Chapter 1, Characteristics of Rebels and Rebellion by Peter Bahnsen

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CHARACTERISTICS OF REBELS AND REBELLION Of Book 1 of The Arts of Reform and Rebellion 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111

Chapter I CHARACTERISTICS OF REBELS AND REBELLION Of The Arts of Reform and Rebellion 12/27/2012 14:20 a12/p12 What are Rebels? Chapter Preface---------------------------------------------------------------Page I-2 Part 1-A Causes and the Words We Choose----------------------------------------Page I-9 Part 1-B Rules and Creativity--------------------------------------------------------Page I-10 Part 1-C Risk and Secrecy-------------------------------------------------------------Page I-12 Part 1-D Distinctive Skills of a Rebel------------------------------------------------Page I-13 Part 1-E Attitude-------------------------------------------------------------------------Page I-15 Part 1-F Reasons Types and Manifestations of Rebellion-----------------------Page I-17 Part 1-G Types of Rebels---------------------------------------------------------------Page I-19 Part 1-H Emphasis of Risk, Persistence, and Timing-----------------------------Page I-24 Part 1-I Fertile Ground for Rebels---------------------------------------------------Page I-26 Part 1-J Rebellion from the Top------------------------------------------------------Page I-30 Part 1-K Virtue, Religion and Immortality-----------------------------------------Page I-31 Part 1-L

Part 1-A ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Chapter Preface I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dryrot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.

--- Jack London Section 1-1 The definition of rebellion in this book is based on the insight that rebellion is a lifelong periodic activity where we respond to prejudicial actions of others or negative conditions. Since we are all forced to be rebels, if for nothing more than to become an adult, this book is a resource of techniques and a tool on how to rebel effectively. Becoming an effective rebel in causes large and small takes practice; first we practice in small things then we become more effective in rebellions against larger issues. Effectiveness and the courage required to grow can be gained and mistakes made in small personal rebellions so that mistakes can be avoided in later and greater rebellions. While the tactics herein are applicable to rebellion in all its forms this book encourages Rebellious reform not violent Rebellion. Chapters of this book might best be thought of as discrete sections which are not intended to be read from front to end but to be scanned and used to insure that we think about even the most obvious things, for rebellion is a serious matter which can give us freedom or disaster and all too often the obvious principles and simple lessons are forgotten. This chapter has forty one, mostly independent sections. Some characteristics of rebels discussed in this chapter play a part in the aura that some rebels use to their benefit and are Arts of Rebellion. In that category are the extremes of dress and disregard for conventions that many rebels display. In so far as these distinguishing characteristics are tools they are mentioned again in the “Arts” chapter of the book. Those who use them cannot be unaware that tools which distinguish individuals from the mass are double edged and carry danger as well as benefit. What Value Rebellion in an Orderly Society? Section 1.2 Michael Skapinker of the Financial Times, in speaking of 9/11 explained it well when he said that “The problem, as much for the CIA as for Arthur’s Autos is that organizations are instruments of conformity. No one likes being told that their view of the world is flawed or out of date, least of all those at the top”. Skapinker was commenting on why FBI headquarters cautioned a supervisor to cool it when the supervisor, 3

concerned about extremists taking flying lessons, was making a deliberate effort against stubborn headquarters resistance in ”trying to get someone from taking a plane and crashing it into the World Trade Center”. Apparently the supervisor had good cause for worry but did not know how to rebel effectively. As Skapinker goes on to say: “It is no accident that so many of those who changed the way we see the world were social misfits”. We don’t have to be “social misfits” but we do need to know how to rebel effectively. Had the supervisor known how to approach the press and been willing to take the risk he could have gotten the press to do the job his FBI headquarters would not do. The press is always an important tool in rebellion and reform. Using or engaging the press to cause change in bureaucracies is one important technique of an effective rebel but it must done carefully with deliberate planning. Is Our Orderly Society in Danger? Section 1-3 Underlying this book is a serious question which is covered in more detail in a Chapter 10. The question is: aside from the important threat of terrorism, is our orderly society in danger of serious political disorder? It is fashionable to sneer at the very expression that our political system is in crisis. But fashion and sneering being substitutes for knowledge, it is time to give serious thought to the hatred coursing thorough our political system and the manifest problems covered in Chapter 4. It is even more important to consider, without sneering, the scholarship and ideas presented in The Fourth Turning1. The concepts of Howe and Stauss are important whether totally correct or not for they are and will be an important part of public discourse for years to come. If you google2 “The Fourth Turning” a good idea of the value can be obtained by reading both the negative and positive reviews. A second book for those who suspect that a time for peaceful revolution has come is that of Pete Peterson’s Running on Empty where the former secretary of commerce and founding president of the Concord Coalition warns that Democrats’ fealty to entitlements and Republicans’ devotion to tax cuts threatened to bankrupt the nation. Don’t sneer. Read compare and think. For those seriously concerned that the current actions and deficit expenditures in the U.S. political economy are unsustainable and will lead to economic and social disaster there is a reputable site for your arguments. Read “The End Game Draws Nigh – 1

The Fourth Turning: An American Prophecy by William Strauss & Neil Howe Broadway Books google (GOO.gul) v. To search for information on the Web, particularly by using the Google search engine. You don’t have to use the Google search engine but as a start google the word Googling and see what you might be missing in the most important information tool of the internet arena. Googling is an important part of this book and the convention used herein is always to use “advanced search” for the main topic. If a secondary term is given it should be placed in the “all” category and if a third term in the “at least one” category. Familiarity with Googling will improve your life. 2

The Furture Evolution of the Debt-to GDP Ratio” as extracted in John Mauldin’s “Outside the Box” site. http://www.safehaven.com/article-13364.htm Courage Comes With Practice Section 1-4 There is a tendency to mistakenly dismiss courage required in everyday life. Senator John McCain certainly displayed great courage while a prisoner of war. He is mistaken however when he recently wrote in an article in Fast Company: 3 “We have attributed courage to all manner of actions that may indeed be admirable but hardly compare to the conscious self-sacrifice on behalf of something greater than one’s own self interest. Today in our excessively psychoanalyzed society, sharing one’s secret fears with others take courage. So does escaping a failing marriage. These are the absurd examples of our profligate misidentification of the virtue of courage.” The problems with the Senator’s assertions are twofold; first, the examples that he disdains are typical of the frequent hard decisions requiring courage that we as individuals must make. These individual decisions involve great personal risks and fear which must be faced and overcome and a decision made to proceed despite that risk and fear. Second, these decisions are training in courage for the other decisions where “conscious self-sacrifice on behalf or something greater than one’s own self-interest” is involved. A comparable analogy is one which General Douglas MacArthur used when he said about sports. “On the fields of friendly strife are sown the seeds that on other days and other fields will bear the fruits of victory” It is on the field of our actions against the injustices of daily life that we learn to attack and win victories over social injustice. Courage means overcoming fear in the face of risk, whether it is for self respect or a great cause is immaterial. Courage does not belong just to heroes who have the luck or misfortune to prove their courage in public view but to all who learn through facing risk and fear of everyday life, overcome it, and become more able to face the greater injustices of our culture. Rebels evidence Courage as a part of Rebellion. Many bureaucrats require little courage to do their jobs for the rules are laid down so as to assist them in not making decisions where risk is involved. Whether we embrace or avoid risk is determined not only by our choice of jobs by how we react to dysfunction in those jobs. People who accept dysfunction to avoid personal conflict are the sheep of bureaucracies, People who happily live a part of their life by moving things from the “in-box to out-box” are seldom Rebels in that role. Rebellion always involves significant risk to livelihood, life, or 3

