation Front (FRELIMO), formed in 1962, commenced a guerrilla war against Portuguese colonialism. Independence was granted on June 25, 1975; however, the Mozambican Civil War complicated the political situation and frustrated FRELIMO's attempts at radical change. The war continued into the early 1990s after the government dropped Marxism as the state ideology.
1964: Simba Rebellion in the Congo.
1964: The Zanzibar Revolution overthrew the 157-year-old Arab monarchy, declared the People's Republic of Zanzibar, and began the process of unification with Julius Nyerere's Tanganyika.
1964: The October Revolution in Sudan, driven by a general strike and rioting, forced President Ibrahim Abboud to transfer executive power to a transitional civilian government, and eventually to resign.
1963–1970: The Bale Revolt in southern Ethiopia, was a guerrilla war by local Somali and Oromo against Amhara settlers.
1963: White Revolution in Iran.
1963: Syrian coup d'état in Syria who bring Ba'ath Party to Power
1962–1975: Dhofar Rebellion in Oman.
1962–1974: The leftist African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC) wages a revolutionary war of independence in Portuguese Guinea. In 1973, the independent Republic of Guinea-Bissau is proclaimed, and the next year the republic's independence is recognized by the reformist military junta in Lisbon.
1962: The military coup of 1962 in Burma, led by General Ne Win, who became the country's strongman.
1962: A revolution in northern Yemen overthrew the imam and established the Yemen Arab Republic.
1961–1991: The Eritrean War of Independence led by Isaias Afewerki against Ethiopia.
1961–1975: The Angolan War of Independence began as an uprising against forced cotton harvesting, and became a multi-faction struggle for control of Portugal's Overseas Province of Angola.
1961–1970: First Kurdish Iraqi War erupts as a result of Barzanji clan uprising.
1960: April Revolution erupts in South Korea, leading to the end of the First Republic of South Korea.
1960: A group of disaffected Ethiopian officers make an unsuccessful attempt to depose Emperor Haile Selassie and replace him with a more progressive government, but are defeated by the rest of the Ethiopian military.
1959–1962: In the Rwandan Revolution, the Tutsi king of Rwanda is forced into exile by Hutu extremists; racial pogroms follow an assassination attempt on Hutu leaderGrégoire Kayibanda.
1959: The failed Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule led to the flight of the Dalai Lama.
1958: The Iraqi Revolution (14 July Revolution) led by nationalist soldiers abolishes the British-backed monarchy, executes many of its top officials, and begins to assert the country's independence from both Cold War power blocs.
1958: A popular revolt in Venezuela against military dictator Marcos Pérez Jiménez culminates in a civic-military coup d'état.
1956–1962: The Border Campaign led by the Irish Republican Army against the British, along the border of the independent Republic of Ireland and British Northern Ireland.
1956–1959: The Cuban Revolution led by Fidel Castro removes the government of General Fulgencio Batista. By 1962 Cuba had been transformed into a declared socialist republic.
1956: The Tibetan rebellions against Chinese rule broke out in Amdo and Kham.
1956: The Hungarian Revolution, a failed workers' and peasants' revolution against the Soviet-supported communist state in Hungary.
1955–1972: The First Sudanese Civil War was a conflict between the northern part of Sudan and a south that demanded more regional autonomy.
1955–1960: The Guerrilla war against British colonial rule of Cyprus led by the EOKA (National Organisation of Cypriot Fighters).
1954–1962: The Algerian War of Independence: an uprising against French colonialism.
1954: The Uyghur uprising against Chinese rule in Hotan.
1954: The Kengir uprising in the Soviet prison labor camp Kengir.
1953–1975: The Laotian Civil War in Laos.
1953: The Vorkuta uprising was a major uprising of the Gulag inmates in Vorkuta in the summer of 1953. Like other camp uprisings it was bloodily quelled by the Red Army and the NKVD.
1952: Egyptian Revolution of 1952
1952: The Rosewater Revolution in Lebanon.
1952: A popular revolution in Bolivia led by Víctor Paz Estenssoro and the Revolutionary Nationalist Movement (MNR) initiates a period of multiparty democracy lasting until a 1964 military coup.
1950s: The Mau Mau Uprising.
1950: The Puerto Rican Nationalist Party Revolts of the 1950s in Puerto Rico, attempt on the life of US president Harry S. Truman in the Blair House, and shooting at Congress, was a call for Puerto Rico's independence and uprising by the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party against United States Government rule of Puerto Rico.
1950: The Cazin uprising in the town of Cazin, Bosnia and Herzegovina
1949: The communists under chairman Mao Zedong expels the ruling Nationalist Party in the Civil War and establishes the People's Republic of China. The Republic of China's control is reduced to Taiwan and its outlying islands.
1948–1960: The Malayan Emergency.
1948: Al-Wathbah (the Leap) uprising in Iraq.
1948: The Costa Rican Civil War precipitated by the vote of the Costa Rican Legislature, dominated by pro-government representatives, to annul the results of the presidential election of 1948.
1948: Following the liberation of Korea, Marxist former guerrillas under Kim Il Sung work to rapidly industrialize the country and rid it of the last vestiges of "feudalism.".
1947–1952: In the Albanian Subversion, the intelligence services of the United States and Britain deployed exiled fascists, Nazis, and monarchists in a failed attempt to foment a counterrevolution in Communist-ruled Albania.
1947: Angami Zapu Phizo declared the independence of Nagaland from India only to be subdued by the Indian army.
1947: Three months after an abortive coup, civil war broke out in Paraguay. The rebellion was crushed by the government of dictator Higinio Morínigo.
1947: The 228 Massacre occurred following discontent and resentment of the native Taiwanese under the early rule of the KMT of the island.
1947: India wins independence from Britain.
1947 : Sardar Muhammad Ibrahim Khan waged and led a guerrilla war against the Maharaja Hari Singh of Kashmir and formed a revolutionary Government on 24 October under his Presidency. He captured a large area of Kashmir called Azad Kashmir. 

Okay, that's the revolutions in my lifetime.

