The Pebble and the Avalanche

Chapter TenMarx, Lenin, and Gates: Failed Counterrevolutions

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Stopping an avalanche is a losing proposition, but that hasn’t stopped people, companies, and nations from trying. In this chapter, I’m going to discuss the strategy of resistance—the strategy of trying to stop or reverse disaggregation. There have been a few successes. Well… not really successes. I don’t think I’ve found any examples of permanent victories over disaggregation. What I’ve found is that suppressing disaggregation usually relies on force, and, although force is very effective in the short run, in the long run it’s almost impossible to permanently suppress a good idea. Let’s look at some of the examples, starting with an experiment in reaggregation that killed millions ...