Revolution now?

I’ve posted about this before, and watching the various demonstrators outside Leinster House brought the subject back to my attention. In my life, I have seen great political and social changes that I approve of achieved. From the unification of Europe to the end of apartheid, from the introduction of civil partnerships to the end of Communism and the triumph of the free market and, of course, the election of the first female president of Ireland and the first black president of the United States. Broadly speaking, things are going the way I want them to go.

So, what must it be like to be a far right or far left demonstrator, to be squarely opposed to the direction of modern western society, and to have lost every single battle you have ever fought? Where do you draw the stamina from to continue? Is it an unfailing belief that revolution is just around the corner, or do you take succour from the fact that unlike the incrementalist social democrats or moderate conservatives you never sold out and remained pure? I’m just curious.