Anatomy of a Revolution Part II

 

If economic exposure has traditionally been the greatest weakness of most (if not all governments) that have attempted to become too tyrannical and out of touch with it's own citizen's. What other weaknesses were typically exploited by a revolutionary population?

Distance, limited communications and often times cultural differences. Before about 1930 any of these differences could give a revolutionary cause an advantage depending on the country of origin. Even in 19-teens Russia an area could rebel against a central government and live basically free for weeks before the central government could respond. Cultural ideology or beliefs being almost identical in a regional/cultural area made universal belief in a common cause much easier and even more so when the culture in charge was different from the oppressed citizens. A single spark could explode almost overnight when all parties placed the same importance on the key issues.

Correct me if I am wrong here but I cannot think of an instance of any, even semi-successful,  or otherwise, Revolution happening in a true Republic or pure Democracy since their inception. Sure France had counter revolutions but during transition phases or what amounted to limited Dictatorships at the time. There have been lot's of small uprising and regionally supported rebellions here and there, even in the United States. There have been a number of breakups (once again into mostly culturally autonomous regions) some high level regional juggling (the current Ukraine comes to mind there), Foreign interests forcing Revolutions where they would not have grown on their own etc. But not an instance of a significant population rebelling against a central Republic or Democracy completely on their own that I can think of.

How have these forms of Government avoided such issues to date? 

Well the easiest way for a Central Government (no matter what type) to guarantee a happy population is to limit it's governance as much as possible. I know I can hear Liberal heads exploding when they read that, but it is true. England basically ignored the colonies until they didn't and that is where the problems started. 

However if maximum freedom is not something a ruling class wants to allow then the best way to minimize unrest would be to:

1. Dilute the cultural unity of the population as much as possible.

2. Maximize the amount of Government handouts until a significant portion of the population becomes a dependent class. 

3.  Play favorites within the divided groups to achieve just enough support to maintain power reliably.

4. Increase Central Governmental Authority while also reducing actual representation ratio as much as possible. This also helps with dividing groups culturally and regionally so it's a double bonus move.

Now what keeps a Republic or Democracy in check? Well Separation of powers, a Constitution that includes a Bill of Rights and more important than everything else, for the middle term and long term. Economics.

It took almost 200 years for the central Government to figure out how to get around all of the natural weaknesses mentioned above. The last one being the economic restraints. Many of those moves require unlimited financial resources and that took a world war to achieve and make them possible. Anyone who has read this far can easily see what changes were made to remove or counter these weakness or even eliminate them completely. But once these natural weaknesses and restraints were over come the tyranny grew at a colossal pace and speed.

One can also see how regional issues have often come to near total rebellion from time to time but were stopped or avoided with concession at first when the natural weaknesses forced concessions but later followed by government funded campaigns utilizing one or more of the four ways above until there was no longer enough unified support for the rebellious movement to continue.

If you need examples I will be more than happy to discuss them in the comments. Many are so easy to see like the formation of the daddy state and explosion of female dominated government jobs aimed at dividing the White vote down gender lines. Over compensation and the very creation of "Institutional racism" etc.

The point is we have come to a situation unlike any ever seen before. As I see it these circumstances are not permanent, especially in a historical time frame, but they are not as easily over come as many wish they were, that is for sure. 

I will brainstorm on how I believe the issue will eventually unfold in Part III. Not what I recommend mind you but how I believe it will progress in the near to longer term. Some (including myself) may not be happy with the way things might/will logically progress but well that's the way the cookie crumbles I guess.

Keep Prepping Everyone!!!