Maybe, idk if that’s really true. I would say that in its context, the revolution was about as good as it possibly could have been. The articles of confederation had some actually good shit in it like automatic citizenship for first nations peoples, and the constitution that replaced it was wildly left for its time. The lack of a monarch definitely had much of colonial Europe clutching its pearls. It’s basically been downhill ever since, though.
The problem was that the US revolution was really a bourgeois revolution that primarily served genocidal Settler-Colonialists and slavers. It could have taken on a leftward character had it been led by indigenous peoples and the Proletariat, but because it wasn’t, we have the modern US Empire and all the sins it has wrought.
You’re right, and I think that it’s putting the cart before the horse. Marxist theory wouldn’t exist for another century, and a lot of Marx’s observations that led him to his theories were contingent upon the world that the enlightenment brought about. Had Marx been born 100 years earlier, he probably would have been a Republican (in the Jacobin sense, not the modern US party sense).
It seems like most big changes are set in motion by elites who benefit from them, with the teeming masses convinced a) to go along and b) that they’re driving. Historically this could be because elites have had a pulpit, either from holding office or having access to publishing and more recently broadcasting. In really recent times the masses finally got access to a broad audience via the Internet, but since they mostly use it to post boobs and complain about game companies, elites are still in the driver’s seat.
It’s possible that being led around by a privileged few is just how humans work, and it’s up to enlightened individual elites to make parts of the world better for short periods while they’re alive.
The best time was forty years ago, under Reagan. The second best time is now.
And now… and now…
https://apnews.com/video/reverend-at-inaugural-prayer-service-implores-trump-to-have-mercy-on-lgbtq-people-and-migrants-1667ce77106b4fcbb92658f92ec772bc
The real best time was the US revolution, if we are being technical. However, now is the best we have.
Maybe, idk if that’s really true. I would say that in its context, the revolution was about as good as it possibly could have been. The articles of confederation had some actually good shit in it like automatic citizenship for first nations peoples, and the constitution that replaced it was wildly left for its time. The lack of a monarch definitely had much of colonial Europe clutching its pearls. It’s basically been downhill ever since, though.
The problem was that the US revolution was really a bourgeois revolution that primarily served genocidal Settler-Colonialists and slavers. It could have taken on a leftward character had it been led by indigenous peoples and the Proletariat, but because it wasn’t, we have the modern US Empire and all the sins it has wrought.
You’re right, and I think that it’s putting the cart before the horse. Marxist theory wouldn’t exist for another century, and a lot of Marx’s observations that led him to his theories were contingent upon the world that the enlightenment brought about. Had Marx been born 100 years earlier, he probably would have been a Republican (in the Jacobin sense, not the modern US party sense).
+1 Insightful
It seems like most big changes are set in motion by elites who benefit from them, with the teeming masses convinced a) to go along and b) that they’re driving. Historically this could be because elites have had a pulpit, either from holding office or having access to publishing and more recently broadcasting. In really recent times the masses finally got access to a broad audience via the Internet, but since they mostly use it to post boobs and complain about game companies, elites are still in the driver’s seat.
It’s possible that being led around by a privileged few is just how humans work, and it’s up to enlightened individual elites to make parts of the world better for short periods while they’re alive.
The second best time is always now. Regret solves nothing.
That actually sounds like a good personal motto. For a long time mine has been, “There’s always more than one way,” but you’ve got me thinking.