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Greatest 20th Century Revolutionary

Who do you think is the greatest revolutionary of the 20th century?

  • Che Guevara

    Votes: 1 4.3%
  • Malcolm X

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Martin Luther King

    Votes: 4 17.4%
  • Gandhi

    Votes: 7 30.4%
  • Other (please note)

    Votes: 11 47.8%

  • Total voters
    23

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So I wanted to know who you think is the greatest revolutionary of the 20th century. I will have my decision in while, as I need to think about it.
 
Lenin, there was no revolution in the 20th century more influential in shaping world events than the Russian Revolution.
 
Tough call. My heart says Mandela, but my brain says that Gandhi's achievement has been the most successful and his legacy the most enduring. Che's contribution I believe was the most selfless and committed.
 
So I wanted to know who you think is the greatest revolutionary of the 20th century. I will have my decision in while, as I need to think about it.

How are you using "greatest", the one you agree with the most or the one that was the most effective or ...?
 
I would hardly call MLK a revolutionary. More of a reformer.

Well, aren't you militant.

.....


Vandana Shiva, Sylvia Earle, Carolyne Merchant and Rachel Carson... for me.
 
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Vladimir Lenin. The man was great, and I fully believe the USSR would have been so much better if he had been it's leader for a longer time.
 
I would hardly call MLK a revolutionary. More of a reformer.

Quite right. MLK did not seek the overthrow of the system of government or the incumbent government of the day, hence he was no revolutionary. The other three did.
 
Well, aren't you militant.

.....


Vandana Shiva, Sylvia Earle, Carolyne Merchant and Rachel Carson... for me.

You tree-hugger, you!

Anyway, revolutionary doesn't have to be militant in order to be a revolutionary. MLK wanted to change the system from within, not overturn and recreate it from without. That makes him a reformer as opposed to a revolutionary.
 
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Well, aren't you militant.

.....


Vandana Shiva, Sylvia Earle, Carolyne Merchant and Rachel Carson... for me.

I think the OP was thinking more in terms of revolutionary politics than revolutionary in the sense of changing pre-existing forms of thinking.
 
How are you using "greatest", the one you agree with the most or the one that was the most effective or ...?

I would say the one that you think enacted the most change, was the most effective.
 
I said, che...

hes the trendiest.

But most effective, well, Stalin actually.
 
You tree-hugger, you!

Anyway, revolutionary doesn't have to be militant in order to be a revolutionary. MLK wanted to change the system from within, not overturn and recreate it from without. That makes him a reformer as opposed to a revolutionary.

What do you think revolutionary means?


I think the OP was thinking more in terms of revolutionary politics than revolutionary in the sense of changing pre-existing forms of thinking.

Thank you. The next revolution is mental evolution. It will be global and it will not be televised. Lemme get some Gil Scott.
 
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If i had to choose one of those off the list... Im stuck between Che and MLK. Che was the definition of a violent revolutionary with amazing human qualities. But MLK was also the same just the peaceful example of one. Sooo i just dont know.. All of the people on the list were amazing human beings...
 
All Revolutions were bad.
 
This is a really hard question...I think Gandhi, because his actions helped create the largest democracy in the world.

Not very logical, but this is what I feel.
 
So I wanted to know who you think is the greatest revolutionary of the 20th century. I will have my decision in while, as I need to think about it.

A common denominator for Martin Luther King and Ghandi was Leo Tolstoy. Though most of Tolstoy's life occurred in the 19th century, his ideas on passive resistance and Christian anarchy heavily influenced the way Ghandi and Martin Luther King thought about and approached problems of social justice. The Tolstoyan movement itself did not lead to reformations in Russia or Europe (its influence got buried beneath more conventional forms of socialism), but it did provide context for peaceful revolutions elsewhere.
 
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I vote Steve Jobs. Technology and how we live our lives has had a far greater impact than any of these people. These people's work touches a few, the work of the people at companies like Apple and Microsoft has affected everyone.
 
Lenin, there was no revolution in the 20th century more influential in shaping world events than the Russian Revolution.

He certainly was the most influential. Without Lenin, there would be no Che.
 
Yukio Mishima
Because he was a bad-ass...and committed Harakiri.
 
I vote Steve Jobs. Technology and how we live our lives has had a far greater impact than any of these people. These people's work touches a few, the work of the people at companies like Apple and Microsoft has affected everyone.

Steve Jobs is not a revolutionary. He is very very good at taking existing technology products and using genius marketing to sell a bazillion units. I admire his talent, but its not like the world be that different if people listened to rios' instead of ipods. Microsoft didn't revolutionize anything but illegal monopoly tactics.
 
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