"Fanaticism without faith, discipline without loyalty, excommunication without communion." Augustin Cochin.

Sound familiar? The Internet is not the first time a new forum for communication turned society upside down. The French Revolution did not come from nowhere in 1789, Cochin says: the ideas and the fanaticism had already been worked out in members-only philosophical societies, where men united around dreams of remaking society.

These societies were supposed to be places of free thought. In fact, they were manipulated by inner circles and insulated from the realities of life. They tended towards conformity and extremes. They built imaginary cities in the clouds: but when the Revolution came, they tried to build those cities in reality, and ultimately in blood.

The story Cochin tells is strikingly familiar. The radical dogmatism emerging from the Internet today echoes his depiction of revolution at the beginning of the modern era. It explains how a few people can secretly manufacture public opinion, gain power, create the illusion that they are simply representing the will of the people and defending human rights.

See Augustin Cochin, Organizing the Revolution.