There is far too much history behind this to recount. But I am not talking about what revolutions are and they do, I am talking about the love affair that ensues in their pursuit. Revolution is an exhilarating concept, it gives you dreams and hopes of a new and different world. Revolutions are like love affairs, stories in romance and our love for them is as unending and sincere, at least for the moment. The revolution may of any kind at all, for your country, for your kind, for your ideals and beliefs, anything at all. It is not the revolution itself that is so exciting, its you, you the person who is so excited about a prospect, of which you have no guarantees but lots of hope and admiration. Revolution is the game of the young. In this boring and perpetually purposeless world, revolutions give us the meaning we are looking for. They give us something to look forward to, they give us something to hold on to and some to associate ourselves with, thereby finding meaning in association. Throughout history young people have been the fuel of revolutions because they have unspent energy available, they are looking for some meaning and purpose, they get emotionally attached quickly and they are always looking for the new world rather than sticking with the current one. Older people have lost the charm and been disillusioned by it all. They have lost hope for the new world. That is why they only provide the leadership.
Like any love affair, in revolutions there are idols and images that are worshipped. These are charming yet imposing, grand in the mind of their fans. Following them, or even just wearing their T-Shirts gives people a vicarious sense of greatness, or glory by proxy. We do crave some glory, even if it is borrowed.
The thing about these images is that they are not perfect by any standards. Its like a picture with blots and blemishes which looks even more sublime in its imperfection. But beware, the idea is not to pronounce these imperfections but to subdue them with the greatness. Hence, a lot more talk of why they don't matter in the face of what is the ideal and ultimate objective. This unfortunately is only a defense mechanism for us. As people, we are not unbiased and objective. Bad aspects just make things bad, so we don't say them and concentrate on the bright side. This is like a self-perpetuating and self fulfilling prophecy and it ultimately makes our revolutionary images and notions more "romance worthy".
My personal belief on this romantic affair is that for the people it is nothing more than a means of self discovery. It is not the revolution or the reason for revolution, but, they, themselves that needs meaning and attention and it is this needs that drives them behind the scenes. People who follow every other revolution, from fashion to fanaticism are hardly the owners of the revolution and many a times don't have that big a stake in it. Yet, it is they who are its day to day purveyors, which just goes to show that they have "some" axe to grind, not necessarily the revolutionary one. It has like become a fact of life, like growing old, to be revolutionaries at young age and un-revolutionaries at old. The same people, the same world, the same facts, the same old blood but only different age group. Have your romance and then grow up seems to be the rule.
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