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What Occasions Revolutions ?
ricochet.com ^

Posted on 01/23/2013 1:17:42 PM PST by virgil283

"Has anybody other than Karl Marx established a theory for why, when, and how revolutions occur?.....
The answer to that question is that there is a very considerable literature on this.
One key indicator is that those with access to the levers of power within the ruling order cease to believe in the religion or ideology that legitimizes the regime. Another is that their underlings also gradually abandon the beliefs that render respectable the rule of their masters. This happened some time ago in China, and there very nearly was a revolution at the time of Tiananmen Square. Tellingly, the key players among the young at that time were often the children of party officials.

At the time, the party split over how it should respond to the protests and quite a number of leading party figures ended up under house arrest for the rest of their lives. It did not have to end in the manner in which it ended. It could have gone the other way. It was a close-run thing.
.... Then, the crucial question is whether those in charge have the nerve to try to crush the rebellion and whether their underlings will follow orders. If the powers that be are hesitant, ambivalent, or divided, if their underlings are fed up, things can very easily come apart (as they did in eastern Europe, in the Soviet Union, and in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, and Syria). So far, the Chinese and the Iranians have kept a lid on things. But do not think for a second that these regimes are stable. In both China and Iran, skepticism about the regime's legitimacy is commonplace.....

(Excerpt) Read more at ricochet.com ...


TOPICS: History
KEYWORDS: revolutions
This article is about China and the middle east but - If I may - "One key indicator is that those with access to the levers of power within the ruling order cease to believe in the religion or ideology" that legitimizes the regime. Another is that their underlings also gradually abandon the beliefs that render respectable the rule of their masters....." such as Christianity or beliefs such as modern liberalism ?
1 posted on 01/23/2013 1:17:44 PM PST by virgil283
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To: virgil283

Very interesting question! I’ll have to think about that. What may make the new “United States of Cuba” different however is that the elites have caught on to something I’ve only come to realize, i.e., that by maintaining the “open borders” policy and by encouraging non-European “legal” immigration, the US elites have the ability to keep the lake of “beliefs” constantly refreshing to such an extent that over a relatively short period of time, from 1965 till today, there isn’t any commonly held “belief” system; no set of “core values” that everyone accepts as legitimizing the “ruling class”. Concomittanly, this also creates a situation where there’s no commonly accepted norm or set of expectations held by general population against which to bench mark the continued legitimacy of the ruling elites. As long as the lights are on and Walmarts shelves are full, no one is asking any questions. The Gov’t controlled media helps out by daily praising the Gov’t Elites in what they do and has abandonned its role as the Fourth Estate in holding Gov’t accountable for its misdeeds and theiving.

All of this, plus the fact that the Gov’t has conveniently bought off 40% of the population through Gov’t give-aways has long led me to the belief that another “revolution” in the U.S. won’t happen unless and until the Gov’t finally runs out of money and can’t borrow anymore because no one will accept their funny paper. When that happens, the “reset” button will have to be pressed; the food stamps will stop coming; the free housing will be boarded up; the Obama phones will be cut up and the 40% will rise up in angry outrage.................against anyone who has anything and who has worked to save anything up.

And when that well runs dry, they’ll launch massive protests against the Gov’t and find the halls of power largely ................empty, as the theives will have stolen away in the night to their Island get-aways where they’ve offshored their stolen loot. The Bush family knows this; they’ve invested millions in property and ranch holdings in South America; Mitt (the Mutt) Romney knew it. He’d already offshored his millions before being drafted to make a showing for the 2012 Election.

Bottom line: if your not rich enough to get yourself and your money out of the country before the well runs dry, you’ld best be holed up in a remote location no less than 150 miles from any US Urban center where from you can watch the chaos and carnage with glee from a safe distance.


2 posted on 01/23/2013 1:49:53 PM PST by Rich21IE
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To: virgil283

These eight steps were written in 1787 by Professor Alexander Tyler. The United States was in the planning process of a young and fragile Democracy. So, this Professor took a look at the past and tried to map out the evolution of a Democracy. He determined a time line for these eight steps and an estimate of how long the process would take, 200 years.

The Eight Steps in the Evolution of Democracy (Professor Alexander Tyler, 1787)
* From bondage to spiritual faith;
* From spiritual faith to great courage;
* From courage to liberty;
* From liberty to abundance;
* From abundance to complacency;
* From complacency to apathy;
* From apathy to dependence;
* From dependence back into bondage.

Notice that the very first step in the evolution of democracy is the movement from bondage to spiritual faith.
The low information voters don’t see the avaiability of ‘freebies’ as having anything to do with the concept of bondage , except they would understand if they were the one’s being taxed into bondage .

The concept of spititual faith has to do with the enforcement of the U.S. Constitution , and understanding that our rights , as citizens , are being trampled by the constant attack and Federal over-reach of any administration.
The roots of revolution , either peaceful or by violence , comes about when leadership , either political or social , says ‘enough of this crap ‘ !!
and then the leadership steps forward
That step forward hasn’t yet happened ... yet !!


