Tea at Trianon: Secrecy And Stonewalling

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Thursday, June 27, 2024

Secrecy And Stonewalling

From Jan at The Easton Gazette:

On the opposite side, many small-town officials tend to enact retribution on those citizens who stand up to them or support political rivals. Often times, the victims stand down out of fear of negative consequences to their families and businesses. It's a difficult thing, but citizens who want to break up small "cabals" of power need to take the chance of consequences. Other citizens in town need to stand by and support them when they do.

Taxpayers need to question any and all actions of their town officials and DEMAND that decisions be made in the open at public meetings and that these meetings are recorded electronically and made available to the citizens. People also need to go to meetings and speak out when they have questions, complaints or ideas.

Finally, there is power in numbers. In our small town, we just had an election. Over 400 people in a town of 650 voted. Yet, at any given town meeting, the most we have is 30 or 40 people. Sometimes attendance is fewer than a dozen. Imagine if every town meeting was bursting at the seams to seat all participants. Imagine if meetings had to be moved to larger locations. There's a huge difference between speaking to 400 people versus 20. One may feel more accountable. Plus, those 400 people may suddenly discover that they are philosophically aligned with each other and will actually accomplish what the people, not just the politicians, want.

The sad truth is that no matter the small town you live in, you are likely to suffer the same kind of treatment that many across the country are dealing with. In just over a year and a half, our citizens have been subjected to abuse, indifference, and downright rudeness from elected, appointed, and hired officials. And, even though we have pushed and made changes, the attitude doesn't seem to have changed that much. We need to keep reminding them that we are not servants but that they work for us.

It's the only way to stop the alarming trend of secrets and stonewalling. (Read more.)