The populace is still controlled

Mr. Mark Hamilton,
Even in a relatively free democratic country the rule of man is still pervasive. The populace is still controlled and exploited by the ruling class as they are in tyrannical nations, albeit at a more subtle level. The pernicious taxation and regulatory policies of modern western governments have resulted in a loss of competitiveness, leading to declining standards of living for countless people. Such policies are always touted as being for the social good, for example to fund a stream of entitlement programs and to justify destructive foreign wars. Throughout history women have often suffered to the greatest extent via the rule of man culminating, for example, in the deaths of many thousands of innocents in Europe during the Dark Ages.
Alan C.