Time to “Storm the Bastille”?

Reflections on Two Revolutions [The Daily Reckoning] July 14, 2023 [WEBSITE]( | [UNSUBSCRIBE]( Time to “Storm the Bastille”? - Revolutionary sparks… - The Alan Greenspan of the 18th century… - Then Brian Maher asks if Americans are prepared to “storm the Bastille”… [A $608 credit has been applied to your account]( — Customer Service, Paradigm Press [Click Here To Learn How To Claim It]( Annapolis, Maryland [Brian Maher] BRIAN MAHER Dear Reader, Today Bastille Day is celebrated in France. On this date in 1789 the Parisian rabble set upon the Bastille, a fortress-prison stabling political prisoners — and arms. The event represented a cardinal waypoint en route to the French Revolution… and its attending deliriums. We have previously contrasted the French Revolution with the American Revolution. We have maintained that the American Revolution was a “revolution not made but prevented.” Less a revolution than an anti-revolution… we might properly label the thing a revolt. A child may revolt against parental sovereignty. Does it render him a revolutionary? Here was the American colonists’ animating purpose: To reclaim preexisting rights they believed the crown had muscled away from them. They were not out to create the world anew. They had little care to carve out an “indispensable nation,” or “shining city on the hill.” No ideological stars dazzled them, no ideological sugar plums waltzed within their skulls. They were instead grounded in the good American earth. Historian Clinton Rossiter: However radical the principles of the Revolution may have seemed to the rest of the world, in the minds of the colonists they were thoroughly preservative and respectful of the past… The political theory of the American Revolution, in contrast to that of the French Revolution, was not a theory designed to make the world over. Adds historian and political theorist Russell Kirk: For novel abstract theories of human nature and society, most of the men who subscribed to the Declaration and the Constitution had no relish. Yet did not Mr. Tom Jefferson claim that all men are created equal? He did, yes. Yet as Kirk noted: Jefferson, not unaware of his own remarkable talents, scarcely could have thought that every man… could become the intellectual peer of Thomas Jefferson… There were some demagogues in the Continental Congress, but Jefferson was not of their number, and the large majority of the Declaration’s signers were realists with broad experience of the world, not given to sentimental or false slogans... The men of the Continental Congress... did not take Jefferson’s equality clause as an affirmation of literal equality in body and mind. (In one early draft of the Declaration, the phrase is “equal & independent”; in another rough draft, “& independent” is crossed out…) they did not look upon the average American, let alone the average man everywhere, as their literal equals. They did subscribe to two venerable concepts of human equality: equality before the law, and equality in the judgment of God. The French Revolution — in contrast to the American Revolution — sizzled and crackled with ideology. It looked to build society anew — from root to branch, from cellar to attic. It dynamited all existing social and political foundations. God Himself was chased from France, deported, banished, exiled. Revolutionists sat “reason” down in His vacated throne. Savagery, barbarism and slaughter on the wholesale was the result. Yet how did it come to be… in the previously “civilized” nation of France? And does it offer a cautionary tale to 21st-century Americans? Below, we republish our previous article on the subject. Read on. Regards, [Brian Maher] Brian Maher Managing Editor, The Daily Reckoning [feedback@dailyreckoning.com.](mailto:feedback@dailyreckoning.com) Editor’s note: Were you aware that you can claim a [$608 credit?]( Well, you can. But your chance to claim this $608 credit expires at midnight tomorrow. Our customer service representative explains it all [here.]( Just remember, your chance to claim this credit expires tomorrow at midnight. [Go here now.]( [[CHART] Could Inflation Hit 20%+ In 2023?]( [Click here for more...]( Take a close look at this scary chart pictured here… What you see is the money supply in America… And as you can see, the number of dollars in circulation has exploded in the last few years. In fact, more than 80% of all dollars to ever exist have been printed since just 2020 alone! Which is why some say inflation could soon explode even higher than it is now, to 20% or more. And if you’re at or near retirement age you must take action now to protect yourself… [Click Here To Learn How]( The Daily Reckoning Presents: History might not repeat — but it does rhyme… ****************************** Are Americans Ready to “Storm the Bastille”? By Brian Maher [Brian Maher] BRIAN MAHER Why did furious revolutionary tantrums seize France in 1789? And do they afford us a potential glimpse of the American future? Today we glance backward… in the hope it may help us peer forward. From our co-founder Bill Bonner: By the 18th century, France had become the greatest power in Europe, the richest and most populous country in the western