I wonder if the greatest downfall of soviet union simply wasn't having enough circuses. That there exists a level of material comfort, that if met, any amount of authoritarian imposition is tolerated.
It feels like as long as you aren't boiling bark from the trees, you can substitute the rest with circuses. But the more bread, the less circuses are needed up to a point of diminishing returns.
I wonder if the greatest downfall of soviet union simply wasn't having enough circuses. That there exists a level of material comfort, that if met, any amount of authoritarian imposition is tolerated.
It's also hard to maintain Bread and Circuses when there's no bread.
It feels like as long as you aren't boiling bark from the trees, you can substitute the rest with circuses. But the more bread, the less circuses are needed up to a point of diminishing returns.