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PaperclipPerfector  8mo ago (text post)   28890 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of March 11, 2024

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If you look at the approval ratings of the current administration in the US, I think it quite easily spells out that you can rule over your citizens and subjects, despite strong disagreement and not trusting any of their institutional organs.

How much do you suppose the average Tang dynasty farmer approved of the Emperor's bureaucrats? Or how the average Medieval English peasant felt about their local earl? Peasant revolts were not uncommon during the Middle Ages, but the people in charge remained on top (my go-to example of the German Peasants' War is but one of many). Oderint dum metuant. Superior coercive force goes a long way in keeping large numbers of people under one's proverbial boot.

I'm not sure if you're simply adding to my statement or disputing it. I fully agree with the point you're making here.

I'm not sure if you're simply adding to my statement or disputing it.

Adding some reinforcement to the quoted part — that was a rhetorical "you, the reader", not "you, Tretiak" in that first question; I can see, re-reading my comment, how that could be unclear. Sorry about that.

And maybe a bit of disputation on the necessity of "ideological buy-in with the rest of the population." Again, it seems like you mostly just need that from your military/enforcers, not powerless peasants (the long commented correlation between labor-intensity of warfare and levels of "democratization"). I mean, look at any time one group of people have conquered and subjugated another. (How much "ideological buy-in" did the Romans ever get from the Jews?)

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