A recent discussion made me wonder -- do y'all know of any major sociopolitical changes that were not preceded by protests (of vaguely the street kind)? Preferably positive changes in relatively modern times, but any answers are interesting, including even "I cannot recall any".
Boosts much appreciated.
I think that most coup d'etats weren't. Also surrendering or suing for peace does often cause major changes (v. Japan after WWII) and is rarely preceded by protests (which would typically be considered treason).
I expect that looking for edge cases in the meaning of "preceded" (I expect manifestations in support to sometimes start after the event that caused the change to be inevitable) and "major" (e.g. a German court has recently ruled that being able to cause oneself to die is a constitutionally-guaranteed right -- is that major?) might yield more examples.
@robryk Huh, yeah, that probably counts. Nice one.
The other attempt at technologically pushing for sociopolitical change is arguably Bitcoin, but it's still unclear whether and how much that will be successful.