What would it take to overthrow the U.S. goverment

[Velociryx]

Ummm, Che....I gotta admit, being that YOU are the revolutionary party, then the violence brought about by the ACT OF REVOLUTION is pretty squarely and obviously in your hands.

Either your revolution will be radically different enough from what we have now (almost certainly it will be) as to invite backlash, or...it won't (in which case it probably ought not be called a revolution at all, but more an evolution.

If it DOES invite backlash, then the backlash has only one identifiable source...the revolution itself.

No matter how you slice it, the propensity for violence is in your (the revolutionaries) hands. I realize that it is easier to swallow when you see yourself as the bold savior, and the evil capitalists, who are simply misinformed or do not understand the rightness of your cause, in their typical evil style, assault you most brutally, but this is not, in fact, what's going on, and deep down, I think you know it.

-=Vel=-

[Vesayen]

Originally posted by Kuciwalker


We're talking about putting down a rebellion. Why are you asuming the military would play nice?

Massive civilian casualties will result in exponential growth in support of an uprising and what might be between 1 and 20 million revolutionaries, becomes 100 million overnight(and remember, we Americans got enough guns to arm most of our population!).

What is so funny? A majority of americans do not own guns BUT enough people own MULTIPLE firearms to get the job done.

There are 2 million men in the armed services.

The total population of the U.S. is somewhere in the area of 300 million.


The military will play nice because they won't be able to win without popular support.

[Lawrence of Arabia]

and many of those 2 million dont carry guns (like all the women, jag lawyers, paper pushers, MPs, and general rear echelon types)

[Kuciwalker]

Originally posted by Vesayen
What is so funny? A majority of americans do not own guns BUT enough people own MULTIPLE firearms to get the job done.

They aren't military guns, and I bet a lot of those are pistols. Maybe even most.

[Velociryx]

Yep...I think the gun-owners and their supporters make much more of their capabilities than the military would.

One fully decked out platoon of regulars would be worth AT LEAST several hundred of our "militia."

And that's before we start talking about the Bradley's and M1's and Apache's, and....

-=Vel=-

[Velociryx]

I have a question born of curiosity for you folks who think that a ragged band of pistol and shotgun armed militia could stand up to the modern US army.

How many rounds from a collection of .38's, .45's, and assorted shotguns and rifles do you suppose it would take to bring down JUST ONE A-10?

How many "militia" do you suppose might be lost in that attempt?

Now that the answer to that question has sent a shiver down your spine, multiply it by several score and you begin to see the magnitude of the problem, and THAT's just for one category of plane. It's not even top of the line. In fact, it's ancient.

-=Vel=-

[Kuciwalker]

For that matter, think of playing Battlefield 2, but you only have the pistol while the enemy has all the vehicles and weapons.

[Patroklos]

And you make the assumption that a good portion of those militias won't be on the military's side. If the popular support is overwhelmingly on the side of the revolutionaries, you can bet that a good portion of the military will be revolutionaries. And if it was total war you can bet the size of the military would be pushing 10 million after a few years.

300 million in population does not mean 300 million able bodied regruits either. And remember if our country devolved into civil war a good 200 million of the population will be starving to death, and probobly most on the revolutionary side.

[Kuciwalker]

I think we're assuming the military vs the rest of the people.

[Velociryx]

But then...if the support is that overwhelming, there won't be much of a revolution in any case, true?

We're assuming that the military protects the old guard, and some grassroots movement developes against that...or at least, that was my understanding of the reading thus far.

And in that case, the grass roots movement is....well, pretty much fertilizer.

-=Vel=-