The Invention of Yesterday: A 50,000-Year History of Human Culture, Conflict, and Connection

by Tamim Ansary

In a world defined by religion and kinship, the first question raised by every rule was, How do we know this comes from the top? In a world defined by ideology, the first question was, How do we know this rule will work? A religion must convince people its vision of the supernatural is true, and its interpretation of the highest supernatural authority’s word is correct. An ideology must convince people its dicta would in fact improve human life on Earth. The French revolutionaries raised ideology as an explicit banner. They weren’t out to replace one powerful family with another but to wipe out the very idea of family lineage as a basis of authority. They appealed to abstract principles that could be stated in words. Three words, to be exact: liberty, fraternity, and equality. In practice, these terms have come in for much deconstruction. Who is to be liberated from whom? What constitutes liberty? Where does fraternity leave women? Equality, you say? Ah, but people are not exactly similar, so equal in what regard? These questions do not, however, undercut the fundamentally ideological nature of the French Revolution and the doctrines it generated. Every ideology runs into contradictions in practice.