Pelham’s Law of Governmental Control: Governments are controlled by those who drive the hardest and are hardest to deter.
Corollary 1: Those who control a government are unlikely to give it up voluntarily.
Corollary 2: Those who protest that control without being willing to do whatever it takes to achieve a turnover are wishing for a miracle.
Corollary 3: Those who will be satisfied with protracted and unsuccessful protests are stupid and pose no substantial threat to those in control.
Corollary 4: The more the establishment’s challengers can be divided into factions, the less likely is any change of control.
Corollary 5: Factions are easy to create since cognitive misers are easily fooled into thinking that the easier way must be the better way.
