Blaise Pascal

Blaise Pascal was born on June 19, 1623, in Clermont-Ferrand, France. He was the author of Pensees. I have a copy, but had not even opened it until today.

"The power of kings is founded on the reason and the folly of the people, but especially on their folly. The greatest and most important thing in the world is founded on weakness. This is a remarkably sure foundation, for nothing is surer than that the people will be weak. Anything founded on sound reason is very ill-founded, like respect for wisdom." (330)

I am drawn to reflect upon that passage in light of the recent events in Iran. The power of the ayatollahs has been founded upon the folly of the people. Then again, the power of the Shah was also founded upon the weakness of the people. Unfortunately, I don't suppose that the overthrow of the current, theocratic regime will result from the triumph of reason, either.

In fact, a lot of the problems which have caused so much dissatisfaction with Ahmadinejad and the regime are due to economic policies common in the Middle East and Asia. Staples such as bread and gasoline are subsidized in the cities, in order to avoid giving the people cause for unrest. But Iran is now having to import refined petroleum products, and the program is becoming unsustainable as 70% of Iranians now live in cities. At some point the government is going to have to adopt some unpopular policies, at which point the people will be in the streets again. It would be better if that were to happen under Ahmadinejad than under a government identified with political reform.