Volume III, Issue CI
Revolution vs Revolution
Not All Protests are Created Equal
Its official. The 'other' weekly news magazine has made 'the protester' 'Person of the Year.' THYME has named 'the rescuer.' Some gather in large groups to protest. Some, like Irena Sendler, risk their lives by taking the road less travelled. We at THYME were briefed that TIME might even go so far as making the 'Occupy' movement its 'Person of the Year.'
Revolution is not new to the human experience. Consider for a moment the American Revolution and the French one. The carefully crafted documents of the American experiment have lived on for 200 years as a clear statement of individual liberty and responsibility. Out of the wreckage of war our founders brought forth a Republic that has weathered many storms as it provided her people with safety and stability in comparison with the condition of many of the world's people.
France's Revolution began in 1789 with the convocation of the Estates-General in May of that year. Members of the Third Estate proclaimed the Tennis Court Oath in June. The Bastille was burned in July. The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen were passed in August, and the march on Versailles forced the royal court back to Paris in October.
On September 1792 a Republic was declared and King Louis XVI was executed the following year. External threats also played a dominant role in the development of the Revolution. A radicalized Revolution brought the Jacobins and Maximilien Robespierre to power. The Committee of Public Safety was a virtual dictatorship during the Reign of Terror from 1793 until 1794. It is estimated that 16,000 to 40,000 people were killed. The Directory assumed control of the French state in 1795 and held power until 1799. Then Napoleon Bonaparte ruled as Emperor.
Absolute Monarchy was restored after the fall of Napoleon.
Those who desire Revolution should be careful what they wish for.
The storming of the Bastille on July 14, 1789.
THYME Line...
Why I founded THYME
It was after September 12th 2009 and I had just participated in the 09/12 rally in Washington DC. My Mother-in-law gets TIME and I was shocked to see how they treated this movement. Thousands of regular Americans had paid their own way to assemble on the National Mall, motivated by a desire to see America rightly governed. TIME's cover featured television and radio personality Glenn Beck sticking out his tongue and the headline 'Mad Man.' The rally so many of us had worked so hard to attend was buried in a small spread inside.
Flash forward and TIME is more than happy to celebrate the more 'sixties' style protests of the 'Occupy' movement and the 'Arab Spring.' Again I warn you, those who desire Revolution should be careful what they wish for. Those who protest Wall Street must realize that government gave us Fannie and Freddy policies that created the worthless mortgages. Wall Street firms are culpable for bundling and selling them as 'investments,' but government should be held responsible for creating them in the first place.
As to the protests around the world, beware of the radical elements that will try to assume power in Egypt and elsewhere. History, I fear, is about to repeat itself.
No comments:
Post a Comment