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To American journalists and news organizations: please do not compare what is happening in the US to the French Revolution 1789. Virtually nothing is similar. Please find other metaphors.
1) France was an absolute monarchy
2) It was overthrown largely by liberal-minded lawyers
3) Most 'revolutionaries' supported constitutional monarchy until the Flight to Varennes 1792
4) France was 90%+ white Catholic, the US is ~66% white & 66% Christian.
2) It was overthrown largely by liberal-minded lawyers
3) Most 'revolutionaries' supported constitutional monarchy until the Flight to Varennes 1792
4) France was 90%+ white Catholic, the US is ~66% white & 66% Christian.
5) Louis XVI was mostly decent but he was WAY in over his head.
6) France's military was discredited after defeat in the Spanish War of Succession, the Seven Years' War & the American Rev., which helped America but was a disaster for it. The US is now the military superpower
6) France's military was discredited after defeat in the Spanish War of Succession, the Seven Years' War & the American Rev., which helped America but was a disaster for it. The US is now the military superpower
7) France was economically in catastrophe. Things are not ideal in the US but it still controls 25% of the world's wealth and most of its debt is held hy US companies, not foreign creditors like France.
8) Technology meant slow communication of ideas; today its instantaneous
8) Technology meant slow communication of ideas; today its instantaneous
9) WOMEN HAVE POWER TODAY! The Ancien Régime and most revolutionaries were very sexist but in the last US election most men voted Trump (lost) while women voted Biden who won, meaning they have remarkable power.
10) 80%+ of French were rural peasants. Most Americans are urban
10) 80%+ of French were rural peasants. Most Americans are urban
11) In France there was a small elite, small middle class and 90%+ were poor. In the US it is far more equitable & even the poor have more power through modern transportation & communication.
12) Revolutions were rare; in 2021 we have many precedents.
12) Revolutions were rare; in 2021 we have many precedents.
13) Slow communication meant very limited foreign disinformation.
14) France had a secret police that could literally arrest people with no charge (lettre de cachet).
15) Society was based on privilege, not economic differences.
16) Most French didn't speak the same language.
14) France had a secret police that could literally arrest people with no charge (lettre de cachet).
15) Society was based on privilege, not economic differences.
16) Most French didn't speak the same language.
16a) It wasn't until Napoleon III forced national education in French that Feench became nationally spoken. Before languages were regional among non-elites.
17) Immigrant populations were far smaller & not a major political concern.
18) Corporations had far less power
17) Immigrant populations were far smaller & not a major political concern.
18) Corporations had far less power
19) US government legitimacy is based on who controls the will of the people. Sovereignity in France was debated between the royalist position of "chosen by God" and the liberal position "will of the people."
20) Paris dominated France so that whoever controlled it usually controlled France. Washington D.C. is not central; the 20th most populous city and is counterbalanced by the power of Wall Street in NYC & Silicon Valley in California. Government can be done via zoom
Technology, culture, politics, government, demographics, sex have evolved so much that we are living in a new world. History has lessons for us but the farther back one goes the less relevant. The 20th cent. revolutions are far more relevant & even those have notable differences.
