Up or Down: Change Isn't Easy

How does change happen?

Maybe this sounds like a question you would find on a self-help blog, or perhaps in a scientific journal talking about some shift in nature. But on a societal level if we look at change there seems to be two different methods that change sweeps nations. There is a level of change that takes place from the top and trickles down, new laws, new ways to learn and accumulate new ideas, often these top-down movements are marked by the fact that the people who come up with this type of change are those with money. The renaissance couldn’t happen all at once but the chance for people to start exploring more began with those who had the money to do so.

Another method of change is from the bottom and works it's way up until it becomes a part of the general culture. While Martain Luther was wealthy enough to have gone to college the reformation spread like a wildfire primarily due to the everyday people.

This might be a bit of a simplification but overall the reformation took on a life of its own. One that could be influenced by those in power but moved to swiftly and too spread out to completely be reigned in.

Even Luther himself with the words: “I, Martin Luther, have during the rebellion slain all the peasants, for it was I who ordered them to be struck dead.” disavowed many who were moving outside of his influence.

But as stated there were more people that wanted change. And rapid change affected all of Europe to the point where within a handful of decades there were hundreds of churches that had been born in this time period

This is not to say that the reformation was more impactful than the renisance for it wouldn’t have happened at all if the renaissance hadn’t started first. But if comparing how the two movements changed life then it can be said that one was swift and decisive while the other was slower but built a stage for the world to continue to move forward with.

To see the differences in the types of people that two movements affected during their peaks and then comparing how both changes took place we can potentially point out that the faster change was the one that the more common people took a hold of.

So how does society change? Top-down or bottom-up the movements have pros and cons but the renaissance and reformation suggest that the faster change comes from bottom-up rather than top-down.