Wake Of Liberty: 8 – Noble Savage vs. Savage Noble
Cooley tells Smyth how the unjust aristocracy became the target of popular frenzy and general disarray
“Listen, Mr. Smyth. Did you know Goethe was a regular opium user?”
What are you talking about, Cooley?
“Blows your mind, doesn’t it? A big professor such as himself, chasing the dragon?”
I don’t believe it. Are you talking about the Goethe? How do you know?
“He told me in spirit during the previous Trans-Galaxian Convention for Ethereal Substances, in Orion … I’m not kidding, he came up to me and told me during recess. He said he used to take it in the form of laudanum, in small, diluted, regulated quantities.”
Sounds like a story made in heaven, if not made up completely.
“It was made neither up nor in heaven, it’s true as trilobites, crushed and buried under layer and layer of packed earth, only it’s not earth, it’s layers of history, changing over the years.”
I don’t know what to say. If this is true, it puts a great philosopher’s work under an entirely new scope.
“That’s right, and great work at that, too. I mean, he wrote Sorrows of Young Werther, a novel which induced a wave of copycat suicides across Europe when it first came out. Bear in mind that suicide at the time was not just tragedy, it was anathema, something representative of moral corruption or demonic deviation. So it caused quite a scandal. And then of course, there was Faust, the German folk story about the devil trying to lead astray God’s chosen scholar, Dr. Faust, which he reinvented. It was his masterpiece, work of the highest caliber, told on the backdrop of heaven and hell, darkness and light, very provocative in nature and scope, exploring human nature to a grueling degree by touching on various controversial topics, such as ambition, temptation, and mental upheaval.”
Sounds like there was a darker side to the revered intellectual, far from the clean-shaven Goethe I had in mind.
“Many people would agree with you. And upon realizing this, they would waste no time and rush to the legislative bodies and libraries to erase this anomaly. Ban and burn the evil opium-influenced discourses, there’s no room for them in our esteemed society, they may induce a wave of suicides again, a movement of sedition. It can’t be left unchecked, something must be done, quick, get some Prozac to battle the problem before it begins. Xanax, Zoloft, Dexedrine, pick and choose, the last one in the bunch the best of them all, an amphetamine for kids diagnosed with ADD, Attention Deficit Disorder, but don’t worry, Dexedrine’s a good amphetamine, not like those other bad ones, it’s a good and legal one, it has been sanctioned by the pharmaceutical sector and can be obtained with a medical doctor’s blessing – I mean prescription.”
Ok, I get it Cooley. One man’s inspiration is another man’s threat, depending on where you stand and what you’re standing for. The purer the ideal, the greater the fear and the mightier the crackdown, both in old times and modern. We are currently being conditioned with designer downers while our kids are being gerrymandered with designer uppers. Doctors have taken over the role of priests, as have therapists and politicians, telling everyone what to eat, how to think, how to feel and behave.
The people were crushed under the authority of both nobility and clergy
“Excellent, Mr. Smyth, you are catching on pretty fast. Are you sure you’re not on something prohibited?”
Other than Cool-Aid and brioche conjured out of thin air? Nothing as potent.
“You’re wrong. You’re on a roll, and your brain is working double time and triple sharp, on the best high money can’t buy, which the drug pushers and dogmatists have yet to carpet bomb. I call it inspiration, something spirits like me are known to bring about.
“Now let us move on and make a few points on the French Revolution, see how they come into play down the line, for we are digressing. They never pumped me full of prescription amphetamines when I was a kid, and I have developed the disorderly habit of thinking laterally, seeing the revolution spinning around on its head and tyrannizing itself.”
Do tell, I’m all ears.
“In the beginning, there was inspiration. Nobility gave way to equality – subservience gave way to fraternity – serfdom gave way to liberty – and the revolution gained momentum. For a while it was good.
“But emotions soon got in the way and clouded people’s judgment. Tempers flared, causing friction and anguish, turning everyone sanctimonious and self-righteous. Things got out of hand pretty quick and the revolution became increasingly paranoid, demanding increasingly more blood. Liberty was tempered in anger, giving way to animosity, eventually pushing fraternity out by establishing a new subservience, whereby the whole of France was now under the vice of the newly instated nobility of the common people, and there you have it, an eye for an eye, or, as the more scientifically inclined prefer to say, an equal and opposite reaction. A massacre.”
