[eigengrau5150]

Yeah, and people used to think that the World Wide Web would make nation-states irrelevant and usher in a new era of unprecedented individual liberty and enlightenment. That obviously didn't happen for anybody but the very richest among us.

Nothing this guy is saying seems implausible, but I'll believe it when I see it.

[nostrademons]

Might just not have waited long enough. States are usually at their most repressive right before failing, because they become insecure about their power and take overt actions that engender discontent (where they might normally have relied on soft power) because the alternative is non-existence.