1946–1951: The Telangana Rebellion: a Communist-led peasant revolt in Hyderabad State, India.
1946: The Royal Indian Navy Mutiny takes place in Bombay, and spreads to different parts of British India, demanding Indian independence.
1946: The Battle of Athens, Tennessee (aka the McMinn County War); a local revolt against officials accused of rigging local elections.
1946: Another attempt of anti-communist forces in Albania to take out the government takes place in Shkoder.
1945–1949: The Indonesian National Revolution against Dutch after their independence from Japan. Led by Soekarno, Hatta, Tan Malaka, etc. with the Dutch led by Van Mook.
1945: The Prague uprising against German occupation during World War II.
1945: The August Revolution led by Ho Chi Minh and Vietminh declared the independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam from French rule.
1945: The first anti-communist revolt in Eastern Europe in Koplik, Albania led by bayraktars and intellectuals.
1945: Ba To Uprising of Vietnam, led by Vietminh, against French and Japanese Occupation
1945: A democratic revolution in Venezuela, led by Rómulo Betancourt.
1944–1965: The Forest Brothers Rebellion in Baltic states against Soviet Union.
1944–1949: The Greek Civil War.
1944-1947: The Jewish insurgency in Palestine.
1944–1947: A Communist-friendly government was installed in Bulgaria following a coup d'état and the Soviet invasion.
1944: The Warsaw Uprising was an armed struggle during the Second World War by the Polish Home Army (Armia Krajowa) to liberate Warsaw from German occupation and Nazi rule. It started on 1 August 1944.
1944: The Slovak National Uprising against Nazi Germany.
1944: The Paris Uprising staged by the French Resistance against the German Paris garrison.
1944: The Guatemalan Revolution overthrows the dictator Federico Ponce Vaides by liberal military officers.
1944: The uprising at Auschwitz extermination camp.
1944: Following the liberation of Albania, the Communist Party of Albania under Enver Hoxha consolidated its control and declared thePeople's Republic of Albania in January 1946.
1943–1945: Italian Resistance Movement against the Fascist Italian Social Republic, culminating in the 25th April final insurrection in Northern Italy.
1943: The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.
1943: The Woyane Rebellion in northern Ethiopia threatens to topple the newly restored government, and is put down with British help.
1943: The uprising at Treblinka extermination camp.
1943: The uprising at Sobibór extermination camp.
1942: The destruction of the German garrison in Lenin.
1942: Sri Lankan soldiers ignite the Cocos Islands Mutiny in an unsuccessful attempt to transfer the islands to Japanese control.
1941–1945: Yugoslav People's Liberation War against the Axis Powers in World War II.
1941–1944: Greek Resistance
1941: Legionnaires' rebellion and Bucharest pogrom, Romania
1941: The June Uprising against the Soviet Union in Lithuania.
1941: Do Luong Mutiny of Vietnam, led by Doi Cung, against French Occupation
1940–1947: Mohammad Ali Jinnah's struggle for a separate state for the Muslims of India.
1940–1944: The Insurgency in Chechnya.
1940: Cochinchina Uprising of Vietnam, led by Vietminh, against French and Japanese Occupation
1940: Bac Son Uprising of Vietnam, led by Vietminh, against French and Japanese Occupation
1937–1938: The Dersim Rebellion was the most important Kurdish rebellion in modern Turkey.
1937: The Revolt of Delvina, a revolt of gendarmerie and local peasants against King Zog.
1937: The "Fets de Maig" or May Days, a clash between anarchists and communists during the workers' revolution in Catalonia.
1936–1939: Arab revolt in Palestine attempts to gain control over the British Mandate.
1936–1939: A period of so-called "military socialism" in Bolivia follows a revolution in which celebrated war hero David Toro takes power. A constitution establishing a corporative state is promulgated in 1938, following the nationalization of Standard Oil and the passage of progressive labor laws.
1936: The Febrerista Revolution, led by Rafael Franco, ended oligarchic Liberal Party rule in Paraguay.
1936: General Francisco Franco led a coup and started the Spanish Civil War.
1936: Civil revolutionary war led by Anarchism, Communism and Socialist working people against the coup of fascist forces, in second Spanish Republic.
1935–1936: Second Italo-Ethiopian War in which Ethiopians overthrew Italian colonization.
1935–1936: Iraqi Shia revolts against Hashemite central rule.
1935: Imam Reza shrine rebellion in Iran of Shi'ite radicals against Reza Shah.
1935: Former Aide-de-camp of King Zog, Muharrem Bajraktari led a revolt against government in North Albania.
1935: A secret anti-zogist organization led an uprising against government and King Zog in Fier and Lushnje.
1934: In October, workers including radical socialists and anarchists stage coups in the Spanish regions of Asturias and Catalonia. The immediate cause was the entrance of a right-wing Catholic party into the government of the unstable Second Spanish Republic. The Asturian uprising was put down by General Francisco Franco.
1933: The popular revolution against Cuban dictator Gerardo Machado.
1933: Dutch sailors on the cruiser HNLMS De Zeven Provinciën mutiny.
1932: The Siamese coup d'état of 1932, sometimes called the "Promoters Revolution", ends absolute monarchy in Thailand.
1932: The Constitutionalist Revolution against the provisional president Getúlio Vargas led Brazil to a short civil war.
1932: The Aprista revolt in Trujillo, Peru.
1932: The 1932 Salvadoran peasant uprising,(known as La matanza/"The Slaughter"), Pipil and peasant rebellion led by Farabundo Martí
1930–1934: The Saya San Rebellion of British Burma, led by Saya San, against British colonialism.
1930–1931: Nghe-Tinh Revolt of Vietnam, led by Vietminh, against French colonialism
1930: Yen Bai mutiny of Vietnam, led by Vietnamese Nationalist Party, against French Occupation
1930: The Salt Satyagraha, a campaign of non-violent protest against the British salt tax in colonial India.
1930: The Brazilian Revolution of 1930 led by Getúlio Vargas.
1928–1931: A rebellion led by Bhagat Singh against the British Rule in India.
1927–1933: A rebellion led by Augusto César Sandino against the United States presence in Nicaragua.
1927–1931: The Ağrı Rebellion by Kurds against Turkey.
1927–1930: The Wahhabi Rebellion of Ikhwan against Ibn Saud in Arabia.
1927: KMT Military forces in Nanchang uprising under the leadership of He Long and Zhou Enlai, attempting to seize control of the city after the end of the first Kuomintang-Communist alliance, marking the Nanchang Uprising and the establishment of the People's Liberation Army.
1927: Sheikh Abdurrahman rebellion by Kurdish Zazas against Turkey.
1926–1929: The Cristero War in Mexico, an uprising against anti-clerical government policy.
1926–1927: The first PKI (Indonesian Communist Party) rebellion against colonialism and imperialism of Dutch Hindie.
1926: The National Revolution in Portugal initiated a period known as the National Dictatorship.
1926: Angry catholic peasants of Dukagjin, Shkoder fight against army and gendarmerie.
1925–1927: The Great Syrian Revolt, a revolt initiated by the Druze and led by Sultan al-Atrash against French Mandate.
1925: The Sheikh Said Rebellion.
1925: The July Revolution in Ecuador.
1923: Bajram Curri attacks gendarmerie of Kruma, Albania.
1923: The Klaipėda Revolt in the Memel territory that had been detached from Germany after World War I.
1923: The Adwan Rebellion in Jordan.
1923: The founding of the Republic of Turkey by overthrow of the Ottoman Empire and introduction of Atatürk's Reforms.
1922–1923: The Irish Civil War, between supporters of the Anglo-Irish Treaty and the government of the Irish Free State and more radical members of the original Irish Republican Army who opposed the treaty and the new government.
1921–1924: A revolution in (Outer) Mongolia re-establishes the country's independence and sets out to construct a Soviet-style socialist state.
1921–1923: The Yakut Revolt.
1921: The Moplah rebellion, uprising against the colonial British authority and Hindu landlords in the Malabar in South India by Mappila Muslims, aftermath of a series of peasant uprising in the past centuries.
1921: The Kronstadt rebellion of Soviet sailors against the government of the early Russian SFSR.
1921: The Battle of Blair Mountain ten to fifteen thousand coal miners rebel in West Virginia, assaulting mountain-top lines of trenches established by the coal companies and local sheriff's forces in the largest armed, organized uprising in American labor history.
1921: The rebellion of Mirdita led by Markagjoni declares the independence of Republic of Mirdita from Albania.
1920–1922: Gandhi led Non-cooperation movement.
1920-1922: The fascist national revolution in Italy. Led by the former socialist leader Benito Mussolini.
1920: The Pitchfork Uprising was a peasant uprising against the Soviet policy of the war communism in what is today Tatarstan.
1920: The Husino uprising in Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina

And that's the list for my father's lifetime. Revolution by the oppressed reaches farther back, of course.

