Successful oppression: minority rules.
Is the key to successful oppression of a populace to be an oppressive minority?
It would appear that when a majority seeks to oppress a minority, there is either a mass slaughter and genocide (think the Nazi Germany, or Turkish Armenia or Hutu in Rwanda), or there is a constant and consistent state of “insurgency” as in Turkish Kurdistan, or Quebec in Canada.
When the minority succcessfully oppress a majority, it is either stable on, or it is finished off. Think British Empire, Sadam’s control of Iraq, or the Alawites in Syria, Tutsi’s in Rwanda.
It seems like it’s a little more fair when the minority are in charge, and they have to walk a little more carefully.
Up with minority dominance.
Friction can be a drag 
I don’t agree that the minority doing the suppressing is in any way a better option. Nor, no doubt, would the slaves of the British Empire, the Kurds under Sadam or the Hutus in Rwanda!
The difficulty is finding other ways to oppress your enemies – which every state of course will have. This may take a long time….we tend to do it with laws now rather than massacre.
Who are the internal enemies of our state? The BNP? Fundamental muslims? We dont go out and kill them we put them in jail (or let them off!) Aha, you say, but we are ruled by a minority. Not reeeally though are we? Certainly not like in the racial/tribal way of your examples.
Surely we’re not a million miles away from the balance between the two options that is obviously needed.
igotlife
December 6, 2006 at 8:58 pm