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Comment by gmartell | Hacker News Reader

I like your hypothesis but fear the reality is less benign. To me it seems most ('those at the top' as you put it) do what they do in an attempt to obtain ever more money and power - never satisfied with how much they already possess.

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So nothing has changed in this regard since 17th century, right?

Thanks to surveillance and collusion between politicians and the elite, now the elite is more protected than ever.

Was the elite less protected in 17th century?

They ended up having their heads cut off, so, yes.

According to [1] there have been more revolutions in the last 10 years than in the entire 17th century.

[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_revolutions_and_rebe...

Interesting observation, but a) events of the last 10 years are documented at an exponentially higher rate and resolution than events of the 17th century, and b) this list has lots of events which hardly raise to the level of the large scale revolutions of the 17th century, aaand c) none of these events are taking place in global centers of wealth and power. Today's elites are without a doubt more protected than the denizens of Versailles precisely because their power and wealth operate on a global scale.

Re global centers - is it because elites are better protected, or because there are fewer people willing to die on barricades? Vast majority of Americans have a decent life today (eg not starving, not being exploited and treated like slaves by the elites), unlike the vast majority of population in the 17th century in Europe.

I mean, both. But there are plenty of self proclaimed radicals in America who claim they'd be willing to die on the barricades, but a) there's no central set of barricades upon which to die, even in the global "centers" and b) the ones that do exist are way too well protected. Remember Occupy Wall St? That was essentially an attempt to besiege (albeit non-violently) the financial power centers, but it was easily swatted away by local municipalities armed to the teeth with military grade crowd control tools.

Re radicals: it’s not about them, it’s about having enough support in the population.

Re protection: it’s only good if those who are supposed to protect you are on your side.

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