A Tale Of Two Revolutions Represent Two Paths For The World: Which Path Will The World Choose?

On this date, September 17th The United States Constitution was born and showed a path for freedom for the whole world..

The American And French Revolutions represent two paths that the world can take. The French revolutions and American revolutions changed how the world looks at freedom and equality. The French revolution failed to put in guarantees for liberty while the Americans were very careful to put guaranteed rights in their constitutions.

The French revolution and its imitators ended in dictatorship and more centralized control while the American Revolution resulted in greater freedom and greater prosperity for all classes.

The world is entering a crossroads as to which path it will follow. Will it follow the French revolution model or the American revolution model?

There is always a possibility that the United States could surrender their bill of rights for a declaration without iron clad guarantees. According to Khalid Elhassan there was a major difference between the American Revolution and the French Revolution. “However, a major difference between the French Declaration and the American Bill of Rights was the lack of practical guarantees. The french declaration of rights read “all men are born and remain free and equal in rights“. According to Khalid “The French document, unlike the American one, was not associated with a constitutional structure, with an enforcement mechanism to give it teeth and ensure that its provisions were carried out.”

The french revolution promised a great deal but ultimately delivered a dictator which was Napolean.

According to Khalid Elhassan “Just about every revolution and progressive movement in the world after 1789 drew from the French Revolution. Liberalism, secularism, nationalism, radicalism, socialism, feminism: all derive from the French Revolution.”

Khalid saw that the United nations owed his declaration of rights to the French Revolution. “In 1948, the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights drew heavily from, and was modeled upon, the French Revolution’s Declaration”. While United nations has a declaration of human rights it also has no mechanism to enforce those rights.

Wide view of the Hall General Assembly Seventy-second session, 93rd plenary meeting Election of five non-permanent members of the Security Council

Other nations have also left out enforcement mechanisms for enforcing the rights of people. In many of these cases, dictators were able to come to power like Adolph Hitler, Stalin and Mao Tse-Tung.

The United States had the right to bear arms and the right to free speech which was guaranteed by the constitution. The words in the document were enforced and protected by the bill of rights. The ability of people to defend themselves made it very difficult for an authoritarian leader to come to power. The freedom to assemble and the freedom to speak ones mind has made it difficult for government propaganda outlets to control how people think and see the world. No other nation on earth has done more to guarantee human liberty than the United states. The united states protected the free world during World War 1, World War Two and during the cold war. Without the united states, the Nazis and Soviets would have expanded their reaches.

 The world should therefore be based on the American revolution rather than the french revolution which does not guarantee rights. Nations interested in being in a union of the United States could adopt the American constitution which guarantees freedom of religion, freedom of speech, right to bear arms and other such rights.

They could enjoy the benefits of a union with less danger of ending in tyranny. The nations which embrace the constitution could avoid the mistakes of so many countries that ended in dictatorship. The United States constitution could fill north and south america and even the entire world and provide these iron clad rights. The path seems clear. The world can follow the path of the french revolution or the path of the United States which has guaranteed rights. Which will it choose?

By Glen Eric Larson

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