Today we commemorate the failure of the plotters, let by Robert Catesby, who employed Guido Fawkes' in an attempt to blow up the houses of parliament.
There is an inevitable tendancy when people are feeling fed up with politicians to sympathise with this, e.g. the humorous description of Guy Fawkes as "The only person ever to enter parliament with honest intentions."
However, it is not always the case that people who try to get rid of politicians by blowing them up or any means other than election or a proper and duly constituted legal process find that they get a better result. Those who remove an ineffective monarch or tyrant, from Charles the First of Britain or Louis XVI of France through Tsar Nicholas to the Shah of Iran, all too often get a far more effective and ruthless dictator such as Cromwell, Robespierre and then Napoleon, Stalin, or Ayatollah Khomeini.
Some of those who cheered the military coup in Egypt, even though they had good reason to despair of the Muslim Brotherhood administration are now finding out the same lesson the hard way.
Sometimes using force to remove a corrupt and oppressive government which has lost the capacity for reform is the only option and sometimes, as in the "Glorious Revolution" of 1688, it works. One measure of how likely this is to work is that chance of a revolution actually improving things appears to be inversely correlated with the amount of bloodshed.
Hence there is more than a touch of irony as well as amusement in my main quote for today:
"Treason doth never prosper, what's the reason?
For if it prosper, none dare call it treason!"
(Sir John Harington or Harrington, 1561-1612, known for his scholarship, biting satire, and for having invented the first flushing toilet. One of the occasions when he was banished was for a satirical work comparing the material this system was designed to remove with certain prominent politicians of the day.)
On a more humorous note:
There is an inevitable tendancy when people are feeling fed up with politicians to sympathise with this, e.g. the humorous description of Guy Fawkes as "The only person ever to enter parliament with honest intentions."
However, it is not always the case that people who try to get rid of politicians by blowing them up or any means other than election or a proper and duly constituted legal process find that they get a better result. Those who remove an ineffective monarch or tyrant, from Charles the First of Britain or Louis XVI of France through Tsar Nicholas to the Shah of Iran, all too often get a far more effective and ruthless dictator such as Cromwell, Robespierre and then Napoleon, Stalin, or Ayatollah Khomeini.
Some of those who cheered the military coup in Egypt, even though they had good reason to despair of the Muslim Brotherhood administration are now finding out the same lesson the hard way.
Sometimes using force to remove a corrupt and oppressive government which has lost the capacity for reform is the only option and sometimes, as in the "Glorious Revolution" of 1688, it works. One measure of how likely this is to work is that chance of a revolution actually improving things appears to be inversely correlated with the amount of bloodshed.
Hence there is more than a touch of irony as well as amusement in my main quote for today:
"Treason doth never prosper, what's the reason?
For if it prosper, none dare call it treason!"
(Sir John Harington or Harrington, 1561-1612, known for his scholarship, biting satire, and for having invented the first flushing toilet. One of the occasions when he was banished was for a satirical work comparing the material this system was designed to remove with certain prominent politicians of the day.)
On a more humorous note:
How Many People Does It Take To Light a Guy Fawkes Bonfire?
How many safety inspectors does it take to light the bonfire?
Answer, four. One to light the match and three to hold the fire extinguishersHow many civil servants does it take to set fire to Guy Fawkes?
Answer, twenty-three. One to strike the match and twenty two to fill in the paper work.How many Apple employees does it take to flame Guy Fawkes?
Answer, five. One to light the match and four to design the t-shirt.How many Microsoft programmers does it take to start the bonfire?
None. Microsoft declares darkness to be a new standard.How many honest, intelligent, responsible Labour MPs does it take to light a bonfire?
Answer: Both of them.
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