3: Revolutionary Mentalities: The Revolutionary and the Criminal
Le Bon's consideration of the qualities of character the are evident in revolution gives rise to four types or categories of mentality: the mystic, the Jacobin, the revolutionary, and the criminal. The first two were discussed in the previous chapter, the last two in the present one.
The Revolutionary Mentality
In all ages and societies, there have been "restless spirits" who are perpetually discontented and embrace any opportunity to revolt.
This arises from some faulty adaptation of an individual to his environment - who, unable to discover a way to apply his efforts to achieve what he desires, believes it will be granted to him in exchange for his support of a new regime.
The difference between the revolutionary and a thief is that the revolutionary does not grasp the means by which his desires will be achieved - which is to appropriate to himself the product of the labor of others - nor is the revolutionary particularly interested in undertaking the labor to thieve.
In other instances the revolutionary wants what cannot be stolen: he desires glory, popularity, fame, respect, or other things that he has done nothing to earn, but nonetheless desires to have.
These "perpetual rebels" are generally open to suggestion and easily manipulated because their desires are their motivation and anyone who proposes to fulfill them can count on their support and cooperation, so long as the latter does not require much effort. Their rebellion tends to be perpetual because the new regime cannot for long fill their desires without asking effort of them.
(EN: I recall an analogy that suggests that such a person wants to have food, but does not wish to farm - and will support those who propose to kill the farmer and divide out his crops - but when that food is eaten, he finds himself in the same situation, and in search of another band of raiders to join.)
The perpetual rebel who claims to desire liberty is of particular interest to the leaders of revolution, because any insurrection can easily promise liberty and, in the period of transition from old regime to new, there is a period of anarchy in which society exists without laws nor any method to enforce them. But when the new regime is established, this ends abruptly and the perpetual rebel finds himself once again bound by law, and discontented with the regime he has worked to establish.
A movement can only sustain a limited number of nonproductive sinecures, as can a nation - so while these individuals cannot exist in large numbers, it is also quite impossible to completely eliminate them from society. Moreover, such men are drawn to society, as they could not sustain themselves without it.
The Criminal Mentality
The criminal mentality pertains to a wide array of degenerates who are unconcerned with the welfare of society and take only a short-term perspective of their own welfare.
Whether the criminal is serving a functional interest (such as stealing something so that he may possess it) or a psychological one (such as one who murders for the pleasure of killing), he is a person who acts with disregard for the rights of others and the laws of nature.
The criminal's only restraint in a civilized society is law: the fact that the citizens of a society have little patience for such behavior and will restrain or retaliate against criminals. In times of revolution, particularly during violent conflicts in which there is no established authority, the criminal is unrestrained in gratifying his desires.
Le Bon describes two categories of criminal - the habitual and the occasional. Their motives are the same, and the only difference is the frequency with which they seek to gratify themselves. An otherwise "honest" man may be moved to steal or to murder on occasions when he is unable to satisfy his needs by production and trade - but once he has what he wanted or has eliminated a person who vexed him, he returns to orderly conduct. The habitual criminal has no orderly conduct, and crime is his only means to obtain that which he desires.
The occasional criminal is of value to a revolution when it enables him to commit his crime and then return to civil life. He will support a revolution if it gives him the opportunity to murder a vexatious neighbor or rival, and continue to support it even after the crime has been committed, albeit with less passion than before.
The habitual criminal is of little value to a revolution because his desire is not to commit one crime and then be done, but to commit crime on an ongoing basis. He will therefore be supportive of a faction engaged in murder, rape, and pillage but become discontent when the period of violence has ended - during which time he will gladly turn-coat to support another faction whose actions are aligned with his own desires.
The criminal element can be seen in the ranks of a revolution during any violent action, which is particularly obvious when the action is disjointed from the cause. Where rioters are engaged in looting or a murderous mob engages in wonton violence, the criminal is happy to be among their ranks, particularly when he is well aware there will be no punishment for his actions.
(EN: The same accusation is often leveled against the military and police forces of an established nation - that their ranks contain men who seek to harm others with impunity. I do not think this can be denied, though there is some argument about what proportion they constitute.)