Why don't people rebel against the government?

Question

I hate Blair. Why can't I get together with a group of people, strip him of his suit in the House of Commons and then poke him with a small stick? Isn't this a democracy?

What did I do to get rid of Thatcher? I wasn't born yet.

Answer 1

I basically asked the same question.....well, sort of, about the US.

People HAVE become lethargic.

Answer 2

Rebellion and revolution need several things in place before they can happen- one is a bad state of affairs in the country. Widespread poverty, fascism, political corruption, whatever. Another is a disgruntled, angry working class. Then you need leadership, the middle class. They must have a romantic idea in their heads of some way to make the world better- in other words, a workable alternative- or at least, an alternative that they believe to be workable. Finally, there must be a spark, some event that everyone agrees is the final straw to get the people marching.

I think in the UK things are not so bad actually. People are economically secure, even if the government seems poor and shifty. There are some dreamers in the middle class, but faith in the existing system is strong. I'm not sure about the working class, I hear about there being lots of closures and layoffs, but maybe those are isolated events, and don't reflect the real humour of the workers? To be honest, it seems as if the people working to make goods for the UK are all in China anyway, so they can't precisely overthrow Blair, even if they're annoyed...

That's why people aren't rebelling, not all the necessary ingredients are in place. I reckon they won't come into place either- the state is pretty good at moderating things now, and if a leader and his regime is useless, they get rejected by the electoral process or booted out by media pressure anyway, and the revolutionary steam is let off for a while. The unions have been broken too, which stifles the organising potential of workers, and the middle class is pretty stable... every blunder the Government makes could feasibly spark revolution, but without the right preconditions, nothing's going to happen.

Still, if you're certain that Blair has to go, and that being poked with a stick must be his punishment, you could always try to spread that idea in any way you can. I think it might actually be pleasing to watch for about three seconds, but then I'd begin to feel pity. Just a three second clip of it could be hilarious though.

Answer 3

Have just read the responses to this question and am appalled. Half of you responders should hang your heads in shame!!!!

Some of you sat there going on about it not being possible because it is against the law...... funny that isn't it, considering that he is the man who currently presides over the law (effectively he does as his party still has a majority vote).

Democracy? Does this sound like democracy- Gordon Brown will be the next Prime Minister, do you think you will have a say in that? The fact of the matter is that the MINORITY of people in this country bother voting at all, I beleive one election year turnout at the polls was 47% nationwide this means 53% chose not to vote at all and probably means that the winning party got about 20% (estimated) of the nations vote, yet they still got to run the country!! If this was a true democracy we would not have to wait four years to get rid anyway; we could table a motion of no-confidence and force a general election. Why can't we do that?

Would I go to the lengths this man is considering, HELL NO..... violence has no place in a democratic environment but I understand why he feels this way, the fact of the matter is simple the government is not interested in representing our views or meeting our needs, we are simply an itch that must be scratched every four years or so, then ignored; just look at the fuel protests of a few years ago, the pensions crisis (or more the fact that the government would not release its plans to counter it until after a general election... call me a fool but a democratic vote is voting for a party based on the principles set out in its manifesto, parts of that should not be withheld to suit their purpose) the student top up fees back peddle, do you really want me to go on.

The reason people don't rebel against the government is simple and the same reason why people don't bother to vote; it is pointless and there are always others waiting in the ranks anyway.

Answer 4

People don't rebel against the government because, as corrupt and disfunctional as it can be, there is not a viable alternative.

Too often in smaller coutries, there are rebels who take over a corrupt government only to be just as bad themselves.

If you can provide a viable, better, and realistic alternative, then you may consider more seriously the option of rebellion. You must also think of the impact this will have financially, and what your plans are as the potential new government to repair and proceed establishing this new system and getting people to accept it.

You also run the risk of yourself being overthrown after you take power. It's a domino effect and we will become a much larger Iraq.

Answer 5

we don't live in a democracy it's a dictatorship. the amount of people who voted for blair is less than 50%, yet he galavants around the place murdering people for fun and profit, tony blair is an evil evil idiot.

people don't rebel against the government because we are all so locked into a society, and controlled in so many different ways, we've been conditioned from birth to accept rule by government, people don't want to rock the status quo, everybody would have to rise up together, that's only gonna happen if it gets beyond tolerable for everyone. We've been bred to tolerate, bred to accept.

Answer 6

Because we have laws against it. It's the same reason people were not on the barricades against the Thatcherite Junta, not enough political will! You have to get to that moment in oppression where the threat of Death is no longer enough to keep the people subjugated, where the cause of freedom becomes more important than life itself.
Besides which, People react rather weirdly to Marxist Leninist polemics, especially arguments about dialectic materialism, when behemoths like the Soviet Union collapse under their own weight.
Anyway, the world cups on, can we delay the start of the revolution until we have won?

Answer 7

The government is greedy & corrupt and will do and say anything to keep going the way THEY want. A vote does not count as you can see if you checked the reelection of Bush. It was so close and then very conveniently they lost votes due to a glitch and guess who won. I've tried fighting them on a kidnap issue of my 13 yr old granddaugher and they just ignore me and all the evidence I have and was obtained was either lost or they don't care about it. THEY let the kidnappers walk, no charges. What does that tell you about our gov't. It's all in WHO YOU KNOW!!

Answer 8

People dont rebel cause their scared. I would be right there with you man. People around these parts dont understand the wrongs the government does. People have cloudy judgement and dont thing the government would do anything to harm us. But people don't remember the gas shortage back in the 70's that wasnt even a shortage it was just the government hiding the gas so they could raise gas prices...sounds familar right now eh?

Answer 9

we COULD rebel, but why would we want to?
revolutions are usually to overthrow a foreign government that has taken over the county. however, we have a good government that is doing quite well, apart from the criminal rights and immigrant policies, which are too leniant.
With all the media pressure on these, they should be taken more seriously soon. So there really is no need for your uprising.

Answer 10

That is why they are elections, and we are a democracy. We elect the people in government. Is the majority of the people liked Blair, well, what can we do? Form a party or participate i another party and make your voice loud!!!

Answer 11

Because we secretly love capitalism. It may be a turbulent time but we've all got a little '80s' in our hearts. Mmmm... ferver.

And no this is not a democracy. It's a representative republic, beiotch.