Equally eligible...

"Expect things to get worse before they get better. The primary goal of the elite is not to advance an abstract ideal of the national interest or restore some imagined idyll, but to retain its hold on money and power. Current economic conditions threaten this goal, and the ruling cliques, to the extent that they are capable of concerted action in a crisis situation, will likely respond by tightening the screws at home, stoking anti- [insert as you wish here] sentiment, and provoking conflicts they feel they can exploit" (Freedom House 2009, Undermining Democracy; three words deleted).