I know that such a question can be met with a lengthy prison sentence or execution, but I’m sure such a question was not only asked but answered, even if by a foreign power. In the day of kings the answer sometimes involved God or the gods, and thus self answering. But I’m curious about the other answers, do some believe that the people have it better with them in power to impose order? Do they believe they are just so skillful that the people are lucky to have them to rule over them? Perhaps they know and admit that the people would be better free however that would end their power which they would not like and some just do it because that’s what fate dealt them.
If you look at modern dictators, there’s usually at least an element of claiming to protect their people from the “others” – whether that’s capitalism, Western decadence, a neighboring country, or whatever.
A better question is “Where does a dictator’s power come from?” People with power rarely have to justify it. They just use it.
If you look at dictators throughout history, a common trend seems to be that they tapped into some fundamental anger or frustration with the status quo on a populist level. They use that support to put themselves in a position of authority and to tear down or reinvent the existing institutions that may have served as a check on their power.
Once the dictator rebuilds the various institutions and state apparatus to serve their own ends, then it becomes very difficult to dislodge them.
If you look at the kinds of old, yes, most people probably gave lip service that they achieved their right to rule through God. But the king also had access to great wealth and lived in a fortified castle. He could pay guards to protect him. The king could offer estates to various lords who supported him and remove them from those estates with his army if they didn’t. So long as most people could go about their day to day lives, they probably cared little about the dealings of the upper classes.
Much of a dictators power comes from projecting the illusion of power. As long as they have enough supporters, no one wants to be the one who steps out of line and gets tortured and disappeared for their trouble.
Keep in mind, Hitler had 42 documented assassination attempts against him.
That’s probably the most common one. “I alone can fix it!” Whether they actually believe that, or are just using it as an excuse, is often unclear.
Yes, the purported threat from internal or external evil-mongers may be the most powerful tool in the dictator’s arsenal.
It works pretty well for sub-dictators and politicians in democracies too.
The position of 20th Century fascists was that the only time the masses want to rule themselves is when they are being badly ruled. Democracy is a symptom of bad leadership; not a cure.
Dictators offer law and order - stability - to a society that might otherwise be fractured by internal conflicts.
Recall that when Saddam Hussein was toppled there was ethnic turmoil as different groups vied for power, leading to violence. Usually, a dictator emerges to quell such divisions. The people want peace, and will give up freedom to get it.
As I understand it, in Iraq under Hussein the country had a very high literacy rate. But people simply did not discuss politics. It wasn’t safe to do so. It’s a trade off.
“I am the nation’s father and the people are my children. I understand things they do not. So I should run the nation the way a father runs the family. I will do what’s best for the people - better than what they would choose to do for themselves if they ran the country. Even if some of my policies seem harsh or unfair to them it’s being done in their long term best interest.”
I’d say that by far the most common justification for dictatorship is religious. Both China and North Korea use religion as a justification for rule. Iran also. The Christian church has also been used to,justify tyranny in the past. The divine right of kings…
That’s Kim Jong Un for sure. I don’t know if any recognized religion comes into it though. But, he/they consider him a god in his own right. So maybe.
You don’t dare cross the piece of shit that’s for sure. So I guess that’s sort of a religion.
I think the most common justification is “Because I can, and you can’t stop me”.
You feel China and North Korea are using religion to justify their regimes?
NK has a quasi-religious personality cult, you might say, with a communist veneer. China, not so much.
Every dictatorship is going to have some unique local and temporal features, but the leader’s ambition, lust for power, paranoia, certitude and ruthlessness are common enough.
I feel the people who characterize Juche as a religion or pseudo-religion are mistaken. It’s a political ideology. If you argue that a fervent belief in Juche makes it a religion, I’ll point out there are people who have a fervent belief in constitutional democracy or free-market capitalism - and those aren’t regarded as religions.
I think the difference is the idolization, or deification in all but name, of each NK leader in turn.
A strong leader means a strong country. It doesn’t matter whether he’s right or wrong (although he’s always right, of course), what matters is that doubting the leader weakens the country - and we can’t have that.
It’s bullshit, but it’s also a remarkable persuasive argument.
People who have power tend to believe they have power because they deserve it more than anyone else. They also tend to believe they earned it, even if they literally inherited it.
I think that the majority of people in such societies assume THEIR freedom won’t be taken away. What I mean to say is that if you look at how American Republicans think, they all talk bullshit about their “rights” and “freedoms”. But when you look at their policies, what they really mean by “freedom” is dominance of an affluent white hetero male Christian monoculture. In their mind, rights for minorities, immigrants, LGBT, women’s reproductive rights, labor, etc are all attacks on a True American Way of Life.
People act like these dictators just take over, but they couldn’t do that unless people actually wanted them in power. Look at the massive Nazi rallies Hitler used to have.
It’s kind of like Varys’s riddle from Game of Thrones:
“In a room sit three great men, a king, a priest, and a rich man with his gold. Between them stands a sellsword, a little man of common birth and no great mind. Each of the great ones bids him slay the other two.”
Who has the real power here?
And that they deserver it. Even if they never did a single thing to deserve it. (Ninja’ed by Shakester)
I’m sure that KJU and DJT where raised to believe that they are basically gods, and no one is really worthy of them and should just be used as door mats. The ‘commoners’ are only a source of more money, adoration or power. People exist only to served them. Nothing else.
Putin and Hitler are a bit different though. Hitler was a great orator, and captured hearts and minds that way. I think that is widely believed.
Putin wormed his way up through the KGB.
They all then surround themselves with yes men which further convince them that they are the greatest and can do no wrong.
We really need the people of North Korea and Russia to rise up against their ‘leaders’. But that means death or worse for those that do it.
But I’m sidetracking the original question.
Idolization, certainly. But deification? I’m not seeing that. Juche doesn’t ascribe any supernatural origins or powers to the Kims. North Koreans are told they’re supposed to follow the current Kim but there’s no suggestion that an afterlife will be the reward. Juche is set in the secular world.