How did it come to such a state, though, Cooley? What led to such violence?
“Let me put things in context, Mr. Smyth. The nobility in France at the time is made up of two groups: the highly influential Great Nobility, a select 1,000 family units, more or less; and the less influential but more numerous Lesser Nobility, about 100,000 family units. Put together, these two groups sound enormous in size and numbers, but in reality they are nothing compared to the overall population of 28 million.
“But they are extremely well off. Both groups enjoy immense privileges and power, economic as well as political – consider them gods among mortals – the difference among them being relative to how senior or junior their superiority is.
The people's awakening was a violent process, resulting in violent unrest
“Then we have the Nobility of the Robe, the honorary nobles. These aristocrats have received their titles on account of their services to the State. Their glossy veneer is a gift from the Crown, and they wear it day in day out in the hope it will stick to their skin some day and cease to be a disguise. It is perhaps the main and only instance of motivation and reward in the French monarchic society on a social mobility level.
“Further down the ladder lives the bourgeoisie, a generally educated middle class, made up of professional groups such as merchants, traders, doctors, lawyers, industrialists, bankers, and moneylenders. They enjoy some tax exemptions, even a few privileges, but nothing compared to the nobility. A weight bears down on their shoulders, keeping them in their assigned positions for life.
“And then, of course, is the peasantry, constituted of all the rest of them. All 22 million of them, give or take. They have been plowed and harvested ruthlessly for centuries, without the slightest possibility of parole, and ascendance from the pits of the world to fresh tiers and better planes during their mortal lives is totally out of the question. Remember, they will enjoy the privilege of Heaven in the afterlife, there’s no need for them to be rewarded on earth for their hard work, or for any potential they show.
“Now, apart from taxes, there’s the issue of military service. The peasantry must go through a six-year mandatory service. The bourgeoisie don’t, they enjoy some exemptions, as do the aristocrats, to each their own. But in 1781 it all changes. A law demands that commissioned ranks be reserved solely for the aristocracy. Members of the bourgeoisie cannot rise further than non-commissioned rank, no matter their aptitude and qualifications.
“The reaction is swift. Secret societies form within the Army, geared at undermining the unjust, inefficient disciplines it is founded on. Many of its members are able and ambitious men, who not only have a penchant for military life but also the vision and experience to back it up. They have been influenced by the ideals they fought for across the Atlantic, in America, where people were rewarded according to merit, not birthright, and are getting progressively eager to put these radical ideals to the test, on French soil.
“As you can see, France is at a crossroads. She is malfunctioning, decaying, and in dire need of an overhaul. As a result, tension mounts. Social mobilization grows and people take action. Unrest spreads across the country, where stories are cheap, as are all rumors.
The Great Fear sees France looted and pillaged
“Beginning of summer, 1789. One of the rumors has it that armed forces are descending on Paris to enforce order. The newly-formed Assembly reacts swiftly, alerting its constituency. Bread riots and demonstrations break out across France. Paris becomes a hub for debate, spewing out politicians en masse. Volatility is on the rise, people are up at arms, pouring through the streets with violent intentions. The police force cannot do much to quell the unrest and anarchy, nor can the Gardes Françaises, the majority of which are in favor of the Assembly. Only the Swiss Guards do their job, but they are too few to make a difference.
“On July 14, the Bastille is stormed. Although the captives released are common criminals and not political prisoners, the symbolism is paramount. The Bastille had held people like Voltaire and Diderot for a while, not to mention the countless anonymous subjects sent there by a Lettre de Cachet.”
What is a letter de cachet?
“Lettres de Cachet were orders of imprisonment without hearing or trial, drafted to contain and restrain anybody annoying the Crown – or just anybody reported to the authorities by a private or powerful figure. You laugh, but it is true. All a noble had to do at the time was drop a name to the authorities and the person would end up in chains. Just like that. Everything was being done during the King’s pleasure, of course, the aim being to ensure the state’s safety and stability.
