Two+ months since I wrote this. Where are we now? A (long) thread about protest, statues, events as transformations of structures. Plus #MMT and regime change!! theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/…
Thinking about the protests and two other things I saw on here last week:
1) huge marches didn’t prevent Iraq War;
2) Do we know what would satisfy the protesters?
(plus, of course, the French Revolution)
1) huge marches didn’t prevent Iraq War;
2) Do we know what would satisfy the protesters?
(plus, of course, the French Revolution)
3/ Iraq (or Brexit) marches are not good analogies, I think. Those were attempts to sway small group of national lawmakers, get them to NOT do something planned. When invasion/Brexit happened anyway, protests had “failed.”
4/ Protests today aren't like anti Iraq War. Against police brutality, systemic racism that already happen(ed). Marchers demand they stop. Issues can maybe (?) be addressed at local level #8CantWait and, on other hand, hard to know when/if resolved vox.com/2020/6/5/21280…
Protests today also implicitly against HIGHLY unequal (divergence driving) health/economic effects of Covid-19 and lockdown on Black/white, rich/poor. 110,000 Americans dead, disproportionately Af-Am; infection growing in many states; but stocks are up! theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/…
6/ Many crowd & municipal actions—taking down memorials to the Confederacy and other statues, re-naming part of Pennsylvania Avenue—are also protests against how Western societies have remembered/written history of the last 300 years. #BristolProtest theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/j…
7/ My frequent references to 1789 may not solely be “professional deformation.” The statue of Louis XVI that lost a hand in Louisville protests was commissioned by said King’s daughter, gathered dust in storage, moved to Louisville in 1967! #longhotsummer louisville.cc/king-louis-xvi…
8/ If protests are, on some level, calls to learn history & right wrongs of 300+ years of slavery, failed Reconstruction, segregation, redlining etc (#1619Project), they are also about the specific brutality + open white supremacism manifest by/with Trump splcenter.org/news/2020/03/1…
9/ Trump on Monday threatened to take brutality national, show “strength” by using troops against civilians--call resulted in sharp criticism from governors, Gen. Mattis, #ColinPowell. George W Bush (“and Laura”) expressed sympathy for the protests. bushcenter.org/about-the-cent…
An unlikely, growing coalition now exists. National political leaders (GOP+Dem) unite w protesters in opposing Trump, much as National Assembly/ordinary Parisians unified against Louis XVI firing Necker (#whereisFauci), troops being called out en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_N…
Remember, when the lawyers, merchants, aristos, clergy of National Assembly first heard Parisians had attacked Bastille Fortress, they were HORRIFIED. Two days later, Center Right deputy Mounier endorsed as “reclaiming our liberty.” From riot to patriotic fashion detail #fans 
12/This is point of Bill Sewell’s brilliant “Events as Transformations of Structures”* Most events aren't "historical," some are. A crisis doesn’t break a functioning system, it reveals current structures to be already broken and institutions illegitimate. books.google.com/books?id=R9qec…
12* William Sewell, Jr. (emeritus, U Chicago history), "Historical Events as Transformations of Structure," originally in Theory and Society (1996), also in his _Logics of History: Social Theory and Social Transformation_ (@UChicagoPress 2005).
13/ But if our institutions are illegitimate and life is structured at every level by racism and other forms of inequality, then many protesters (not all) will hardly be satisfied by the outcome proposed by @ProjectLincoln
14/ Historians know unlikely coalitions formed in opposition can be fragile. We know *real* conflict often starts _after_ "the old regime falls apart." Because social structures don't really unravel, they have to be unpicked, stitch by stitch. And what goes in their place?
15/ So what is the "old regime" here? It's not just 45, it's not even 1776-present. It's whole structure in which "there isn't enough money" to care for people who are sick, feed people without jobs. But lots of money for guns and violent repression! nytimes.com/2020/06/05/us/…
16/ Historians of Early Modern Europe know this as fiscal-military state. As central governments in W Europe grew they issued debt + collected taxes to pay for armies (and navies!! really expensive), win wars, "gain" colonies. See Brewer, Sinews of Power hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?is…
17/ Historians debate relation of fiscal-military state to "great divergence" between Northern Europe, China. Two had roughly comparable standards of living, etc. until c 1800, then Europe "took off"! (Hockey-stick shaped growth, it's some times called) core-econ.org/the-economy/bo…
18/ The fiscal-military state is a fundamental form (a structure) of modern/contemporary history c. 1600-2000s. The same period in which 12 million African people were enslaved. slavevoyages.org
19/ I don't want to put words in others' mouths. But for me, it's interesting & helpful to think about today's protests, the Climate Movement (and other trends, such as #deathsofdespair) as calls for regime change. Away from fiscal-military states, for governments that CARE.
The fiscal-military state, origins of economics, basics of national accounts, etc.--in Europe, all date to c 1650-1750s, then refined in era of world wars. Breaking/Replacing some bit means others go as well. We know GDP is no longer a meaningful measure! Read @DianeCoyle1859
21/ When I try to think about "what will satisfy the protesters," it seems #GreenNewDeal, renewed public education, healthcare are crucial parts of making "credible commitment" to current citizens. It's demilitarizing the state, but also de-fiscalizing it. Read @StephanieKelton
21*/ In this context, cover image of Deficit Myth can be read 2 ways. Possibly intended: "good governments aren't afraid to dig deep + run deficits." Maybe also: white Uncle Sam guy is bankrupt. We need new regime, new way of accounting, + holding it accountable to ALL citizens.
22/END I persist in thinking we are living in revolutionary times. A revolution isn't a strategic plan! It doesn't have bullet points or achievement metrics. It is a period of radical uncertainty + improvisation in which people are not afraid to try to make a better world.
