Conditions Precedent to a Revolution

Before an armed insurrection takes place, three conditions must exist:

1. Socio-economic conditions of the masses must decline to the point substantial numbers must resort to violence just to meet subsistance needs.

2. There must be no hope that the political system is capable of addressing grievances.

3. There must be some hope that armed insurrection will achieve some measure of relief.

The nature of manunkind is such that those in power will naturally seek to accomplish #1. As more and more wealth is concentrated in fewer and fewer hands, living conditions for the masses must of necessity decline.

Those in power, in order to remain in power, must maintain at least the illusion that the political system addresses the grievances of the masses.

Failing that, those in power must maintain at least the illusion that armed insurrection has no hope of success.

However, the greater the success in accumulating wealth, the greater the despair of the masses. The more the masses are repressed, the less likely they are to preceive that the political system is addressing their needs. Therefore, in order to maintain power, while maintaining the illusion that the political system is working, those in power must also lay the foundation for the inevitable collapse of hope in the political system. At that point, power is maintained solely by preventing any hope of improvement in the conditions of the masses. Thus repressive regimes are born.

We are in a unique position of witnessing the birth of a repressive regime in our lifetime.