The Eighteenth Brumaire of Justin Trudeau

Furey:

Look, none of us should have any personal grievances with Trudeau.

He’s incredibly charming in a way reminiscent of a Fast Times at Ridgemont High character. But dude doth not a prime minister make.

I wish I could be more generous, but that’s all he’s offered.

Part of his popularity lies in how he’s a blank slate people can project whatever they want onto.

Brian Lilley has taken to calling Justin our future Prime Minister. I've taken to swearing profusely at my television set every weekday night at 9. Nothing personal, the idea utterly disgusts and terrifies me. Should the unbelievable actually happen, please help us, Justin Trudeau will prove Karl Marx's famous maxim that history repeats itself "the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce." 

The original Comrade was referring to a coup d'etat staged by Louis Napoleon, nephew of the more famous Napoleon, in 1851. The nephew soon declared himself Emperor and ruled France for nearly two decades, until France was defeated by Prussia. The defeat also signaled the beginning of a decades long tradition of French military defeats at the hands of the Germans. 

I'm not expecting a second Battle of the Sedan to be fought on Canadian soil. Even the Dauphin couldn't screw up that much. Yet the parallels between Louis Napoleon and Justin Trudeau are more than passing. In the preface to The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Napoleon, Marx observed:

I, on the contrary, demonstrate how the class struggle in France created circumstances and relationships that made it possible for a grotesque and mediocre personality to play a hero's part.

And who are we to disagree with the founder of modern communism? 

Yet Marx had a point, though in the wrong way as usual. As Ayn Rand explained the real class conflict is between the productive and the unproductive classes. With this understanding we can view the rise of Justin Trudeau as a product of class conflict. The productive class is too busy and too ill informed to properly defend it's interests. The unproductive class no longer has the shield of idealism and is trying to deflect attention from its parasitism. What better tool than a useful idiot like Justin Trudeau?

When Napoleon I rose to power in France he sought to rebuild a nation shattered by revolution and civil war. He did so by shattering the rest of Europe, stopped only through the dogged efforts of a series of British led coalitions, and after nearly a quarter century of warfare and social upheaval. Canadians being a more peaceful and reasonable people than early 19th century Europeans, we fight our revolutions without guillotines or cavalry charges.

Last week I noted how our post-Suez national identity crisis paved the way for Trudeaupia. Pierre Trudeau, working upon the efforts of Pearson, played the Carlyle like hero who redefined Canada in his image. That revolution is slowly being unravelled. Yet the old guard is not giving up easily. They have put forward Justin as the defender of the revolution. They fear not only Stephen Harper, more importantly they fear what comes next. If conservative ideas become normalized in public discourse, then perhaps an actual conservative might gain real power and use it.

While Louis Napoleon succeeded in his coup, his dreams of restoring the Empire were doomed. The France that had eagerly followed his uncle, and for a time even him, evolved. Despite a very shaky start and considerable infighting the Third French Republic lasted seventy years, launching France on a path toward a stable liberal democracy. Well, stable by French standards anyway.

The counter-Trudeaupian revolution will succeed. The Son and Heir can at best only delay it. A delay that will nevertheless be very pricey for all of us. Then again we might be lucky. Justin might turn out to be another Boulanger. 

 

Comments

[Cytotoxic]

I've come to peace with the eventuality of PM Trudeau. What better way to send off Clown Harper and Co.? After royally pissing away their time they will get pissed on. Trudeau won't have a majority and the Senate is solid blue. He might even introduce some sensible drug legislation. I doubt the NDP or Bloc will be in a talking mood.

[Mikeg81]

"That revolution is slowly being unravelled."

Not when almost every single higher learning institution and media outlet has been co-opted by the 'progressives'.

Sorry to be so negative in your comment section all the time, but I just don't see a change happening any time soon. Even if the once and future king leads us over the cliff, people will just figure he didn't 'do it right', and try this insanity again.

[Dennis]

The problem with the idea of Justin heading swiftly to victory is that it assumes that Thomas Mulcair and the NDP will simply roll over and let it happen. There's going to be a big fight on the Canadian left first.