InsaneJournal

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Enjolras isn't a statue, really (solo_patria) wrote in valarcomm,
@ 2013-04-05 22:40:00

Current mood:	contemplative
Entry tags:	enjolras, fantine

Post to Enj's Personal Blog
"I have dreamed of a Republic such as all the world would have adored. I could never have believed that men could be so ferocious and so unjust."

-Camille Desmoulins

"My only regret is that I am going before that rat Robespierre."

-Georges Danton

Today, fifteen men, among them, Desmoulins and Danton were executed as a result of what were deemed to be their "counter revolutionary" views. A good thing to remember in the light of things that have been going through my mind lately, I think. Lest we condemn Robespierre or anyone else for the tactics that came later in the Revolution, we must honor their lives, their work, and their desire to improve the world, even to fix one which had stepped a bit too far out of hand. As Desmoulins himself pointed out: "My dear Robespierre... my old school friend.. Remember the lessons of history and philosophy: love is stronger, more lasting than fear."

As we seek our own revolutions today, in any day and age, let us keep those ideas, those principles in mind.

And now, a photo of my Danton, one who comes from an industry badly in need of revolution, with a biography about his namesake. (Insert photo here, with Danton wearing a little cravat). Some people say they look alike. :)

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	grisettemodele 2013-04-06 02:56 am UTC (link)
	What principles shall we keep in mind, mon petit? That if we come to power, we should murder our opponents? You are not French, and I do tell you that les français do disagree with you. We acknowledge their ideas, but we condemn them at the same time. Because they deserve it. And your Danton is much more charming than the man. (Reply to this) (Thread)

solo_patria
2013-04-06 03:08 am UTC (link)

The principles Desmoulins speaks of. Letting that love take its course over the fear, but finding ways as well to make that love speak volumes in its way. The revolution was, at first, a response to systemic abuse within a system that had made use of it for far too long. In the light of such, it IS understandable that the rest of it started.

Should it have been ended sooner and with much fewer loss of life? Of course it should. The blind violence enacted by those who had suffered for far too long was, however, naturally a result of that which they had been accustomed to. I think the biggest answer here is finding a way around that violence, towards a new direction. When insurrection must come, it must come, but it must be undertaken with all care, and not in the same manner as was done there.

I disagree that they deserve entire condemnation I suppose. Some, undoubtedly, but not entirely.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	grisettemodele 2013-04-06 03:15 am UTC (link)
	I wish for the poor to be taken care of, but le bon Dieu says that the poor shall be with us always. So in the meantime, I wish for them to be safe and warm. It may be a good place to start. I suppose my comment was against those who glorify violence, not reason. They don't always go hand in hand, after all. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

solo_patria
2013-04-06 03:23 am UTC (link)

Agreed. It is a start and starts are still important in the scheme of things. Safe and warm is as good a goal as any for the moment. Other things emerge as they are needed. I would hope that should we need it here, another revolution could arise if such a thing was necessary for whatever reasons would require it, and I support those in other places who've stepped up to take the helm of their own.

And fair enough. Violence is a means to an end, and sometimes needed but it is also not the immediate first step to take unless the situation is extreme.

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