world, and the clear leader in art, science, philosophy, education, cuisine, fashion, architecture...and, of course, viticulture. It had the richest people in the world, the prettiest women, and the best booze. It also had the most enlightened economists - the physiocrats - from whom Adam Smith was boosting some of his best ideas. A poll taken in the early 1780s might have shown the French to be extremely optimistic and confident. And why shouldn't they be? The last major financial crisis - caused by John Law's Mississippi Bubble - blew up over 60 years before. And had the world ever seen anything approaching the splendor of Versailles? Then came 1789 and its revolutionary deliriums: But in 1789, Paris mobs came to the crossroads of history and veered left. They replaced an absolute monarch who had very limited power, with a people's republic restrained neither by common sense nor common decency. Does Mr. Bonner “pity the plumage but forget the dying bird?” That is, does he over sympathize with the monarchy... and under sympathize with its subjects? Perhaps he does — to hammer home a larger point. But the larger point may be plenty sharp. Austrian political scientist and journalist Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn (dates 1909-1999): Much of what may appear positive to us today – liberality, intellectuality, humanitarianism – had all been already brought to us by the liberal, courtly absolutism, while the French Revolution which used all these words in reality did nothing more than brutally extinguish them. Revolutionary Sparks What spark — or which sparks — set the revolutionary fires raging? Caveat lector: You do not hold a history book in your hands. You hold what passes as a financial newsletter… and barely at that. Its editor is not a historian at a lectern. He is instead a popinjay in an armchair, given to the simplifications, half-truths, errors and pomposities of the type. We nonetheless proceed… in the spirit of scholarly inquiry... First, there was the estates system; a feudal hierarchy, a social pyramid. At the pinnacle was the First Estate — the church and its officiating clergy. Wedged in the middle, in the Second Estate, was the nobility. Below the nobility squatted the remaining 98% of France, the massive base of the pyramid — the Third Estate — merchants, tradesmen, lawyers, peasants, etc. The government squeezed the majority of its tax revenues from this Third Estate. That is, the lower 98% hauled the bulk of the freight. The 98% kept the 2% bouncing along in a sort of opulence. Naturally... the 98% bristled and bridled under the burden. But they had been accustomed to the business for generations. Why finally raise a mighty rumpus in 1789? The Hungry Times An army marches on its stomach, it has been said. A people too marches on its stomach. And in the 1780s, the people of France were falling out of formation... France was the most populous nation in Europe. It thus required the most foodstuffs. A fantastic volcanic eruption in 1783 — in present Iceland — threw out so much soot it blew out the sun. Winter was grim. And the 1784 harvest yielded lean, lean pickings. The following summers witnessed drought, busted harvests… and famine. 1787 and 1788 brought more hungry times. With them, inflation. That is because slender harvests raised the price of flour — hence, the price of bread. A shrinking belly... twinned with a shrinking currency... equals an expanding crisis. It means a heart filling with resentment and a head filling with ideas. It meant — in this instance — revolution. It meant the slaughter of civilization. It meant rivers, lakes, seas of blood. It meant war… ultimately. It meant two centuries of ideological mischief of one sort or other. Lenin, Mao, Pol Pot, Castro and other 20the century hellcats took their examples from the French revolutionists and their bloodlettings. They were the grandchildren of the French Revolution. The Alan Greenspan of the 18th Century But we have neglected the crucial role of a critical actor... “the Alan Greenspan of the 18th century” — Monsieur Jacques Necker — to whom we now turn. As Mr. Bonner explains: None of this might have happened, however, except for the efforts of the Alan Greenspan of the late 18th century — Jacques Necker. It was Necker who replaced laissez-faire economist, Jacques Turgot, as French finance minister in 1776. Turgot's free-trade policies had the fatal flaw of all sensible rules - they benefited everybody to the advantage of nobody in particular. Turgot dissolved the guild system, eliminated the corvee (the forced labor of the peasants), imposed a simple property tax and opposed all forms of economic privilege at the expense of the common good. He even set himself against Marie Antoinette, by refusing to grant favors to her cronies. Since everybody in France in the 18th century as well as every American in the 21st wanted the privilege of picking someone else's pocket, Turgot eventually made enemies of nearly every class. Louis XVI, though responsible for the well-being of the entire nation, had not the strength to stand up to the special interests. Turgot even had a prophetic intuition and a view of history similar to our own. Periods of civilized progress are followed, he noted, by periods of barbarism and madness. Dismissed in 1776, he warned Louis XVI: "Do not forget, Sire, that it was feebleness that placed the head of Charles II on the block." [Download My New Survival Guide Today!]