More like powerful stand to lose a lot from the fall of the status quo. Revolutions are not kind to the existing elites. Even elites that helped French revolut

More like powerful stand to lose a lot from the fall of the status quo. Revolutions are not kind to the existing elites. Even elites that helped French revolutionaries often ended up on guillotine, so... best course of action is to act in order to preserve status quo. Especially if you're currently profiting from it extraordinarily.