Fast Company, September 2004. A very good issue on Courage.

friendships: Whenever we go outside the accepted norms of conventional life, business, science, or art, rebels embrace risk. If fear has you in its grip then you might start changing your life with a well recommended book by Susan Jeffers, Feel the Fear, and Do It Anyway. Even the bravest have some fears in our lives. Some of the methods of overcoming them are in her book. Rebellion Is… Section 1-5 Rebellion is the breaking of a loyalty to a cause where a cause can be a person or a thing. Some prefer to limit the definition of loyalty as applying only to people. That definition is of little use since rebellion encompasses much more than loyalty to individuals. Some causes which inspire rebellion stem from causes which have motivations much stronger than this limited view of person to person loyalty. Three works in English examine loyalty in detail with Josiah Royce book on The Philosophy of Loyalty having an interpretation which better meets the requirements of this effort. George P. Fletcher and Albert O. Hirschman are focused more on relationships with people and organizations.4 There are many "causes" which not only improve our world but justify and give meaning to our lives. Great causes can insure immortality which great souls gain in the collective consciousness, an immortality that lasts as long as the history and educated endowment of the culture lasts. The world needs more effective rebels with more focused and productive "causes" simply because rebels get things done. At the same time there are rebels bound to pernicious causes and understanding rebellion helps us counter these people. Rebels are not necessarily the same as provocateurs or anarchists and they may not be as extreme as radicals. Rebellion may make a revolution but it is not necessarily equivalent.5 Rebellion may be seeking reform, which is a correction of abuses, while revolution involves a transfer of power. Terrorists are not rebels but enemies of mankind for they kill innocents and their cause is by this factor alone unjust and non productive. 4

Josiah’s is the older of these books being written in 1916. George P. Fletcher’s book Loyalty: an Essay on the Morality of Relationships was published in 1993 and Albert O. Hirschman’s book Exit Voice and Loyalty: Responses to Decline in Firms Organizations, and States was published in 1970. Fletcher’s book is an intense look at the morality issues in particular an examination of the differences between “impartial ethics” based morality and those which come from “the historical self”. My choice of Royce is a leap which allows me to cover the subject on the pinhead available. 5

An agent provocateur is normally considered to be someone secretly employed in espionage for a government and are usually engaged in some type of incitement to violence. Anarchist is a generic term describing various political philosophies and social movements that advocate the elimination of the state. These philosophies use anarchy to mean a society based on voluntary co-operation of free individuals. While anarchists apparently do not intend to advocate chaos or anomie the end result is hard to distinguish. Perhaps this is one reason why few groups of anarchists agree with definitions of other anarchist groups. Radical means extreme. Radix means "root" in Latin and radical, the adjective, means "of the root". A political radical wants to change things "down to the roots". Rebels may or may not fit this term.

The Effective Rebel Section 1-6 We all need to understand what constitutes, not just the Arts of Rebellion, but the arts of a more Effective Rebel. Examining the techniques of Rebellion is preliminary to becoming a more effective rebel. An effective rebel is one that persists with courage, in a good cause, as a good human being, and as a person who makes a positive contribution to society. Rebellion Neglected? Section 1-7 Why has an examination of rebellion been neglected? Why has there been a significant lack of books on "The Art of Rebellion". There are numerous treatments of The Art of War and other "Arts" but little on "The Art of Rebellion". Certainly there are untold numbers of books about "Rebels" of all stripes and press-worthy Rebels fascinate us whether they are criminals or great creative minds. For many years people have called me a Rebel thus my personal interest in Rebellion started with the question of the elements and practice of Rebellion has nagged me. The previously mentioned disreputable connotation of Rebellion spurred me on. A difficulty in achieving a better understanding of Rebellion as an art also lies in our definitions of "loyalty" and "cause". Many of us restrict our concept of loyalty to a narrow concept of "personal loyalty" yet the only writer of length on loyalty, Josiah Royce, stretched the concept with a definition that ends up essentially in a meaning of faithfulness to a "cause". Royce included people in his definition of "cause”. To approach this subject with more rigor I have returned to Royce’s definition. Later chapters address the terms of "loyalty" and "cause" in more depth. Loyalty to causes and people shift throughout our life due to growth, death, epiphany, and other reasons. The motivations for loyalty shifts are many and force those interested in understanding loyalty shifts and the Art of Rebellion to move beyond the common narrow definition of personal loyalty to an individual. This book is addressed to the person who wants to learn early or, by necessity, late, how best to successfully REBEL against the changes of people and situations as well as the stupidities and injustices of life so they might have more meaningful and happier lives. Choosing an appropriate cause is crucial; those seeking a cause to justify their life should consider some of the causes examined in Chapter 5 and the follow-on book A Call to Rebellion. Ultimately rebellion is about our response to life itself and limiting the topic of rebellion is an exercise in artificial boundaries..

In terms of my experience for writing this book it should be noted that I raised children, started several businesses, had a civilian career, a government career, served in the military, and have had more than four career avocations. I dealt with Rebels in all these avocations and I also Rebelled many times. From these Rebellions came one of the various inspirations for this book; however this is not an autobiography and my life is only a footnote. Rebellion’s Musty Odor; the Effect of Anti-socials Section 1-8 We do not all like to think of ourselves as Rebels for it is frequently a term of repugnance. This is perhaps the reason why there have been so few tracts examining Rebellion as a unique facet of human existence. Disreputable in some minds and an honor in others, rebellion is nether-the-less a fact of life for every human. There is another difficulty in dealing with the topic of Rebellion which stems from the difficulty in analyzing an action that has complex political, psychological, sociological, and cultural interpretations. Because rebellion is frequently directed in response to poor or corrupt leadership it is, in some respects the opposite side of the coin of leadership yet understanding the techniques on the leadership side of the coin makes one better prepared to deal with rebellion as the opposite. The leadership techniques maliciously used in Rebellion can destroy the ability of less capable leaders to control and direct an organization. The tools of Rebellion are not to be used lightly and the higher motive should have honor attached. A further reason for the ill-odor which attaches to rebellion is the effect of the sociopaths among us which in some respects have characteristics much like that of rebels. Rebels and sociopaths both have little regard for the opinion of the many. The effective rebel however has empathy for others while sociopaths are born6 without empathy and could care less what their actions have on society or associates. The similarity and differences between sociopaths and rebels is covered in more detail in later chapters but the disdain sometimes attached to rebels and rebellion stems in many cases from the misperception of identifying one in twenty five sociopaths in our midst as a rebel. Sociopaths are not rebels but currently untreatable minds apparently corrupt at birth. 7 Googling, Learning, and References 6

The Argument about the genesis of Anti Social Personalities (Sociopaths) will continue for generations but for those who wish to examine the evidence one might turn to Donald W. Black, M.D. Bad Boys, Bad Men, Oxford University Press 1999, who cites newer evidence that some people are simply born bad. Of the books available there is little convincing evidence that those “predators” –which is probably a more satisfactory description of the mind set of these individuals—little evidence that like wild animals some humans cannot be domesticated. They will watch and wait and when caught out use the medical practioners tools for attempted treatments to con and assault the unaware. Other sources 7 Whether these behaviors are genetic and if so eventually treatable is an interesting professional argument but the successes of those medical practioners who have made the effort is not encouraging.

