The Saturday Stoke (Analog)
Why We Love Revolution
The British writer Arthur Young (1741-1820) found himself in France on the eve of the French Revolution. He’s best known for his travel writing, observing the economic and socio-political environments of his time in places like England, Wales, Ireland and France. His travel journal of France paints a grim picture of the living conditions of the non-aristocratic French, or basically all the normal people. Scarcity of food, disease, squalid living conditions, all surface in his observations, giving us a snapshot of the times. It was a time ripe for revolution, as the antiquated feudal system was about to crumble, ushering in capitalism.
But it wasn’t as if capitalism sprouted unannounced during or after the revolution. Seeds of capitalism and “revolution thinking” were planted as early as the 14th and 15th centuries by merchants, entrepreneurs, and artisans in Italy. And remember, it was in the early 14th century a shamed Italian lawyer by the name of Ser Petracco (later just Petrarch) emerged as the first humanist—a poetry-loving troubadour who seized upon the beauties of classical culture— ushering in a renaissance of cultural thinking. He was the first modern man, they say.
Will Durant, however, reminds us that the modern person wasn’t just the person who loved the classical culture. The modern ideal emphasized, “man and the earth … the legitimacy of sensory pleasure, and … mortal glory as a substitute for personal immortality.” Modernity replaced man’s concern with the supernatural with the wonders of the natural world. The Renaissance whipped up the storm clouds over the deep waters of the human conscience, as it were, for even more radical change. In this way, the idea of capitalism rose from other small revolutionary shifts, like the Protestant Reformation, revolutions in the Netherlands, and eventually in America. The steam engine contributed to capitalistic thinking as new modes of production and travel seized the culture with new ways to do business. The sea change, indeed, churned for some time before the tide changed.
The Light of the Dawn
Imagine being alive during this time period: the simmering of newfound freedom wholly different than anything experienced up that point in history. And it wasn’t just local. The tide was crashing all around the world. Rulers, tyrants, aristocrats, bound to the former ways of governing, comfortable and familiar with their power feared their way of life was at an end. And they were right.
Art historians and literary critics point the “the Great Revolution,” as it is sometimes referred, as the seminal moment that ushered in the modern conscience. Luminaries such as William Wordsworth and William Blake, harbingers of the Romantic movement (though this nebulous term extends to a varied swath of poets, writers, thinkers and artists), reacted to the tense and somewhat glorious cultural moment with writing and thinking that endures to this day. Theirs was a Renaissance humanism seized with the passion of revolution—a potent mix for the imagination.
The waves of freedom also swelled new ways of thinking about economics, art, history, politics, philosophy, and religion. Ideas became the currency in this new economy, spread through the elite salons of Europe and eventually in a very young America. “Sapere Aude” was the new rallying cry for thinking—an idea inherited from the ancient Greeks, which meant: “Dare to know!” This was the general sense behind what became known as enlightenment thinking. Intellectual freedom at all costs. It was time to cast off the shackles of intellectual oppression and think for ourselves. It was as if a great dawn was cresting over the dark waters of the previous 800 years illuminating a brand-new conception of life. For perhaps the first time since the Pax Romana, which was a time of peace, industry, expansion and exploration, hope took hold of the general public. Anything was possible.
Something Sinister Rising
And yet, with such a great hope rising, something sinister wakened. Man’s eyes, like Adam and Eve’s, were opened. But it wasn’t man’s nakedness that was revealed. It was his agency. Like the people of Shinar in the ancient Near East, mankind grew bold in the dawn of hope while forgetting its source. The increasingly scientific way of seeing the world did not only leave the ideas concerning the divine on the margins, it sought its elimination. How eager man grows on the wings of revolution. How quickly he rushes to announce the death of God while authoring the desolation of his own soul.
Life as we know it isn’t lived in massive cultural movements. It’s lived in trips to the grocery store, soccer games with our children, and gatherings with friends. I don’t know if the early humanists sought the death of God. Maybe they just wanted to return to the old ways, the old ways to see the world. Maybe they saw something beautiful and life-giving in the old ways. Or maybe they weren’t really looking any further than their own longings. If history shows us anything, it’s that cultural sea change is inevitable. But it also shows us the power of the individual. Revolution will come, and individuals will usher it in.
But history tells us something else. That every human being longs for hope. Everyone seeks the dawn. And in dark times, we need more than individuals, more than isms, more than science, more than a steam engine. We need the beauty of the Divine.
To be continued …
I’m working on something new. Tune in next week and I’ll tell you a little more about it.
Grab My Children’s Audiobook Now
The Shine So Bright audiobook is out now! Get a jumpstart on the Christmas season and grab this short children’s Christmas story for your family, and send one to friends. It’s the perfect length for commuting to the grocery store, walking the dog, or snuggling with your kids before bed.
