The world is full of conspiracies, from redesigning the world government to changing the contents of your child’s school lunch. Spotting a conspiracy is easy enough, but what happens if you want to start one
of your own?

Luckily enough, fledgling conspirators can turn to legacy left by the French Revolution for a handy how-to guide. Gracchus Babeuf and his intellectual heir, Auguste Blanqui, devised and implemented a blueprint for running a conspiracy.

Both Frenchmen were radicals who sought to overthrow the government.  Blanqui took part in two conspiratorial revolutions (1839 and 1848).  His conspiring did bring about social change, but it also earned him three-plus decades in a French prison. But while his efforts were unsuccessful, his theory is sound. Blanqui said a revolutionary conspiracy requires four basic elements…

Disciplined, secretive leadership

Heroic sacrifice on the part of the leaders

Unavoidable dictatorship among the conspirators

A program for reeducating the masses

Now, you may be asking, what does this all mean?  It means that you, as the chief conspirator, know what is best for your conspiracy. Don’t trust the general public. Instead, limit your fellow conspirators to a very small, select group.

Of course, you need to establish yourself as top dog in the organization immediately because dictatorship is necessary if a conspiracy is to run smoothly. Plan and execute every aspect of your conspiracy in secret, no matter how difficult it might be to accomplish your goals with just a handful of hardened conspirators.

Think of the general public as a lump of unformed clay. Once you’ve enacted your conspiracy, the masses will be so impressed with your efforts that you will easily be able to reeducate and reshape them into whatever you want. Don’t worry that this plan sounds dictatorial or goes against all democratic principles.

Blanqui certainly didn’t and look where that got him.  Oh wait…

MORE STORIES:

14 Myths About America