Section 1-9 The connection of this book with the Web is a small indication of the secondary revolution occurring on top of the web revolution. The evolution of search engines, like Google is one of the events which has radically changed our world. Hamish McRae a columnist for the British newspaper The Independent notes that the search engine has totally changed the relationship of ordinary people to knowledge.8 According to McRae we now have a world of infinite information and the net needs two functions: boosters and filters, “boosters have to push the information out and filters have to sort out the signals from the background noise”. Google and the other search engines are filters but they are filters which are becoming progressively more driven by commercial interests. Balanced filtering or information on the most significant political problems of our time is a major effort of this book and the associated web site. Some clues of this in the book are cites for worthwhile web locations and the suggestion of search terms, both primary and secondary, to assist you in locating information which might best result in actionable knowledge. As the associated Web site progresses this filtering will become more balanced. The complexities of the various arts that underlie rebellion force a need to understand and go to more detailed references. I mention these books up front because by choosing this book you may very well need to acquire the deeper knowledge the other books contain. While some works are dated the wisdom therein remains valid and my few quotations from these works are insufficient to give you full value. Two easiest and best sources to run these references down are Google and Amazon.com. On the Web site you will see the references have links to make your learning easier. Eric Hoffer’s The True Believer is essential for those who wish to understand fanaticism and its role in rebellion. Saul D. Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals is a necessary reference for those who want to organize or understand group resistance. The Art of War by Sun Tsu was written more than two thousand years ago but the ideas on rebellion therein are still fresh and new with each reading. Machiavelli’s The Prince will assist you in questioning and providing some answers as to why our politicians are the way they are and why rebellion becomes probable in nations which disregard common principles first cited by Machiavelli. Clausewitz’s On War is perhaps more than you need to undertake but Googling some of the ideas and quotes may lead you to dig deeper. Already mentioned on the subject of crisis is The Fourth Turning. The last and most important book of these listed books you will want to read is Thomas Sowell’s Conflict of Visions which, despite his lean to the right is one of the clearest layouts of why we come into such heavy conflict between those of the left and the right. There may be other better ones from the left and you the reader can help me in the next edition of this book. These books are necessary research classics and brevity leads to their appeal. 8

McCrae has lots more to say on the subject and goggling his name and search engines will get you started.

Part 1-B Causes and the Words We Choose. Words Section 1-10 By our choice of words for rebellion and rebels we slant the characterization but there are a group of characteristics that make rebellion distinct no matter what the name. Negative words for rebellion are many. 9 For those who see rebellion as positive, a different set of words will do.10 Higher Causes Section 1-11 Rebels believe in some higher cause ranging from simple justice to a God driven world. The justification of action by a Rebel may be sublime, legal, illegal, anti-social, immoral, or evil but whether the justification is driven by friends, anger, or philosophical belief the very definition of a Rebel implies belief in some higher cause as a justification for action. Self promotion of a careerist is not a higher cause and the pretense that getting higher in authority will give more authority to do good for humanity is a false promise which becomes easier to use with each lapse of integrity and courage.

Negative associated words for Rebel and Rebellion. Activist Agitator, firebrand, revolutionary, rabble rouser, radical. reformer, propagandist, disruptive element, zealot partisan, insurrectionist, dissident, insurgent, anarchist, mutineer, subversive, perfidious, malcontent, traitor, unruly 10

Positive words used instead of Rebellion and Rebel Liberation, freedom, deliverance, redemption, salvation, rescue, initiative Activist, reformer, initiator, creator, inventor, originator, prime mover, mastermind, doer, drive, energy, enthusiasm

Part 1-C Rules and Creativity Lack of Attention to Societies’ Rules Section 1-12 Rebels and Rebellions pay little attention to conventions and rules. Belief in a higher cause, whatever its validity, enables a Rebel to rationalize illegal, antisocial, or non-conventional actions which may alienate friends and risk all. For an entertaining read and an excellent example of two Rebels lack of attention to conventions and rules read Charlie Wilson’s War.11 i The hard part for rebels is deciding where the dividing line should rest. Offenses that use or needlessly damage innocent bystanders is one important guide of that which should be avoided. The question of “blowback” is always a consideration for rebels. Charlie Wilson and Gust Avrakotos were major actors in defeating the Soviet Union in Afghanistan but was it their fault that our presidential leadership let that victory slip away into the Taliban and Osama Bin Laden? Rebels Seldom Ask Permission Section 1-13 Getting things done in a dysfunctional bureaucracy means acting first and asking permission later. Rebels know by instinct that asking forgiveness for actions taken is frequently more effective than asking for permission. A dysfunctional bureaucracy is just as ineffective in punishment as it is in taking effective action. An actionist rebel in a bureaucracy uses the working assumption that “things which are not denied are permitted”. Bureaucratic bosses find it easier to explain that they knew nothing about it if the action goes wrong and you must be sure to give them the credit when it goes right. The response if you get called for it is: I thought you would want me to do that but it is my fault and I screwed up. The rule is, give the credit away and take the blame -- which is the same for relating to bosses as well as subordinates. The Creative Are Rebels by Definition Section 1-14 Risk is inherent in creating anything new. New art, new scientific theories, new organizations all have the terrible risk of failure. The vulgar of the masses are wedded to the old ways and few easily divorce themselves from accepted wisdom. Creativity is one characteristic which identifies a Rebel, if only for the moment. We speak appreciatively of creative people who successfully go outside rules and convention but we infrequently 11

CHARLIE WILSON’S WAR is a standard reference how to rebel within the bureaucracy. A Rebel in Congress and a rebel in the CIA accomplish things that would normally be undoable. If you read only one book about Rebels this is the one. Well researched and well written.

call them Rebels; the successful ones learn quickly how to use the tactics and techniques of an effective rebel. Creative Destruction Of Rebels Section 1-15 “Creative destruction”12 is an inherent part of the creative process as well as inherent in most rebellious acts. Historians note that “creative destruction’ is a necessary part of progress. The old in buildings, ideas, cultures, and organizations give way to the new, sometimes gracefully and more often with pain, trauma, confusion and frequently with violence. Statements by experts, defendants of the old, are often erroneously caught proclaiming that the newest idea is stupid or undoable. It is not stupidity or malice on their part but the inability to see outside the mental box or framework within their experience. It is for this reason that the frame of an opponent’s perceptions must always be considered if one is to convince or counter.

Joseph Schumpeter, economist, argued that capitalism exists in the state of ferment he dubbed "creative destruction," with spurts of innovation destroying established enterprises and yielding new ones. "The market must clean itself out by taking resources away from the losers, so it creatively destroys the losing companies and reallocates resources to the winning companies."

