The Revolutionary Mind
25th September 2018
ZMan pokes around.
The conventional model for framing Western politics, since the French Revolution, is the Left-Right axis. This dates from when supporters of the king sat to the right of the president in the National Assembly, while supporters of the revolution sat to the left of the president. Ever since, the Left are the radicals of one sort or another, who seek to overturn the present order in favor of something else. On the Right are the defenders of the present order, but also those who seek to restore a past order.
That means radical republicans in the 18th century, like the American Founders, would be on the Left, along side 19th century Marxists or even 21st century queer theorists. In the 18th century, Thomas Jefferson was a radical. In fact, he was a supporter of the French Revolution. It also means that modern Civic Nationalists, who claim allegiance to the Founders vision of republican order, are on the same side as 19th century monarchists and 20th century fascists. It turns out that libertarians are the real Nazis.