throw-the-towel parent
If this argument were true, dictatorships couldn't exist. However, they do.
Most dictatorships make no less than a half-hearted attempt to convince the population to support them.
And then they make a point out of terrorizing the people who don't support them. Just so the others have no trouble discerning whether believing them is a good idea or not.
Was this supposed to be a counter-argument?
> they either must be bought at an increasing steep price
Right, what I was getting at is -- that isn't a fatal problem in practice, the price stays affordable.
You're assuming that citizen are united in what they want. That's usually not the case.