Part 1-D Risk and Secrecy Risk is Inherent Section 1-16 Rebels know that rebellion involves significant risks to livelihood, life, or friendships. Whenever we go outside the accepted norms of conventional life, science, or art, we embrace risk, as all Rebels must. Risks can be bold gambles or, with practical wisdom, risks are calculated and reduced. Where little risk or jeopardy exists it is not Rebellion. Risks however are individual so that which appears without risk to one may frighten another into inaction. When change is part of the cause it is a serious error to fail to appreciate and alleviate the sense of risk in others for fear stems from individual ghosts and demons of each individual. Reducing risk to an acceptable level by calculation and using methods to overcome fear pave the way in managing change in the Arts of Rebellion. Secrecy Section 1-17 Secrecy frequently distinguishes actions in effective Rebellion and may include conspiracy. Rebels may spit in your eye but the most effective Rebels know the value of and often use secrecy in developing their actions and roles. The local gossip or complainer seldom becomes an effective rebel for to complain or tell all is to debilitate the possibility of effective action. The use of secrecy may identify actions as Rebellion instead of simple political or social opposition. Articles published under pseudonyms are an example of an effective technique in secrecy which is sometimes used by rebels in bureaucratic organizations. When laws and lives are at stake secrecy becomes a very important characteristic of Rebellion.

Part 1-E Distinctive Skills of a Rebel Skills and Traits, Rare or Particular. Section 1-18 Rebels have particular skills and traits which greatly increases the probability of success. The combination of these skills distinguishes the effective rebel from a drone or even a worthy hobbyist in the simple pursuit of excellence. Persistence in an unpopular cause: Many drones are persistent and follow a track laid out for them by some higher authority but persistence in an unpopular or difficult endeavor is the measure of most successful Rebels. Networking ability: Many are those who have popularity and shipmates by the boatload but Rebels acquire friends and associates by purpose while others acquire by chance. Rebels also take a real interest in the “common people” that ambitious climbers disdain. Rebels know that the “common people” have “ground sense” on reality and Rebels value the feel for reality gained by association with and feedback from those who may be lower paid and work in administrative or support tasks. Gust Avrakotos of Charlie Wilson’s War13 used this facility well. Rebels learn the history of the people and organizations in which they serve. Changing an organization or enterprise requires knowing how and why the organization came to have the current capabilities and dysfunctions and knowing the names and histories of the creators of the current milieu. Knowing that a particular current part of the culture stems from the actions of your boss is the key to possible change in his or her program. Knowing why previous reform failures occurred is golden material to a changemaker. Inside and outside Information or intelligence: Successful Rebels not only pay attention to the ground sense information of the “common people” they dig for information on who and why from all sources and develop unique sources of information. Rebels pick up information from customers or retired organization members. One of the reasons Golf is such a popular business pastime is that it is an easy association time for gathering intelligence in an unobtrusive manner.

Op. cit.

The Questions of How and Why Section 1-19 Rebels focus on the Why and How. Why are things as they are and How can they be made different are basic questions to creative rebels. While important, the Who, What, and When, are the focus of Historians and gossips. It is the answers to Why and How that lead Rebels to do what they do. Boredom is not part of their makeup for they do not wait for the Who to tell them “What” nor “When” something must be done.

Part 1-F Attitude Some attitudes are natural but many are developed. You might consider where the following fit in the development of a Rebel and how they relate to you. Disdain for Personal Ambition Section 1-20 Rebels are by definition driven, motivated, and loyal to a “cause” which is their higher loyalty. Personal ambition is antithetical to a desire for change in a higher cause. Personal ambition requires compromises and the more attuned to “climbing” the less attuned to “cause”. A driving ambition can very well be a cause however it is a cause without a moral focus which justifies everything and eliminates nothing. Barbara Tuchman rightly identifies it as one of the more significant reasons for folly in government. In bureaucracies the excuse is frequently, “I will save myself and rise to higher levels and then be able to make more changes”. Unfortunately this results in the perpetuation of a cowardly aversion to action which finds the careerist without the courageous fizz necessary to act in higher roles. Reaction Alone Is Not Enough Section 1-21 Effective rebels are diligent in acquiring other leadership and relationship skills. Life cannot be lived by always reacting to pernicious actions of others with Rebellion. Rebels must also be capable of the taking positive action in relationships and leadership. The Arts of Rebellion involve positive leadership and relationship skills that are equally important to unique rebel skills and characteristics. To be effective in the Arts of Rebellion one must also become better at working with, organizing and directing people. Omitted from this work is a detailed discussion of the many required leadership skills due to the excellent schools, literature, and courses available. Some references to these subjects are listed in Resources in the bibliography. This omission is not a denial of those very important skills. The great Rebels of politics, art, and science will have made learning these other leadership skills a priority for leadership is the supportive as well as the opposite side of the coin of Rebellion. Rebels can’t fight every battle but with good relationships there are fewer battles to fight. If you don’t have the easy facility of relating to people you might want to try: Steve Chandle’s Book, 50 Ways to Create Great Relationships. Short, to the point and a great start from a salesman. In managing and developing good relationships it is equally wise and perhaps more important to divest yourself, rather than try to convert those high maintenance people who drag you down while driving better relationships away. Loyalty to relationships with evil and destructive people ruins many good rebels and leaders.

Successive Iteration Is Both Attitude and Tool Section 1-22 Perfectionists may be rebels too but Rebels arrive at perfection in a totally different manner than those whose goal or cause is mere perfection itself. For the rebel the major cause is arrived at by successive iteration endeavors which are “good enough” to move the major cause ahead. If there is reason to repeat the action with more efficiency then the Rebel will learn from the errors in the iteration and improve on the next iteration. Rebels learn early what others learn late that speed is frequently as important as the orderliness of the endeavor; that speed of repetition, with corrected errors, more frequently leads to advancing their major “cause”. It is of course always a balancing act but the chaos of composition which is obvious in the artistic rebel exists in all successful rebels. Perfection, that an anal retentive sees as the most important “first priority”, is in the effective rebel more often the culmination of small improvements. If perfection is one of your mantras concentrate it in practice for presentations where there is but one chance to sell your cause or purpose.

Part 1-G REASONS, TYPES AND MANIFESTATIONS OF REBELLION Oppression Injustice, Stupidity, Betrayal Section 1-23 The reasons for Rebellion are numberless and range from the mundane and trivial to the deliberately evil or to the stupidity of others. There are periods or stages in most lives when rebellion becomes prevalent. Gail Sheehy hits many of these in the transitions and crises discussed in Passages and Pathfinders as does Betty Friedan in The Fountain of Age. •

There is the search for self and identity, familial, or separation Rebellion which begins at about age two and culminates in the teen and college years.

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The Rebellion against oppression is the very stuff of history and the story recurs over and over.

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Rebellions against oppression or political injustice can be structural or violent. Injustice naturally offends us, whether it occurs to us or to a stranger, it frequently provokes anger and sometimes a Rebellion against the organization or person responsible for the injustice.

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Bureaucratic injustice on the job is a frequent cause of Rebellion.

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Acts of personal Disloyalty or Betrayal are at the heart of Rebellion for Rebellion itself is an act against that to which one was formerly loyal. The quiet disloyalty of a spouse or family member can incite fiery and mutually destructive Rebellion.

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Some people find habitual Rebellion against constraints of rules and laws personally rewarding in asserting some real, but more often pretend, control over life. They make wars of what should be minor distractions, turning swatting mosquitoes into major campaigns.

