this post was submitted on 04 Aug 2026
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I think people forget how that chapter turned out.
I think people tend to forget that it was a very long 169 years from bopping off rich people's heads to stable government. Millions of people died in senseless acts of violence along the way. Whispers were treated as fact and rumors as final judgement. It was an absolute terrible time.
And yet, to this day, the French government and French companies are very hesitant to piss off their population, who proudly protest and strike at every perceived grievance.
We have faster computers now, so hopefully it will take less time.
Faster time to kill millions? I believe it.
Faster to oust the oligarchs and restore democracy? Not so much.
Is it really that unstable, if it lasted for 70 years and only ended due to foreign invasion, not internal collapse?
The highly unstable part is a selling point for the 5th republic, directly inherited from De Gaulle, who was more inspired by a military style chain of command. Parlementary negociations and proceeding are not optimal from this point of view (one of the reason why the French defeat is attributed to the 3rd Republic, which is somewhat exaggerated). Same for the 4th Republic, it didn't fail because of the war in Algérie but was ended by De Gaulle as a condition to his return to power (at a time where generals in Algérie were organizing a coup to support him).
You seem to forget that one of the most important legacies of the French Revolution was how it inspired people in other countries. People all over the world got inspired by the ideas present in the early stages of the Revolution. For example the revolutions of 1848 wouldn't have happened without the French Revolution, but so many other democratic events owe their debt to it as well.
Including the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen which was further refined and eventually integrated to the current constitution and, IIRC, the European texts.
People haven't forgotten. Just now, I saw a very thorough breakdown on the history of the French Revolution, summarized down to social media length, by someone masquerading as a slime monster with a moniker about how they feel about less than stellar code.
Sure, not everyone remembers the specifics of how XYZ was achieved throughout history. Some willfully, others because the opportunity was taken from them.
That's why it's so important to remember History. A cautionary tale is an approach in need of reforms, with pre-identified lessons to be built upon.
There's a world's worth of work, and a need for (the collective unnamed) you.
And by the end France is still a dictatorship of capital with its own billionaires and a rising nazi party, which will lead to a repeat the same cycle of violence again at some point.
That's greatly overselling the Fifth Republic. Sure, it lasted a long time by French standards, but it's one of the weakest democracies in Europe, inches away from falling to fascism.
Sometimes you have to plant a tree, even if you don't get to sit in it's shade.
200 years later, companies and government dont want to cause too much trouble because the people will riot. Should they have sat down and let the rich demons eat everything?
It's so bred into us over generations, that we don't even SEE it sometimes:
People have been trained to buy the argument that they have to keep fast food wages low, or prices would have to increase amd people couldn't afford the food. But there IS a third choice: the company could simply make less profit, and not pay the C-Suite multi-million salaries and bonuses and perks.
Workers wages could be increased, prices could be lowered. Staff morale would skyrocket, customers would boom, and the PR would be amazing, and shame other chains into following.
If workers' wages are on the table, so are executive's, and it could be the best thing for business.
It's time to start trying new stuff. Every other country that's doing it is leaving us in the dust.
They seem to try out a new government every 14-18 years or so, which reminds me of Jefferson's quote about watering the tree of liberty with "the blood of patriots and tyrants," and he thought that should happen no more than every 20 years or so.
Who said it was gonna be fun?