No offense , but I just disagree and am sad about that . While it is true that limits exist in what a government can do to retain legitimacy , a slowly boiling pot can cook a frog . Modern America is formed of two hostile camps and an apathetic camp larger than both , and all three are currently disunited on every economic , social , and racial issue . Modern Americans aren ' t united on anything . We ' re divided and conquered . Also , a president like Trump on his worst day is almost guaranteed to be supported by some of those 300 million . He ' ll have access to conscription , heavy weaponry , a hierarchical and welleducated military organization , and many citizens will support the government out of habit or ideology . It is unlikely the 99 % can overwhelm the 1 %. They rarely have before . It ' s not like weapons were hard to come by in the past . If every peasant had taken up a pole arm , spear and bow , they would have easily overwhelmed the knights who oppressed them for generations during the middle ages . But in contrast to the militarized leadership , peasants were disorganized , illiterate , and cowed . They were easily ruled for over a thousand years until the growth of the bourgeoisie and the split between king and nobility created a more fragile system .