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The fuel prices only escalated an already tense situation for decades. The government is authoritarian.

sedan_baklazhan 5y ago
This is basically saying that the gas prices were used as an convenient excuse to start protests, which obviously had a different (and unknown, except for violence) agenda.
- schleck8 5y ago
  Are you familiar with the saying 'a drop to overflow the barrel'?
  - sedan_baklazhan 5y ago
    The question is: which barrel? And how to differ a planned violent uprising from a popular uprising? How can a popular peaceful uprising capture so many important building so fast?
    - Jon_Lowtek 5y ago
      Well in general people kind of know which buildings are important and we are not talking medieval castles that require massive upfront planning to besiege, they probably just walked in and took them over.
      - sedan_baklazhan 5y ago
        Just like one of the buildings in Washington D.C., am I right?
throwawayay02 5y ago
About half of the world (by number, not population) is authoritarian, and only <10% would be full democracies. Yet there are very few ongoing civil wars. I don't think being democratic or authoritarian really matters much to most people, as long as they agree with the policies.
- Jon_Lowtek 5y ago
  > as long as they agree with the policies. yeah. But if one disagrees with the policies, it makes a lot of difference if the system is authoritarian or not. Reminds me of a report by Radio Yerevan: all free citizens questioned told the ministry of national security that they are happy with the government and agree with its policies. In other news a series of arrests have been made against dissident groups planing violence against nation and government.
- seanmcdirmid 5y ago
  > About half of the world (by number, not population) is authoritarian, and only <10% would be full democracies. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democracy_Index https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democracy_Index The world only looks more authoritarian because some of the largest countries (China and Russia) are. They thankfully are stable. In Africa and the Middle East, where there is a lot of authoritarianism, you also see a lot of civil unrest. But even though authoritarianism is highly correlated with civil unrest, it doesn't necessarily cause it (indeed, it can be caused by it). > I don't think being democratic or authoritarian really matters much to most people, as long as they agree with the policies. In one system, if you don't agree with policies, you can "vote the turkeys out", in the other system, if you don't agree...well, hopefully the authoritarians are receptive, because your only other option is violent revolution. Authoritarian regimes are also very brittle, they break easily when enough pressure is applied (but "enough" is a higher threshold like concrete).

This is basically saying that the gas prices were used as an convenient excuse to start protests, which obviously had a different (and unknown, except for violence) agenda.

schleck8 5y ago
Are you familiar with the saying 'a drop to overflow the barrel'?
- sedan_baklazhan 5y ago
  The question is: which barrel? And how to differ a planned violent uprising from a popular uprising? How can a popular peaceful uprising capture so many important building so fast?
  - Jon_Lowtek 5y ago
    Well in general people kind of know which buildings are important and we are not talking medieval castles that require massive upfront planning to besiege, they probably just walked in and took them over.
    - sedan_baklazhan 5y ago
      Just like one of the buildings in Washington D.C., am I right?

throwawayay02 5y ago

About half of the world (by number, not population) is authoritarian, and only <10% would be full democracies. Yet there are very few ongoing civil wars. I don't think being democratic or authoritarian really matters much to most people, as long as they agree with the policies.

Jon_Lowtek 5y ago
> as long as they agree with the policies. yeah. But if one disagrees with the policies, it makes a lot of difference if the system is authoritarian or not. Reminds me of a report by Radio Yerevan: all free citizens questioned told the ministry of national security that they are happy with the government and agree with its policies. In other news a series of arrests have been made against dissident groups planing violence against nation and government.
seanmcdirmid 5y ago
> About half of the world (by number, not population) is authoritarian, and only <10% would be full democracies. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democracy_Index https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democracy_Index The world only looks more authoritarian because some of the largest countries (China and Russia) are. They thankfully are stable. In Africa and the Middle East, where there is a lot of authoritarianism, you also see a lot of civil unrest. But even though authoritarianism is highly correlated with civil unrest, it doesn't necessarily cause it (indeed, it can be caused by it). > I don't think being democratic or authoritarian really matters much to most people, as long as they agree with the policies. In one system, if you don't agree with policies, you can "vote the turkeys out", in the other system, if you don't agree...well, hopefully the authoritarians are receptive, because your only other option is violent revolution. Authoritarian regimes are also very brittle, they break easily when enough pressure is applied (but "enough" is a higher threshold like concrete).