1919–1922: The Turkish War of Independence commanded by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.
1919–1921: The Tambov Rebellion, one of the largest peasant rebellions against the Bolshevik regime during the Russian Civil War.
1919–1921: The Silesian Uprisings of the ethnic Poles against Weimar rule.
1919–1920: Iraqi revolt against the British and British-Indian troops, attempting to create a Muslim regime or the restoration of Ottoman rule.
1919: Simko Shikak revolt in Persia.
1919: March 1st movement In Korea against the Japanese occupation (1910). Ultimately fails but those who died are still remembered today.
1919: The Christmas Uprising in Montenegro: Montenegrins (Zelenaši) rebelled against unification of the Kingdom of Montenegro with the Kingdom of Serbia.
1919: A revolution in Hungary, resulting in the short-lived Hungarian Soviet Republic.
1918–1931: The Basmachi Revolt against Soviet Russia rule in Central Asia.
1918–1922: The Third Russian Revolution, a failed anarchist revolution against Bolshevism.
1918–1920: The Georgian–Ossetian conflict, the southern Ossetians revolted against Georgian rule.
1918–1919: The Greater Poland Uprising, Polish uprising against German authorities.
1918–1919: The 1919 Egyptian revolution against the British occupation of Egypt and Sudan.
1918–1919: A wave of strikes and student unrest shakes Peru. These events influence two of the dominant figures of Peruvian politics in the 20th century: Víctor Raúl Haya de la Torre and José Carlos Mariátegui.
1918: The Wilhelmshaven mutiny.
1918: The German Revolution overthrows the Kaiser; establishment of the Weimar Republic.
1918: The Finnish Civil War.
1917–1921: The Ukrainian Revolution.
1917: Thai Nguyen uprising of Vietnam, led by Trinh Van Can, against French colonialism
1917: The October Revolution in Russia: Bolshevik seizure of power in Russia and the establishment of the Soviet Union, sparking the Russian Civil War.
1917: The Green Corn Rebellion takes place in rural Oklahoma.
1917: The French Army Mutinies.
1917: The February Revolution in Russia overthrows Tsar Nicholas II.
1916–1947: The Indian people's struggle against the British for Indian Independence.
1916–1923: The Irish War of Independence, the period of nationalist rebellion, guerrilla warfare, political change and civil war which brought about the establishment of the independent nation, the Irish Free State. Sparking the Irish Civil War between pro-treaty forces and pro-republic forces
1916–1918: The Arab Revolt with the aim of securing independence from the Ottoman Empire.
1916–1917: The Tuareg rebellion against French colonial rule of the area around the Aïr Mountains of northern Niger.
1916: Cochinchina uprising of Vietnam against French colonialism
1916: The Easter Rising in Dublin, Ireland during which the Irish Republic was proclaimed.
1916: The Central Asian Revolt started when the Russian Empire government ended its exemption of Muslims from military service.
1916: An anti-French uprising in Algeria.
1915–1916: The National Protection War against the Empire of China headed by Emperor Yuan Shikai. The Republic of China was restored.
1915: The Armenian Revolt in city of Van against the Ottomans in Turkey.
1914–1915: The Boer Revolt against the British in South Africa.
1914: The Revolt of Peasants of Central Albania overthrows Prince William of Wied.
1914: The Ten Days War was a shooting war involving irregular forces of coal miners using dynamite and rifles on one side, opposed to the Colorado National Guard, Baldwin Felts detectives, and mine guards deploying machine guns, cannon and aircraft on the other, occurring in the aftermath of the Ludlow Massacre. The Ten Days War ended when federal troops intervened.
1913: The Second Revolution against President Yuan Shikai of China.
1912: The Albanian Revolt of 1912 against Ottoman Empire rule in Albania.
1911–1912: The Xinhai Revolution overthrows the ruling Qing Dynasty and establishment of the Republic of China.
1910–1920: The Mexican Revolution overthrows the dictator Porfirio Díaz; seizure of power by the Institutional Revolutionary Party.
1910–1911: The Sokehs Rebellion erupts in German-ruled Micronesia. Its primary leader, Somatau, is executed soon after being captured.
1910: The republican revolution in Portugal.
1910: The Albanian Revolt of 1910 against Ottoman centralization policies in Albania.
1909: Hauran Druze Rebellion
1908: The Young Turk Revolution: Young Turks force the autocratic ruler Abdul Hamid II to restore parliament and constitution in the Ottoman Empire.
1907: The Romanian Peasants' Revolt.
1905–1906: The Persian/Iranian constitutional revolution.
1905–1906: The Maji Maji Rebellion in German East Africa.
1905: The revolution of Therisso
1905: The failed bourgeois-liberal revolution against Tsar Nicholas II in Russia.
1904: A liberal revolution in Paraguay.
1903: The Ilinden–Preobrazhenie Uprising of the Macedonians in the Ottoman Empire breaks out.
1899–1902: The Philippine–American War, an insurgency against the imposition of colonial rule by the United States following the transfer of the Philippines from Spain to the U.S. in the Treaty of Paris which ended the Spanish–American War.
1899–1901: The Boxer Rebellion against foreign influence in areas such as trade, politics, religion and technology that occurred in China during the final years of the Qing Dynasty, which was defeated by the Eight-Nation Alliance.
1898: The Dukchi Ishan (Andican Uprising): Kirgiz, Uzbek, and Kipcak peoples rebelled against Tsarist Russia in Turkestan (Fargana Valley).
1898: A mob of white supremacists forced out the city government of Wilmington, North Carolina.
1897: The Intentona de Yauco a.k.a. the "Attempted Coup of Yauco", was the second and last major revolt against Spanish colonial rule in Puerto Rico, staged by Puerto Rico's pro-independence movement.
1896–98: The Philippine Revolution, a war of independence against Spanish rule directed by the Katipunan society.
1895–98: Cuban War of Independence, the last of three liberation wars that Cuba fought against Spain, initiated by Jose Marti.
1895–1896: The First Italo-Ethiopian War in which Ethiopians fought against Italians colonizers.
1895: The revolution against President Andrés Avelino Cáceres in Peru ushers in a period of stable constitutional rule.
1894–95: The Donghak Peasant Revolution: Korean peasants led by Jeon Bong-jun revolted against Joseon Dynasty; the revolt was crushed by Japanese and Chinese intervention, leading to First Sino-Japanese War.
1893: A liberal revolt brings José Santos Zelaya to power in Nicaragua.
1888: The Peasant Rebellion in Banten, Indonesia.
1885–96: Can Vuong movement of Vietnam, led by emperor Ham Nghi, against French colonialism
1885: The North-West Rebellion of Métis in Saskatchewan.
1885: A peasant revolt in the Ancash region of Peru led by Pedro Pablo Atusparía succeeds in occupying the Callejón de Huaylas for several months.
