Dictators,
Despots, and Wannabes
“In our posting on March
19, 2014, Julie, we described the amazing finding by Daniel Reisel that MRI
exams of the brains of psychopathic murderers showed deficiencies. Too bad that the same exams can’t be
performed on the brains of people liked Hitler and Stalin. They might also reveal their lack of
empathy and propensity for killing.”
“Just think of the capabilities of MRIs of the future,
Curmudge. They might be able to
tell the difference between conservatives (classic liberals) and so-called
progressives.”
“The future isn’t here yet, so we’ll just have to guess
about the brains of modern-day despots and their disciples and hangers-on. Presumably they will influence the collective brain of
their populace by feeding them a steady stream of propaganda, and the people
will swallow it, or try to oppose it, or give up in despair.”
“Shall
we start with the dictators, Professor?
The mass-murderers were clearly deranged. As Stalin said, ‘One death is a tragedy; a thousand deaths
is a statistic.’ Most contemporary
dictators are a bit more subtle.
People who oppose the regime are convicted of a made-up crime and sent
to prison…or they just disappear.
It discourages dissent quite effectively. Another tactic is to restrict the citizens’ access to information
by controlling the press, turning off TV stations, or even killing
journalists. Groups that oppose
the regime are harassed by regulatory agencies, and businesses owned by an
organization’s supporters are subjected to boycotts.”
“You’re
right, Julie, and some of these things occur pretty close to home. The benefits to the despots and wannabes
are pretty obvious—power, riches, and tenure in office. It’s the riches that attract the
supporting oligarchs into their symbiotic relationship with the wannabe. Crony capitalism keeps the money
flowing to the oligarchs, and their money keeps the ‘boss’ in power.”
“And
how does the despot keep his legislators and ‘foot soldiers’ in line?”
“It
would appear that many legislators share the wannabe’s philosophy. Those of the so-called ‘political
class’ feel that they are better able to make decisions for the people than the
people can for themselves. Of
course, many bureaucrats enjoy the power that they would lose with regime
change, so they parrot their leader’s bloviations.”
“Now,
Curmudge, let’s move down the scale to wannabes and to those despots who are
relatively new to the game or at least recently identified. What do they do to influence the minds
of their citizens, and why do they do it?
And why do you call some of these guys ‘wannabes?’ “
“They
want to be absolute rulers, Julie, and
in their efforts to gain that power, they do all of the above, hopefully short
of murder. Perhaps their
philosophy allows them to justify everything. Several writers have characterized these blokes as postmodernists.”
“Okay,
Old Guy, I think I know who the modernists
are. They are us and most of the
people in this country. Although
we are rugged individualists, we accept and live by the mores of society. We don’t kill, lie, steal, cheat, or
envy our neighbor’s success. You
and your colleagues ask yourselves, ‘Is it the truth? Is it fair to all concerned?’ And you know what ‘truth’ is and what ‘fair’ means. But what is this postmodernism stuff?”
“There
are probably whole books on postmodernism, but here are a few characteristics:
Morality is individualistic; every
person’s morality belongs to them alone. Facts and falsehoods are
interchangeable. One could
envision a postmodernist feeling that something (anything) is what he says it
is. Postmodernists may very well feel that the end justifies the means.”
“That’s
pretty scary, especially when a postmodernist is in control of one’s
country. So, Curmudge, based on
our study, what do you conclude about the role of government in influencing the
collective brain of the people?”
“Sometimes
I’m glad to be as old as I am.
When the government sees itself as ruler—rather than servant—of the
people, when innovation and hard work are no longer valued, when crony
capitalism is the only route to prosperity, when government actions are based
solely on politics, when the Ten Commandments become optional, and when lying
is an accepted form of communication, I’ll know it’s time for me to be on the
other side of the grass.”
“But
Curmudge, we’re almost there now.”
“Julie,
some days I feel as if I‘m almost there too.”
Kaizen
Curmudgeon
Link to posting from blog archives: A Culture of Elegance 3/25/10
No comments:
Post a Comment