“So when the Bastille is stormed, the symbolism is far-reaching and the message clear: the populace has risen, no longer willing to tolerate arbitrary arrest and imprisonment.
“A few days later the commencement of le Grand Peur – the Great Fear – begins. It involves a widespread revolt against manorialism in the provinces. As a result properties are plundered, manorial records are burned, and nobility is harassed and attacked. The mob rules. Everything is in disarray and the army can do nothing, it does not want to; most of its non-commissioned members are bourgeoisie and peasants, the ones with the grievances, and they are all too happy to sit by and watch the Great Fear spread, even lend a hand to it on occasions.
Revolution was tricky and dangerous business, dancing to the tunes of conflicting interests
“With France on the verge of a great implosion, thinkers and visionaries and men and women of action and initiative finally step in, trying to calm things down. Their aim is to fill the power gap and take over the reins.
“It proves a tricky task. These leading revolutionaries immediately engage themselves in dangerous political balancing acts, walking an endless tightrope, trying to keep everything in check. Some prove to be great funambulists, well versed in the art of politics and change, but the rope is being tugged from all sides, the cliffs of freedom and democracy once again ready to claim many victims.
“Like somebody once said, fire burns. In the hands of a good chef it can cook. In the hands of a bad chef it can char. In the hands of an arsonist it can scorch. It depends on the practitioner. It depends on the practice.
“The French aristocracy and the revolutionary leadership, educated as both groups are, would probably agree on the shifting and dangerous nature of fire if they had to be honest about it, acknowledging the need to balance boldness with prudence in all systems of governance. But their aims are totally different, and so are their backgrounds. Some noblemen are stoking the revolution in an effort to consolidate certain ideas of the enlightenment and improve the country. Others are doing so to take advantage of the instability and claim more power for themselves. Many are opposed to all forms of uprising, fighting for their lives against revolutionaries coming at them with a vengeance. There is no chance that prudence, restraint, or mercy will take hold on either side. This is an all out purge, coming in waves, geared to tear everything down in the name of a firebrand cause.
“It was a situation that could not have been averted by pre-emptive reform. This was bound to come to a head, caught between a rock and a hard place, as France was. More reform meant less control over rising swaths of people demanding even more reform. Any sort of crackdown only served to stoke the hatred and determination of those in opposition. It was a vicious circle in the name of Reason, and the French people pressed on, pursuing change, regardless of the results.
The people eventually attacked the monarchy and demanded their heads
“What is telling about the volatility of the situation is that French subjects, despite their grave plights, had been actually better off than their Austrian, Prussian, and Russian counterparts. Only Britain had undergone radical reforms in a smoother manner. France was by general comparison a pretty decent place to live in. Yet somehow this proved instrumental in the advance of the revolution. This was a land geared for upheaval, caught as it was between partial enlightenment, sporadic crackdown, and festering anger.
“Louis XVI, a weak despot, and his misguided ilk, may have in fact ironically expedited the insurgence by showing reserve of sentiment where they could have been consistently vicious from the outset, buying time for a generation or so, at best. But that would have been as far as they could have taken it. The French people were awakening after centuries of depravity and exploitation, seeing the world as it could be, full of opportunity and free from tyranny, and there was no stopping them. They wanted freedom, democracy and justice – not to mention jam, honey, brioche, meat, power – the right to vote, the right not to be imprisoned during the king’s pleasure, the right to advance in society based on merit and skill, you name it, they wanted it, to each their own, in no particular order. It was finally time for change. They would do anything in their power to achieve it. Even chop a king’s head off.
“They forgot that chopping a king’s head off, corrupt as he may have been, set dangerous precedents for all of them.
FOR MORE: Wake Of Liberty
Images:
Fleurs Sauvage by Gavin Denman
The People Crushed: source - http://04varvara.wordpress.com
The People Awaken: source - http://thethirdestate.net
The Great Fear: source - http://falcon.fsc.edu
The Great Balancing Acts: source - http://www.worldhistoryplus.com
The People’s Rage: source - http://die-bourbonen-frankreichs.npage.de
