Harmful economic systems: Keeping people oppressed

In essence,  there is part of the population that is living well because of their control of assets and people. The people whose assets and income have been reallocated don’t like this and thus there is the threat of revolution—overturning the minority in benefit of the majority.  This is prevented in a number of ways.

1. Murder, torture, arrest,  imprisonment, surveillance, bombing

In hard times, open dissent and repression rise in Vietnam Thomas Fuller New York Times April 23, 2013

Filmmakers capture chaos after airstrikes in Syria  Robert Mackey New York Times April 11, 2013

Arrests, intimidation and no new Zimbabwe Nyarai Mudimu  Inter Press Service March 21, 2013  

Researchers find 25 countries using surveillance software Nicole Perlroth New York Times March 13, 2013

Relatives of victims of Guatemala's civil war listened to proceedings as Efraín Ríos Montt, Guatemala’s former military dictator, was ordered by a Guatemalan judge on Thursday to stand trial on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity leveled at him. Rodrigo Abd/Associated Press  

Accused of atrocities, Guatemala’s ex-dictator chooses silence Elisabeth Malkin New York Times January 26, 2013

Eight former army officers are charged with Chilean singer's 1973 murder after army coup Pascale Bonnefoy New York Times December 28, 2012  See Wikipedia Victor Jara Hear Jara's song Manifiesto

Opposition to labor camps widens in China Andrew Jacobs New York Times December 14, 2012

2. Inhibiting political, human rights and other organizations

China cracks down on anti-corruption activists Andrew Jacobs New York Times April 21, 2013

Journalism under attack across the globe imperils press freedom Roy Greenslade The Guardian February 14, 2014  Attacks on the Press: Journalism on the Front Lines 2012 Committee to Protect Journalists

Many governments target rights defenders in order to suppress human rights, Human Rights Watch says in a 90 country report Hunger Notes February 5, 2010 

Some excerpts from the above article, with links to brief country reports.  Attacks on human rights monitors are not limited to authoritarian governments like Burma and China, Human Rights Watch said. Human Rights Watch noted that some governments are so abusive against individuals and organizations that no domestic human rights movement can function, citing  Eritrea, North Korea, and Turkmenistan. The introduction to the report said that in addition to Russia and Sri Lanka, other countries where human rights monitors were murdered in order to silence them in included Kenya, Burundi, and Afghanistan. Human Rights Watch cited Sudan and China as countries that routinely shut down human rights groups and Iran and Uzbekistan as countries that openly harass and arbitrarily detain human rights workers and other critics. Colombia, Venezuela, and Nicaragua threaten and harass rights defenders. Human rights advocates face violence in countries such as The Democratic Republic of Congo and Sri Lanka. Some governments such as Ethiopia and Egypt use extremely restrictive regulations to stifle the work of nongovernmental organizations. Other countries use the disbarment of lawyers (China and Iran, for example), criminal charges - often faked from staged attacks (Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan), and criminal libel laws (Russia and Azerbaijan) to silence critics.

3. Electoral fraud

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