# Conservatives: If there had to be a dictator, what would you want him/her to be like? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 19, 2020, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservatives-if-there-had-to-be-a-dictator-what-would-you-want-him-her-to-be-like/925932 "2020-11-19T00:11:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2020, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservatives-if-there-had-to-be-a-dictator-what-would-you-want-him-her-to-be-like/925932/21 "2020-11-21T06:15:38Z")
> [@ASL\_v2.0](#): > > So - suppose we bypass that for a moment - if there _ **had** _ to be a dictator - no dodging this - what would you want him (or her!) to be like? You get to choose the attributes of such a dictator. _I_ would want said dictator to be like me - do all the things I would consider proper if I were dictator. Duh! I probably wouldn’t want it to actually _be_ me. I like being a normal non-dictator citizen thankyouverymuch. > [@ASL\_v2.0](#): > > Would you prefer this dictator come into power through popular appeal to a majority of your compatriots, or would you prefer they seize and maintain power through force? Or neither? Like, maybe you’d like this dictator to subvert democratic processes and get just a large enough following to continue to rule through fear, but resorting to only minimal violence, primarily just intimidation tactics? Being a conservative, I wouldn’t want a dictator at all. But if we had to have one, I’d want said dictator to come to power through the democratic process. But I’m not a fan of _subverting_ the democratic process. I would prefer if the people all agreed on dictatorship before switching over, not “just a large enough following”, not “rule through fear”, not “violence”, not “intimidation”, but actual faith in the dictatorship as a system of government. > [@ASL\_v2.0](#): > > Would you prefer this be a dictator who hates people for the circumstances of their birth, but then leaves everyone else to their own devices and does not do anything to them? Nah > [@ASL\_v2.0](#): > > Would you prefer this dictator be tolerant of the circumstances people are born into Sure > [@ASL\_v2.0](#): > > but seek to censor what they can say Nah > [@ASL\_v2.0](#): > > go after their beliefs if they run counter to their (and possibly your) own personal beliefs? Ideally, we wouldn’t have people with significantly different political beliefs. A dictatorship cannot properly espouse political pluralism, so if you are asking how will the dictatorship deal with political pluralism, assuming we cannot convince the dissidents humanely, I would prefer if they are expelled from the country as humanely as possible (rather than being killed). That might mean providing them with a farewell ceremony or travel expenses or helping to find a new country for them. > [@ASL\_v2.0](#): > > Would you prefer a strongman dictator who oppresses out groups, whether by birth or belief, by blaming disease, crime, injury, death or suffering on them? I have nothing against the “strongman” image, but the oppression is not desirable. > [@ASL\_v2.0](#): > > What about taxes, should such a dictator levy taxes Yeah, taxes are fine. State income should not primarily rely on fines and confiscated property. ~Max ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2020, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservatives-if-there-had-to-be-a-dictator-what-would-you-want-him-her-to-be-like/925932/22 "2020-11-21T22:16:45Z")
Policing facts alone won’t prevent the emergence of political dissidence, which is by definition incompatible with dictatorship. Say there is a social problem that needs to be solved. Everyone agrees on the facts / statistics. People can still disagree on the best solution. But the dictatorship only allows one political opinion. ~Max ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2020, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservatives-if-there-had-to-be-a-dictator-what-would-you-want-him-her-to-be-like/925932/23 "2020-11-21T22:26:22Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > - Either the state runs all media directly, such that stories are carefully vetted for factual accuracy before going out, so it’s more of an employer-employee thing; > > or > > - Allow private news broadcasters and TV stations to do their thing, but have a “Fact Commission” set up to fact-check all news. These private media networks would be informed that any stories found to be un-factual would lead to severe fines or penalties. Here again you’re using “factual” as if there is an agreed-upon definition of it. What is a fact? How does the state decide what facts are? I mean, the atomic weight of sulfur is a fact, but what fact describes the winner of the most recent election? If we grant that there are things called incontrovertible facts, am I doing a good job if I only report some of them and not others? Do I get fined for only reporting facts that seem important to me, and not the ones that seem important to you? How do we know the definition of “fact” won’t whiplash between sober and insane depending on who’s in office? Don’t get me wrong, I think fact-base reporting is _possible_. In fact, I think I personally would be an excellent candidate at determining what is true and false, and you would not . Based on that statement, how would you feel if I were chosen as the official fact-checker? ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2020, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservatives-if-there-had-to-be-a-dictator-what-would-you-want-him-her-to-be-like/925932/24 "2020-11-21T23:26:00Z")
I mean, this _is_ a dictatorship we’re talking about. It’s not exactly going to be a beacon of humans rights and civil liberties. The OP didn’t ask, “conservatives, if there had to be a democracy, what would you want it to be like?” True, some facts won’t be met with 100% agreement. But a ‘nice’ dictatorship would be one that puts in a legit effort to distinguish between opinion and fact, and doesn’t just merely rely on “Because the Dear Leader says so.” And at a certain point, yes, sometimes you just can’t get everyone to agree on something, and have to put your foot down on a particular matter. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservatives-if-there-had-to-be-a-dictator-what-would-you-want-him-her-to-be-like/925932.md?page=1)