"The revolutionaries of any decade will become the reactionaries of the next decade, if they do not change their nervous system, because the world around them i

"The revolutionaries of any decade will become the reactionaries of the next decade, if they do not change their nervous system, because the world around them is changing. He or she who stands still in a moving, racing, accelerating age, moves backward." -/Prometheus Rising/, Robert Anton Wilson. They do always win. Consider France, India, South Africa, and Egypt. All of the examples you gave are of authoritarian states being replaced by authoritarian states. France, Egypt, India and likely South Africa would all be just as likely to trod on an individual who was opposing their security apparatus, especially when said security apparatus is taking orders from the visiting G8. As far as you feeling guilty about being "selfish", that is your issue. You need to get over the idea that the world owes you something, and likewise that you owe the world something (apart from perhaps fair play and non-aggression - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-aggression_principle http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-aggression_principle )