Revolution: Good vs Bad

 When is revolution merited?

In Georgia right now, Fascists have passed the Russia law making it easy to destroy NGO's that allow a democracy to function.  There is substantial overlap but not total overlap between fascists and conservatives, but it is sufficient that I now believe any properly designed government must do everything it can; short of curtailing essential liberties to lock conservatives and conservatives out of power.

Has there ever been a good CONSERVATIVE revolution? None I can think of.  Pick any historical context, and 9 times out of 10 the conservative faction (military, business, nationalist hardliners, or theocrats) leads to blood shed or the reduction of individual liberties.  Moreover, since everything conservatives say is a lie or projection; the net result of conservative actions is the gross reduction of individual liberties across the board.

But wrong thinking centrists will attempt to be ideologically neutral, so it is worthy to explore tests to indicate when a nation is headed for doom and anti democratic norms beyond how conservative the initiators are (ie just because it is patently evident to me, wrong thinking centrists or nauseatingly gross both siders will and are entitled to disagree).  This test is important for dictating decent foreign policy and foreign aid beyond the disgusting realpolitik of late stage capitalism and klepto capitalism (but I repeat myself.)

Fortunately, this was already done in the Declaration of Independence, which to paraphrase summarized this: A government must have both evil action AND evil intent.  Why is this?

Evil Intent but Good Action: Very often, conservative governments enact good in spite of themselves.  Teddy Roosevelt was a progressive from a regressive party and since loyalty and tribal thinking is the only conservative/regressive value they passed many of his reforms to Follow The Leader.  Ditto for Ike.  There were many good and beneficial actions that have helped society as a result of this.

Good Intent but Evil Action: Many bumbling but well intentioned administrations; such as Jimmy Carter and Joe Biden do things that are positively stupid but for the right reasons.  The reason for continuity is obvious, especially in a democracy in that if the intent is good but they are still too stubborn to acknowledge reality they will eventually get hit by a clue by four and correct themselves or at least be voted out.

The true objective advantage of democracy is that it allows stability which breeds wealth (unlike Capitalism or the Oligarch class which actually add nothing of inherent value despite the protestations or lies of conservatives (but again I repeat myself.)

There is a third test I would add however, and that is an attempt to slide a nation from more democracy to less democracy.   Republicans love to harp on about how we live in a Republic, not a democracy, because they are undemocratic.  In truth we live in a Democratic Republic, but since we now see Republicans unwilling to acknowledge the legitimacy of Democratic candidates, we can know beyond doubt that Republicans can and will steal any power or ability for peaceful democratic transition that they are allowed to get away with.  This allows any right thinking individual to treat these organizations as actual enemies of the state, since the state is a Democratic Republic that derives its legitimacy from the governed.  Any attempt by any organized group of individuals to reduce the sovereignty of the citizen majority writ large (note, the majority and not the entitled or enriched minority, nor the theocratic or ideological minority) is an attack on all.

This makes the revolution of the NUG in Myanmar, the Arab Spring or a pending revolution in Georgia totally justified.  Conversely, it self evidently points to the illegitimacy of Israeli colonialism given their refusal to provide democratic sovereignty to their colonial subjects (the Palestinians).  Any anti democratic organization is, by their own admission, an enemy of democracy and to be abolished by any intelligently governed state thereof.

I will also add a hypothetical fourth test which is, in the event of willful incompetence (such as the Democratic Party of the United States) to deal with repeated and recurring enemies of democracy (ie the Republican Party) sets a ticking observational clock that any intelligent person can use to see how long good intent but evil action remains in place.  Should action not be taken, it eventually merits direct and revolutionary action to maintain and keep democratic norms.