To paraphrase Thomas Jefferson, a leader strong enough to give you everything you want is a leader strong enough to take everything you’ve got.
The strongest leader today, maybe ever, is Putin. Unlike other strong leaders, he does not seem to have an oligarchy he must please to maintain his position. He controls everything and does whatever he pleases. He controls the news media, the courts, police and military. He wins elections by manipulating who the candidates can be. Those who dare to oppose him seem to die mysteriously or go to prison on imaginary charges. Those in his favor do exceedingly well. It’s a lot like La Cosa Nostra, huge benefits or sudden death.
He seems to have the support of the majority of the Russian people, but demonstrations can be staged with 200 million people under total control. Russia is the largest territory on earth, endowed with unfathomable natural resources and a smaller economy than Texas. Some think he is the richest man ever; it’s just a matter of semantics whether he owns or uses the wealth personally.
On a much smaller scale, but operating in much the same way, is Kim Jung Un. He also controls everything in his small but impoverished country. PRNK is even more mysterious than the “Russia, a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma” of Winston Churchill. It is also under ground and shrouded in lies. Its broken economy is the only constraint on Kim’s ambition.
Xi Jinping is also strong, now potential President for Life. Xi still has a government of sorts that he has to work with. China appears more open than Russia and Xi does not seem to try to control everything, or maybe he is just more subtle. China has evolved a three-class society. Party members get special treatment. The other two classes are determined by a sort of internal passport or hukou. Those with an urban hukou have access to the modern world but those with a rural hukou live in an apartheid warp. China blocks much of the internet and news.
There are other nearly unrestrained leaders in the modern world, Erdogan, Maduro, Duterte etc. They have many things in common. First and maybe foremost is control of information. All dictators current or historic have done this, by smashing printing presses, imprisoning journalists, and taking over broadcast transmitters. Schools and libraries are purged of any unfavorable reference and often stocked with self-promoting propaganda. Autocrats lie frequently freely and without remorse. If one lie conflicts with another, there is another lie to explain it, or the critic disappears.
Pomp, parades and motorcades are de-rigueur. Like past monarchs they travel in opulent style surrounded by security many layers deep. Public appearances are highly structured and expensively orchestrated with flags and cheering crowds assured. It may resemble a high school pep rally, but it’s really a hate rally. Dissidents are seldom seen or heard or heard of again. Dictators name things after and erect statues of themselves. Strong leaders enjoy a lifestyle unimaginable to most of their countrymen: palaces, limousines, yachts, airplanes, golf courses, servants.
They take credit for every good report even if it predated their regime but blame every problem on someone else, immigrants, Jews, Muslims, liberals, conservatives, savages, predecessors or drug dealers. They glory in benefits that mostly exist only in their propaganda.
Absolute obedience is required of the military and police. Officers that dissent are removed, imprisoned or killed. Family members are placed in positions of power, but can be removed violently and even murdered publicly. Law enforcement is replaced by fiat. Courts and due process are disbanded or ignored. The public is disarmed.
Those who admire this type of leadership are on the first step on a slippery slope that leads to a dystopian future like 1984 where the multitude is enslaved for the benefit of the privileged and civilization ends.
Ken Obenski is a forensic engineer, now safety and freedom advocate in South Kona. He writes a biweekly column for West Hawaii Today. Email obenskik@gmail.com.