THURSDAY, JULY 14, 2022 - THE STORMING OF THE BASTILLE

 THURSDAY, JULY 14, 2022 - THE STORMING OF THE BASTILLE

I like the concept of a balance beam (or teeter-totter) in analyzing history.  

In England, after the Magna Carta, the King’s power gradually eroded (although King George was still very important at the time of the American Revolution).

But, in France, there had been no such erosion.  The King was considered “Divine”.  The Kind was in power by the Grace of God.  The other royalty were vassals of the King (or “toadies”). Louis XIV was the “Sun King”.  Louis XIV died in 1715 - and left a large debt to his successor Louis XV.  Louis the XIV (14) reigned for 72 years, and Louis XV was only 5 years old and was the great-grandson of Louis 14.  Louis XV (15) was considered ineffectual and the constant wars between France and Great Britain (like the Seven Year War) left France in even greater debt.

So, how does a King pay off a large debt?  By raising taxes on the poor!!  When Louis XV died, his grandson, Louis XVI (16) became King.  The people were “taxed to death”.  

The expression - when Marie Antoniette was told “The peasants have no bread”, and supposedly she said “Let them eat cake” is NOT true, but in some ways illustrates the difference.  Marie Antoniette and the nobility never went hungry, the peasants did.

So, while maybe 10% of the country was prosperous, 90% of the county was impoverished.  (That is a generalization).  And, when it reached a critical point, BOOM - France imploded.

From: https://www.studentsofhistory.com/causes-of-the-french-revolution

“The Estate System in France was essentially a caste system that ranked and placed people into groups based on wealth and power. Those in the highest tier, the 1st Estate, were the most powerful. Those in the lowest, the 3rd Estate, were the poorest, had the fewest rights, and paid half their income in taxes. This created resentment toward the nobility and the church, who all comprised the highest levels of the Estate System.

 

To further fuel the anger of the French population - 90% of which was in the 3rd Estate - King Louis XVI had absolute power over his subjects, a practice known as absolutism. Louis XVI was convinced that his status came from God, and that gave him the right to maintain the highest level of power in the country.

“It was quite common for Louis XVI to ensure that the people in the highest tiers of society were taken care of, and that they had adequate amounts of food. Conversely, the bottom tiers of society were practically starving. Food shortages ravaged the country, and there was a low supply of bread due to poor harvests. Thus, as the demand for bread increased, so did the prices of bread, since it was so hard to come by. This in turn increased tension and anger among the 3rd Estate individuals.

 

Many ideas about how society and government should work were emerging around this time. These ideas would come primarily from the Age of Enlightenment or the period of time in which thinkers promoted concepts such as science and reasoning over tradition. Enlightened thinkers championed new ideas regarding government, equality, and democracy.

The people of France were also inspired by the American Revolution in which America had successfully gained independence from Britain. This served as an example of a proper revolution and provided a sort of guideline as to how a country could revolt against its oppressor.

*****

But, once the pendulum began to swing back to the 90% of the population that was poor, it was drastic.  Angry mobs attacked the nobility and rich.  Of course, the guillotine was a major method to kill off the nobility.  

Mob rule came to be.  If somebody said, “Karen White” is a royalist sympathizer, it was the “truth” and Karen White might end up having her head chopped off or imprisoned.  From 1787 to 1797 chaos was rampant in France.  (It ended with a military officer - Napoleon Bonaparte. )

*****

So - are we (the United States of 2022) similar?  Some of our officials have been in office “forever”.

The Washington Post has this:

“How old is too old to be a United States senator?

Consider, for a moment, the octogenarians in office. Dianne Feinstein, the oldest sitting senator, turns 88 this month. She’s served since 1992. Charles Grassley, three months younger, celebrates his 88th birthday in September. He’s held the job for 40 years.

Richard Shelby is 87. James Inhofe is 86. Pat Leahy is 81. The three men have served in the Senate for a total of 106 years.

And there are plenty more right behind them: Twenty-three members of the Senate are in their 70s; only one is under 40. According to the Congressional Research Service, the average age of senators at the beginning of this year was 64.3 years — the oldest in history.

White when compared with the overall U.S. population. Non-Hispanic White Americans account for 77% of voting members in the new Congress, considerably larger than their 60% share of the U.S. population overall.

So begins the debate: Experience vs. new ideas? Career politicians vs. short-timers? Old vs. young? Boomers vs … everybody else?

*****

In my personal opinion, Donald Trump was elected as an “outsider” in 2016.  A “voice of the people”.  Trump was not a career politician (as was Joe Biden) and he won the love and admiration of the “common man”.  

He also rankled the insiders with his ego, his maniacal actions, his bold (and frequently brash) statements, and what some have called “bullying”.  Some were offended by his alleged sexual encounters, others with what some saw as ‘white supremacy.  

The French revolution was a form of civil war.  The United States did have a real Civil War.  The battle lines seem to be drawn - pro-life versus abortion; border immigration policies, environmental policies, dealing with minorities (from Blacks to Asians, to Gay, Lesbian and Transgender peoples), energy policies, and (gasp) the alignment of conservative Christian groups with conservative politicians. 

Like a survey of high school favorite subjects, Math is generally on the top of the survey, and likewise, when students were surveyed about their least favorite subject, Math shows up again.  Donald Trump leaves little “middle ground”.  He is loved and he is hated.  

Will a new American Revolution happen?  The lines are forming now - whose side are you on?  Or will you be one to say “Love Justice, Show Mercy, and walk humbly with your God”?

LOVE WILL WIN!!

Karen 

July 14, 2022