I believe if everyone who was against the current oligarchy started placing guillotine stickers everywhere, like you might for a favorite band, people would feel less isolated in their distaste for the current system.
And in an ideal world those who the guillotines are for might realize just how much they are in the minority.
So defending yourself is self-defeating?
Interesting take…
No, that would be a most uncharitable interpretation of what I’ve been saying (and rather a loaded question.)
You’re still simply wrong about political violence never working.
Love it or hate it, through the vast majority of history, it has accomplished tons.
It has also occasionally backfired or otherwise made the situation worse.
For whatever reason, you want to focus on the latter and call it “always.”
The problem that I’m getting at is that it works both ways, not that it never works.
It’s a gamble, to be sure.
But the gamble of inaction and apathy isn’t working very well either; I’m sure you can point to just as many horrifying historic examples of when doing little to nothing didn’t work out.
All that to say, “Sometimes things don’t work out” is true but not very helpful unless you intend to feed apathy, at which point it’s a highly effective strategy.
So why not use a symbol from a successful example? Why use a symbol from an example we should avoid repeating at almost any cost? I think it’s because most people see the guillotine as a symbol for retribution against the ruling class.