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Other individuals have specialized or become insanely focused on Rebellion against unusual parts of our culture, language, unmeant slights, or mundane conventions. Like road rage, these Rebellions can send some people into irritating, destructive, pyrotechnic displays of anger.

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Ultimately there are the truly productive and creative in every endeavor that are on a permanent track of Rebellion against the status quo, or items that are erroneous, outdated, and inefficient, in their field. They generate a

continuing stream of “improvements” and new ideas which they test against reality and naysayers. Epiphanies and Near Death Initiation of Rebellion Section 1-24 “Nothing so focuses the mind as being shot at and missed”. The president of the company Marcan, Patrick Mazzuca, is typical of many entrepreneurs who strike out on a new entrepreneurial path after having a brush with death. Diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2003 he was prompted to accomplish a major career change when he “sort of realized I wasn’t living what my dreams were.” From being the director of sales for bobble head dolls he and other investors are happily refocusing a compact-disk and DVD-duplication service company.14

Everyone has sudden flashes of perception and insight. Writers have a name for them - epiphanies

Epiphany is Twelfth Night - 6 January - when Christ was visited by the Three Wise Men, and his divinity was revealed to the world. It derives from a Greek word, epiphainein, meaning 'to manifest', and in preChristian times it was used to record appearances of gods and goddesses. Traditionally the word has kept this specific religious association, but in our century it has been secularized to refer to other, non-divine forms of revelation. The principal writer to extend the meaning of the word as a secular term was James Joyce, who was interested in sudden, dramatic, and startling moments which seemed to have heightened significance and to be surrounded with a kind of magical aura. The well-known reference is in Ulysses, when Stephen Dedalus is thinking to himself: 'Remember your epiphanies on green oval leaves, deeply deep, copies to be sent if you died to all the great libraries of the world, including Alexandria? Someone was to read them there after a few thousand years....

Part 1-H TYPES OF REBELS Polymaths and Creatives Section 1-25 A polymath (also known as a polyhistor) is a person who excels in multiple fields particular in both arts and sciences. The most common terms for this is Renaissance man. Other terms for this are Homo universalis and Uomo Universale which in Latin and Italian respectively translates as “Universal man” 15 All creatives whether artist or scientist must by nature be rebels because to create the new the old must be destroyed. Creatives have the same problems as political rebels in that in destroying or changing the old they must overcome the prejudice and opposition of the conservative. The arguments of the conservative “don’t fix what isn’t broke” or “tried and true is safer” sometimes have the better value. It is the task of the creative rebel of whatever stripe to persevere and show that the conservative is wrong. This will always create disdain and hatred. Types by Periodicity of Rebellion Section `1-25 From the numberless reasons for Rebellion flow the distinctions in types of Rebels by periodicity and special causes. Periodicity is important in assessing the quality of a rebellious effort and whether a particular rebellion has long term meaning or not. Some special rebellions of an ideological bent make analysis of periodicity difficult for ideology has its own internal and sometime indefinable logic and time frame.

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Many are age developmental Rebels for a limited time in youth.

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There are the occasional Rebels who muster the energy to Rebel when they are really irritated or angry.

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There are the full-time Rebels who find opposition to anything and everything satisfying to some basic need. Frequently they are sociopaths.

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Rebels with a significant “cause” differ from the other types because while their cause may occupy a major slot of their life they are focused on that cause and thus are unlike full-time occupational Rebels who lack an orientating cause.

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The estranged are said to have an absence of an adequate positive relationship to persons, places, or things and this estrangement leads to a Rebellion against either action or inaction. A lack of response to estranged persons can initiate a most infuriating negative type Rebellion against

From the On-line Wikipedia

control or even assistance; the orienting “cause” for the estranged is mostly indefinable and they are not effective rebels as defined herein. •

Most important of all Rebels in terms of sustained effort and results, whether good or bad, are the creative Rebels who are found in any endeavor. They are important for they change the world. They look at every problem, process, or difficulty with questions of: “How can it be done better, easier, more interestingly or made more beautiful or simple?” The creative Rebel is frequently irritating because change is their medium and change to those affected by change is uncomfortable. One must understand the depth of reason for this irritation. The rules and arts of medicine, of science, of painting, of music, of war and all other processes, conventions and accepted knowledge have followers who have based their livelihood on the current conventions. These comfortable people are not happy with the sustained efforts of creative Rebels who challenge and change orthodoxy and the current understanding.

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In terms of periodicity the eternal and frequently either the most irritating or charitably productive and dangerous are religious rebels. The ability of religious rebels to inspire emotional and irrational action with the proclivity for mass action makes them dangerous; they invoke a different or new aspect of “faith” to justify either our most base or evil human tendencies or to inspire our most elevating human characteristics. Faith in one’s possession of “ultimate truth” leads down many conflicting paths.

In the current age we find that religious Rebels, each with their own faith based but superior gods, justifying the most egregious acts of terror to innocents. The rise of the Middle Eastern Religions, Fascism, and Communism, have managed to raise the slaughter of innocents to unbelievable levels. It is said with some justification that the philosophers, who founded some of the current popular religions, themselves rebels mostly in a positive cause, would not recognize the sects which currently hold temporal power in their name. It is certain that few would recognize slaughter as something done in service to their name. •

The final type rebel and the one that we are most interested in is the effective rebel. Obviously the effective rebel can also be found in any of the types above and is governed not by periodicity but by persistence. An effective rebel induces positive changes to come about in a defined cause.

Misfits Section 1-26 Rebels are willing to be considered “misfits”. This is particularly true of “creative” rebels who glory in their ability to stand out from the crowd. The more eyecatching the display or the more disrespectful of current standards the better they like it. To those seeking to identify other rebels for their cause it is important to learn how to distinguish between true rebels and those who simply lack the ability to see and understand social conventions and are simply “misfits” in the worst sense of the word. To good managers and leaders the creative abilities of true rebels are worth acceptance of many failures in social niceties despite their affronts to conventions as attention getting devices. A perfect example of the worst kind of “misfit” who has lost sight of his leftist cause is Ralph Nader who has forsaken his leftist agenda and worked against support of leftist candidates to redouble his pursuit of the spotlight to which he became addicted. Many “misfit” rebels find “rebellion” to be a cause in itself because it gives them the attention they crave and even though the attention is disparagement, for them, it is better than the public invisibility of the squalid horde. Four Special Types Section 1-27 Three other groups of people who have many of the characteristics of, and may actually be Rebels, are criminals, addicts, and hobbyists. Criminals and addicts have many of the characteristics of Rebels but there is usually one distinguishing feature from other Rebels. Most criminals and addicts have no higher cause than their personal and usually short term, gratification. Most full-time Rebels seek social change for the ostensible benefit to mankind. Most Hobbyists don’t pretend to a higher cause but with perfection and persistence in their hobby have the potential to turn their efforts into creative inspiration or education for themselves or others. A fourth and important type that appears to be a rebel but is merely an agitator is the full time “activist”. Criminals normally, in particular sociopaths,16 are working for personal goals that are opposed to the interests of the rest of society (this does not necessarily include those who have been designated as criminals for their political views). Some criminals however manage to convert their anger at the inequities or their failures in life into worthwhile causes against society’s inequitable laws or conventions thereby becoming productive rebels 16

It is important to note that not all criminals are sociopath. For some criminals their assault on the rules of society is learned not inherent and with effective efforts they can find a more productive course. Not so with sociopaths.

