Don't get me wrong, I think the premise of this story is interesting and, under the right conditions, doesn't seem completely implausible... until you think about it. This premise doesn't take into account how average men think.
Okay so ALL the women in Gilead are under lock and key. That means you've got half the population policing the other half. All the young attractive women are handmaids, we don't see any other women in regular society in Gilead. Any low-level guy who tries to sleep with the women are apparently killed.
So... what are the male soldiers policing Gilead getting out of this? Are we to believe the majority of men would go from a society where they could sleep with women or at the very least watch porn whenever they wanted to a society where only the elite get to have sex with women and without no easy access to porn? What are these men being paid with? Money? To spend on what? Men generally achieve wealth and status to attract a mate. Take that away and what's the point? They can't even lose themselves in video games or media anymore because the society forbids it.
I think it stands to reason that Gilead would never last under these conditions. Most guys would simply defect to Canada or Mexico where they can get with a woman thereby leaving Gilead so undermanned their society would collapse. There is simply nothing in it for your average man.
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Reply by movie_nazi
on February 10, 2020 at 10:47 AM
We can go round and around on the NRA point. You could say can't happen if everyone is armed and I can say can't happen if no one is armed. I can't say because I am not caught up in the show but it seems to be there was an armed takeover of the government. Again I point to the scene where it shows non-government nutjobs forcing women out of the work place. The rally where they start to shoot protestors, again are not wearing government uniforms. So it looks as though your theory is proven incorrect (in the show) because the populace was armed and yet the wackos were armed too and still took over.
I tend to agree with you on the fact that economically it would not be viable. Not like the country is now. But I am pretty sure in the show the country is broken up into smaller countries and has started with a tabula rasa, therefore, a restructured economy. Saudi Arabia gets along just fine with women comprising of only 17% of the workforce. If fertile woman become a commodity, then their value as baby-making machines may make up for it. Don't forget that sterile women are used in the labor force albeit as slaves so that saves a ton a dough. They are not allowed to make money not necessarily work.
Reply by Oduntola
on February 11, 2020 at 7:40 AM
You guys are forgetting that in the show THT, there is a PRETEXT for the government takeover. There is a state of emergency because of the FERTILITY ISSUE. In other words all it takes is some corrupt judges and lawmakers with a GULLIBLE, CLANNISH support base to ALLOW a president to suspend habeaus corpus and you have armed men ( uniformed or not) in the streets enforcing CORRUPT and UNJUST directives! It STARTS by allowing a President to circumvent JUSTICE. Exactly what has happened TODAY!!!!
Anyone who thinks that ANY armed US population, seeking to resist a US President backed by the US military, actually stand a chance.... is DREAMING!
Reply by movie_nazi
on February 12, 2020 at 11:34 AM
The infertility crisis is the catalyst to the rise of the looney right-wing taking up arms and beginning to interpret the Bible literally. When I explained this show to my Christian friends they are like, "Well you are not supposed to take that part literally, duh." Oh, then I guess I don't need to take the part where it says "thou shalt not kill" literally either, right? "Well, yes that part." Hmm, very confusing. No wonder I get the impression it is a load of horseshit.
Reply by Oduntola
on February 12, 2020 at 8:02 PM
Ultimately. power lies in the hands of the people, if they are not too stupid to give it away!