Here is a great quote Kotkin gives in his biography of Stalin:
As a rule, a regime perishes not because of the strength of its enemies but because of the uselessness of its defenders.
– Lev Tikhomirov, 1911
Why a Regime Perishes
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Clarissa's Blog 
That can be true with regard to any cause. It’s not always true, but in contemporary times, people lack both a warlike and defensive instinct.
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Are there any instinct they don’t lack?
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Yes! The instinct of narcissism.
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Yeah, they don’t defend things of worth, but the have an infantile, regressive instinct.
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