1882: The Urabi Revolt: an uprising in Egypt on June 11, 1882 against the Khedive and European influence in the country. It was led by and named after Colonel Ahmed Urabi.
1879: Little War (Cuba) or Small War, second of three conflicts between Cuban rebels and Spain. It started on 26 August 1879 and ended in rebel defeat in September 1880.
1877: The Satsuma Rebellion of Satsuma ex-samurai against the Meiji government.
1876: The April uprising, a revolt by the Bulgarian population against Ottoman rule.
1876: The second rebellion by Porfirio Díaz against President Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada of Mexico.
1875–77: The Herzegovinian rebellion, the most famous of the rebellions against the Ottoman Empire in Herzegovina; unrest soon spread to other areas of Ottoman Bosnia.
1875: The Deccan Riots.
1875: The Stara Zagora Uprising, a revolt by the Bulgarian population against Ottoman rule.
1871–72: Porfirio Díaz rebels against President Benito Juárez of Mexico.
1871: The Paris Commune.
1871: The liberal revolution in Guatemala.
1869–70: The Red River Rebellion, the events surrounding the actions of a provisional government established by Métis leader Louis Riel at the Red River Colony, Manitoba, Canada.
Ten Years' War (1868–1878), also known as the Great War (Guerra Grande) and the War of '68, was part of Cuba's fight for independence from Spain, led by Cuban-born planters (especially by Carlos Manuel de Céspedes) and other wealthy natives.
1868: The Glorious Revolution in Spain deposes Queen Isabella II.
1868: In the Grito de Lares, rebels proclaim the independence of Puerto Rico from Spain.
1867: The Fenian Rising: an attempt at a nationwide rebellion by the Irish Republican Brotherhood against British rule.
1866–68: The Meiji Restoration and modernization revolution in Japan. Samurai uprising leads to overthrow of shogunate and establishment of "modern" parliamentary, Western-style system.
1866: The Uprising of Polish political exiles in Siberia.
1865: The Morant Bay rebellion.
1863–65: The January Uprising was the Polish uprising against the Russian Empire.
1863: The New York Draft Riots.
1862–77: The Muslim Rebellion by Chinese Muslims against the Qing Dynasty.
1862: The Sioux Uprising in Minnesota.
1861–66: Quantrill's Raiders in Missouri.
1861–65: The American Civil War in the United States, between the United States and the Confederate States of America, which was formed out of eleven southern states.
1859: The Second Italian War of Independence.
1858–61: The War of the Reform in Mexico.
1858: Pecija's First Revolt, in Ottoman Bosnia.
1858: The Mahtra War in Estonia.
1857: The Indian rebellion against British East India Company, marking the end of Mughal rule in India. Also known as the 1857 War of Independence and, particularly in the West, the Sepoy Mutiny.
1855–73: The Panthay Rebellion by Chinese Muslims against the Qing Dynasty.
1854–73: The Miao Rebellion in China.
1854–56: The Red Turban Rebellion (1854–1856) in Guangdong (Canton), China
1854–56: Peasant Rebellion in Vietnam, led by Cao Ba Quat, against Nguyen Dynasty
1854–55: The Revolution of Ayutla in Mexico.
1854: The Eureka Rebellion (Eureka Stockade) in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia. Miners battled British Colonial forces against taxation policies of the Government.
1854: A revolution in Spain against the Moderate Party Government
1853–55: The Small Knife Society rebellion in Shanghai, China
1852–62: The Herzegovina Uprising (1852–62) in Ottoman Herzegovina.
1851–64: The Taiping Rebellion by the God Worshippers against the Qing Dynasty of China. In total between 20 and 30 million lives had been lost, making it the second deadliest war in human history.
Wallachian Revolution of 1848
The Young Irelander Rebellion of 1848 took place during the Great Famine.
The Revolutions of 1848 in the Italian states.
The Revolutions of 1848 in the German states.
The Revolutions of 1848 in the Danish States started in the German speaking cities of Altona and Kiel. It spilled into a peaceful revolution in Copenhagen, which abolished absolutism in favor of parliamentary constitutional monarchy, and a counter-revolutionary war against the German speaking minority.
The Hungarian Revolution of 1848 grew into a war for independence from Austrian Empire.
The French Revolution of 1848 led to the creation of the French Second Republic.
Moldavian Revolution of 1848.
1848: Matale Rebellion A rebellion in British-ruled Ceylon.
1848: The Revolutions of 1848 were a wave of failed liberal and republican revolutions that swept Europe.
1847: The Taos Revolt in New Mexico against the United States.
1847: The Maya Rebellion in Yucatán.
1841–1842: The Afghan uprising. Hostile Afghan tribes massacred Elphinstone's British army including some 12,000 civilian dependents and camp followers.
1837–1838: The Rebellions of 1837 and the Upper Canada Rebellion: failed republican revolutions against British rule in Canada.
1835–1845: The Ragamuffin War, Separatists gauchos revolutionaries declared the independence of the Rio Grande do Sul from Brazil.
1835–1836: Texas secedes from Mexico in the Texas Revolution.
1834–1859: Imam Shamil's rebellion in Russian-occupied Caucasus.
1833–1835: Lê Văn Khôi revolt in Vietnam, against Nguyễn dynasty
1832–1843: Abdelkader's rebellion in French-occupied Algeria.
1832: The June Rebellion in France.
1831–1832: The Bosnian uprising in Ottoman Empire.
1831: The Merthyr Rising in South Wales.
1830–1833: Yagan's War A revolt by the Noongar people against British rule. Aboriginal Australian resistance.
1830–1831: The November Uprising in Poland.
1830: The July Revolution, or the French Revolution of 1830, was a revolt by the middle class against Bourbon King Charles X which forced him out of office and replaced him with the Orleanist King Louis-Philippe (the "July Monarchy").
1830: The Belgian Revolution was a conflict in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands that began with a riot in Brussels in August 1830 and eventually led to the establishment of an independent, Catholic and neutral Belgium.
1829-1832: The War of the Maidens in Ariège, France. Countrymen dressed as women resisted the new forestry law, which restricted their use of the forest.
1829: The Bathurst War in New South Wales in Australia. Aboriginal Australian resistance against British rule.
1827–1828: The failed conservative rebellion in Mexico led by Nicolás Bravo.
1826–1828: The Lao rebellion an attempted but suppressed rebellion to restore the former kingdom of Lan Xang.
1826: The Janissary revolt in Ottoman Empire.
1825–1830: The Java War or Dipanegara Revolution, when the prince of Mataram Islam against the tax and land rent domination from Dutch.
1825: The Decembrist revolt in Russian Empire.
1822–1823: The republican revolution in Mexico overthrows Emperor Agustín de Iturbide.
1821–1829: The Greek War of Independence.
1820–1824: The revolutionary war of independence in Peru led by José de San Martín.
1820-1822: Ecuadorian War of Independence, fight between several South American armies and Spain over control of the lands of theRoyal Audience of Quito.
