[drak0n1c]

Governments at a certain point aren't trying to protect us from ourselves. They're trying to protect themselves from us.

[falcor84]

'People shouldn't be afraid of their government. Governments should be afraid of their people.'

[jfengel]

Myanmar has a government that's afraid of its people. It's not working out so great.

What seems to work best is when the government and the people like each other, and nobody's afraid. That doesn't mean that they have to agree, but it does mean that they disagree politely, and seek to resolve disagreements with compromises that everybody can live with.

That requires a certain amount of trust and good faith. Once there's widespread fear, it's not going to end well for anybody.

[LordDragonfang]

I think the people of Myanmar are more afraid of the government than the government is of them. That's kind of the important part of that idiom there.