this post was submitted on 26 Aug 2026
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History Memes

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Like Castro and Lenin and Cromwell and Robespierre and- (lemmy.zip)
submitted 1 day ago by fellow_human@lemmy.zip to c/historymemes@piefed.social
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Context: the classic "power corrupts" cycle. Revolutionaries promise freedom and justice, but the second they get a taste of absolute power, they suddenly decide it's too good to give up. Castro, Lenin, Cromwell, Robespierre... they all started as "men of the people" and ended up as the very tyrants they swore to overthrow. The meme just takes that historical pattern and makes it hilariously blunt.

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[–] Rothe@piefed.social 30 points 1 day ago (2 children)

They had to kill a buttload of actual ideological revolutionaries to seize that absolute power though.

I think it is more a case of psychopaths being better at rising to the top than it has anything to do with revolutionary ideology.

[–] Aqivex@fedinsfw.app 11 points 1 day ago

Yeah. The good ol' joke of tankies and anarchists the day after the revolution.

[–] Grail@multiverse.soulism.net 1 points 1 day ago

There's no such thing as a psychopath.