1820: Radical War or "Scottish Insurrection".
1820: Revolutions in Spain and Portugal.
1817: The Pernambucan Revolt, a republican separatist movement which resulted in the creation of the short-lived Republic of Pernambuco (7 March 1817 – 20 May 1817).
1817: The Pentrich Revolution, Derbyshire; an ill-fated attempt to overthrow the Government, unknowingly it was instigated by William Oliver, aka Oliver the Spy. Three men were executed in November 1817, and fourteen men were transported to NSW. The event is known as 'England's Last Revolution' (9–10 June 1817).
1815–1817: The Second Serbian Uprising against Ottomans.
1814: Hadži Prodan's Revolt in Serbia against Ottoman rule.
1812: The peasant rebellion of Hong Gyeong-nae against Joseon Dynasty of Korea.
1811: Paraguayan Revolt; Successful bloodless overthrow of the Spanish government in Paraguay by José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia, Fulgencio Yegros, Pedro Caballero and other military members.
1810–1821: The Mexican War of Independence, a revolution against Spanish colonialism.
1810: The West Florida rebellion against Spain, eventually becomes a short-lived republic.
1810: The Viceroy of the Río de la Plata Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros is deposed during the May Revolution.
1809–1810: The rebellion of Velu Thampi Dalawa of Travancore.
1809: Tyrolean Rebellion against French occupation forces, crushed after two months with the execution of its main leader Andreas Hofer
1809: The city of La Paz starts the La Paz revolution, headed by Pedro Murillo.
1809: The city of Chuquisaca, modern Sucre, starts the Chuquisaca Revolution.
1808–1833: Spanish American Wars of independence, successful war in which had an important role Simón Bolivar and, saw the creation of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador and many other countries
1808–1814: The Peninsular War.
1808: Rum Rebellion
1808: Kruščica Rebellion in Serbia against Austrian rule.
1808: The Dos de Mayo Uprising against the occupation of Madrid by French troops.
1807: Tican's Rebellion in Serbia against Austrian rule.
1804–1817: The Serbian Revolution against Ottoman rule erupts.
1804–1813: The First Serbian Uprising against Ottomans.
1804: Castle Hill convict rebellion
1803: The rebellion of Robert Emmet in Dublin, Ireland against British rule.
pre-1800–1872: Philippines revolts against Spain (See also 1896 and 1898 in this list).
1798: The Irish Rebellion of 1798 failed to overthrow British rule in Ireland.
1798: The Maltese Revolt in September 1798 against French administration in Malta. The French capitulated in September 1800 after they were blockaded inside the islands' harbour fortifications for two years.
1797: The Spithead and Nore mutinies were two major mutinies by sailors of the British Royal Navy.
1796–1804: The White Lotus Rebellion against the Qing Dynasty of China.
1795-1796: In those years broke out several slave rebellions in entire the Caribbean, influenced by the Haitian Revolution: in Cuba, Jamaica (Second Maroon War), Dominica(Colihault Uprising), Saint Lucia (Bush War, so-called “Guerre des Bois”), Saint Vicent (Second Carib War), Grenada (Fedon Rebellion), Curaçao (led by Tula), Guyana(Demerara Rebellion) and in Coro, Venezuela (led by José Leonardo Chirino).
1794: The Polish revolt.
1794: Protests over taxes leads to the Whiskey rebellion in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and the Monongahela Valley. President George Washington invokes martial law and squashes insurrection with 13,000 troops.
1793–1796: The Revolt in the Vendée was popular uprising against the Republican government during the French Revolution.
1793: Slave rebellion produced in the Guadeloupe island following the outbreak of the French Revolution.
1791–1804: The Haitian Revolution: A successful slave rebellion, led by Toussaint Louverture, establishes Haiti as the first free, black republic.
1790: Saxon Peasants' Revolt sparked by noble gamekeeping rights and exacerbated by a harsh winter and summer drought. Raged during summer 1790, but crushed militarily by September.
1789-1791: Liège Revolution, the price-bishops of Liège were overthrown by a popular uprising
1789-1790: Brabant Revolution in the Austrian Netherlands (modern Belgium) crushed in 1790.
1789: The French Revolution is regarded as one of the most influential of all modern socio-political revolutions and is associated with the rise of the bourgeoisie and the downfall of the aristocracy.
1788: Kočina Krajina Serb rebellion, against the Ottoman Empire
1786–1787: Shays' Rebellion in Massachusetts against court proceedings collecting taxes and debts
1780–1782: José Gabriel Condorcanqui, known as Túpac Amaru II, raises an indigenous peasant army in revolt against Spanish control of Peru. Julián Apasa, known as Tupac Katari allied with Tupac Amaru and lead an indigenous revolt in Alto Peru (preset dayBolivia) nearly destroying the city of La Paz in a siege.
1775–1783: The American Revolution establishes independence of the thirteen North American colonies from Great Britain, creating the republic of the United States of America.
1775: The Rising of the Priests in Malta.
1773–1775: Pugachev's Rebellion was the largest peasant revolt in Russia's history. Between the end of the Pugachev rebellion and the beginning of the 19th century, there were hundreds of outbreaks across Russia.
1771–1802?: The Tây Sơn Revolt, annihilation of the ruling Trịnh and Nguyễn clans as well as the Lê Dynasty in Đại Việt.
1770: The Orlov Revolt in Peloponnese.
1769 - 1773: First Carib War, military conflict between the Carib inhabitants of Saint Vincent and British military forces supporting British efforts at colonial expansion on the island.
1768: The Rebellion of 1768 by Creole and German settlers objecting to the turnover of the Louisiana Territory from New France toNew Spain.
1763–1766: Pontiac's Rebellion by numerous North American Indian tribes who joined the uprising in an effort to drive British soldiers and settlers out of the Great Lakes region.
1749: The Conspiracy of the Slaves, an unsuccessful slave rebellion in Malta.
1748: Uprising led by Juan Francisco de León in Panaquire, Venezuela, against monopoly interests and the dominance of the Royal Company Guipuzcoana in terms of trade cocoa.
1745–1746: The Jacobite Rising in Scotland.
1744–1829: The Dagohoy Rebellion in the Philippines that lasted for 85 years.
1743: The Fourth Dalecarlian Rebellion in Sweden.
1731: Samba Rebellion – Failed plot by African slaves in French Louisiana to rebel.
1729: Natchez revolt – Attack by the Natchez on French colonists.
1722: Afghan rebels defeated Shah Sultan Hossein and ended the Safavid dynasty.
1715: The First Jacobite Rebellion in the north of England and in Cornwall, advocating the claims of James Stuart, the Old Pretenderagainst the newly installed House of Hanover.
1709: Mir Wais Hotak, an Afghani tribal leader, led a successful rebellion against Gurgin Khan, the Persian governor of Kandahar.
