[caption id=”attachment_3905” align=”alignright” width=”185”
caption=”Yves René Simon”]Yves René Simon[/caption]  Six decades
ago the thomistic philosopher Yves René Simon observed that,
since the French Revolution, authority has had something of a
bad reputation. More than any other act of rebellion, the
Revolution effectively solidified in western consciousness
something of the mythology of heroic popular revolt against
oppressive authority.  Now many are inclined to identify
authority per se with at least potential oppression,
irrespective of what it actually does and how it functions.  At
one time it was generally assumed that those defying authority
were committing a grave sin imperiling their eternal salvation. 
They were acting so as to overturn a God-given social and
political order, and were little better than common criminals.
Nowadays it is often, if not always, assumed that legitimate
complaints undergird an insurrection, however violent its
effects, and that governmental efforts to quell a rebel