[yrdmb]

> I think history teaches us the opposite.

No it doesn't.

> Oppressive regimes (of whatever sort) can only persist with the consent of the populace

No. You are believing in modern nonsense about "people power". The populace has never done anything. "Proles and animals are free" for a reason. Any change has always been done by the elites.

The american populace didn't rise up against britain. It was only a tiny portion of the elites. The slaves didn't rise up against the masters. The populace never rises up because they have no means to do so. No more than cows can rise up against the ranchers.

History has always been elites vs the next level of elites.

> Find the amount of oppression that people are willing to put up with, and you've found the amount of oppression they are subjected to.

Nope. The elite oppress as much as they need to. The opinions of the populace never matters - in a monarchy, democracy or any other form of government.

[JohnFen]

There are numerous revolutions throughout history that imply otherwise.

[yrdmb]

Yet you fail to name a single one. No revolution in history was by the populace. All revolutions in history have been a group of elites trying to pry power away from another group of elites. From the american revolution to the french to the bolshevik all the way to the "color revolutions", it's always one group of elites leading the charge.

[ononon]

What about the Hatian revolution?

[rnd0]

"consent of the governed" ...like the majority of Nazi German that checks notes ...didn't vote for Hitler.