Europe is going to a really difficult moment with energy prices going up and up. As a European, I would like to understand if energy could be the trigger for social revolt as bread prices were for the French Revolution or other uprisings.
A revolution is when people take to the streets to demand something from the state. Let's say the Europeans took to the streets - what will they demand? Falling fossil fuel prices? And who will cover the difference? In Ukraine, until 2014, gas was cheap at the expense of a government loyal to Russia, but I guarantee that no one in this country will want such a life to return. Though it was an abundant life.
John K. Galbraith, the noted Can-Am liberal economist, addressed the necessary components of revolution in the documentary “The Age of Uncertainty.” If I recall correctly, he said you need a weak and/or absent opponent (the state), a strong coalition of single-minded people who act and think together, a lot to be gained and no fear of what will be lost, and an effective leadership to lead the way.<p>He noted that the prior revolutions, such as China and Russia, had very weak states. I suppose the same could be said of Germany after WW1.<p>The communists tried to revolt in France in 1848, but they were crushed immediately.<p>I don’t see Europe in weak position now, and I don’t think that people would be willing to lose everything (and possibly their lives) to achieve better energy prices.