He was not insolent to his benefactor, he was simply insensible; though knowing perfectly the hold he had on this heart, and conscious he had only to speak and all the house would be obliged to bend to his wishes. In this sentence, what does the word obliged mean?

In this case the following words can be used as synonyms for the sentence:

Coerced, impelled, forced

Explanation:

For this case all the words above can mean the same thing. The house (people) would bend to his wishes not by using the direct force, but the power conferred on him it makes everyone to bed to his wishes.

overnment is strong when they have the ability to persuade those they govern to believe government has enough power to force them or should be forcing them to do government’s will.

when enough of the citizenry do not believe government can force them or should force them to do its bidding, government has lost or will lose its strength and power to coerce.

when enough of the citizenry do believe government can force or should force them to do its bidding, they become passive at the least or actively pro-government and repeat government’s own rhetoric to pass on what they have been persuaded by government’s propaganda.

a true majority isn’t always needed to govern or to stop government. many times all that is needed is a strong minority. if a determined 30% of the population rises up against government in a concerted effort to bring it down, this size minority usually will succeed as long as those actively opposing the minority are less in force than the minority. so if 41% of the population sits at home watching tv rooting for one side or the other, they don’t matter. it’s the active parties who make a difference.

a. beside the fence

explanation: