Revolution

Zero · Post by **Zero** » 2006-04-21 07:26pm

This question is preferably for US citizens only, and it isn't intended to be a possible scenario, since I know that it's almost entirely impossible for someone to have enough political power to actually do what the hypothetical calls for.

If there was a terrorist attack tomorrow, and Bush managed to sieze control of the entire US government and turn it into a dictatorship on a loose basis of war time powers, and simply didn't leave office in 2008, would you join a revolution against the new dictatorship? And I mean actively fighting, probably against american troops, to end the dictatorship, I don't just mean supporting it as some political ideal.

Boyish-Tigerlilly · Post by **Boyish-Tigerlilly** » 2006-04-21 07:33pm

Do not the troops have a duty to the constitution, not to the leader? I doubt they would all go along with that...perhaps?

Zero · Post by **Zero** » 2006-04-21 07:35pm

Boyish-Tigerlilly wrote:Do not the troops have a duty to the constitution, not to the leader? I doubt they would all go along with that...perhaps?

They wouldn't, in all probability. That's why I admitted that it's not actually a possible scenrio, so it may be shit to ask how people would act. I'm just wondering whether the denizens of this forum would join a revolution if this country was becoming a dictatorship. I don't believe it's a reasonable scenario, in terms of realism.

Molyneux · Post by **Molyneux** » 2006-04-21 07:43pm

Barring any other possible (more peaceful) course of action, yes.

Uraniun235 · Post by **Uraniun235** » 2006-04-21 08:40pm

Personally, I'd prefer secession of the Pacific Northwest into what would become known as Cascadia.

Sharpshooter · Post by **Sharpshooter** » 2006-04-21 08:57pm

Probably not - I'd be too busy getting the hell out of Dodge and taking as much as I can with me. There's also the worry of how other countries would react to this - if Bush suddenly declares himself supreme leader, I'm sure more than a few nations would become awful jumpy and itchy in the trigger finger.

Knife · Post by **Knife** » 2006-04-21 09:15pm

Sharpshooter wrote:Probably not - I'd be too busy getting the hell out of Dodge and taking as much as I can with me. There's also the worry of how other countries would react to this - if Bush suddenly declares himself supreme leader, I'm sure more than a few nations would become awful jumpy and itchy in the trigger finger.

Pussy.

Haminal10 · Post by **Haminal10** » 2006-04-21 09:24pm

Sadly, I don't think that Canada would be far enough away. If the US goes authoritarian, what's to keep them from expanding North?

Captain Cyran · Post by **Captain Cyran** » 2006-04-21 09:34pm

I wouldn't be actively fighting it, frankly I'd only be cannon fodder. What I'd probably end up doing is supporting the revolutionaries in any way I could.

Morilore · Post by **Morilore** » 2006-04-21 09:37pm

If there was a revolution to join, sure. I'm not a leader type, though.

Drooling Iguana · Post by **Drooling Iguana** » 2006-04-22 01:05am

I've never held a real gun in my life. Giving me one would be a waste of a perfectly good weapon. I'd be able to help far more by getting the hell out of Dodge and assisting the Revolution by doing things I'm actually semi-competant at.

Morilore · Post by **Morilore** » 2006-04-22 01:40am

Morilore wrote:If there was a revolution to join, sure. I'm not a leader type, though.

Plebe edit: By which I mean I wouldn't be starting any revolutions or even fighting it alone. I would have to join a group that already exists and that I'm sure isn't full of fuckheads (never an easy thing to ascertain).

LongVin · Post by **LongVin** » 2006-04-22 01:40am

All Hail the Leader.

I'd make the best of the situation and try to use it to my own advantage and gain.

kheegster · Post by **kheegster** » 2006-04-22 09:26am

In the 70s the largest employer of astrophysicists in the US was the nuclear weapons industry.

I am going to become an astrophysicist.

If Bush goes nuts, I will not join in the actual fighting, but will certainly contribute to any R&D in the effort against him.

(No, I'm not American, but I will be living in the US for the next few year at least)

Zero · Post by **Zero** » 2006-04-22 10:19am

I would actually join a revolution. I've never held a gun before, and I'm in shit shape, but I've been in good shape before, and I'm sure learning how to use a weapon wouldn't be the hardest thing in the world to do. I also suspect that if such a situation were somehow remotely possible, the vast majority of the public would be on my side, even if they didn't join an active revolution, so getting a lot of help wouldn't be so tricky.

Alex Moon · Post by **Alex Moon** » 2006-04-22 10:38am

Yes, I would fight.

Flagg · Post by **Flagg** » 2006-04-22 10:50am

I would fight if the goal was solely to reinstitute the Constitution.
I'm wary of revolutions in general due to the propensity for the tyranny of the revolutions to meet or exceed that of the tyrant they depose.

Knife · Post by **Knife** » 2006-04-22 11:44am

Drooling Iguana wrote:I've never held a real gun in my life. Giving me one would be a waste of a perfectly good weapon. I'd be able to help far more by getting the hell out of Dodge and assisting the Revolution by doing things I'm actually semi-competant at.

Never using one is actually (in the eyes of most instructors) better than those who use one but use it wrong. People have preconcieved notions on how to shoot a gun correctly, and you have to 'unlearn'. For those who have never used them, you just have to train the right way.

Post by **The Yosemite Bear** » 2006-04-22 11:51am

is this before or after they turn califronia and new york into maximum security prisons, requiring curt russel to help us escape to canada?

Anguirus · Post by **Anguirus** » 2006-04-22 02:48pm

I would if I had the right contacts. If I didn't find a SANE organization to hook up with, it's Canada for me.

JediMaster415 · Post by **JediMaster415** » 2006-04-22 10:47pm

If all paths out of the country are closed to me, I would join. I would also advise that the Constitution be rewritten to include clauses so that it never be able to happen.

Joe · Post by **Joe** » 2006-04-22 11:28pm

The military wouldn't necessarily be on his side, with the oath and all.

Darth Raptor · Post by **Darth Raptor** » 2006-04-22 11:41pm

If it weren't for all the people this would hurt/maim/kill, this might be a positive thing. You just know he'll be deposed with lightning speed, and the first measures taken by the successor state would be to make sure something like this never happens again.

I'd never take up arms against the US government, unless I was actively defending someone (and had the equipment and training to effectively do so- like being a member of a foreign military). Not some abstract ideal. I'd move first.

Post by **Simplicius** » 2006-04-22 11:43pm

Assuming the hypothetical occurred as advertised, I expect I would spend my time in the gulag for publishing incendiary pamphlets or some such. I would probably be of some use as a fighter, but no more so than any other person, and much less so than many. My revolutionary organization and inflitration skills are to date untried, and probably nonexistent.

The only other possibility I could see is somehow escaping the country and trying to establish a government-in-exile.

FedRebel · Post by **FedRebel** » 2006-04-23 12:24am

Uraniun235 wrote:Personally, I'd prefer secession of the Pacific Northwest into what would become known as Cascadia.

Play the game Shattered Union

StarDestroyer.Net BBS

Revolution

Would you join the revolution?

Revolution