Jacques Mallet du Pan, who had the misfortune of living through not one but two revolutions (in his native Geneva in 1782 and then in France in 1789), formulated this observation as a dictum: “Like Saturn, the Revolution devours its children.” This is a necessary corollary, essentially a mathematical certainty, following from elite overproduction as the most important driver of rebellions, revolutions, and civil wars. In order for stability to return, elite overproduction somehow needs to be taken care of—historically and typically by eliminating the surplus elites through massacre,
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