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Government Involvement In The French Revolution

Decent Essays

In the source presented, the speaker is arguing that a government needs to be involved in a society in order to benefit all individuals. The speaker is trying to explain that disadvantaged members in society are not helped when society is driven by the self-interests of the rich. When a society is governed by the self interests of the rich, the poor often get ignored as the rich get caught up in the accumulation of wealth and self-interests that they do not see the disadvantaged members of society. This source is also talking about the effectiveness of a society when the poor are overlooked. When a government does not try to help the poor, they keep a substantial amount of individuals out of the economy as they are burdened by poverty. This …show more content…

This way of governing opposes the sources opinions. The French Revolution was a revolt against King Louis XVI, this revolt was inspired by economic downfall, increasing social inequality and huge national debt. At the time, there was a severe class difference between the first estate and the third estate that presented a big economic imbalance. In the years leading up to the French Revolution there was severe famine, increasing debt from spending money on numerous wars, and economic issues that originated from the misuse of wealth. To increase the severity of the situation, King Louis XVI had a taxation system that went against the source. Instead of taxing the upper class, King Louis XVI placed an enormous amount of tax on the middle to lower class, this heavy taxation was to support the self interests of the higher class and to allow them to retain their wealth. In return, this created an even bigger divide between classes economically and, essentially, made the poor poorer and the rich richer. Ultimately, this led to the lower class revolting against the Upper class. Therefore, initiating the French Revolution. This directly goes against the source as the individuals in power were focusing on the self interest of the rich and the accumulation of wealth. Instead of trying help the disadvantaged members come out of their financial problems, King Louis XVI was making it impossible to do so. In this example, the state/person in power was not taking an active role to serve the greater good. The source shows that government involvement in a society is vital for it to be run peacefully as well as successfully. A government needs to ensure that disadvantaged members of the society are being looked

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