One of the reasons things got so dire in France for Louis XVI is that Louis XV ( le Bien-Aimé ) partied too hard and put France drastically into debt.
Louis XVI tried to modernize France with enlightenment ideas (the same ones that were inspiring the US colonies to resist its masters in old England), and this really pissed off the rest of the French aristocracy. He also decriminalized Protestantism, which pissed off the clergy.
So when he held the Estates General of 1789, in response to a soaring cost of bread (thanks to deregulation of the bread market), he was under a lot of pressure to obey his fellow nobility (the first estate) and clergy (the second estate), and to ignore the demands of the public (the third estate). Each of the estates got one vote and the third estate was outvoted
And it was a time that the commoners really needed relief. More than that, even the petite bourgeoisie – the small businesses – who were also suffering badly, and had enough power and materiel to organize. We know the rest of the story. 🪟🔪
Cut to USA, 2026, and the whole ballroom affair is rich like a Mille-feuille And the circus for Trump’s birthday is, well, over the (big) top. Trump is trying to steal $1.776 billion from the treasury, and not even trying to hide it. Inflation is soaring. Gas is approaching $5/gallon ($7 here in California). There’s no end to the (elective) Iran war in sight. The cost of diesel is catching up to food prices. We’re kidnapping and interning Americans and sometimes killing them. Oh and Trump and his billionaire buddies have pretty much admitted they don’t care if the common people starve or can’t get medical care.
We may see in this year or next, the moment beyond where the public wants relief and reform, beyond where we want accountability and justice, to the point we collectively want revenge.
One of the reasons things got so dire in France for Louis XVI is that Louis XV ( le Bien-Aimé ) partied too hard and put France drastically into debt.
Louis XVI tried to modernize France with enlightenment ideas (the same ones that were inspiring the US colonies to resist its masters in old England), and this really pissed off the rest of the French aristocracy. He also decriminalized Protestantism, which pissed off the clergy.
So when he held the Estates General of 1789, in response to a soaring cost of bread (thanks to deregulation of the bread market), he was under a lot of pressure to obey his fellow nobility (the first estate) and clergy (the second estate), and to ignore the demands of the public (the third estate). Each of the estates got one vote and the third estate was outvoted
And it was a time that the commoners really needed relief. More than that, even the petite bourgeoisie – the small businesses – who were also suffering badly, and had enough power and materiel to organize. We know the rest of the story. 🪟🔪
Cut to USA, 2026, and the whole ballroom affair is rich like a Mille-feuille And the circus for Trump’s birthday is, well, over the (big) top. Trump is trying to steal $1.776 billion from the treasury, and not even trying to hide it. Inflation is soaring. Gas is approaching $5/gallon ($7 here in California). There’s no end to the (elective) Iran war in sight. The cost of diesel is catching up to food prices. We’re kidnapping and interning Americans and sometimes killing them. Oh and Trump and his billionaire buddies have pretty much admitted they don’t care if the common people starve or can’t get medical care.
We may see in this year or next, the moment beyond where the public wants relief and reform, beyond where we want accountability and justice, to the point we collectively want revenge.
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible, will make violent revolution inevitable.” -JFK