ABSOLUTE POWER ATTRACTS THE WORST OF THE WORST

 

ABSOLUTE POWER ATTRACTS THE WORST OF THE WORST

 

When it comes to falling for individuals who crave absolute, autocratic power, will we ever learn?  Will we do anything to stop them?  Absolutely not.  Human history, past and present, is filled and riddled with the most dubious and despicable individuals rising to power.  All of them reaching for absolute power as soon as they are elected and not a single system of governance has been spared.  Even the greatest democracies can be overthrown and succumb to phony promises and smart theatrics.  Hello America!  All aspiring dictators are demagogues and charismatic in their initial public appeal, stirring up public sentiment and enthusiasm.  And to paraphrase a famous quote by Friedrich Nietzsche: “Insanity in the individual is rare, but quite common in the masses.”

And I will add one of my own: “The sane always fear the insane because one knows what to expect from the sane, whereas the unexpected from the insane is guaranteed.”

Compulsive group behavior and group hysteria trump individuality.

A society is at its most vulnerable in uncertain times when a population starts to resemble a highly combustible pile of firewood.  When group hysteria reaches a boiling point an unsavory cast of wannabe leaders always emerges, taking advantage of the situation and eager to light the match that sets a population ablaze.  It never ends well.  It is easy to light a fire, but much more difficult to put it out when it flares out of control.  For those of you who think that we’re living in enlightened times and that the rise and fall of dictators is less likely to take place, think again.  I will give you a list of all the current leaders and those in recent past who qualify as the worst of the worst.  Remember: not a single autocracy has ever been lauded as great and beneficial, all of them end in disaster.  Which begs the question I will pose at the end: Why do we fall for their hollow rhetoric again and again?  Why do we even elect them?

In no particular order or ranking:

Vladimir Putin, still ruling.  Xi Jinping, leader of China.  Trump, aspiring to join the club, Adolf Hitler—committed suicide.  Benito Mussolini—executed by partisans.  Joseph Stalin—died of natural causes.  Saddam Hussein—executed by hanging after being captured.  Francisco Franco—died of natural causes.  Fidel Castro—relinquished power.  Kim Il-sung—died of a heart attack as did his son who succeeded him—Kim Jong-il.  Mummar Gaddafi—captured and killed by rebels.  Idi Amin—died in exile.  Kaiser Wilhelm II—died in exile. Nicolae Ceausescu—both him and his wife were executed.  Pol Pot—died in captivity after being overthrown.  Augusto Pinochet—arrested and jailed.  Robert Mugabe—ousted from power after a military coup.  Napoleon—died in exile.  Julius Caesar—stabbed to death—Mao Zedung—died of natural causes.  Manuel Noriega—died in jail.

The list of dubious, psychotic leaders fills dozens of pages.

This is just the tip of the iceberg.  There are hundreds more.  All of them have this in common: they are all psychopaths and their symptoms range from sadism, paranoia, antisocial, narcissism, schizophrenia, megalomania and a host of other mental disorders.  Above all they lack a moral compass, empathy or a social consciousness.  Most of them crave attention and demand absolute adoration.  And woebegone those daring to voice any kind of criticism.  The rule of law means nothing to dictators and when enraged they will enact any kind of punishment and will perpetrate the worst acts of retribution imaginable. 

All dictators are manipulators and upon taking office will consolidate absolute power by taking control of the military, the judiciary and the media.

A quote from George Carlin: Governments don’t want a population capable of critical thinking.  They want obedient workers just smart enough to run the machines and just dumb enough to passively accept their situation.

When compliance turns into complicity.

All of us are raised to behave like good little boys and girls.  All of our societies are patterned along predictable and mandatory paths of anticipated group behavior, based on conformity and compliance.  Critical thinking and original thought are not encouraged, especially not by the peasants, the 96 percent of us of from whom obedience without question is expected and demanded.

Do we temporarily lose our mind?

What are the triggers?

It must be obvious that our flirtation with absolute power is not something old or new, something rare or unexpected or something that falls beyond the norm.  It is actually quite frightening that we succumb to dictators again and again and with a frequency that is alarming.  So much for all that superior human intelligence and intelligent choices.  Our sanity goes AWOL at regular intervals and when it happens we elect the worst of the worst.  And: at our worst we do the worst.

Don’t stare yourself blind at specific political parties and why some, like the Republican Party under Trump found themselves blessed with a resurgence in support.  The MAGA crowd could just as easily have been a Democratic Party phenomenon if a similar candidate like Trump would have emerged.  Aspiring dictators and autocrats are to angry, frustrated people what nectar is to bees.  Within humanity there is always present a simmering level of discontent.  We’re simply not nice and kind and it takes so little to upset the duality that exists in all of us.

All of us know the difference between good and bad!  So, how, why and when are we led astray by bad behavior?

