Introduction: From causes, to affects, to response, there are three connotations (expansions and interpretations) for the verb <REVOLT> which apply to waxing authoritarianism and waning freedom. They are:
Revolting (1) to roll backwards, (e.g., reactionary politics, “status quo, ante”)
Revolting (2) to cause disgust, (e.g., to feel strong disapproval, “a bad taste”)
Revolting (3) to rise up against (e.g., to rebel against oppression, “revolution”)
Let us examine each aspect in turn and situate these ideas in deaf and disabled communities.
Why? Because deaf and disabled people are at extreme risk presently. The risks include from four kinds of unjust systems, all of which exploit hierarchies.
- Authoritarianism—social systems that concentrate power in the hands of a few people who are increasingly insulated against counteractions by the people.
- Fascism—political systems that scapegoat vulnerable minorities; political systems that profit from ostracism, violence, oppression, and intersectionality.
- Oligarchy—economic systems that concentrate wealth (a form of power) into the hands of a few people who act primarily under the value of greed (hoarding wealth/power)
- Kakistokracy—government systems run by the least qualified people, a government run by those who are unscrupulous and act without conscience or in consideration of consequence.
Social, political, economic, and governmental systems are all causing all kinds of deaf and disabled people to be at extreme risks. However, at even higher risk from these unjust systems are the minorities within our communities. Deaf, disabled AND black, brown, indigenous, gender minorities, sexual minorities, those who are poor, un-homed, aged, language deprived. These are who we all must encircle to defend and protect. But that itself is not enough. Deaf people with privileges—those with intact languages, cultures, a sense of belongingness to history, class, race, land—have a solemn obligation to advance our thinking and advance our actions for the greater good.
Revolting (1) to roll backwards
Denotation: To roll backwards is to remove progress, to turn away from new ideas and to affirm “the superiority of tradition.” To do this is to go back to the way things used to be. Reactionary politics are such that they aim to go back to a former “status quo” (the way things were) without an appreciation for how things have changed since then. To roll backwards is to act in ways that knowingly hurt others.
Expansion: Reactionary politics prop up hierarchies. Hierarchies by definition are exclusive structures for social stratification. Those higher up the pyramid become fewer in number; in reverse, those lower down become more populous. In this system, harm is not only normal, but increasing in frequency, duration, longevity. Moreover, harm is spread out to affect more people and in increasingly harmful ways.
Interpretations: Justifiably, we should suspect that this system is unjust, unfair, unwarranted, and unkind and that these negatives will increase over time. Deaf and disabled people are never treated well by hierarchies. Hierarchies hurt. They hurt upward and they hurt downward. While alleviating the pain of the pinnacle is not our immediate goal, we do well to know that social hierarchies are universally harmful and destroying them creates benefits for all who are currently under their power. We are right to feel suspicious about social structures that harm us. We are right to feel pain when we know that protections against harm are being removed.
Revolting (2) to cause disgust
Denotation: To feel an overwhelming sensation that leads to strong disapproval of the source. To witness something that is counter to your desires and in close relation to think that it is in “bad taste,” “offensive,” “wrong.” To consider and to conclude that an external stimulus carries a strong risk for you and to help you reduce that risk in keeping.
Expansion: Disgust has two operations that work in tandem, one causing the other, but both supporting the same conclusion. The first aspect is immediate and instinctual, it is caused by senses (taste, sight, smell, touch) as well as the emotions those senses generate (feeling scared, at risk, sad, enraged). While senses and emotions are separate processes, they are both operating below the level of our primary control. The second aspect is cognitive and generates a purposeful idea or series of thoughts. Secondary to emotions, thoughts are subject to higher mental processes, such as analysis, evaluation, or judgement. First, we feel, then we think about what it means. To be revolted is to sense, to emote, then think, and last, to decide to turn away.
Interpretation: Deaf and disabled people are rightfully revolted by reactionary politics because we have felt scared by them, we have felt at risk to them, we feel apprehension about them; we feel angered by them; or we feel that they are simply unacceptable conditions for us to live our lives in. Reactionary politics are revolting because they undermine our three basic freedoms:
- to exist—the freedom to live our lives; the freedom to remain alive; the freedom from that which oppresses our lives.
- to be un-coerced—our ability to language and communicate in the way we know is best for us, our freedoms of expression.
- to be autonomous—our freedom to do, think, and act independently; to express agency and live with self-determination, both in and outside communities that we choose to associate with.
We are right when we feel scared, then angry; however, it is not enough to simply feel fear and anger. We must also think and then act in ways that increase our freedoms and decrease that which causes harm to us. To only feel pain is to abdicate our humanity, whose greatest achievement is our ability to change our circumstances when they become disgusting, scary, or intolerable.
Revolting (3) to rise up against
Denotation: To stand up against injustices. To fight back when we are oppressed. To counteract actual sources of harms. To use our autonomy, agency, and self-determination in ways that allow us to maximize our personal and collective freedoms. To know that we are freer than we feel. To exercise the fundamental need for self-preservation. To protect not only ourselves but the vulnerable around us.
Expansion: A bison weighs 2,000 pounds. A wolf about 100. When a wolf pack begins an attack against a bison herd, what do the bison do? The bison form a tight circle. They put their bodies on defense and point their horns outward, facing the attackers. Then, they encircle those who are most vulnerable—including the calves, who are smaller and without all defensive tools or skills needed to protect themselves. When the wolves come, the bison are not passive. They use their immense weight, they use their strong bodies, which are not impervious but are durable. They also use their horns. They dig into the soil, plant their feet and gore. We are not bison. They are not wolves. But we can learn from this. Defense is good but defense itself is not enough. Counteractions are good. Resistance is good. But it is not, by itself, enough.
Interpretation: Deaf and disabled communities have an obligation to rebel against the oppressors who intend to do us harm. This is a fight. We must fight to win, not just to survive to fight another day. “Revolution” is an idea that has lost its potency in our lives. It is time for revolution to return to our vocabularies. We need revolutionary thoughts and revolutionary actions.
Conclusions: Revolting. Revolting. Revolting.
You need to ask yourself, where are you in this chain of events? Are you revolting, are you revolting, or are you revolting?
You may be revolting (Definition 1) if you have thrown support to “anti-DEI” efforts. If diversity, equity, inclusion, and access don’t matter to you now, they never mattered to you at all. You may be in the first stage (Definition 2) of revolting if you are feeling scared or helpless and think the oppressors strength is a possible protection. If so, move to the second stage—think and then act. Because additional reaction is not progress; it is the antithesis of progress. You may be revolutionary (Definition 3) if your theorizing of the world and in your actions within the world are working against historical injustice and for greater freedoms, both now and for the future greater good.
Acting without thinking is to knowingly hurt others. Neutrality is not an option. Passivity, too, is no longer an option. We must not act without thinking, or only sense without analytic action.
So, what next?
Is it REVOLTING > REVOLTING > REVOLTING?
No.
It is not true that revolutionaries are less powerful than reactionaries. We need to take our sense of disgust and act on it in ways that uplift others (especially teh vulnerable), not cast them down.
Is it REVOLTING < REVOLTING < REVOLTING?
Yes.
It is true that we have far more power than we realize. We need to consider our situation, make thoughtful analyses, and then choose to act in ways to defend our communities from immediate harm, but moreover to advance our cause beyond the cessation of harm.
Were we safer before the reaction? Yes. But don’t forget, we were not safe then, either. We can and should do better. We must do better. For the good of ourselves and the communities we belong to.
Not only are we are not going back. We are moving forward.