Addicts however are focused on one anti-social activity that is pleasing to them alone or to other mutual addicts. Hobbyists are interested in personal excellence in a particular area, which in most cases is not anti-social, and may actually be very creative and socially beneficial but is not undertaken primarily as a cause or for benefits to society. It is useful to consider and think about these three groups because their persistence and devotion to their interest area makes them highly susceptible to recruitment for more cause directed rebellion. A dedicated hobbyist can force a creative and totally different perception of history and reality. Their revolutions however come about by luck rather than planning. Sports spectators and some sports activists might well be hobbyists. In their case everything depends on their motivation or cause for participation. People active in sports can benefit from important learning, preparation, and health causes or reasons but the contribution of a full-time couch potato or fan is questionable. Full time Activists are the unguided missiles of rebellion. The latest cause of the moment is their métier. Their loyalty to causes is ever shifting and action without evaluation of the merit of a cause is lacking. The play and later movie, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, represents the epitome of an intelligent activist who was able to inspire others, even unto death, but who lacked discretion in her choice of causes. The thrill of power which comes from motivating others and the illusion of meaningfulness that comes from ceaseless motion drives them. A rebel who can capture and give direction to one of these butterflies has a significant asset as long as boredom does not distract them in their shifting loyalties; their true cause is pursuit of the excitement with the latest fad in political and social action. REBELS, “PROCESS” PEOPLE and DRONES Section 1-28 Some live worthwhile lives without rebelling. Many never accomplish a significant Rebellion but live worthwhile lives either because they find perceptually more constructive methods and areas of contribution or because they are unwilling to confront the hard choices of risk inherent in Rebellion. Some of those who infrequently engage in Rebellion are the individuals who follow Rebels and clean up the messes that Rebels always make. There are also those who work their in-box out-box and who may never make waves, even when they find their tasks and leaders distasteful; despite their failures of courage these people are necessary to the effective functioning of society. We cannot all be full time Rebels and we cannot Rebel in all facets of our lives all the time. In-box, out-box people, as custodians of process in business and organizations, are the yin to the yang of Rebels. They may also be the innocuous individuals who carry out the terrible orders of tyrants and dictators; they are the ordinary people whom history finds their

complicity in monstrous deeds difficult to understand when the tyrants and dictators they obeyed are overthrown. Ineffective people often hide under the guise of being process persons. They are the "drones", the “do nothing” people or the "do as little as possible" people. Like the drones in a hive of bees they exist on the work of the rest of the hive and wait for the dream or luck of the solitary breeding flight when a kingly moment will elevate their life to some meaning. When promoted in the world of work they attract other drones that do not threaten their existence or overshadow them. If drones are allowed to accumulate in an organization too long they eventually become the predominant population and doom the community to a slow death. Only the outside insertion of a Rebel or a revolution of the workers can kick them out. Good corporate boards know when it is time to clean house and kick out the drones. Drones in government are another matter. A major fault of the government created by our founding fathers was the lack of a cleansing mechanism to periodically clean out the drones. Elections or “clean house” politicians sometimes work but this is not a certainty for most politicians’ promises and plans often fail in the reality after election. Civil Service positions are the worse; unions in the U.S. are on the decline because management has learned that mobility of talent requires better or fair treatment --- but unions in the government sector continue to grow. Thomas Jefferson recognized the problem of the inherent growth of deadwood in government.. “I hold it that a little Rebellion, now and then, is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical. . . . It is a medicine necessary for the sound health of government.” ----------Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), U.S. president. Letter, 30 Jan. 1787, to statesman James Madison, speaking of Shay’s Rebellion. What Jefferson and others did not also anticipate was that the robber bees and drones of Congress would learn to perpetuate their kind despite the electoral process. Is it time for Jefferson’s whiff of Rebellion to correct the ineffectual U.S. party system? XXX (insert numbers on re-elections.)

Part 1-I ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Emphasis of Risk, Persistence and Timing Risk Graduations Section 1-29 Risk and Rebellion comes in graduations or levels. During the last flight of the NASA Columbia Shuttle ,and before the ultimate disaster, some bureaucrats of NASA and NASA contractors believed that a satellite image of potential damage to the shuttle wing was required, but they contained their concerns and failed to speak up for reasons of, political, economic or embarrassment risk. All of us make those type decisions frequently. Do we speak up and say “I don’t agree.” or do we let it pass because we fear the risk of embarrassment. Even when there are items that impact us personally many of us calculate the risk of appearing foolish or angering the boss. Much of life is about risk and security, or lack of risk; for security is a need that we all have. The political philosopher Thomas Hobbs, in his book Leviathan, built an entire political philosophy on the individual’s need for security. Extreme sports enthusiasts, on the other hand, balance on the knife-edge of death or incapacitating injury because risk is the element that makes them feel most alive. In this they are not necessarily Rebels but more like addicts. Creative individuals evidence a strong ability to engage risk with calculation. They constantly risk their reputations and, if they already have fame in their established niche, take additional risks by constantly starting out in new unproved directions. They embrace risk in a cause of changing and perhaps improving society; risk for them becomes a tonic. Those risk takers who reach out and embrace risky actions for change are the full time Rebels of our cultures and risk taking defines them. Whether we embrace risk as a full-time Rebel or wait for a threat to our physical or mental integrity to arrive, everyone faces the choice of Rebelling or being a doormat at various times in our lives. As children we start from the womb with security and, as we grow we progressively encounter more insecurity and the need to decide whether we meet those insecurities with inaction or risk taking action. Rebellion, like courage, is not the rare occurrence we assume. Creative people Rebel against the established rules with frequency. The rest of us reluctantly rebel when we are forced. Some distressed souls never rebel at all. . We have a choice; we can use the arts of Rebellion and win at the tests of life or lower our risk or ignore the lessons, and suffer like sheep or cattle. Persistence Section 1 -30

After courage, effective Rebels like successful people in any endeavor, value and practice stick-to-it and hard headed determination or perseverance. For every creative idea, observation shows us that there will be several people saying, “It cannot be done!” The assumption of the unimaginative mind or excuse of the lazy is that if it could be done and had value someone would have already done it. The creative destruction which comes with change is read by many to be a failure or error which must be resisted with maximum effort. Creativity, risk taking, and Rebellion are one and success comes from the perseverance of a Rebel who breaks the rules to carve out new ways under new rules while overcoming or bypassing the resistance of the protectors of the status quo. Timing Section 1-31 There is a time to reap and a time to sow… Likewise, there is a time to rebel and there is a time to wait. There is also an era and a cohort in which rebellion is favorable. If one accepts even some of the arguments for cycles of history, and there are strong arguments both ways, then the cycle of the millennial generation is the opportunity for and likelihood of radical change. A current argument for cycles of history is best presented in, The Forth Turning: What Cycles of History tell us about America’s Next Rendezvous with Destiny by William Strauss and Neil Howeii. You may dismiss Cycles of History as some have but you owe it to yourself to at least know the arguments. If Strauss and Howe are correct we are in for an acceleration of change in these decades and the current millennial generation, as conditioned by the past, will be forced to address these changes.17 The probability or even possibility that this cycle is correct makes developing balanced political national vision imperative. Short term timing is also important. Whether you agree with Cycles of History theories or not is immaterial in terms of timing and deciding when to act in the short term time frame. Speed of action is part of timing. First in the door with a recommendation or idea can in many situations see his idea put into action. It is interesting to see this effect speed in action of the special selection techniques once used by elite military forces. In this assessment (later called a Leadership Reaction Course and lately a Team Development Course) ten or twelve walled cubicles each have a physical challenge of crossing a barrier of some sort and several strewn about tools. The object is to see who can get the group to cooperate rapidly and solve the problem. It is not the biggest or even the most impressive who excel in this assessment but the person who can conceive of a solution the fastest and convince his mates to move out with this solution. Speed of problem solving counts as well as ability to convince and motivate a small group.

