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Social change is a long and slow process that does and cannot simply occur in one night. It takes patience , time, effort, and support. There are history books with numerous examples of the many past successful and unsuccessful social movements that all sorts of societies have seen. Yet with all of these examples and knowledge on how to carry out a social movement; there seems to be a stall. It takes someone brave and courageous to start things up. In Doctorow's novel, "Little Brother", the main character, Marcus, is an individual that had enough of his right of privacy being so easily taken away, causing him to take a stand. Whether it is simply an idea or an act, it has to start somewhere. In most cases social change is not an idea or thought of a single individual of a community, in most cases there are a large number of others that feel the same and want to state their belief but at hesitant. So then what is it that people are scared of and causes them to hesitate from standing up and sharing their ideas and beliefs with the rest of the community? In "Little Brother", Marcus is the only one that stood strong to his belief while he was left by his close friends because they were frightened of the consequences. What is this fear that has surpassed our courage to stand for what we believe?

Patience

Patience is a virtue that goes a long way in any aspect of life. It is something that is taught since were young children. In the situation on social change, patience is one of the few things that is a key ingredient that is almost always missing in the supporters. Rothschild explained that most demonstrators are too preoccupied with “quick and easy” results. When a demonstrator puts in effort and sees little to no instant result there is a change of mind set. These demonstrators become disappointed and develop a bitter view to the cause and accept defeat. Social movements do not thrive on instant or direct results. It takes time to develop and gain momentum. Activism gains its power from gradual steady growth. In no one action can an entire society change, it is the small actions that get a social movement into motion. This is where patience does its work on social change. If demonstrators constantly put in effort and gave up on a cause, there would never be any change, stood persistent to a cause and allowed it to form and build, only then can they see any results.

Scared

There are many things that prevent social movements from ever finding any foundation and becoming successful. It may be the fact that the cause was not seen to be the right thing through the eyes of the rest of the community. It may also be that the demonstrators were not patient accepted defeat before the movement even starting moving. One thing however that decelerates and inhibits social change is the fear to stand up and state your claims for what you feel is right. There are many changes that come from being a dedicated activist to a cause. Demonstrators may have to put in a lot of time and effort , that would otherwise be spent on other things, on this certain cause. In a study comparing the personal consequences of being an activist and a non-activist, there were many unfavorable short term trends. IN many cases activist became distant to their original lives. They became less involved with their religious communities, as well as became distant in their relationship with their parents. Another finding was that these activists were employed in lower income jobs, and were frequently in search for new jobs. There are many things that contribute to these findings. This means that it is these people that understand what is going wrong. This is why they are the ones to stand and protest.

Someone brave to start things up

It is not usual that everyone wants to be the first person to step up to the plate. No one wants to be put into a situation where some many things can come from.