The Revolution of Hope
The Revolution of Hope is a book about change. It’s about the changes that have occurred in the past to bring us to where we are, and the changes we need to make now in order to create a better world. The book aims to provide a strategy for surviving the current economic and political climate, planting the seeds for a better system from within. In order to do so, it analyses the logical composition and operation of the current world systems. Fundamentally, this means the Capitalist system of economics, that in the last century has gone from merely dominant to near-omnipresent. We now live in a society where money controls more things than ever, where every aspect of community is for sale. To me, though, Capitalism means far more than just the monetary system — it is the very core attitudes of society, the basis of how we treat each other. It is precisely because Capitalism is all-encompassing, that we are somewhat unaware of its prescence, unable to fathom any other way of live. The only times we do notice are when the system starts to fail, as it inevitably does — we do not notice the glass, only the cracks.
I have decided to serialise the book for online reading for two main reasons. One is so that it can be more-easily accessed and referenced by others, and also reference itself, becoming a linked document rather than a linear script. It allows me to more-easily reference parts of the book from my comments and blog posts. The other is that going through the book, chapter by chapter, to post here, allows me to review and change as I go. I can also easily change chapters after they are published. This turns the book into a live document, which is advantageous given the changing nature of the world. As I publish the book here, I will be taking the chance to correct, to improve, to include more references and tighten my arguments. When I first wrote the book, it was somewhat of a mental dump of everything I had come to know about Capitalism; now, I can take the time to clarify those thoughts.
It is a difficult time for the modern left. Despite widespread anger at banks and other overt icons of Capitalism, there is still little awareness of the core issues. The major left parties in many countries, especially here in the UK, are no longer left-leaning at all, but right-of-centre. We still live in the shadow of Thatcher and Reagan, with neo-liberal and policies generally perceived to have “won” the debate and now be the “only way”. It often seems that the major leftist bodies that once stood for progress now pitch themselves as “not as right as the right”.
To those who seek an understanding of the system that surrounds us, even an awareness of its existence, I hope this book provides a reasonable starting point.