The Art of Dictatorship

You might think that this is an odd title to put on a blog posting. It is. But that's precisely what it is about. For the sake of ease, I will use a fictional country and fictional individuals instead of drawing from actual events.

Our country is Tairan. Tairan is a democratic republic, or was. They have a new prime minister. (do republics have prime ministers?) This is an ambitious fellow who's captivated everyone, even though some are wary of him, and he has his own agenda. But there's a problem--although he possesses the power, theoretically, to implement the changes he wants, it would certainly not look very good and make his detractors angry. So the PM, who has a dominant personality, decides to start a committee. He's not, by any means, a dull PM, so he decides that he needs to handpick people--people that will look good on a committee, but people whose personalities are less dominant and who will accept his authority over all.

So he picks a committee of about twelve. They're all pretty decent people, but are a product of their system, it seems. They're quite taken in by his personality, as he's an affable chap (or so it seems), and agree gladly to help out with whatever they can.

Escaping the minds of most of the committee, as the meetings progress, is that even if they did offer alternative suggestions, it wouldn't matter because the PM has already decided exactly what was going to happen. The PM acts as if they all came to that conclusion--and most of the committee members agree on it. The ones who don't are in the minority, and thus are fairly insignificant. This allows the PM to do almost anything he wants--because he can say that the committee agreed to it.

So time passes, and the PM can all but get away with murder--because "the committee decided that..."

And, of course, to keep any sentiments of frustration at bay, he repeatedly soothes their ego and tells them how much he needs them all in order for the system to work. And he is believed.

This is, of course, a manner of very skillfully implementing absolutely anything that the PM (or whomever) desires. It lets this committee feel useful, even though their purpose is to do...nothing at all. Well, that's not entirely true. Their purpose is to agree with the PM.

In that way, a dictator can easily become firmly rooted into a system--pulling the strings of all his officers, making his own will reality.

Of course, only certain people can get away with this--(and even when they do, usually there's one or two people who can still see through it from within)--usually individuals with a certain personal charisma, but sometimes all it takes is the facsimile of caring. And, of course, individuals who can be misled fairly easily.

These are the petty, every-day dictators; chances are likely that they will never try to take over the world or exterminate an entire ethnic or religious group. But the quirks, the mannerisms are there all the same.

Personalities are not, of course, easily categorized as simply 'dominant' and 'passive'. A very quiet person may have one of the most stubborn personalities ever recorded on earth, but it would not quite be known. Similarly, there are some who are extroverts, appearing dominant but bending and stretching to appease when challenged.

These every-day dictators (EDD) are altogether too common--people constantly vying for control over everything they can, and reacting with unpleasant surprise when someone's will does not mesh with their own. Some even seem personally offended when another person has a differing opinion, even if it is not voiced offensively or even remotely combatively. EDDs can be found in every corner of the earth, in every imaginable occupation. There is no escaping them.

Being afflicted by an EDD is, in some ways, comparable to being poor Lucy Westenra. Unfortunately, EDDs are not allergic to garlic, crucifixes or wooden stakes (though I'll grant you that a wooden stake would "take care" of just about anybody). They do, however, have a strong dislike of conflict--not in a peace-loving way, but because a conflict of ideas is unthinkable.

Being an EDD does not automatically mean being an opponent of good, of course--some EDDs truly believe they are doing good, even if they are (unconsciously) making people miserable around them.

EDDs also contribute to stress levels, sometimes causing them to rise exponentially. They may find ways of slithering in to most of your life, and try to manipulate your emotions. They might fool dozens of people, much to the chagrin of the few who can see their EDD-ish tendencies. Some victims of EDDs even start having recurrent dreams about the EDD, awakening in the middle of the night stressed and exhausted.

Is there an EDD in your life?