Are We Actually Applauding the Right Heroes?
Every culture has the heroes it deserves
French author, lawyer and diplomat Joseph-Marie de Maistre certainly was no stranger to politically interesting times.
As a nobleman and key figure of the “Counter-Enlightenment,” Joseph de Maistre lived through the French Revolution.
(Yes, I meant the word “interesting” in the sense of the old Chinese course, which probably doesn’t actually exist. Oh well.)
Joseph the Maistre had some ideas that seem rather nutty to me (such as monarchy as the only stable form of government — though, in his defense, this was centuries before Game of Thrones).
Anyway, the important point is that he gave us this gem of a quote:
“Toute nation a le gouvernement qu’elle mérite.”
(“Every nation gets the government it deserves.”)
Something to ponder while drowning one’s sorrow in Bordeaux and listening to Edith Piaf’s “Non, je ne regrette rien” perhaps?
While I don’t necessarily agree with Joseph de Maistre’s quote, it certainly packs a punch. In a way, it almost reminds me of Immanuel Kant’s insight that “Enlightenment is man’s release from his self incurred…
