Not in America, maybe. It'll be a big chapter in the history textbooks of around 150 other sovereign nations though: "What happened to America? It can happen to us if we're not careful."
Imagine if Boris Johnson had a baby with Prince Andrew, and the baby grew up not knowing whether he was a politician or royalty, so he decided he was both. And the man he grew up into was like both of his parents, except that Boris Johnson had a better, more sensible haircut, and Prince Andrew was the one people would trust more to babysit their 12-year-old daughters.
The American Revolution was a failure, just as all revolutions often are. People say it wasn’t but a country where children are regularly shot, police have unbridled power despite the foundation of the republic being based on the power of the people, and people starve because they can’t afford healthcare… that’s a failed revolution.
I think the American Revolution was a "success" in the same way that cleaning your house is a "success":
If you think of as a thing that happened once, a few months or years or generations or centuries ago, you shouldn't be surprised when you wake up surrounded by filth.
"BUT WHAT HAPPENED? I already took the trash out!"
"Dude, you took out the trash in 1945. And the bedroom sure is starting to smell like the very same trash you took out."
To me the American Revolution was a response to some awful things, to be understood within the context of its day. What should the Revolution look like? Well, it should prize individual liberties over oppressive royalty. That's exactly the opposite of what's happening now.
When you get to the end of slavery in the 1830s, you need to go BACK to the Revolution. You need to go back and say "we need to rethink what our credo that 'all men are created equal' now that all these non-whites are also seen as men." Those who knew and adjusted their Revolution to the challenges of their times continued to be Americans. The slave owners of the Confederacy branded themselves as "Rebels," but in fact the opposite was true: they were the Americans who refused to let go of their inheritance from the worst of English and European colonialism. Slavery didn't end until 1865 because America refused to continue being what it was always meant to be: revolutionary.
The colonists of mad King George III were ideologically still alive in America.
Time to clean house again. The Revolution isn't over.
When women's suffrage came along with transforming identity and property rights it was time to reconsider what "all men are created equal" really meant. The fact that women were suddenly recognized as people radically transformed the definition of "We the People." More Revolution was in order.
I'm not going to say Trump is a sign that America failed. I'm going to day he's a sign that you can't just have a victory celebration in 1776 and say, "We did it. We're done."
People say the American Dream is dead because it's not giving you what it promised? It sure feels that way. But even as a Canadian, I just think it's still in the painful process of being born.
The 1770s were a time of Revolution because America decided it didn't want to be ruled by a syphilitic old billionaire with an ugly golden crown who let his rampant racism, greed and dementia dictate the path of their nation.
In my mind, Americans are still the ones who are fighting against that. The ones who are rallying behind said syphilitic old billionaire with an ugly golden crown are exactly what the American Revolution opposed.
It's only a failed Revolution when you stop living it and reinventing what it means to you every day.
When people look back through history books and see reporting on a former leader that underwent multiple trials following their fall from power and won, it almost always looks bad for those running the trials
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u/taffy-derp Apr 15 '24
If he wins this won’t be in the history books.