Almost immediately after the amerikan rebels ousted their British overlords, the French Revolution followed suit. The present French Constitution is, in fact, blatantly plagiarized from the document draughted by Tom Jefferson et al. The French Revolution bears mention for another important reason, though; the nomenclature of modern political factions (i.e. "left and right") is derived from the pre-revolutionary French Parliament. This bears mention because misuse of the terminology has reached an all time high, with even journalists who seem (otherwise) well educated using phrases such as, "anti-government right wing extremist" and "anti revolutionary leftists." Even the deviant sociopath known as the "Unabomber" attempts to classify leftists as, basically, anyone who belongs to any group or anyone who possesses any characteristic that the Unabomber doesn't like. By strict definition, the Unabomber (because he professes to be working toward the overthrow of the status quo) is a leftist. Obese entertainer Rush Limbaugh, who loudly proclaims himself "right," while opposing the incumbent government, may not truly understand where the term originated. A brief lesson in etymology seems to be in order!
In what was at the time the only bicameral governing body in Europe, the right wing supported the king (i.e. the government) while the left backed the revolutionaries (i.e. the People). At the far left were the revolutionaries themselves, while at the far right were reactionaries who sought to do away with the revolution altogether. There cannot be, according to this premier definition, any such thing as a "left wing reactionary" or a "right wing revolution!" Ever since the period of the French Revolution the term "leftist" has meant "revolutionary" and the label "right wing" has been applied to supporters of incumbent governments. The terms have nothing to do with liberals or conservatives, democrats or republicans, nazis or civil libertarians. When Castro waged revolution against the Batista dictatorship he was a leftist. To refer to Castro as a leftist after he has been reigning dictator for half a century is ludicrous. Rightists support incumbant forms of government and leftists advocate their overthrow. If any true leftist existed in this country today, they would set up a guillotine on the stairs to Congress and start dragging every member out, one at a time, for execution!
There is, and never has been, any such thing as an "anti government right." If a person or organization is against the current government, they are, by definition, leftist(s).
Although they did so before the French and before the modern nomenclature of political factions was in effect, the rebels that freed the Amerikan colonies from English rule were exemplary of what we now refer to as "leftists." Since that premier revolt, America has been in a near constant state of revolution. Although it may not be acceptable to many people to do so, it is not yet against the law to be a leftist or to voice leftist views in this great land of ours. It is, in fact a tradition. Not the first, but perhaps the most significant among the many revolutionary movements in our nations relatively brief history is the episode of what we generally refer to as the "Civil War." When the northern industrial states sought to gain economic rule over their southern agrarian neighbors, the bloodiest of America's revolutions ensued. Although the abolition of the despicable practice of slavery is generally thought to have been the primary concern of the confederation of rebels in that conflict, the true catalyst of the conflict was the central government's arbitrarily dictating laws that affected what the Constitution had intended to be individual and independent states.
Another revolution took place when the Federal government sought to legislate morality through the prohibition of alcohol. In virtually every state of the union, the people resisted prohibition en masse. J. Edgar Hoover (described by many who knew him as the greatest criminal of his time), waged a war against big time gangsters and rural moonshiners with an army of machine gun toting agents until even the bureaucrats at the White House had enough and repealed prohibition. Law enforcement agents and rum-runners alike celebrated with a drink.
When the government of the United States refused to become involved in the affairs of the European conflict that later came to be known as World War Two, Amerikan citizens who joined the armed services of other countries were leftists. The Amerikan Volunteer Group of the Chinese Air Force (the famous Flying Tigers) were, by strict definition, leftists. If the underlying lack of education were not so frightening in itself, the idea of such large numbers of today's citizens who speak out against the government while professing to represent the political right would be laughable.
Not all of the revolutions in our nations history were as violent as prohibition, the "Civil War" or the Flying Tigers' defense of Nationalist China. When J.F.K. set the goal of landing an Amerikan on the moon "... within this decade!" we blasted off on a technological revolution that made the industrial revolution of the eighteenth century seem like child's play. Polymers, Tang¨, velcroª, pagers, beepers, mylarª, freeze dried foods and drinks, Personal Computers (especially Macsªð!) and microwave ovens are but a few of the goodies that we now take for granted thanks to the good folks at N.A.S.A.
When Kennedy's successor declared a "war on poverty" and escalated the Viet Nam conflict that Ike had committed us to in order to eliminate the poor people of amerika by having them used as cannon fodder, another revolution took place. Hand-in-hand with the Civil Rights movement, a new generation of amerikan leftists (who had grown up in the above mentioned technological revolution and therefore believed that anything was indeed possible!) took to the streets in long hair and peace beads to force Washington to withdraw U.S. troops from Southeast Asia. The true indicators of the success of that revolution are not the lingering proliferation of peace signs and tie-dyed T-shirts, but the tendency to keep a closer eye on the affairs of our lawmakers, a wider acceptance of what were once thought to be "alternative" lifestyles and a generally freer way of thinking. As significant as the French and Indian War, the War of 1812 and the Spanish amerikan War were, the hippies in Chicago in '68 and Woodstock in '69, the numerous N.A.A.C.P. marches on D.C. and the thousands of teachers and professors who opened the minds of their students to new thoughts have contributed as much or more than those armed conflicts did to not only shape but to improve the amerikan way of life.
When revolution is spoken of today, its weapons are not as likely to be wooden shoes, M-16s or Molotov cocktails as they are to be talk radio programs, columns in small town newspapers or home pages on the world wide web! As vehemently as our elected oppressors restrict and revoke our First, Second, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth Artiicle and and Fourteenth Amendment rights and strive to turn our schools into training grounds for professional athletes rather than institutions of learning, right thinking leftists all over amerika (even those who profess to be on the right) are spreading the word that the intellectual revolution is alive and well with equal fervor.