THE DESTRUCTION OF ARISTOCRACY. Nick called my attention to a wonderful book which says many things that I agree with wholeheartedly: THE RADICALISM OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION by Gordon S. Wood. Here are two sentences from the Introduction: “The Revolution not only radically changed the personal and social relationships of people, including the position of women, but also destroyed aristocracy as it had been understood in the Western world for at least two millennia. The Revolution brought respectability and even dominance to ordinary people long held in contempt and gave dignity to their menial labor in a manner unprecedented in history and to a degree not equaled elsewhere in the world.” Happy Fourth of July!
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The book generally asserts that the American Revolution was the most radical of any revolution in history. While that didn’t immediately strike me as true, and I thought of a few other examples that could rival it, I never really successfully disproved that notion.
Something to think about.
This is a wonderful post. I can see why you hesitated to add the Muppets on top of it. Still, I think there is room for both.
I would really like to read this book; does Nick have a copy?