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[Peter Korsten]

Tony Scharf schreef:

> On Sun, Aug 10, 2008 at 1:53 PM, Peter Korsten <peter at severity-one.com> wrote:
>> Name one revolution that changed things for the better.
> 
> depending on your perspective, the american revolution turned out
> pretty good for the colonies I'd say..
> 
> Of course, the British members of the bar may feel somewhat
> differently..and so would my Native American ancestors.

See, that's the point. The French Revolution got rid of the Ancient 
Régime, but replaced it with The Terror. Pretty much the same thing 
happened with the Russian Revolution. Things change for the better for a 
relatively small number of people, they change for the worse for a 
similarly sized group of people, and bugger all changes for the vast 
majority.

The Dutch revolution (better known as the Eighty Years' War) meant 
liberation from Spain, but also subjugation of the Catholics. Chinese 
revolution: well, at least living conditions for quite a few Chinese 
have improved. Now if only they could say what they wanted without fear 
of reprisal.

The 1848 revolutions in Europe: quite the opposite.

> A little revolution now and again is good for the soul.

A revolution means the failure of the other options. And you can't 
expect something universally good to start from bloodshed.

- Peter