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moominyesterday at 6:51 PM1 replyview on HN

And enforcement cannot work if you’ve captured all three estates.


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nostrademonsyesterday at 7:22 PM

Did you mean this in the French Revolution sense (the clergy, the nobility, and the commoners) or in the American sense (the legislative, judicial, and executive branches)?

The French Revolution sense would be an ironic counterpoint, because the Revolutionaries did end up capturing all three estates, only to fall to someone (Napoleon) who captured the military, which wasn't considered one of the "three estates" because at the start of the French Revolution destroying civil society, enacting a military dictatorship, and starting a series of wars throughout Europe was considered outside the Overton Window.

This perhaps holds some lessons for America today.

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