The Ethical Paradox of Necessary Rebellion
When we violate ethical principles in the name of justice, must we not still feel their weight upon our conscience?
The rebel who ceases to regret their violence has already crossed the threshold into tyranny. For what separates the liberator from the oppressor is not their actions, but their relationship to guilt. The tyrant sleeps soundly; the just revolutionary lies awake.
Is it not precisely the reluctance to bend moral principles that qualifies one to do so? Those most worthy of wielding revolutionary power are those most reluctant to embrace it—those who treat each transgression as a wound to their own ethical being rather than as vindication.
The safeguard against becoming what we destroy lies not in perfect adherence to principles, but in preserving their hold upon us even as circumstances compel their violation. If rebels cease feeling the gravity of ethical compromise, then revolution becomes mere transfer of power rather than transformation of its nature.