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| A monument to Tsar Alexander III being dismantled. October 1917. Mirrorpix / Getty Images |
Today's mini-history lesson by Michael Auslin comes to us via Unherd. This bit struck me:
The question, of course, is what would replace a Party overthrown in response to Xi’s repressive excesses and weakening of China. In the case of Russia, tsarist autocracy was eventually replaced by the far worse evil of communist totalitarianism. It is hard to see anything worse replacing the system perfected by Stalin and Mao, but few could have predicted the ravaged 20th century. What prevents such an outcome is the current lack of ideological alternative to autocracy (whether socialist or not) and democratic liberalism. There is no nascent movement or ideology on the horizon comparable to the socialism of the mid-19th century that entranced intellectuals and workers.
The comments are pretty good, that's where I got the title. Heraclitus might be my new favorite ancient Greek philosopher.
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