The author does argue the principles. Power balance between the elites and everyone else has always kept things from getting too bad. Historically there has bee

The author does argue the principles. Power balance between the elites and everyone else has always kept things from getting too bad. Historically there has been violent revolution; more recently developed societies have empowered people through capitalism (despite its many flaws, it serves this crucial purpose). So labor movements have replaced violence in many cases. As the author says, economic contribution is the only real leverage regular people have. Without that we'd be reliant on the continued goodwill of the ultra-powerful. How has that played out historically?