1707–1709: The Bulavin Rebellion in Imperial Russia.
1703–1711: The Rákóczi Uprising against the Habsburgs.
1702–1715: The Camisard Rebellion in France.
1698: The Streltsy Uprising in Russia.
1693: The Second Brotherhood in Valencia, prompted by feudal taxation.
1689: Karposh's Rebellion against Ottoman Empire.
1688–1746: The Jacobite risings were a series of uprisings, rebellions, and wars in the British Isles occurring between 1688 and 1746.
1688: The Siamese revolution of 1688, the overthrow of pro-foreign Siamese king Narai by Mandarin Phetracha.
1688: The Glorious Revolution in England overthrew King James II and established a Whig-dominated Protestant constitutional monarchy.
1687–1689: The Revolt of the Barretinas in Catalonia, prompted by the quartering & upkeep of Spanish soldiers, and intensified by French agents.
1682: The Moscow Uprising of the Moscow Streltsy regiments.
1680–1692: The Pueblo Revolt against Spanish settlers in New Mexico.
1676: Bacon's Rebellion in Virginia.
1676: The Bashkir Rebellion against Russian rule.
1675–1676: King Philip's War between Indians and English settlers, sometimes called Metacom's Rebellion.
1672–1678: The Messina Revolt. The Sicilian revolt against Spanish rule took place during the Franco-Dutch War of Louis XIV; the rebels were supported by France.
1672–1674: The Lipka Rebellion, an uprising of Polish Tatars against the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.
1672: The Pasthun rebellion against the Mughals.
1669: The Jat uprising under Gokula. The Hindu Jats in the Agra district revolted against the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb.
1668–1676: The Solovetsky Monastery Uprising.
1668: The Sikhs in the Anandpur revolted against the Mughal Empire.
1665–1709: The Kongo Civil War under the Kingdom of the Congo.
1664–1670: Magnate conspiracy: The Zrinski, Wesselényi and Frankopan uprising against the Habsburgs.
1648–1653: The Fronde, in France.
1648: The Khmelnytsky Uprising of Cossacks in Ukraine against Polish nobility in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.
1647: The Naples Revolt.
1645: Second Guale revolt against the Spanish missions in Florida, nearly shaking off the missions.
1644: The Li Zicheng Uprising overthrew the Ming dynasty.
1642–1660: The English Revolution, commencing as a civil war between Parliament and the King, and culminating in the execution of Charles I and the establishment of a republican Commonwealth, which was succeeded several years later by the Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell.
1641: The Irish Rebellion of 1641.
1640–1652: The Catalan Revolt.
1640–1644: The Vlach uprising against Habsburg rule in Moravia.
1640: The Portuguese Revolt against Spanish Empire.
1637–1638: The Shimabara Rebellion of Japanese Christians.
1618–1625: The Bohemian Revolt against the Habsburgs. Rebellion was part of the Thirty Years' War.
1616–1620: The Tepehuán Revolt was when the Tepehuánes of Durango revolted against the Spaniards.
1606–1607: The Bolotnikov rebellion for the abolition of serfdom, which was part of the Time of Troubles in Russia.
1601: Acaxee Rebellion an insurrection against Spanish rule in Mexico perpetrated by Acaxee Native Americans.
1597: First Guale revolt developed in Florida against the Spanish missions and led by Juanillo (the Juanillo´s revolt).
1596–97: The Serb Uprising against the Ottomans.
1596: The Club War uprising in Finland.
1594–1603: The Nine Years' War or 'Tyrone's Rebellion' in Ulster, Ireland against English rule in Ireland.
1594: The Banat Uprising.
1573: The Croatian–Slovene peasant revolt.
1568–1571: The Morisco rebellions in Granada by the remnants of the Morisco community (Spanish Christian converts from Islam ["crypto-Muslims"]) in Habsburg Spain.
1567–1799 and beyond: Philippine revolts against Spain.
1566–1648: Eighty Years' War; revolt of the Low Countries against Spain.
1549: Kett's Rebellion.
1549: The Prayer Book Rebellion in Cornwall and Devon, England.
1542: The Dacke War in Sweden.
1524–1525: The German Peasants' War in the Holy Roman Empire.
1520–1522: The Revolt of the Comuneros against the rule of Spanish king and Holy Roman Emperor Charles V.
1519–1610: The Jelali revolts in Anatolia against the authority of the Ottoman Empire.
1519–1523: The first Revolt of the Brotherhoods in Valencia, an anti-monarchist, anti-feudal, and anti-Muslim autonomist movement inspired by the Italian republics.
1516: Trần Cảo Rebellion in Vietnam, against Lê dynasty
1515–1523: The Frisian rebellion of the Arumer Black Heap, led by Pier Gerlofs Donia and Wijerd Jelckama.
1515: The Slovene peasant revolt.
1514: A peasants' war led by György Dózsa in the Kingdom of Hungary.
1499-1501: The Rebellion of the Alpujarras by the Muslim population of the Kingdom of Granada, in response to mass and forced conversion of the Muslim population to the Catholic faith.
1497: The Cornish Rebellion of 1497 in England.
1467–1470: Second Irmandiño War in Galicia.
1462–1485: The Rebellion of the Remences in Catalonia.
1450: The Kent rebellion led by Jack Cade.
1444–1468: Skenderbeg's rebellion in Ottoman-ruled Albania.
1437: The Bobâlna (Bábolna) revolt in Transylvania, using military tactics inspired by the Hussites wars.
1434: A Swedish peasant rebellion breaks out against the Danes.
1431–1435: First Irmandiño War in Galicia.
1426: Tepanec Civil War a Mesoamerican revolt after a Tepanec king, Tezozomoc, died.
1420: The Bohemian Hussites begin a rebellion against both Catholicism and the Holy Roman Empire. The wars that ensue are known as the Hussite Wars.
1418–1427: Vietnamese led by Lê Lợi revolted against Chinese occupation.
1400–1415 The Welsh revolt led by Owain Glyndŵr.
1390s: The revolts that broke out all over Persia while Timur Lenk was away were repressed with ruthless vigour; whole cities were destroyed, their populations massacred, and towers built of their skulls.
1381: The Peasants' Revolt, or the Great Rising of 1381, in England.
1378: The Revolt of the Ciompi in Florence.
1368: Zhu Yuanzhang led peasant Han Chinese in a rebellion against the Mongol Yuan dynasty, establishing the Ming dynasty.
1356–1358: Jacquerie: a peasant revolt in northern France, during the Hundred Years' War.
1354: The revolt of Cola di Rienzi in Rome.
1343–1345: the St. George's Night Uprising in Estonia.
1332–1357: The second instalment of the Wars of Scottish Independence, leading again to renewed Scottish independence from England and the Treaty of Berwick.
1323–1328: Beginning as a series of scattered rural riots in late 1323, the Peasant revolt in Flanders escalated into a full-scale rebellion and ended with the Battle of Cassel.
1302: The Battle of the Golden Spurs in Flanders, after which the French were ousted.
1296–1328: The First of the Wars of Scottish Independence between Scotland and England, leading to renewed Scottish independence in 1328.
1282: The Sicilian Vespers, an uprising against the rule of the French/Angevin king Charles I on the island resulting in thousands of dead French occupiers and a shift in European power.
