Final Word from Tuesday, November 9, 2021
What revolutionaries do, wrote Hannah Arendt in Crises of the Republic, is to be ready to stoop down and to pick up power when it is lying in the street. "Revolutionaries do not make revolution!," she argued. "The revolutionaries are those who know when power is lying in the street and when they can pick it up." Despite his promises of major change as the head of a new five-party government, ODS Chair Petr Fiala is no revolutionary in the traditional sense. He will probably carry on something like 80-90% of the government policies of his predecessor, Andrej Babiš, and he'll merely swap out some of the oligarchs for others. But to get into that position, Fiala must first stoop down with the Pirates by his side and scoop up the power. He must agree to a coalition agreement that promises the stars and the moon but that will deliver blood, sweat and tears. This is his cost of power. His big test as the leader will be to jettison the Pirates before the power starts falling into the street again. [ Czech Republic Crises of the Republic: Lying in Politics; Civil Disobedience; On Violence; Thoughts on Politics and Revolution Spolu Together PirStan STAN ANO ]
Glossary of difficult words
to stoop (down/over) - to bend one's head or body forwards and downwards;
to swap (out) - to substitute one thing for another;
to scoop (up) - to pick up (someone or something) in a swift, fluid movement;
to jettison - to abandon or discard (someone or something that is no longer wanted); to throw or drop (something) from an aircraft or ship.