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At the febrile height of the French Revolution — the political event that created the modern world — the General Council of the Paris Commune issued a kind of passport for citizens who could demonstrate that they were politically reliable — the certificat de civisme. Proof of civic virtue and political reliability was absolutely vital. Without a certificate, a citizen was “civilly dead.” They had no rights, they could not find legitimate employment, and they were subject to arrest. As the Reign of Terror accelerated, civil death could easily become literal death under the falling blade of the guillotine.
The Law of Suspects made not having a certificat de civisme a crime.
Decree that orders the arrest of Suspect People.
Of 17 September 1793.
The National Convention, having heard the report of its legislative committee on the method of bringing into effect its decree of last 12 August, decrees the following:
Art. I. Immediately after publication of this decree, all suspect people who are to be found on the territory of the Republic, and who are still in freedom, will be put under arrest.
II. Considered as suspect people are:
1º Those who, either by their conduct, or their relations, or by their words or writings, have shown themselves to be partisans of tyranny or of federalism, and enemies of freedom;
2º Those who cannot justify, in the manner prescribed by the decree of last 21 March, their means of existence and the acquittal of their civic duties;
3º Those to whom have been denied certificates of good citizenship;
4º Public officials who have been suspended or discharged from their functions by the National Convention or its commissioners and have not been reinstated, notably those who have been or ought to be discharged under the law of last 14 August;
5º Those former nobles, with their husbands, wives, fathers, mothers, son or daughters, brothers or sisters, and agents of émigrés, who have not consistently demonstrated their commitment to the Revolution;
6º Those who have emigrated during the interval between 1 July 1789 and the publication of the law of 8 April 1792, even if they have returned to France within the time prescribed by that law, or earlier.
III. (etc.)
*
I have in my wallet a certificate that says I’ve been vaccinated twice and boostered once against COVID-19. As a medical record, I have no problem with that. As a certificate of good citizenship, I really hate the thing. I’m glad to be vaxxed — I think it’s the smart play: it’s pretty clear that being vaxxed up helps prevent serious illness, and choosing to vaccinate has expanded my freedom, not constricted it. I feel like I’ve done what I can to protect myself and my family, and to boost the return of things that I value (live music in particular). It wasn’t a hard choice — the operative word being choice.
In our own febrile cultural climate, damned if that card doesn’t feel like a certificat de civisme, and its a feeling I don’t like much.
I’m in favor of vaccination, and encourage my friends and loved ones to get it done. I am opposed to vaccine mandates and passports, and the notion of creating categories of citizenship around vaccination status makes my skin crawl. I know for a fact that there are people in my orbit who would very much like to see the unvaccinated rendered civilly dead. Some have enough schadenfreude in their makeup that they might well take satisfaction in seeing the unvaxxed “get their comeuppance” from the Rona.
We are walking a very dangerous road. Compulsory “virtue” cannot be virtue at all — and it tills the soil and plants the seeds of repression and terror. As a friend noted, when this this kind of “social credit” precedent is established, what comes next? Compulsory trade-in of your older, less environmentally-friendly car? And what from there?
We must remember that the social contract that underpins modern civilization granted government a monopoly on violence, and all compulsory requirements it makes are backed by the threat of violence. As time has marched on, we have allowed its writ to run very wide.
The public health crisis of COVID-19 was and is real — but it is not paranoia to fear the grip of those who would exploit it in the classic political power grab, expressed in the determination to “never let a crisis go to waste.” And the current cultural moment is infected with something more than a viral pathogen. Make no mistake, “cancel culture” and “de-platforming” those the General Council finds odious is an effort to inflict civil death.
Historian Jeremy Popkin asserts that:
“The principles of the French Revolution remain the only possible basis for a just society.”
That may be true. Who could seriously argue against the ideals of liberté, égalité, fraternité? And yet, the great lesson of that very same Revolution is that attempting to create a just society by force unleashes destruction — and injustice — on an unprecedented scale.
C.S. Lewis had it right:
“Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.”
Matthew says
Frankly, talking about the good intentions of the French Revolution is like those who insist that what the Soviet Union had wasn’t “real communism.” Both ended up with a lot of people dead. It doesn’t matter what the intention was; it was the pile of corpses that matter.
Once I was out walking along a very busy road with out my mask. This was out in the sunshine and the open air. Coming toward me was a guy in both a mask and one of those visor things. He sees me and decides to cross the busy highway than get near me. Now he did not actually step out in the middle of traffic, but he was still far more likely to get hit by a car doing so than catch COVID from me. I have come to believe that what I saw was a metaphor for society. We are risking greater dangers to avoid a minor one.
Now, there are people on the other side that are crazy too. I had a customer at the store I work tell me there was no pandemic.
Greg Waddell says
Once the government is given a power, it will never give it back. Once the unusual becomes usual, going back becomes unusual. Today, is there any real reason that we must all remove our belts and shoes before boarding a flight?
Name withheld for social credits says
Nice work. Shared.
Christine DeForest says
It boils down to “choice” until the government takes it away.
Ugly Hombre says
A very good, informative, instructive and illustrative write up never knew that about the French revolt- damn sure fits our sad as hell current situation
The miserable state that the Bidenite’s have inflicted on the Republic- in less that a year, is near impossible to wrap yer skull around. Afgan surrender, confirmed Chicom, Russian, Romanian and Ukrainian bribes, Humper the artist, Concerned parents on the terrorist watch list, the laptop from hell. etc etc et al…
The astounding thing is that they told the American people exactly what they were going to do- and they got 81 million votes and hence- they are importing millions of un- jabbed criminal illegal aliens- many infected with the Chicom virus and shipping them into the interior of America on secret flights in the dead of night. The sand box area ‘got away’ criminal illegal alien terrorist suspects have to hoof it into the country on foot. Unclear what has happened to the few that got- caught, one joker from Yemen, was in a NYC bus driver uniform heading north iirc.
They are kicking out highly trained un- jabbed American GI’s left and right, while importing and funding non jabbed illegal alien criminals..
They then tried to issue imperial edicts to require Jab Certificates for all American Citizen travel but that got shot down in court
Thank God For the Constitution…
“Those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.”
I don’t think the Bidenite’s are tormenting the people of our country for their own good, as is plan to see, the good of the country or its citizens does not cross their mind’s. They are inflicting chaos, crime and misery on America as a means to a end. Maintaining their power and transforming the country into a socialist chit hole is their end game.
Big Pharma is raking in the silver from the jabs… how much goes to the big guy?
Show me yer papers..
Not you Pedro hop on the plane. Oh your Cubano? Wat? Fidel did what to your family?
Sorry..
Were gonna have to send you back to Havana.