Permanent revolution
Okay kiddo, imagine you are building a big tower out of blocks. As you stack the blocks higher and higher, you might think you're getting closer to finishing the tower. But every time you put a new block on top, you realize you need to add more blocks at the bottom to keep it steady. This is a bit like what happens with permanent revolution.
Permanent revolution is an idea that comes from Marxist theory, which is all about how economies and societies work. According to Marxists, the only way to create a fair and equal society is to overthrow the rulers (or capitalists) who control most of the wealth and power. But once the rulers are overthrown, it's not enough to just replace them with new rulers. The whole system needs to be transformed from top to bottom.
That's where permanent revolution comes in. Instead of just trying to change one part of society at a time, it argues that the only way to truly transform society is to keep pushing for change on all fronts, all the time. Like with the tower of blocks, every time you make progress in one area, you need to go back and reinforce the foundation so it doesn't collapse.
For example, let's say you want to improve working conditions for factory workers. You might succeed in getting better wages or shorter hours, but if you don't also address the fact that the factory owners hold most of the power, they can just find ways to keep exploiting the workers in other ways. So you need to keep pushing for workers to have more control over their workplaces and to eventually replace the capitalist system with a more democratic one.
In short, permanent revolution is about never being satisfied with just making small reforms or settling for partial victories. It's about seeing the need for radical change at every level of society and always pushing for more.
Permanent revolution is an idea that comes from Marxist theory, which is all about how economies and societies work. According to Marxists, the only way to create a fair and equal society is to overthrow the rulers (or capitalists) who control most of the wealth and power. But once the rulers are overthrown, it's not enough to just replace them with new rulers. The whole system needs to be transformed from top to bottom.
That's where permanent revolution comes in. Instead of just trying to change one part of society at a time, it argues that the only way to truly transform society is to keep pushing for change on all fronts, all the time. Like with the tower of blocks, every time you make progress in one area, you need to go back and reinforce the foundation so it doesn't collapse.
For example, let's say you want to improve working conditions for factory workers. You might succeed in getting better wages or shorter hours, but if you don't also address the fact that the factory owners hold most of the power, they can just find ways to keep exploiting the workers in other ways. So you need to keep pushing for workers to have more control over their workplaces and to eventually replace the capitalist system with a more democratic one.
In short, permanent revolution is about never being satisfied with just making small reforms or settling for partial victories. It's about seeing the need for radical change at every level of society and always pushing for more.
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