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Perhaps the gun owners are less likely to protest because the government is less likely to do things that they don't like that are obvious enough to upset them?

"Whatever happens,

We have got,

The Maxim Gun,

And they have not"

- Belloc Hillaire, and every government that isn't the USA.

Last century, at least twenty different governments killed at least a million of their own subjects ("democide"). Democracies, autocracies, single-party regimes. Right-wing and Left-wing. Religious and secular.

But none of them was the US of A. Even though it is #4 or so for population, and has at least as many bad politicians as anywhere else.

Something is very unusual about the US of A, and I think its likely the way the tax base can shoot back.

Laeserin 1y ago

The US federal government constantly does stuff the populace hates and they pay absolutely onerous federal taxes.

What the USA has, that nobody else has to that extent, is strong state governments. The closest is probably Germany, where the Americans wrote the Basic Law for the Federal Republic. Or Switzerland.

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Low Information Voter 1y ago

I would argue US federal taxes are not particularly onerous. Only half of taxpayers are liable for federal income tax at all!

The govt does many things its populace hates, but they maintain deniability and point fingers in many directions. Unfortunately, people are stupid, busy and disorganised, but USians still doing better than most.

Strong state governments can only survive long where the Federal govt does not have an effective monopoly on force. Or where the Federal politicians slavishly imitate a foreign govt that does not.