“Let them hate us so long as they fear us.” – Roman Emperor Caligula.”The majority can never replace the man.” – Adolf Hitler.
What makes a dictatorship so dangerous? Is it the people’s total lack of freedom? Or is it simply that the dictator has a big head? I would argue that it’s the latter.
Look at the quotes above from two of the most brutal dictators history has to offer. They both show a general arrogance which is present among all dictators, where they put themselves on a higher pedestal than the general public. They have given themselves a sense of security, in believing that no one can touch them for one reason or another, and typically they are correct (temporarily at least).
Dictators make the government become so big, that people have no other choice to rely upon it for survival. If they choose otherwise, they will most likely face death. They often give the people the story that they want to hear to gain their power.
Germany had just come off of a difficult defeat in WWI when Hitler came around. The country’s morale was low, and they desperately needed a leader who would promise to hold their hand until they could get back on their feet. Hitler gave the people what they wanted, a strong leadership that offered to unite the country. Unfortunately, the German people up to that point in their history had not been accustomed to reading the “fine print”. With the strong leadership came a total lack of freedom. People genuinely feared the government, wondering each day if it would be their last.
The other thing that Hitler had going for him, was that his predecessor, the Weimar Republic, took the liberty of disarming the German people. Because of this, Hitler inherited an unarmed citizenry, allowing him to speak truthfully the quote above. For that matter, he could have truthfully said Caligula’s quote as well. What did he care if the citizens hated him, they couldn’t do anything about it.
I have singled out Hitler in my examples, simply because his crimes are well known, and therefore make good reference points. He is not unique, however. Many other dictators have risen to power in a similar fashion, where they promised the world to their people, but in the end took everything they had. In a way the hypothetical conversation between the citizens and dictator seems like it could have come straight from a bad relationship, “Baby, I know I’ve hurt you in the past, but I promise things will get better. Trust me.” Yea, right. All too often in relationships as in dictatorships, the one making those empty promises turns out to be the one who winds up hurting the other even worse.
Like I said, Hitler’s dictatorship is not unique. Millions of people, to this day live under brutal dictators, who see nothing wrong with killing their opposition. Don’t take it from me though. Ask any recently liberated Iraqi what life was like under Saddam. Or ask the countless refugees from Haiti and Cuba who try, often unsuccessfully, to reach the United States why they fled their country. But beware, their answers may shock you.
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