echoes-ji, thanks for the links to the ideas of enlightenment and, while there i managed to take a peek at the Frend revolution as well. but i seriously had a problem trying to figure out why the reference was relevant to our discussion here. perhaps, you were trying to point towards the ideas of enlightenment (professed by the educated) as the basis for the revolution? perhaps, you want me to see the discontent harbored by the educated as a proponent of the revolution. but, let's face it, the peasant population circa 1789 in France had a definitive role in the ultimate sacrifices, although the process might have been started and egged on by the educated few. and the horrors, the horrors of the revolution was so revulsive that the "enlightened" few had to cry, cry hard for it to stop. hmmm. ok, the main reason i draw a comparison to the French is because we are at a cross-roads. a cross-roads between feudalism and a republic, however imperfect.