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> As an autocrat, your top priority is to compensate those who keep you in power, which requires wealth extraction from the productive That cost is insignifica
by bluetomcat 6y ago
> As an autocrat, your top priority is to compensate those who keep you in power, which requires wealth extraction from the productive
That cost is insignificant when the ruling nomenclature is a relatively small portion of the population and when basic workers rights are not respected. Especially in manufacturing stuff on a pipeline in huge quantities, a totalitarian system can be much more effective output-wise, at the cost of disregarding any environmental and human condition externalities.
- nickff 6y agoThe cost of compensating the “selectorate” is actually more related to regime organization (i.e. military dictatorship vs. rigged elections) than to work conditions. This cost can be extremely high, as the autocrat has to pay off enough people to ensure that rivals cannot achieve an advantage.
- bluetomcat 6y agoMost totalitarian leaders use fear and repression as tools for maintaining the power structure. Defecting members of the nomenclature and their families are imprisoned and tortured. With modern methods of surveillance and control, that doesn't require a huge army of trusted agents, as was the case in the Eastern bloc, for example.
- nickff 6y agoEven extremely repressive regimes will bribe the selectorate; as an example, you can look at North Korea (or Maoist China), where the peasants were starving and beaten, but the party officials have/had new cars.