You Say You Want a Revolution?

By Andy Caldwell

Here are a few prescient lines from the Beatles tune “Revolution” written by John Lennon.

You say you want a revolution

Well, you know

We all want to change the world

You say you got a real solution

Well, you know

We’d all like to see the plan

You say you’ll change the constitution

Well, you know

We’d all love to change your head

If you go carrying pictures of Chairman Mao

You ain’t going to make it with anyone anyhow.

I am doing a three-part series on revolutions. Last week, I wrote about the Democratic Socialists of America wanting a revolution that would end the constitution, private property, borders, and the Senate, in addition to many other things. Of course, the DSA claims they want to bring about this socialist revolution peacefully, however, that has never happened anywhere else in the world.

We are already witnessing lawfare, subterfuge, and political and judicial corruption as the progressives in America have many of the same goals as the DSA, and they had a head start on them. After all, haven’t the progressives already called for an end to gun rights, the electoral college, free speech that “offends” them, not to mention the plethora of laws, lawsuits, and prosecutions aimed to stop things and people they don’t agree with? Across the pond, their similarly woke cohorts will put people in jail for things they write on social media and if you are stabbed by a Muslim radical, you could be the person who gets handcuffed!

Having said all that, let’s talk comparatively about other revolutions via an amalgamation of various internet sources that include copilot, Wikipedia, Brittanica, soviet-union.com, along with several others.

Alexis de Tocqueville came to America in 1831 to determine why the American Revolution was so successful while the French Revolution became a bloody mess. The French Revolution was ostensibly based upon the principles of liberty, equality, and fraternity, which happens to sound a lot like diversity, equality, and inclusion (DEI), if you care to think about it.

Regardless, the phrase “the revolution eats its own” is a historical and political metaphor describing how revolutionary movements often grow more radical over time, eliminating their own earlier leaders and factions in the process. Of course, the revolution, before eating its own, murders “the establishment.” In the last century, it is estimated that so-called “revolutions for the people” murdered a minimum of 100 million of the people.

In France

The Reign of Terror under Maximillien Robespierre targeted not only the old regime but also fellow revolutionaries who opposed his radicalism, leading to the execution of around 1,300 people in just weeks. Ultimately, more than 16,000 were guillotined, including Monsieur Robespierre.

In China

The “eating its own” pattern intensified under Mao’s later policies. The Great Leap Forward (1958–1962) combined collectivization with unrealistic industrial goals, leading to mass famine and political repression. The Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) was a purge of “bourgeois” elements, including intellectuals and party members, to enforce Maoist ideology. These campaigns eliminated moderates and reinforced radical control. Historians estimate that between 35 million and 80 million Chinese died because of Mao Zedong’s policies, with the Great Leap Forward famine alone causing roughly 15–55 million deaths. Fast forward to 2026, China demands full control of its citizenry enforced by a 24-hour surveillance system along with social credit scores.

The people are anything but free.

In Russia

The revolution “eats its own” because its revolutionary aims — democracy, equality, and liberation (DEI again!) — were undermined by the very means it used to achieve power: authoritarian control, repression, and centralization. The state it created was more oppressive in many ways than the one it overthrew, fulfilling the paradox of self-destruction. To win the Russian Civil War, the Bolsheviks relied on mass mobilization, mass executions, and terror — tactics that entrenched authoritarianism and deepened mistrust between the state and the population. Estimates of Russians killed under Stalin range from around 6 million to as many as 20 million, depending on the inclusion of famine, executions, Gulag deaths, and deportations.

In Venezuela

The current-day revolutionary darling of Hollywood, the courts, legislature, and electoral processes were politicized. Opposition activists were marginalized or imprisoned.

Informal armed groups were empowered in neighborhoods loyal to the government. Chávez suspended Congress’s ability to pass laws and began a crackdown on the judiciary, including packing the Supreme Court (where have we heard that before?). The bicameral Congress (Chamber of Deputies and Senate) was converted into a unicameral National Assembly and stripped of many of its former powers, which is exactly what the DSA wants to do in the United States.

The non-governmental Venezuelan organization Provea reports that “the Maduro Government stifled the rights to personal freedom, life, and personal integrity with extrajudicial executions, torture, and arbitrary detentions. Between 2013 and 2023, there were registered 43,003 victims of violations of personal integrity, which include 1,652 victims of torture and 7,309 victims of cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment or punishment. Moreover, according to Provea records, between 2013 and 2023, at least 10,085 people were murdered by security agents, the majority of these cases remain “uninvestigated,” the report adds.

On top of all that, according to a United Nation’s Report, “due to a prolonged economic, political, and human rights crisis, approximately 7.9 million Venezuelans have left their country since 2015, making this the largest displacement crisis in Latin America’s modern history. Inside the country, around 7–7.9 million people—about one in four Venezuelans—require humanitarian assistance to meet basic needs such as food, healthcare, water, and education.”

Nonetheless, in the wake of Chavez’s death, Sean Penn declared, “Today the people of the United States lost a friend it never knew it had. And poor people around the world lost a champion.” Danny Glover praised Chavez, calling him “a social champion of democracy, material development, and spiritual well-being”.

Back to de Tocqueville

A central theme in de Tocqueville’s “Democracy in America” is that the American Revolution succeeded in embedding the protection of property and individual rights into the nation’s political culture. Tocqueville saw this as a key reason for its longevity — the rule of law and secure property rights gave citizens confidence and reduced the risk of tyranny.

Tocqueville observed that American society fostered civic virtue, mutual respect, and a shared commitment to the Constitution. This cultural foundation, rooted in the Revolution’s ideals, helped sustain political stability and public trust in government.

That begs the question, why would we want to replace what we have when it has proved so successful for 250 years? I am sticking with our founding fathers and John Lennon on this one.

Next week, we will discuss the Islamic Revolution.

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