6 ms·

The advantage of democracy is that it usually obviates the need violent political civil wars as the people are able to express their will as to who is the leade

by q1w2 5y ago

The advantage of democracy is that it usually obviates the need violent political civil wars as the people are able to express their will as to who is the leader. This is an inherent disadvantage of dictatorships, as political factions can back different leaders and cause prolonged and recurrent civil wars. Looking at the history of empires, these dynastic conflicts are incredibly common. The disadvantage of democracies is that frequent elections prevent leadership from executing multi-decade long objectives. Democratic leadership changes often countermand the direction of prior administrations. Further, these decisions are subject to popular fashions and often represent the interests of vast swaths of the population who are uneducated and/or young. Democracies are often slaves to circumstance and societal evolution - and this is exacerbated with social media. The advantage of dictatorships is their ability to create generational goals and execute methodical plans that can show value to the nation decades later. Dictatorships have the ability to shape societal evolution (for better or worse). Oversimplifying this, you could say that a democracy acts according the average intelligence of the society, whereas a dictatorship acts according to the intelligence of the leader (and thus the process to select a dictator makes it far more critical to be meritocratic). I honestly wonder if there's a better way.

ModernMech 5y ago
> Oversimplifying this, you could say that a democracy acts according the average intelligence of the society, whereas a dictatorship acts according to the intelligence of the leader The problem with dictatorships is the dictator. Dictators are typically Cluster B personalities: narcissists, sociopaths, and psychopaths. Dictatorships don’t revolve around the intelligence of the dictator, but around their ego. Dictators aren’t interested in doing what’s right for society, they are interested in doing what’s right for themselves. This is why they are so dangerous, because those two goals are often at odds. For this reason, the dictator surrounds himself with toadies, lickspittles, sycophants, and generally other cluster B personalities who want to be a proxy for the dictator. This results in rampant government corruption and incompetence, as people end up in jobs for which they are not qualified, but which they earned through loyalty to the dictator. So if you want to map a dictatorship’s intelligence I would say they converge to the intelligence of the worst, most power-hungry, morally and ethically bankrupt people in society.
- skohan 5y ago
  You could also probably argue that the power structure set up in a dictatorship exacerbates these tendencies. Absolute power would naturally push you toward a narcissistic view on the world, because, well, you always would be the most important person in the room, and everyone else's job is literally to do what you want.
  - ModernMech 5y ago
    Oh for sure. The primary directive of a narcissist is to feed off of narcissistic supply. It's what they live for. When a narcissist gets into power, it's like overdosing on a drug for them. Every word they say is recorded, every move they make is watched. They gain the ability to speak and have it broadcast to every corner of their nation. It's addictive to them. This is why you see dictators crack down on journalists; while the narcissist loves praise, he hates criticism no matter how deserved. Well, it's part of the reason. One other reason is that dictatorships are based on mythologies that put the dictator at the center of the universe. Typically a dictator establishes legitimacy by painting "others" as the source of all societal problems, and the dictator will solve those problems by subjugating the "other". Of course that's not true, and journalists will unhelpfully point that out, so usually the first thing to go under a dictatorship is the free press. And it goes on from there. As you start persecuting the "others" they will use the judicial system for redress and they will receive it. So then they have to stack the courts. People will see this and attempt to elect new leaders. So then they have to kill elections, or at least rig them. The political opposition will thwart your agenda, so they have to get rid of them as well. That's when political purges start happening. Their own institutions like the Department of Health, Labor, Economy, War or what have you will issue reports that show the problems are not improving, despite the fact that the "others" have been persecuted into the ground. That's when they start installing unqualified quislings into these bureaucracies who will push their agenda. Of course, now that they've gutted the government of all competency things will begin getting worse and people will start to get upset with you. That's not good for narcissistic supply. So they find a new "other" to persecute. The cycle repeats as more and more groups are isolated, persecuted, and driven from society. But the problems are never fixed because there's no attempt to even fix them. It's all a game of shifting shells that never ends. But one thing is true through all of this: their ego is happy, so that's all that matters to the dictator. This is why dictators usually face a bloody end. They build the pressure up to a point where it is explosive, and then they find themselves hiding in a hole in the ground, cowering in a bunker with a loaded gun, or hanging from a gas station.
timbit42 5y ago
I don't know of a better replacement for democracy but perhaps a Proportional Representation voting system would help by encouraging the creation of other parties with more power than an independent. Of course, how do you get that implemented?

by q1w2 5y ago

ModernMech 5y ago

> Oversimplifying this, you could say that a democracy acts according the average intelligence of the society, whereas a dictatorship acts according to the intelligence of the leader The problem with dictatorships is the dictator. Dictators are typically Cluster B personalities: narcissists, sociopaths, and psychopaths. Dictatorships don’t revolve around the intelligence of the dictator, but around their ego. Dictators aren’t interested in doing what’s right for society, they are interested in doing what’s right for themselves. This is why they are so dangerous, because those two goals are often at odds. For this reason, the dictator surrounds himself with toadies, lickspittles, sycophants, and generally other cluster B personalities who want to be a proxy for the dictator. This results in rampant government corruption and incompetence, as people end up in jobs for which they are not qualified, but which they earned through loyalty to the dictator. So if you want to map a dictatorship’s intelligence I would say they converge to the intelligence of the worst, most power-hungry, morally and ethically bankrupt people in society.

skohan 5y ago
You could also probably argue that the power structure set up in a dictatorship exacerbates these tendencies. Absolute power would naturally push you toward a narcissistic view on the world, because, well, you always would be the most important person in the room, and everyone else's job is literally to do what you want.
- ModernMech 5y ago
  Oh for sure. The primary directive of a narcissist is to feed off of narcissistic supply. It's what they live for. When a narcissist gets into power, it's like overdosing on a drug for them. Every word they say is recorded, every move they make is watched. They gain the ability to speak and have it broadcast to every corner of their nation. It's addictive to them. This is why you see dictators crack down on journalists; while the narcissist loves praise, he hates criticism no matter how deserved. Well, it's part of the reason. One other reason is that dictatorships are based on mythologies that put the dictator at the center of the universe. Typically a dictator establishes legitimacy by painting "others" as the source of all societal problems, and the dictator will solve those problems by subjugating the "other". Of course that's not true, and journalists will unhelpfully point that out, so usually the first thing to go under a dictatorship is the free press. And it goes on from there. As you start persecuting the "others" they will use the judicial system for redress and they will receive it. So then they have to stack the courts. People will see this and attempt to elect new leaders. So then they have to kill elections, or at least rig them. The political opposition will thwart your agenda, so they have to get rid of them as well. That's when political purges start happening. Their own institutions like the Department of Health, Labor, Economy, War or what have you will issue reports that show the problems are not improving, despite the fact that the "others" have been persecuted into the ground. That's when they start installing unqualified quislings into these bureaucracies who will push their agenda. Of course, now that they've gutted the government of all competency things will begin getting worse and people will start to get upset with you. That's not good for narcissistic supply. So they find a new "other" to persecute. The cycle repeats as more and more groups are isolated, persecuted, and driven from society. But the problems are never fixed because there's no attempt to even fix them. It's all a game of shifting shells that never ends. But one thing is true through all of this: their ego is happy, so that's all that matters to the dictator. This is why dictators usually face a bloody end. They build the pressure up to a point where it is explosive, and then they find themselves hiding in a hole in the ground, cowering in a bunker with a loaded gun, or hanging from a gas station.

timbit42 5y ago

I don't know of a better replacement for democracy but perhaps a Proportional Representation voting system would help by encouraging the creation of other parties with more power than an independent. Of course, how do you get that implemented?