# What's the bare minimum it would it take to overthrow the US Government? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [December 31, 2013, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-bare-minimum-it-would-it-take-to-overthrow-the-us-government/677569 "2013-12-31T16:12:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2014, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-bare-minimum-it-would-it-take-to-overthrow-the-us-government/677569/101 "2014-01-02T19:33:44Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > The trouble is, the type of government that would be vile and oppressive enough to cause the general public to want to revolt would naturally be the type of government that would install strong measures designed to quell any such revolt. That was the later half of my point. You would not only need to have a government that was evil and despotic, but also one that was stupid. Which means having them behave the way you need them to is the most critical part of the scenario. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2014, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-bare-minimum-it-would-it-take-to-overthrow-the-us-government/677569/102 "2014-01-02T19:55:21Z")
Obama declares himself President for Life, and outlaws the GOP. Five Supreme Court justices back him up, declaring that his authority to do so emanates from the interstate commerce clause. They also declare that the Ninth Amendment says he can rule by fiat. So he replaces the Republican Reps and Senators with people of his own choosing. Hey presto, he is now in charge of the government. OK, it wouldn’t last longer than a couple of days. But that’s the bare minimum that it would take to set up a US government that could be overthrown. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2014, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-bare-minimum-it-would-it-take-to-overthrow-the-us-government/677569/103 "2014-01-02T20:03:56Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > … > For example, a few dozen Timothy McVeighs, all scheduled to blow up their nearest federal building next Monday at 10:00 AM would probably get you a good ways down the road towards succeeding… A few dozen Tim McVeighs gets you a huge outpouring of two types of people: construction workers looking for work in rebuilding, and another line of people looking for federal jobs because of all the newly created vacancies. ---
**Author:** ![enomaj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/59ef9b/32.png) [@enomaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enomaj)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2014, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-bare-minimum-it-would-it-take-to-overthrow-the-us-government/677569/104 "2014-01-02T20:35:56Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > [Backs slowly away from the thread…] You quoted his post?! You can expect a visit, too. ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-bare-minimum-it-would-it-take-to-overthrow-the-us-government/677569/105 "2014-01-03T01:33:56Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > Expanding on the scenario I previously suggested, > > Even if we get everyone agreeing that the government should be overthrown, you will need to eliminate the easy ways of doing so. If the people feel that they can just vote the bums out non-violently then they will jump at the chance. Thus we need to make it clear that the US government has changed so completely that this is no longer an option. > > So in order for the plan to succeed it will require that the government become totally despotic and then over-react to a suicidal degree. A smart despotic government would probably be able to keep things at a low simmer until they could cement control of the military to the point that it couldn’t be flipped. This is probably key - more important than the resources is the reason. I could imagine it being relatively simple under certain circumstances for an extreme right wing faction / agenda to take control of the US govt - domestic terroristic attacks matched with a group promising to do something about it, extra strict powers, waiving of rights etc (something akin to what Jack Ryan did during that plague attack in one of Clancy’s books) And on the subject of control - the govt not only has to be “despotic” but also “bad”. i.e - the greatest hurdle to any revolution is going to be material comfort - the revolution has to offer something measurably “better”. If you’ve got a job, comfortable house, your family is taken care of etc, even if you have a dictator in power, you are not very inclined towards revolution. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-bare-minimum-it-would-it-take-to-overthrow-the-us-government/677569/106 "2014-01-03T01:56:48Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Hey, OP-Then what? Then a lot of capitalists take a walk on the ice! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-bare-minimum-it-would-it-take-to-overthrow-the-us-government/677569/107 "2014-01-03T02:04:39Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > When did that happen? For example, in the bombing federal building scenario, you posted: > > While that’s probably true, how does that affect the outcome? The Federal Government would still be without large portions of its personnel and infrastructure. They’d still struggle to function effectively, whether the people were pissed about it or not. > > Or in the “gun owners revolt” variety. When did you show why that “couldn’t work”? Maybe the exact mechanism for triggering such a revolt is inaccurate. Maybe it’d take an Executive Order from Obama rather than an Act of Congress, since it appears that even the mildest forms of gun control are DOA there, but if there were 8 million angry, armed citizens willing to kill and die to end an injustice, do you really think the federal government could continue to operate effectively? Yes. It still has the Army. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2014, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-bare-minimum-it-would-it-take-to-overthrow-the-us-government/677569/108 "2014-01-06T01:10:29Z")
Look, face it: The only **sure** way to take over this country is to replace the POTUS and some other key officials with mind-controlled clones. I mean, that’s the way it’s always been done before. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-bare-minimum-it-would-it-take-to-overthrow-the-us-government/677569.md?page=5)