3 posted on 01/23/2013 1:55:54 PM PST by Tilted Irish Kilt (Pay attention - the inmates ARE running the asylum!)
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To: virgil283
There is no purpose for this article presented with regards to political events and situations. So I will take the liberty to adapt some reasoning to America's present situation.

Rule of Law? America was established under an understanding and agreement that all would respect and follow the law. The framework of our founding provided a great number of avenues to redress grievances and control our government. It even provided some means to revolt (2A) if all else should fail.

If the citizenry of the USA loses confidence or respect for the Rule of Law, the governing bodies will not be respected as legitimate. We are seeing this today when Sheriffs publicly announce they will not enforce a federal law they do not believe to be Constitutional. Politicians are obviously not held to the standards of justice that common Americans are held to these days. That's no secret. Governors are actively undermining Federal laws and regulations that the people of those states do not believe in. And the Supreme Court has demonstrated impotence more frequently than in the past.

I surmise that when the Supreme Court gets a couple more liberal appointments, it will be a power swing that will shield our liberally dominated Legislature and Executive branch from ANY checks and balances. Executive Orders are now being flaunted as a way to avoid legislative interference. There is no threat from the Supreme Court to deem anything unconstitutional. Evey ruling from this court is watered down so as not to be politically controversial. There is no indication that the President will be held accountable for anything he does that violates the original intent of the Constitution.

When there is no confidence that the constitution is useful anymore, the revolt will start.... We are ebbing closer but will it happen in the next 4 years? I doubt it. We are just setting precedence today. It will likely happen in the next president's (ALSO a DEMOCRAT) term. It will likely happen in Hillary's 2nd term (no sarcasm here).

The US revolt will not be with weapons but with lawyers. Eventually TX and OK will lead with a serious threat to Secede from the Union. When the threat is not taken seriously, TX will refuse to enforce some federal laws while taking over other federal jurisdictions. This will escalate into TX protecting individual citizens from federal arrest or prosecution. Anarchy will come in the form of Texans refusing to pay federal taxes. Federal funding will be cut off to TX.

I believe that will be the catalyst that starts either the restoration of America to greatness or our dissolve from greatness. I predict the only violent encounters will come from citizens and TX Rangers defending themselves from federal agents for things like tax evasion.

I expect other states will follow suit, especially when TX legislators are banned from Washington DC and the liberal political influence swing hard left. Arizona, New Mexico, Florida.....

If Texas, OK, Arizona and New Mexico were to form their own Federation/Republic.... well, it would be hard to stop without a war. And our nation in a 24 hour news cycle would not stand for a civil war today. There is just not that much pride left in our founding principles and nation as a whole for the citizenry to stomach it.

For those thinking about this, consider the problems... Air traffic control, postal service, federal employees, federal assets and property leases and rights, military bases and soldiers, Military assets, Oil Rights and leases in the gulf, border control, NAFTA, foreign trade, etc. It would get very messy and the entire nation would be affected in more ways than anyone would expect. Think about where America's refinery's are located and where electricity is produced. The fed holds a lot of cards but so does TX.

4 posted on 01/23/2013 2:16:35 PM PST by Tenacious 1 ("The Brittish are Coming (to confiscate weapons)" - Paul Revere (We know how that ended))
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To: virgil283

Democracy , or a Republic , is a form of revolution !
It is a government that represent the aspirations , hopes , and needs of its people

You cannot replace an assaultive regieme with another oppressive regieme
You can see the revolt already building in Egypt
Our government replaced oppressive Mubarak with an equally oppresive, theocratic , Morsi
The people feel and have been betrayed
There is social revolution and ferment just under the surface


5 posted on 01/23/2013 2:30:34 PM PST by Tilted Irish Kilt (Pay attention - the inmates ARE running the asylum!)
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To: virgil283
Several good responses; I was going to state things a bit less complex.
The original is written with reference to China but it is fully applicable to the USA today.
And possibly prophetic tomorrow.
6 posted on 01/23/2013 3:22:34 PM PST by norton
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To: virgil283

I see one factor — probably the prime factor — as dissolution of the social contract. When The People no longer realize the benefits they were promised for the forfeiture of their liberties, they can either succumb to the tyranny that is one small step away, or they can rise up and demand a government that upholds its end of the bargain.


7 posted on 01/23/2013 3:30:25 PM PST by IronJack (=)
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To: virgil283
What prompts revolution is not a straightforward matter. I need to dust this one off:


8 posted on 01/23/2013 3:43:19 PM PST by Jacquerie ("How few were left who had seen the republic!" - Tacitus, The Annals)
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To: Tenacious 1

Interesting thoughts you present. That might work out if, and only if, Texas doesn’t become a purple state before this series of events were to start. You have to remember that the Democrat base is growing by leaps and bounds in Texas because of immigration of Blacks from the North and other parts of the U.S. and illegal immigration. The Democrats have no interest whatsoever in seeing Texas secede.


9 posted on 01/24/2013 5:41:43 AM PST by Rich21IE
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