In prosperous and peaceful times ‘good’ is capable of putting a lid on all the unsavory sides of humanity.  In good times the majority of people simply won’t tolerate inappropriate or violent behavior.  Aggression is frowned upon.  When the balance starts to shift and feelings of insecurity set in, it has a habit of snowballing out of control with phenomenal speed.  Hate, fear and paranoia are highly toxic sentiments and emotions and whatever goodness that still resides in people is quickly silenced by the mass hysteria that starts to take hold of society.  Dictatorial hopefuls are like animals of prey, sniffing any opportunity to snap and grab power and move in for the kill.

Dictators know: The truly ignorant amongst us (and there are many) relish the opportunity to act out and destroy, especially when their actions are encouraged by the leadership at the top.

Compulsive crowd behavior and crowd complicity: we adopt each other’s moods.

When group or mass hysteria takes hold of a nation it plays right into the hands of those wanting to seize absolute power.  Angry, disappointed people mistake the belligerence and antics displayed by aspiring leaders as the solution that will heal all that ails the nation.  A siren song so hard to resist.  Give in to your anger and frustration.  Deep inside in most of us is a need to lash out.  When those base, primordial urges emerge we don’t want an appeal to common sense and reason.  Instead we start to listen to the demagogues and their often simplistic message and approach.  They appear strong, combative and are experts at blaming minorities and nations too weak to defend themselves or provide any kind of opposition.  The political opposition is bashed as ineffectual and blamed for everything that went wrong.  Reason is out of season and facts no longer count.  Within no time flat an incredibly unhealthy atmosphere of distrust and anger becomes the norm and autocrats use every tool at their disposal to consolidate their power and silence any kind of opposition.

Why are they successful?  Why does it take place with a speed that is absolutely mindboggling?

As a writer, a student of philosophy, history and the humanities, I have always struggled with the concept of what it means to be human; the words we use to describe ourselves, such as humane and humanity.  We have a tendency to insert a level of goodness into the human equation that we really don’t deserve.

The competition amongst humans is the most intense of any living species.  In my novel Energy & Origin I have explained in great detail how all living species are driven by energy in various forms and quantities.  It is all about survival and finishing first.  Energy and momentum provide the basis for all our conflicts and struggles and when things in our lives spin out of control, it is group behavior that takes over.  It is the nature of the beast and it makes a mockery of our so-called humanity.

Tribal narcissism rears its ugly head when as a nation or tribe we feel threatened.  We react as a group, the pack rallying together and willing to do whatever is asked from it by the leader or party that rules.  The level of intolerance increases exponentially as conflicts or wars erupt.  Anyone not willing or refusing to follow orders is treated as a traitor.  Contempt for anything and anyone who is not like us, who doesn’t look or think like us.

We’re experts at confronting others, not ourselves.

In the previous century Fascism and Imperialism caused two world wars that devastated nations around the world.  This time around our incredible energy needs and demands are pushing conflicts to a head.  And our numbers are only acerbating the impact of the knives that are being sharpened for the next major conflict that is about to erupt.  As a writer I am not looking for trouble or trying to stir up hysteria to sell an article. 

Beating the drums of war.

From the wars and conflicts that are currently in play we can only deduce that once more it is not about right, but about might.  In America the sitting president is openly and blatantly trying to silence any media opposition.  In countries like China and Russia all the media outlets are government controlled as is the message.  In a healthy democratic society a strong and unbiased opposition is meant to keep everybody on their toes and honest.  Who wants to be a journalist or a writer when there is a good chance that you will either be silenced, fired, or killed!

World War II did stir up sentiments that demanded sacrifice.  Had fascism prevailed the world would have been cloaked in darkness and despair.  It displayed a level of depravity never witnessed before and yet the same dark clouds of absolute human failure are gathering once more.  All wars are about power and control and the repeat a line from a previous article: he who controls the spigot gets to drink first.

Autocrats and dictators won’t make the world a better place, they will make it even worse, but the problems we face won’t be solved by any kind of political party, political will or resolve.  It will not make one iota of difference as to what party is installed to govern, whether it is labor or conservatives, democrats or republicans, liberals or socialists.  Once in office all will be confronted by the same sad fact that too many things have spun out of control and defy fixing.  If we compare it to a game of snooker we’re stuck behind the 8 ball and there is not a trick shot in the world that will work as all the balls remaining on the table have turned into 8 balls as well.

It is not a case of our humanity being tested once again and that somehow when the dust settles we will once more regain our senses and move on.  Earth is a finite object with finite resources and throughout human history humans have advanced at the expense of all other lifeforms that we share the planet with.  Wars and conflicts have never solved anything.  Ever.  Our reproductive capabilities are absolutely astounding as the human numbers are replaced in record time.  Wars and disease have rarely decimated an entire population or species.  Our greater level of awareness has given us an advantage over all other species and in the process we have turned a blind eye to our needs and their impact.  Evolution would have created a much gentler species if only we’d paid much closer attention to the natural world and how it behaves and survives.  Even our indigenous people, having survived for millennia in harmony with nature, believe that the only way for our planet to survive and heal, is for us to vanish from its surface.  Our heightened sense of awareness has led us down some dark and dangerous paths.  At our worst, we do the worst and when we elect the worst of the worst we unleash the worst of the worst that resides in all of us.

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