Isildur, the Ring, and the glory of limited government.

February 21st, 2024. Introduction.

So let us talk about revolutions, you and I.

Historically speaking, the word can mean anything from a simple change in government,

like a revolving door, or it can be a nightmarish spectacle that doesn't ever want to quit.

The word admits of quite a range of meanings.

It can refer to something as noble as the American Revolution or to something as devastating

as the Russian Revolution. I know, I just as the Russian Revolution.

I know, I just called the American Revolution, noble.

I'm prepared to defend that, but first we have to go back to the days of Robin Hood for a minute.

Work with me here.

Feudalism staggers into the modern world. In England, the king used to be a

feudal lord. Now feudalism, with all its twists and quirks, did have a basic structure. A feudal lord owed his

vassals protection and the vassals owed their feudal lord allegiance.

If a vassal lived to the west of his lord,

and that lord got attacked from the east,

the vassal needed to show up with whatever troops he had.

If the vassal got attacked from the west, the feudal lord had to show up with all the other vassals

in order to defend him.

There was a lot more than this involved, obviously,

but this arrangement was right at the heart of it.

This is the way that Christian Europe toddled along for centuries.

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