Lenin saw his task as overthrowing what he thought was a completely corrupt society. His brother had been executed for his role in a conspiracy against the czars, and lenin had a since f he needed to avenge this. Needed to alter completely a society which he saw as being essentially repressive,. Not essentially difunctional, an essentially backward looking. Lenin was also a man of incredible intellectual discipline. Even people like stalan and kamena couldn't relly define an individual a position going forward. That is our message. Far more effective than kerensky saying that, well, we have these obligations to the western allies ... We will get russia out of this for
This conversation takes a deep dive into disruptions. How do things change? The question is critical to the historical study of any era but it is also a profoundly important issue today as western democracies find the fundamental tenets of their implicit social contract facing extreme challenges from forces espousing ideas that once flourished only on the outskirts of society. Not all radical groups are the same, and all the groups that the book explores take advantage of challenges that have already shaken the social order. They take advantage of mistakes that have challenged belief in the competence of existing institutions to be effective. It is the particular combination of an alternative ideological system and a period of community distress that are necessary conditions for radical changes in direction. As Disruption demonstrates, not all radical change follows paths that its original proponents might have predicted.