Adam Michnik, the editor-in-chief of Gazeta Wyborcza:
"[...] we should have a revolution that does not resemble the French or Russian, but rather the American, in the sense that it be for something, not against something. A revolution for a constitution, not a paradise. An anti-utopian revolution. Because utopias lead to the guillotine and the gulag.”
Ali, this is a brilliant article. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteNever mind! Yes, Roger Cohen is a brilliant columnist, though more bright while writing about Iran and more boring while writing about Europe.
ReplyDeleteMaybe so, but this came about a day after my wife and I were talking about exactly the same thing (though in relation to Georgia and Kyrgyzstan), specifically why some revolutions work and others don't. And what makes the American revolution so different. I know the quote about anti-utopianism wasn't Cohen's, but it really put a finger on it.
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