While there are many reasons to suspect projections of the future, particularly straight line projections, this book attempts to avoid that trap. The recurring cycles of history, as caused by the reaction of each generation to the previous generations, is a persuasive argument to me. It is not the Sybil telling us exactly what will occur but what happens after the proclivities for action of each generation play out with the successive generations. I find their arguments persuasive. Certainly worth your time.

Part 1-J Fertile ground for Rebels REBELS ABOUND Section 1-32 Significant Rebels are our everyday models and in every aspect of our lives but we infrequently think of them in that role. Consider Oprah, Winfrey (TV), Lucile Ball (Show business), Miles Davis (Music), Jacques Pepin (Chef and Writer), Oliver Wendel Holmes (Scientist), Leroy Hood (Biotech Pioneer of the Genome) and on and on in every discipline you will find people who Rebel against the common wisdom, and took great risks while switching their loyalty from outdated ideas and causes. XXX (note need more and more apparent examples) They embraced a cause, a new way of approaching their field. Looking at their lives as Rebels tells us new and important clues about how to prevail as a Rebel. On the other hand, the current crop of BOBOs or Bourgeois Bohemians (see endnote Error: Reference source not found) are said by David Brooks to define many of the boomer generation. Their rebellion of previous years has tuned into a cultural and consumer evolution which has made morality relative and our consumer tastes degenerate. Unfortunately Bobo’s interest in public service has also had an impact of trying to have it both ways (see footnote 17) Rebellion in Religion Section 1-33 As a field, Rebellion in religious matters is a given. Jesus, whatever your position on his godhead, was one of the most successful philosophers and Rebels of the Western World: he is quoted by various disciples on the necessity for Rebellion in striking terms. Jesus’ argument was an acknowledgment that his new approach to the majority religion of the Middle East would risk and probably damage the closest loyalties of his followers. “Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace but a sword. For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man's enemies will be the members of his household. He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me”.18

Matt. 10:35-37 Luke 12:8-9, 51-53 and other locations in Christian texts. 27

Positive Leaders as Rebels, the Difference Section 1-34 What about great leaders who exhibit very few of the outward characteristics of Rebels yet accomplish great change? They have learned the great secrets of Rebellion and exhibit the best use of the most important secret of an effective rebel. They keep their own counsel and lay out their visions for change at the propitious time or in formats which allow testing and good salesmanship to those who must accept change. Great leaders are the opposite sides of the coin of perennial rebels for great leaders have goals which are more diverse than that of the narrower goal of many full time rebels. Great leaders are more willing to compromise some of those goals, unlike the insistent rebel whose focused intent on one goal and persistence in pursuit of that goal sometimes paints him more as a fanatic than a leader. The characteristics of both great leaders and effective rebels are always embodied in the same person for the characteristics are a continuum with emphasis on goals varying at different times. Finding a balance between family and great causes takes the Wisdom of Solomon which most of us, especially dedicated rebels, lack. Chance also favors those whose birth, friendships and relationships place them on a fortuitous path whereas many dedicated rebels spring from adversity which makes them view compromise with disdain.

Rebellion from Above – Leaders as Rebels Section 1-35 We seldom think of leaders having to rebel against their organization but this is exactly the position a new leader is in when he has been selected to do a “turn-around on a failing organization. The techniques in “the Arts” section apply but the best advice always given is (1) come in with knowledge of who needs to be replaced, (2) make a “clean sweep” and get rid of “dead wood” and trouble makers, (3) get “your team in place then (4) figure out and communicate in simple terms where the rebellion is going. For those leaders who need to accomplish a turn-around of a failing company there is plenty of advice available; just google “turn around advice” and take your pick from the type businesses covered and the type advice required. You might also take a look at The Six Month Fix: Adventures in Rescuing Failing Companies by Gary Sutton. Sutton’s book reviews well and has lots of practical advice. If you want a look at other principles, google “turning around companies”, with a secondary search term of “principles”.

Warriors as Rebels Contrasted with Soldiers Section 1-36 When Steven Huntington wrote his famous book, The Soldier and the State, he made a very valuable distinction between soldiers and warriors. Warriors, he said, were properly people who fought episodically because they either liked the rush -- many do -or for profit. Soldiers, on the other hand, served in peace and war, and their focus was on the art itself, or the art of their particular subspecialty, like flying a plane, sailing a ship or the soldiering life itself. Warriors, because of their motivation, might be effective if they happen to be inspired that day, but soldiers and military establishments have the virtue of accumulated expertise and staying power; heroism is encouraged and rewarded, but discipline and obedience is the requirement for soldiers. Sometimes you find warriors in uniform, and even more fortunately in your unit in combat, and sometimes you find a warrior who is also a soldier. We have all known or heard of such men; Patton, for example, was a Warrior. In war, as the saying goes, they are invaluable, but they're impatient with peacetime routine and often scornful of "desk soldiers". They sometimes have little interest in doing the things that the institution requires to keep succeeding as an institution. My experience was that in many cases warriors directed their careers to stay close to the things they liked doing -- repeatedly serving with troops is a good example, vice taking high-level staff jobs -- and in so doing, they self-selected non-career jobs that insured that they would retire at a lower rank than their more institutionally motivated brethren . I am familiar with Great Warriors who are also superior soldiers for my brother is a fine example and you can read about him in American Warrior due for publication in January 2007. His Warrior qualities and propensity for taking on authority while disregarding rules got him eliminated from the Army as a one star but as one of the more decorated officers of the Vietnam era makes for a fine true story. Warriors who like to fight and are smart as well are rare. My brother’s idea of common sense is not the same as mine but neither of us liked rules very much. REBELLION OF GROUPS Section 1-37 Some essentials about the rebellion of organized groups are also included herein but the primary emphasis is on individual rebellion. Notwithstanding that focus, nothing is worse than wasting lives in a group Rebellion that sacrifices the promise of a generation. Aside from the success of the founding of our country, many U.S. Rebellions, some violent, some not, have repeatedly failed. One inspiration for the book is an examination of failure of the rebellion of the Vietnam anti-war effort. Adam Garfinkle in his Book Telltale Hearts - The origins and impact of the Vietnam Anti-war movement described the Anti-war movement as a civil wariii. It was in fact a Rebellion that

prolonged the Vietnam War being protested against by four years, thus a war which the Rebel anti-Vietnam-War individuals sought to stop was prolonged by their ill considered actions. Contrary to misguided popular opinion of many, Garfinkle establishes that the anti-war movement did not lose the war but stupidity and errors of our senior civilian and military leadership "lost" the Vietnam War. Garfinkle amply documents these facts with authoritative sources. Not enough people read Garfinkle’s book because Telltale Hearts came out when we were all sick of hearing about Vietnam. It is a valuable text. If you want to understand misguided counter-productive Rebellion reading Garfinkle’s work is an excellent start. The divided loyalties inspired during the anti-war movement affect us today as they are doing in the Iraq war. The unreconstructed and untrained Rebels of that era are with us still and their errors continue to have a pernicious impact on their cause and our society.19 The errors of the “BOBOs” 20 of David Brooks are the latest iteration of their dysfunctioniv. Telltale Hearts as well as the book Bobos in Paradise have important lessons to understanding our history and trends so that we do not have to relive it --as we currently seem to be doing with the ideologues of both political parties.

