Wow, one would think that HN readers would be rather more interested in solving 'big problems', such as this one... It can't exactly be classed as a political

Wow, one would think that HN readers would be rather more interested in solving 'big problems', such as this one... It can't exactly be classed as a political problem: it's psychological, in the sense that a populace 'gets the government it deserves'. A true revolution cannot be imposed, it must emerge from within (for analogy, consider: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synergetics_(Haken) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synergetics_(Haken)). Unfortunately, the only field that effectively deals with these types of psychological 'phase changes' is science fiction. 'V for Vendetta' is a clichéd and simplistic example; there are much more interesting ones. In 'Sam Hall', by Poul Anderson, a government bureaucrat creates an array of false records and news items for an imaginary freedom fighter named 'Sam Hall'. The character is ascribed various revolutionary deeds which gradually become legendary, and thus forms a figurehead around which the rebellion coalesces. 'The World of Null-A', by A E Van Vogt features an amazing battle on Venus in which invading military forces are thwarted by a population that has been trained to think 'super-rationally' (relevant articles: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superrationality http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superrationality, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diffusion_of_responsibility http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diffusion_of_responsibility, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tragedy_of_the_commons http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tragedy_of_the_commons). The rest of the book(s) is probably quite controversial, but this one account was eye-opening. Closely related is 'Starship Troopers', by Robert Heinlein. I know that these are limited examples, and are not immediate (nor even realistic) solutions for the situation in Belarus, but, as Otto Von Habsburg said: 'The only thing you learn from history is that no one learns anything from history.' When a population learns to replace fear with a sense of self-responsibility, and super-rational thought, dictatorships become impossible. The US constitution presented some facets of these notions; but the mass education that could energize such ideas has never been implemented. I wonder why...?