Reality, Not Ideology

I want to expand on something I wrote earlier this week. The American Revolution was not a typical revolution. The motivation behind the revolt and then succession from Great Britain was not simply a political ideal that drove the movement. It was actually an event that was part of a long standing British tradition. Throughout the Medieval and early Modern periods England had a number of internal conflicts between the crown and the nobility. Those conflicts dealt with the issue of royal authority.

When kings grow to strong they tend to act as tyrants. The nobles would then rebel and demand changes to the government. The changes were always based in the idea that royal authority was limited, that it was based in law and tradition. In France Louis XIV took almost godlike powers to himself. That would never have been tolerated in Britain.

The American Revolution began as an assembly of respectable leaders who gathered together to ask for a redress of grievances. Even their language was typical of what you see throughout earlier conflicts in England. They blamed the King's ministers, not the King. It was the actions of the King and the British government that lead to the final break.

Even then they were not motivated by political dogma. The creation of the American Republic was a cautionary work. Everything that they did was done after much debate. There was always a practical end in mind. They were not seeking one, uniform ideal. Their was no driving political dogma. That is why the bloodshed in the American Revolution was largely contained to the battlefield. At no time did the government round up and slaughter those with whom it disagreed.

The other revolutions that followed and changed the world were not so enlightened. The French and Russian Revolutions were led by men with a very strong political bent. They had a developed ideology and all had to conform. That is why both of those revolutions are better known for the oppression and suffering that they created than for anything else.

The French Revolution proclaimed Liberty, Equality, and Brotherhood. In order to achieve that end they slaughtered tens of thousands of their own people. The Russian Revolution was even worse. The number given for those purged by Lenin was over 9 million. Not bad for seven years. Stalin followed his mentor's example and exterminated about twenty million more of his fellow citizens. Some estimate that, during the twentieth century, around 100 million people were murdered because of political ideology.

I hope that you will remember this lesson. It doesn't matter if you are conservative or liberal. Please remember that the demand for ideological purity is not only dangerous, but downright un-American.


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