1250: The Mamluks killed the last sultan of the Ayyubid dynasty, and established the Bahri dynasty.
1242–1249: The First Prussian Uprising against the Teutonic Knights, which took place during the Northern Crusades.
1237–1239: The Babai Revolt in Anatolia against Seljuks of Rum.
1233–1234: The Stedinger revolt in Frisia caused Pope Gregory IX to call on a crusade.
1185: The Vlach-Bulgarian Rebellion against Byzantine Empire.
1156: The Hōgen Rebellion succeeded in establishing the dominance of the samurai clans and eventually the first samurai-led government in the history of Japan.
1125: The Almohads began a rebellion in the Atlas Mountains.
1095: Rebellion of northern nobles against William Rufus.
1090: Hassan-i Sabbah took over Alamut for Hashshashin.
1034–1038: The Serbs' revolt against the Byzantine Empire led by Vojislav of Duklja.
987–989: Rebellion of Bardas Phokas the Younger against Basil II.
982: The great revolt of the pagan Polabian Slavs of the lower Elbe against the Holy Roman Empire.
976–979: Rebellion of Bardas Skleros against Basil II.
970: Abortive revolt of Bardas Phokas the Younger following the usurpation of John I Tzimiskes from Nikephoros II Phokas.
943–947: The great revolt of Abu Yazid, a Khariji Berber leader who assembled a large tribal coalition against Fatimid rule.
923: The revolt against Bulgaria in the frontier region of Bulgaria and Serbia, instigated by Prince Zaharija of Serbia.
899–906: The Qarmatians, an extremist Ismā'īlī Muslim sect centered in eastern Arabia, revolted against Abbasids.
884: Umar ibn Hafsun led anti-Umayyad dynasty forces in southern Spain.
875–884: A rebellion by salt smuggler Huang Chao against Tang dynasty China, which later collapsed due to the destabilization caused by the rebellion.
869–883: The Zanj Rebellion of black African slaves in Iraq. The Zanj Rebellion was crushed in 883 by the Abbasids.
864: Yahya ibn Umar lead an abortive uprising from Kufa against the Abbasid Caliph Al-Musta'in.
861: Ya'qub bin Laith as-Saffar established Saffarid dynasty. He seized control of the Seistan region, conquering modern-day eastern Iran, much of Afghanistan, and parts of Pakistan. Ya'qub bin Laith as-Saffar started his campaign as a bandit and formed his own army.
845: The rebellion by the famous naval commander Jang Bogo against Silla, ended when Jang was assassinated.
841: Failed pro-Umayyad rebellion of al-Mubarqa in Palestine against the Abbasid Caliphate.
828: The failed rebellion by Kim Heon-chang against Silla.
824–836: The revolt of Arab troops in Tunisia against Aghlabids was only put down with the help of the Berbers.
821–823: The rebellion of Thomas the Slav against Michael II the Amorian engulfs most of the Byzantine Empire.
817–837: The revolt of the Iranian Khurramites led by Babak Khorramdin.
815: Muhammad ibn Ja'far al-Sadiq led an unsuccessful revolt against the Abbasid Caliph Al-Ma'mun.
814: Al-Hakam I crushed a rebellion of Iberian Muslims led by clerics in a suburb called al-Ribad on the south bank of the Guadalquivir river.
811–825: Qaysi rebellion in Upper Mesopotamia under Nasr ibn Shabath al-Uqayli.
791: Phùng Hưng Uprising of Vietnam against Chinese domination
782–785: The Saxon revolt against Charlemagne. Rebellion was part of Saxon Wars.
762: Alid Revolt of Muhammad ibn Abdallah in Medina and of his brother Ibrahim in Basra against the second Abbasid Caliph, Al-Mansur.
755–763: The An Lushan Rebellion by powerful Jiedushi An Lushan in Tang dynasty, which caused heavy damage in China in terms of population and economy.
755: Abd al-Rahman I landed at Almuñécar in al-Andalus. Abd ar-Rahman I was the founder of a Muslim dynasty that ruled the greater part of Iberia for nearly three centuries.
754: Abdallah ibn Ali's bid for the Caliphate against al-Mansur after al-Saffah's death. Abdallah's army is defeated by Abu Muslim.
747–750: The Abbasid Revolution overthrows the Umayyad dynasty. Under Abdallah ibn Ali, most of the members of the Umayyad house are persecuted and killed.
744–746/7: Alid uprising of Abdallah ibn Mu'awiya.
740–743: The Great Berber Revolt in Maghreb against the Umayyads marked the first successful secession from the Arab caliphate (ruled from Damascus).
740: The Zaidi Revolt against the Umayyad dynasty.
734–736: Revolt of Al-Harith ibn Surayj in Khurasan against the Umayyads.
713: Mai Thúc Loan Uprising of Vietnam against Chinese domination
685–699: The Azraqi Khariji revolt in Iraq and Iran against the Umayyad Caliphate.
623: An uprising of Slavs led by Samo against Avars.
614–625: Jewish revolt against Heraclius -- a Jewish insurrection against the Byzantine Empire and its leader Heraclius.
613: A rebellion by Yang Xuangan in China was crushed by the Sui dynasty.
541: Lý Nam Đế Uprising of Vietnam against Chinese domination
532: The Nika revolt in Constantinople.
496: Mazdak led a Persian socialistic movement and converted Shahanshah Kavadh I of the Persian empire before the latter was overthrown by the nobility.
484-572: Samaritan Revolts against the Byzantine empire led by the Samaritans.
351–352: Jewish revolt against Constantius Gallus -- Jewish Palestinian revolts against Constantius Gallus and the Eastern Roman Empire
291–306: War of the Eight Princes in Jin dynasty of China
286: Rebels in Gaul, known as Bagaudae, are crushed by the Caesar Maximian and his subordinate Carausius, working for Augustus Diocletian.
251, 255, 257–258: Three Rebellions in Shouchun are 3 failed attempts to remove the Sima clan from power in Cao Wei dynasty in the Three Kingdoms period of China.
248: Lady Triệu Uprising of Vietnam against Chinese Domination
184: Zhang Jue led an unsuccessful peasant revolt called the Yellow Turban Rebellion during the later Han dynasty, which later collapsed due to destabilization and lack of co-ordination with other Yellow Turban forces across China.
132–135: The Bar Kokhba revolt, the third and last of the Jewish–Roman wars.
115–117: The Kitos War, the second of the Jewish–Roman wars.
69–70: The Batavian rebellion in the Roman province of Germania Inferior.
66–70: The Great Jewish Revolt, the first of three Jewish–Roman wars that took place in Judaea Province against the Roman Empire.
60–61: Boudica, queen of the Celtic Iceni people of Norfolk in Roman-occupied Britain, led a major uprising of the Briton tribes against the occupying forces of the Roman Empire
40–43: Trưng Sisters Uprising of Vietnam against Chinese Domination
18–25: The Red Eyebrow Rebellion and Green Forest Rebellion against Xin dynasty in China, in which the Green Forest Army later defeated Red Eyebrow Army and restored Han dynasty.
9: The Arminius revolt against the Roman Empire; alliance of Germanic tribes led by Arminius ambushed and annihilated three Roman legions led by Publius Quinctilius Varusin the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest.
6–9: The Great Illyrian Revolt of various Illyrian tribes against the Roman Empire