( I’ve created a BRAND-NEW “2023 Crisis Survival Guide” that I’m making available to all of my Strategic Intelligence readers today. This short 54-page document has everything you need to know to protect yourself and your family in times of crisis. Things like what foods to stock up on now, staying safe during periods of rioting and looting and more. Inside I break down all of the coming threats you face and how to prepare. [Click Here Now]( Necker made enemies of no one. His program was the opposite of Turgot's; he favored particular privileges at the expense of everybody else. Rather than tax people to pay for state expenses, Necker borrowed — taking short-term, high-interest loans that brought the government close to bankruptcy. Then, Necker turned to accounting tricks to show that the government was actually running a surplus! The patsies loved it. Pushed out for the first time in 1781, Necker was called back on the eve of revolution in 1788 for another dose of his financial magic. But it was too late. The old miracle elixirs — heavier debt and cooked books — wouldn't work any longer; bankruptcy was unavoidable. The aristocrats got rid of him again — on July 14, 1789. The mob, which still had faith, was so disappointed… it headed for the Bastille. History Doesn’t Repeat, But It Rhymes History does not repeat. But it does rhyme, as said the great scalawag Mark Twain. Now this question: Will Americans head for their own Bastille? Perhaps they already have in one sense... Substitute July 14, 1789, for January 6, 2021… substitute the Bastille for the United States Capitol… and you may have yourself a rhyme. The cadence is a bit off, of course. There was violence, yes. Yet it was limited in range and scope. No heads went up on spikes at the Capitol — feet merely went up on Nancy Pelosi’s desk. The bulking majority of the marauders walked out not long after they walked in… and went home. Nor were they famished. By the appearance of many, rather the opposite. In brief, 2021 America was not 1789 France. Nor is 2023 America 1789 France. The Church is punchless, American nobility is a contradiction, no king beleaguers us. Rhymes But do millions of Americans believe they are being bossed and exploited by an overbearing elite? Do they believe they are languishing at the base of the economic pyramid... while the pyramid’s tip lives grandly — almost royally? Many do, yes. Do they believe the Federal Reserve chairman — whoever it may be — is a modern Jacques Necker? Again, many do. Are they ready for a man upon a white horse? We do not know. But many believe — wrongly or rightly — that a man with white hair was fraudulently elected over a man with orange hair in the 2020 presidential election. Rasmussen has reported that 41% of American voters do not believe the sitting president was lawfully elected. Is this the basis of a stable democracy? Here is another possible historical rhyme: As in 1789 France, inflation has been on the jump. It is less than it was last year. Yet it remains an active menace. Take a frustrated population sat upon by elites… many wallowing economically… and losing faith in elections. Now set an inflationary fire. You may discover that history may rhyme too closely for comfort. It may even be mistaken for a repetition. Do we here issue a prediction? We do not. We merely suggest a possibility. And perhaps an unlikely one at that. Yet we refer you again to Mr. Bonner: “A poll taken in the early 1780s might have shown the French to be extremely optimistic and confident.” By the opening of the following decade they were at each other’s throats. Americans have traditionally proven “extremely optimistic and confident.” Yet they are increasingly at each other’s throats… Regards, [Brian Maher] Brian Maher Managing Editor, The Daily Reckoning [feedback@dailyreckoning.com.](mailto:feedback@dailyreckoning.com) Ed. note: Were you aware that you can claim a [$608 credit?]( Well, you can. But your chance to claim this $608 credit expires at midnight tomorrow. Our customer service representative explains it all [here.]( Just remember, your chance to claim this credit expires tomorrow at midnight. [Go here now.]( Thank you for reading The Daily Reckoning! We greatly value your questions and comments. Please send all feedback to [feedback@dailyreckoning.com.](mailto:feedback@dailyreckoning.com) [Brian Maher] [Brian Maher]( is the Daily Reckoning's Managing Editor. Before signing on to Agora Financial, he was an independent researcher and writer who covered economics, politics and international affairs. His work has appeared in the Asia Times and other news outlets around the world. He holds a Master's degree in Defense & Strategic Studies. [Paradigm]( ☰ ⊗ [ARCHIVE]( [ABOUT]( [Contact Us]( © 2023 Paradigm Press, LLC. 808 Saint Paul Street, Baltimore MD 21202. By submitting your email address, you consent to Paradigm Press, LLC. delivering daily email issues and advertisements. 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