Here's a Thought: Revolution #999

You say you want a revolution
Well you know
We’d all want to change the world
- Lennon/McCartney (but really more Lennon)

A couple of key points: there is no financial reward for writing this column. It’s a job, but more a labor of love.

I am beholden to no one (except my editor). I don’t have an agenda, other than telling the truth. This sets me apart, and sets New Christian Voices apart, and obviously sets the Internet apart from your favorite news source. Because your favorite news source has all sorts of agendas, and the truth is not always a priority there.

The truth, as we all know, can be anything you want it to be in 2009. You can make the case that there is no such thing as the truth, but that’s a different column.

What is happening in Iran today is a revolution, but it’s not so much a political revolution as it is a technological-social revolution. News is being filmed and reported by people who are not journalists, and (this is the revolutionary part) they’re doing a better job than the people who get paid to broadcast news. As of now, who needs CNN, FOX and MSNBC? I’d bring up CBS News, but they’ve been dead for years. The world is changing minute-to-minute, it’s all being recorded and told as it happens, and the technology that we’ll all be using in five years hasn’t been invented yet. That is revolutionary. It’s scary, exciting, frustrating and exhilarating all at the same time. What a great age to live in!

What is happening politically in Iran is NOT a revolution. I really don’t care if what I’m about to say is callous because it’s the truth.

The young Iranian woman, Neda, whose video has touched millions of people around the world, understands what a political revolution is. She died for what she believed in. She was murdered by her own country! Politicians were afraid of what she represented and what she wanted. She was murdered because she frightened the dictators and the powerful men in authority.

Many were killed in Iran this week, but now the cause has been muted. The government is going to win this non-revolution. The Ayatollah, who is really the head of the government and the reason that innocent people are dying, will not be leaving his position any time soon. The military and the police have stopped the demonstrations with violence and force, and the people have stopped retaliating.

That is what sets The American Revolution, The French Revolution and any other successful revolution you can think of apart. This is because the masses revolted, and the government couldn’t stop them with their armies and their police and their institutional power. People were willing to die for what they believed in. More people wanted revolution than wanted the status quo. That is the difference in Iran, and probably in Iraq and other Middle Eastern countries; most people are willing to go along with the dictators and the fear of their own government, rather than fight or risk their lives. I don’t know if that’s a religious/Islam thing, or a cultural thing or just fear. I do know that the Ayatollah and the regime in Iran were scared to death, came to a tipping point and stopped what could have been a revolution.

I saw what I needed to see on the ‘net. I get the story. I understand what’s going on. Nothing is going to change, unless someone takes out the Ayatollah. Tweet me when it’s over.

Taylor Mason is a comedian, a musician, a ventriloquist and a writer (he can’t seem to hold a real job). He has headlined every major comedy club in the United States, and as played Carnegie Hall and The Sydney Opera House in Australia. He has been part of two Emmy-winning television programs, including his children’s TV show, “Taylor’s Attic.” He is featured in comedy DVDs "Thou Shalt Laugh," "Thou Shalt Laugh 2" and "Thou Shalt Laugh 3," plus two episodes of the hit comedy series “Bananas.” Taylor works a mind-boggling 200 nights a year, in front of every kind of audience, and has managed to stay married for the past 22 years to his wife, Marsia. They have two teen-aged sons and live in New Jersey (the only state in America that uses air freshener … outdoors).

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