[xzins]

Upside down and inside out

Lenin did it.
Ayatollah K did it.
Castro did it.

I’m betting on the ruthless ones.

[Dr. Eckleburg]

It won't be difficult to tell who wins. If the police shoot protesters, rigidity will have won. If the police do not shoot protesters, a more democratic influence will have won.

It's the difference between China and Tienanmen Square and Russia and the Berlin Wall.

Remember, these aren't the disenfranchised who are protesting; it's the middle class. Middle class uprisings are different; they're made up of merchants and doctors and lawyers and tradesmen who have a vested interest in stability. When they're willing to risk that stability, things change, and usually for the better.

(This is one reason why those in power, from Rome to monarchies to socialists, all loathe the middle class and seek to destroy it.)