It's "being overthrown" lessons in here...

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What a useful concept!

Gorbachev and de Klerk should start running seminars on how to be overthrown without destroying your country. And Gaddafi should sign up. Not that the former Soviet Union and South Africa are in great shape, but at least they didn't bathe their nations in a sea of blood trying to hold on to power. And that should count for something.

Democracy, for all its faults, creates a mechanism by which government can be influenced even when it doesn't want to be influenced. Which is of course when it most needs it. You need the bottom-up feedback. This goes for all kinds of organizations, from nations to living organisms. Listen to your body (politic). Or it may use Facebook to plot your downfall.

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