I contacted Adam Garfinkle in an effort to interest him in writing a book of this nature. Unfortunately I was unsuccessful and was forced into the labor of writing the book myself. 20 The Bobos of David Brooks are an amalgam of bourgeois bohemians which Brooks see as embodying the age of the 2000s. While some of his projections were wrong because the “bubble” and greed brought down many of the Bobo’s much of his social comment is still right on target. The complacency of the Bobo’s was wiped out by 9/1l but the fuzziness of their thinking is part and parcel of the current argument we have about Iraq. The control they have come to appreciate has been put in jeopardy by the need to confront terrorism. Their disdain for public service is still apparent and their wish to have it both ways still much in evidence. In any event a very important book to read so as to understand this group. Obviously it will have to be the millennials who will have to save us. The Bobos are still trying to have it both ways.

2 Part 1-K Rebellion from the Top Change From the Top Section 1-38 Radical change by top leadership requires some techniques which require techniques approaching those of rebellion. Turn-a round s of failing organizations sometimes require desperate measures like firing all the prior leadership; some of these techniques are discussed elsewhere in this book. There are other times when change is needed which requires reorientation not separating the sheep from the goats in a turnaround. Most groups of people fear and resist significant change unless it is part of organizational mission. Some effective techniques for making this happen are well covered in Rick Maurer’s book Beyond the Wall of Resistance: Unconventional strategies that build support for change I will note a few of those techniques in the Chapter on “Causes”.

Part 1-L Virtue, Religion, and Immortality VIRTUE Section 1-39 Virtue, according to the ancients, is a habit, a habit of taking pleasure in things that bring pleasure to the individual and society over time. The ancient virtues have the benefit that they carry little religious baggage since they precede most mid eastern and western religions, yet the ancient virtues give us a standard for this work and consideration of causes in rebellion. Courage, temperance, justice, and practical wisdom are virtues that are a solid base for rebellious causes. Effective rebels make these virtues a habit. Actions that bring unnecessary pain over time are the opposite of virtue. Ancient concepts of virtue are also based on the golden mean; that course between two extremes. The virtue of courage, as an example, is therefore neither rashness nor timidity. Justice is giving or allowing people to enjoy what they deserve. Practical wisdom is an essential part of virtue. The educated idiot, who believes he/she has learned fundamental truths which have now solidified into a personal ideology, is the archetype to avoid. Practical wisdom comes from experience, good teachers, good friends, and good mentors. Practical wisdom is an important part of virtue and an important part of the Art of Rebellion. It is impossible to have virtue without practical wisdom. It would appear that many academics in our current society suffer from a lack of practical wisdom and expect mankind to change fundamental characteristics; believing that mankind can change is essential to hope but change in mankind’s social structures and methods are the more sure routes to change of mankind.. Using these virtues will give us an opportunity to choose causes and solutions for meaningful rebellious reform; some ideas on choosing causes and solutions are in following chapters and on the associated web site. Laws, Rules, and Virtue: Virtue is not about following Laws and Rules but the application of practical wisdom for the benefit of organizations or social systems. Those who apply laws and rules, which end in unjust results, have no virtue. The ends do not always justify the means but an unjust end, clearly foreseen, which was sanctioned by inaction, is also without virtue Religion and Rebels Section 1-40 The current political disdain of religion by one political party and the embrace of contentious religious doctrine by the other is a serious problem of our era. Smart rebels

don’t reject religion neither do they adopt tenants which reject science nor lock us in conflict over moral arguments which are at base matters of individual choice. The Rebel who understands and embraces the Art of Rebellion does not fall into either of these traps. While many religions are exemplars of extremism and embrace the ferocity of slaughter induced by religious extremists, there are aspects of religion which have great value to society. Ceremonies and ritual provide, when they do not divide, ways to make difficult moments of life and death more bearable. Religions provide social contacts, charity, relationships, and bases for mutual loyalty. Confessions, an integral part of some religions, relieve angst in a manner available to rich or poor. Prayer can be a worthwhile and defining activity which can also be a public or private acknowledgement of duties and an affirmation of public and individual goals. The basic point for effective rebels is not to sneer or put down those who choose to believe in religion but to recognize and use the positive values that religion provides. Much more importantly in social terms, religions give children a base from which to start and eventually a base from which to Rebel when they start to answer questions about the meaning of life. A child with no religious base is an easy target for cults which harbor more extreme views than mainstream religions. Finally and most importantly, knowing the religious myths or beliefs of a community is a key to understanding some of the motivations of the community. The apparent hypocrisy of some who profess religious faith is not unlike humanity’s common failing to live in accordance with common sense rules for a good life. At his best an effective rebel knows the assumptions, values, and deficiencies of the religious culture in which rebellion is naturally embedded. Immortality Section 41 Whether or not you believe in a religion that promises immortality as a reflection of the hereafter, there is immortality for all, even the most dogmatic atheist. Immortality comes to every individual who induces improvements in the condition of the human race; their efforts will be engraved in the culture and last as long as civilization. Every person who makes it easier or probable that ignorance, suffering, starvation, and oppression will be lessened in the future of the world has made an impact and achieved immortality. Those who find no cause to make this contribution will definitely disappear from the face of the earth with nothing to show that they ever existed. They may find their immortality in a heaven of their mind or a heaven of their religion but it will have no effect on this world. Differing religious arguments on how to gain immortality of the soul have, by historical record, led to terrorism, slaughter, and oppression. We must be careful how we select and implement the dreams for our immortality. 21 21

This is not an argument against those who prefer to think they will gain immortality by good acts in this lifetime but the acts required by some religions to gain this immortality do not meet the requirements of a morally guided person in this lifetime –at least not one who believes that he should treat others as he would wish to be treated.

If we are to pursue the virtues which make a life meaningful --- courage, justice, temperance and practical wisdom --- we must also pursue the duty of freeing the oppressed of the world for without that pursuit our virtues are mere pretense. Virtue is being good at being human and a part of that is being good at the personal friendship and friendship with the human race --the type of friendship which results in really caring about others. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Charlie Wilson’s War by George Crile 2003 Atlantic Monthly Press, N.Y., N.Y. The Fourth Turning: An American Prophecy by William Strauss and Neil Howe 1997 Broadway Books, N.Y, N.Y. iii Telltale Hearts by Adam Garfinkle 1951, St. Martin’s Press N.Y,N.Y. iv Bobos in paradise: the new upper class and how they got there, by David Brooks 2000, Touchstone, N.Y, N.Y. ii