Saturday, March 19, 2016

Do we really affect the ecosystem?

Of course.  In any closed system, everything affects everything.
... the giraffes are happy   

Want an example?

The wildebeest population is booming!
  • Giraffes on the Serengeti are flourishing in greater numbers these days.
  • That's because the acacia trees they feed on are spreading in greater numbers.
  • That's because the fires that would normally consume the acacia seedlings have declined.
  • That's because the grasslands that would burn have been kept short by grazing.
  • That's because the wildebeest population has increased from 200k to 1.4m.
  • That's because the rinderpest (cattle-plague) virus has been ended worldwide.
  • That's because it was killing our cows, so we developed a vaccine and spent decades on eradication.

Human intervention.  We were just tending to our cows; we didn't know the broader impact it would have.

Another example?

  • Along the 1200 mile coastline for Africa's Gulf of Guinea, folks have a hard time getting enough to eat; a balanced diet is difficult, but it used to be easier.
  • That's because there used to be plenty of fish in the coastal waters, and fishermen could do well close to home, but not now.
  • That's because fish populations are down about 90% in recent decades, and fishermen now have to go far offshore to catch anything worth the effort involved.
  • That's because of pollution from the Niger Delta oil fields and pipelines.  Most of the fish worth eating are gone and the indigenous fisherman are going hungry along with their families.
  • That's because the oil industry in Nigeria is corrupt enough and poorly managed enough to spill as much oil as the Exxon Valdez into the gulf.  Every year.  For fifty years.
  • That's because folks care more about oil and money than about people starving to death, apparently.  BP Shell and their customers and partners are doing that still today.  Nuts.
  • Illegal overfishing (IUU) by boats from China, Japan, and others is devastating as well.  If both problems were resolved, recovery would still take a century or more.  About 40% of the region's families depend on fishing for survival.

Bright, hardworking people, they struggle against
local and international policies that favor the
wealthy at the expense of everyone else.

On the Gulf of Guinea are the countries of
Ghana, Benin, Togo, Nigeria, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea,
Gabon, and the island nation of Sao Tome & Principe.
Annobón Island at the gulf's southern extreme
Our friends live there, and we've seen it up close.  About 25% of the children are undernourished, underweight and under height for age (stunted); they'll have health problems for the rest of their lives.  Working with local agencies, we're attempting to help families rise above the maze of neglect and disenfranchisement in which they have lived for centuries.


Everything affects everything.  In case there was any question.

And the glaciers are melting.




More science insights that will probably have worldwide impact are available in The Serengeti Rules: The Quest to Discover How Life Works and Why It Matters by Sean Carroll

Thursday, March 17, 2016

The Trump Message





The words?  You'll recall that communication is perhaps 15% verbal content.  The rest is heard but not said, the non-verbal portion of what is in fact conveyed to the 'listener'.  It's the meaning conveyed by body language and gesture, by expression and tone.


It's possible then that those gathering around the Trump stump don't care nearly so much for what he's said as for what he might mean in some larger context.


So then, what is Trump conveying apart from his inflammatory verbiage?  Particularly, what might be resonating so well with his primarily working-class and conservative supporters?


Possible non-verbal content, what some might be echoing in their own mind as Trump speaks:

  • "I'm tired of taking care of everything and everybody except our folks who work for a living."
  • "I've pretty much had it with Congress and with politicians in general."
  • "Trade deals are made for the benefit of the rich, and I get the shaft."
  • "Government has gotten sleazy and stupid, and I've had enough."
  • "We're paying the bill for everything, stupid or otherwise."
  • "Our tax system is incomprehensible unless you're rich."
  • "Politically correct is for the brainless and gutless."
  • "Politicians are bought, they're pawns."
  • "Quit talking about it and crush ISIS."
  • "Quit giving my jobs to China!"
  • "Because f--- you, that's why."

Those aren't things Trump said, but his followers have the impression that's what he means.  True?

Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya -- how would Trump have handled those issues?
The Great Recession and the crooked players on Wall Street -- how would Trump have followed up?
NAFTA plus the Atlantic and Pacific trade agreements -- what would Trump agree to?
Ferguson?  San Bernardino?  Sandy Hook?  Aurora?  Columbine?  Ft. Hood?  Blacksburg?  Violence is part of our lives.  How would Trump respond?
Climate change and the global ecosystem -- would Trump have an opinion?  Would he act?

Can we tell from the persona we see portrayed?  Would things improve?




Tuesday, March 15, 2016

Lies about love - Part II

in·sip·id
   inˈsipid/
adjective
  • lacking vigor or interest; meaningless
    • "many artists continued to churn out insipid, shallow works", "insipid pictures"
synonyms: unimaginative, uninspired, uninspiring, characterless, flat, uninteresting,lackluster, dull, drab, boring, dry, humdrum, ho-hum, monochrome,tedious, uneventful, run-of-the-mill, commonplace, pedestrian, trite,tired, hackneyed, stale, lame, wishy-washy, colorless, anemic, lifeless


in·sip·id love
a relational context 
  • a shallow relationship and of little value; lacking significant investment; meaningless
    • "insipid love, just a warm feeling without meaningful commitment, durability, cost, involvement, load sharing"

English is a poor language for discussions about love. In today's common usage, the word conveys a sense of affection, good feelings associated with being together, and perhaps a measure of admiration. It has to be embellished in order to be other than small and soft-edged; e.g., great love, earth-shaking love, crazy love, etc.


There is, however, a mountaintop where we find the real thing, and everything less pales in insignificance.  In classic literature, love (agape [Greek], caritas [Latin], charity) is perhaps the most powerful of all personal choices and actions.  It means making a place in one's life for another, forgoing self-interest in favor of another, it means doing what is right because it affects another, and it means personal sacrifice up to and including one's own life in doing well for another.  The one who loves will adjust their goals and refocus their life for the sake of another.  Real love costs all one has, and it's worth it.

To suggest that a person is loving or that a community or even a nation is loving (yet they remain far below the mountaintop) is inaccurate.  Short of the real thing, it's insipid, is it not.

An imperfect heart exists in us all, and the price is high if we hope to perhaps reach a life of genuine love.  It is, as it turns out, a lifetime of learning and changing.  To love truly is to live with the deep pain of caring and the immeasurably greater joy of lifting another up.  

One can truly love another.
One can truly love a people.
One can truly love their country.
One can truly love the world.  
In fact, that's the good news for us all, and it's not a gentle breeze.  More a cat 5 hurricane, perhaps.



If you've read this far, you might appreciate Part I.