Sabrina Kilian wrote:
> Neeum Zawan wrote:
>> On 02/25/10 14:55, Darren New wrote:
>>> It just wouldn't get enforced. The federal government has no forces to
>>> do that other than the military, and a fairly recent poll (like a few
>>> years ago) asked "would you assist in wide-spread confiscation of
>>> firearms from US citizens" of the general soldiers and about 70% said
>>> they wouldn't.
>> 	While I tend to agree, I wouldn't put any stock into that poll. Find
>> soldiers (of any country) who've done nasty things, and I'm sure most of
>> them would have years earlier said and believed that they wouldn't do it
>> even if ordered to.
>>
>>
> 
> Prime them right, and phrase the question right, and even after they
> have done nasty things you could get the same percentage.
> 
> What it comes down to is how easily the 'powers-that-be' can dehumanize
> the people they want shot. Few would agree to shooting a fellow citizen
> who is involved in an uprising to preserve their Constitutional rights.
> Many might agree to shooting a domestic terrorist who is attempting a
> violent overthrow of the local government, and killing fellow soldiers
> and law enforcement as a means to that end.

A few points that I am reminded of:

* The 1989 uprising in China was not put down immediately because the 
troops who finally did the job had to be brought in from another region 
of China.  This was before Twitter and the Internet, so the government 
had far less difficulty keeping people ignorant of what was going on. 
According to my recall of the report, the local-area troops were deemed 
too sympathetic to the uprising (and may have refused to fire on people 
they knew), whereas the troops brought in were deliberately misled on 
the nature of the "enemy" they faced.

* I don't think it's terribly hard to institute a reign of terror; not 
so much because the average man is amenable to manipulation, but because 
you don't have to rely on corrupting the regular populace (although if 
you can, it helps).  Every society, apparently, has enough people who 
will obey any order, if they are paid in the proper coin, to staff a 
Gestapo of suitable size.  For some of them, obeying the order to 
terrorize ordinary citizens *is* the reward.

* Going on from this, some nations are particularly amenable to police 
state rule, by virtue of being so tribal in nature that everyone outside 
the tribe is dehumanized by virtue of that fact alone.  So when one 
tribe gains power, oppression of the other tribes follows as certainly 
as night follows day.

* It has been reported to me that during the Clinton administration, 
some US military personnel were asked if they would fire upon fellow 
Americans if ordered to do so.  At least one responded that he would be 
more inclined to fire upon the person giving the order.

Regards,
John

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