Originally Posted By: sini
Russians had no guns, yet USSR fell despite having tanks in Moscow. Egyptians had very few guns, yet Mubarak regime fell. Syrians keep dying because Syrian military are willing to kill Syrians.



You are citing situations where the state apparatus turned on itself, belying a lack of understanding of the topic. Just because a regime falls, obviously it is not always due to popular military insurrection. A wiser person would point out that the regimes lasted as long as they did, and tyrannized their people as hard as they did because the populace *wasnt* armed.

It took a *lot* for an unarmed populace to muster the collective courage to take to the streets and stay there.

The Reds massacred and imprisoned millions for decades after disarming the populace. If the Russians had been a bit wiser, they would never have bought the promises of the Bolsheviks, and turned on them as soon as the disarmament started. Countless millions would likely still be alive today, had the Russians simply been a bit more obstinate about never giving up their weapons.

edit: ^military

Last edited by Derid; 01/02/13 10:32 PM.
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