I came across this article last year before I deleted my Facebook account. As I read it, it became more and more obvious that we have glutted the world with these anti-social psychopaths by endorsing their egotism. In the attempt to “be someone”, people around the world have surrendered their wills and ability of original thought to others. “Let them do the thinking for us!” We have consigned ourselves to be nothing of import, with nothing to say, with nothing we can do. So, we allow others to do it for us, even though we cringe at the autocratic oppression. I mean, after all; “What can I do? it’s just the way things are. It’s not my problem. There’s nothing we can do about it. My vote doesn’t count anyway. It is what it is!” ( I always add to this one; Unless it isn’t! And people hate it when I do! LOL...NOT sorry!) All these are bullshit-ish phraseologies than some unknown philosopher has beaten into the weak minds of adoring fans, thinking they have tripped over some ancient wisdom, but who are incapable of original thought and who ascribe to this defeatism.
My diaries here on DK have been described in many ways, but I am also encouraged by many who think the world needs to hear my form of frankness and deliberate truth. It’s the kind of thinking and questioning that IS deliberate, and with the intention of waking people up who seem to have fallen asleep or, at the very least, have become complacently drowsy in “in-activism”. (if I may coin a new word.) Anyway, I hope you will read this simple, sometimes satirical, but succinct article, hoping to raise a few eyebrows out of their “inactivist” slumber.
7 Steps to Becoming a Dictator- Mark Van Vugt, Ph.D. A manual for strengthening your power position as elected leader-Posted Feb 05, 2017
As a democratically elected leader, getting absolute power is no easy feat. Just look at Hitler, or more recently, at Zimbabwe’s Mugabe, Russia’s Putin or Turkey’s Erdogan. Or, even more recently, DJT. Here are some helpful tips for a prolonged iron rule:
1. Expand your power base through nepotism and corruption.
This is not just a tactic adopted in Third World countries. Scandals like Bridgegate, Koreagate, Monicagate and Watergate demonstrate that the powerful will always find ways to abuse their privileges. Be warned, though: you will eventually be rumbled, so corruption tends to work only in the short term. The lesson: Better make sure to surround yourself with loyal kin who you can trust to do what’s best for you and your family.
2. Instigate a monopoly on the use of force to curb public protest.
Dictators cannot survive for long without disarming the people and buttering up the military. Yet democracies are not always more popular than dictatorships. In reality, people prefer dictatorships if the alternative is chaos. This explains the nostalgia for rulers like Stalin and Mao, who were mass murderers but who provided social order.
One retired middle-ranking official in Beijing told the Asia Times: "I earned less than 100 yuan a month in Mao's time. I could barely save each month but I never worried about anything. My work unit would take care of everything for me: housing, medical care, and my children's education, though there were no luxuries. … Now I receive 3,000 yuan as a [monthly]pension, but I have to count every penny - everything is so expensive and no one will take care of me now if I fall ill."
The lesson: Any aspiring dictator who restores order, even through coercion, is likely to earn the gratitude of his people.
3. Curry favour by providing public goods efficiently and generously.
Benevolent dictatorship was practised by Lee Kuan Yew, prime minister of Singapore for 31 years. Lee believed that ordinary people could not be entrusted with power because it would corrupt them, and that economics was the major stabilizing force in society. To this end, he effectively eliminated all opposition by using his constitutional powers to detain suspects without trial for two years without the right of appeal. To implement his economic policies, Lee allowed only one political party, one newspaper, one trade union movement and one language. He encouraged people to uphold the family system, discipline their children, be more courteous and avoid pornography. As well as setting up a government dating service for single graduates, he urged people to take better aim in public toilets and handed out hefty fines for littering. Singaporeans tolerated these restrictions on their freedom because they valued their economic security more. On this point, Lee did not disappoint, turning Singapore into one of the world's wealthiest countries (per capita).
The lesson: Restore the economy, develop large infrastructural projects that create a lot of jobs and it will strengthen your power base.
4. Get rid of your political enemies –Or, more cleverly, embrace them in the hope that the bear hug will neutralize them.
Zimbabwe’s former dictator Mugabe abandoned the unpopular practice of murdering political rivals and instead bribed them, with political office, for their support. Idi Amin, who came to power in Uganda after a military coup, stuck with the murderous route: During his eight years at the top, he is estimated to have killed between 80,000 and 300,000 people. His victims included cabinet ministers, judicial figures, bankers, intellectuals, journalists and a former prime minister. At the lower end of the scale, that's a hit rate of 27 executions a day. The lesson: Keep your political enemies close to you.
5. Create and defeat a common enemy.
By facing down Nazi Germany, Churchill, de Gaulle, Roosevelt and Stalin sealed their reputations as great leaders. Legendary warlords such as Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan and Napoleon were military geniuses who expanded their countries' territories through invading their neighbours. Dictatorships feed on wars and other external threats because these justify their existence - swift military action requires a central command-and-control structure. To attract support, the ruler must be perceived as a defender, not a warmonger. The lesson: Start a war when your position as leader becomes insecure. Having generals in top political posts should certainly help.
6. Accumulate power by manipulating the hearts and minds of your citizens.
One of the first actions of any aspiring dictator should be to control the free flow of information, because it plugs a potential channel of criticism. Turn the media into a propaganda machine for your regime like Hitler did and Erdogan does now. Other leaders, such as Myanmar's ruling junta, shut down media outlets completely. Democratically elected leaders are somewhat more restrained, but if they have enough power, they can rig an election or do away with meddlesome journalists (like Vladimir Putin's Russia) or, if money is no object, build their own media empire.
Aspiring dictators should note that muzzling the media is most effective in an ordered society: a 2007 poll of more than 11,000 people in 14 countries, on behalf of the BBC, found that 40 per cent of respondents across countries from India to Finland thought social harmony more important than press freedom. The lesson: Control the media or, even better, own the media. It’s as simple as that.
7. Create an ideology to justify an exalted position
Throughout history, leaders have used or, in some cases, invented an ideology to legitimize their power and priests, who claimed to be communicating with the gods. Henry VIII of England started his own religion when the Pope refused to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. He created the Church of England, appointed himself Supreme Head and granted his own annulment. Other ideologies serve to unite a nation divided by ethnicity, religion or language. The lesson: Build buildings and erect statues in your honor, and get the Church on your side
This is a serious article that the world needs to look at. While I see some satirical humor in the comments, we must admit to ourselves that the seven characteristics described toward becoming a dictator were exhibited by the former faux POTUS, and is setting the scene for other despots and fascists to move right in. (And they are!) If T-rump was the first to achieve his agendas in America, we must expect he has opened the door for others to do the same. If the people in America don’t give a damn and don’t stand up against the oligarchs, or about the corruption of our rights and freedoms, then we will get what we deserve. I think we need to coin the word “In-activism” and use it frequently, as a most insulting term for those who have fallen down, asleep at the job, of being an American.
Anyone can be a Frog on the Wall!