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In reply to the discussion: Why young people are right about Hillary Clinton [View all]Pat Riots
(76 posts)we are approaching the 100 year anniversary of the Easter Rising in Ireland.
it was doomed from the start, lasted one week, and the majority opinion in Ireland was hostile to it at the time. plus it was impossible to defeat an empire with a small number of soldiers, no matter how passionate the idealists were. the leaders were exectuted by the British, and that was that.except that the executions invoked a feeling of sympathy among much of the same Irish who initially opposed the rising.
about 5 years later, the British government began negotiations with the the surviving leadership of the Easter Rising on limited self determination for 26 counties of Ireland. within the same generation Ireland became a nation.
yes, leaders do sometimes have to lead before people will follow. and yes, change is possible even when it seems impossible. it just isnt easy.
one could also mention John Brown and slavery too.