Been reading Thomas Carlyle's "The French Revolution"

[Vladimir]

and came across a passage which I though I might share with people here... it seems somehow appropriate. The book itself I throughly recommend, although I am finding the language quite difficult.

"On the other hand, be this conceded: Where thou findest a Lie that is opressing thee, extinguish it. Lies exist there only to be extinguished; they wait and cry earnestly for extinction. Think well, meanwhile, in what spirit thou wilt do it: not with hatered, with head-long selfish violence; but in clearness of heart, with holy zeal, gently, almost with pity. Thou wouldst not replace such a Lie by a new Lie, which a new Injustice of thy own were; the parent of still other Lies? Whereby the latter end of that business were worse than the beginning."

[Jack Rabbit]

1. I'll settle for the Declaration of Independence

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. --That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

I would add that those word apply every bit as much to government by CEOs as to government by Kings.

Carlyle's quote, however, has an eerie resonance in reference to a certain latter-day tyrant.

[eternalburn]

2. On another note :

Last night I noticed a few 18th century France pre-revolution movies being scheduled on cable repeatedly this month.

I wonder if anyone else notices the similarities between the aristocracy of then and the "have mores" of today?

[Jack Rabbit]

3. Yes, I've noticed that for some time

And we can put an end to today's tyrants with a much more clear conscience.

After all, they aren't real people. They're artificial persons.