Rebellion Discuss the Problem of How People Term Paper

Rebellion

Discuss the problem of how people feel excluded from society and how that leads to rebellion.

Within the fabric of every society are groups of people bonded together through their similar values, culture, race etc. The groups that bond together are prone to exclude others because of their differences. At times these similarities and differences work well together to produce a productive feeling; however, at times the feeling becomes negative and affects the society adversely as one group begins to feel resentment towards the other. This resentment can lead to full fledged rebellion and usually takes place when the basic needs of the group are affected. Consider feelings of nationalism, racism, economic upheaval all of which can individually or collectively combine to create a vortex of aggressive emotions.

In the French Revolution the masses rebelled against the aristocracy as they were getting richer at the expense of the poor. The complete ignorance towards the peasant community created a social and economic stratum that was hard to ignore and as the masses needs were ignored there as created an exclusion that finally gave rise to a bloody rebellion. In the early twentieth century the United States saw a series of Civil Rights Movements as women, blacks and laborers individually rose against white patriarchal America and demanded their rights. For centuries they had been working on the fringes of society, a part of society and yet, with no civil rights. They rebelled against this unfair exclusion and created history as democracy set in.

Throughout history and in various parts of the world such rebellions can be seen and studied and we realize they all have one thing in common: frustration reaching such heights that rebellion becomes inevitable.

Analysis:

Sociologists suggest that when a group of people are excluded within the framework of society a frustration is developed that causes them to feel resentment. This may take years to build up. Many times a group is submissive to the majority and unable to rebel due to economic, physical or mental constraints.However, with the passage of time and the changing society the group may develop the necessary power to understand that they are being treated unfairly and this power leads to rebellion.

The causes may vary. Some of the greatest rebellions have been due to feelings of nationalism, hatred of racism and need for economic and social change. A small group rebelling in society can create chaos if organized in the right way.

Consider the book "Killing Rage" by Eamon Collins. Collins relates his time in the IRA where he played double agent. As a small time clerk for the British he had gained some pertinent information and decided to pass that onto the IRA, thus beginning a perilous journey. Northern Ireland had Catholics who wanted a free Irish Republic. They wanted no interference from the British in their nation and this feeling of nationalism came to the forefront through the representative group of the Irish Republican Army. The Catholics were in the majority and yet, were one of the most excluded groups in society. They were poor, lacked education and their religion set them apart. This exclusion led them to believe that they needed a separate nation and they saw the IRA as their savior. Reagrdless, of its later corruption initially the IRA symbolized nationlistics tendencies for the youth and was supported whole heartedly. As Collins wrote, "I believed that the IRA could be turned into an organization which could take on the capitalist state and the agents of that state, as the Red Brigades had done in Italy." [Collins, 1998]

Such words combined with sentiments like, "I was one of the lucky Catholics in Northern Ireland ... " and "I would become as one with the Catholic underclass, marginalized, on the periphery of society, jobless and poorly educated, powerless and voiceless -- at least until the IRA arrived to help them speak,"[Collins, 1998] suggested that the Catholics were not a part of the mainstream and the IRA projected itself….....