Stop Me Before I Vote Again

Imagine this nightmare: while wondering whither goeth sixpack America, you fall into the coils of -- Crane Brinton.

Well, it happened to one Sara Robinson, and she struggled free only after crying "revolution".

Briefly: the seven Brintonian axes of upheaval, as rerendered by Sara R:

1) "A long period of rising living standards and high, hopeful expectations comes to a crashing end, leaving the citizens in an ugly and disgruntled mood."

2) "The upper classes broke faith with society's other groups, and began to openly prey on them in ways that threatened their very future. Not surprisingly, the other groups soon united, took up arms, and rebelled."

3) "Disaffected intellectuals make common cause with the lower classes."

4) "Atrocious government malfeasance in the face of precipitously declining fortunes."

5) "The ruling classes fail in their duty to lead."

6) "Inept and corrupt governments mismanage the national economy to the point of indebtedness, bankruptcy, and currency collapse."

7) "The government no longer exercises force in a way that people find fair or consistent."

Would it were so easy! Old systems would be collapsing all around us, right and left and center. The planet would be filthy with state failures. Russia, circa 95, would be the bedeviled norm.

Hey -- sounds exciting!