Gideon Lewis-Kraus, writing in The New Yorker, has appropriated the first line of a notable Beatles song, and has incorporated the Beatles' lyrics into his own title. Lewis-Kraus' article reviews a couple of recent books. He makes no reference to, and gives no credit to the band.
If you would like to read Lewis-Kraus' article, just click the following link ("You Say You Want a Revolution. Do You KnowWhat You Mean by That?"). If you want to hear the Beatles sing their song, you can click the link at the top of the page. Clicking right here will take you to the lyrics. If you want to take a look at the books that Lewis-Kraus is commenting on, here they are:
The Beatles were skeptical of the kind of revolutionary talk that was typical in the 1960's. Check their lyrics. Gideon Lewis-Kraus is pretty skeptical about revolutions, too.
As for me, I continue to believe that Hannah Arendt is the authority to whom we should look, if we want to understand what "revolutions" are really all about. Arendt's book, On Revolution, probably ought to be required reading for the citizens of the United States (although the footnotes in German, French, and Latin are, admittedly, a little bit daunting). Arendt, who is not skeptical about revolution, gives our own revolution a pretty good grade. For those who would like to save some money, Arendt's book is actually available free, online. You can give that a try by using this link.
As for the Beatles' song, here's my thought: Saying we want a revolution isn't going to be enough!
https://youtu.be/BGLGzRXY5Bw?si=yfTBXd6crSEUt0gb
Love Hannah Arendt. Love the Beatles. I hold on to the slim possibility that we are on the verge of an evolutionary leap of consciousness - transforming from Domination, Hierarchy, Separation, Competition to a consciousness and society guided by Intuition, Cooperation, Harmony, Inclusiveness.
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