The Underwhelming Inferiority of the Autocrat
“Those who foolishly sought power by riding the back of the tiger ended up inside.” —John F. Kennedy
Autocrats come in many flavors and are known by various names such as: tyrant, dictator, strongman, emperor, monarch and czar. Yet they all have this in common: they are one person who wields the full power of the state, however justly, unjustly, benevolently or brutally. The monarch is often, in today’s world, a figurehead of a bygone era and answers to some form of parliamentary, democratic body however there are many royal courts today that maintain old, inherited monarchal power. The worst autocrats are the ones that rise up through a normal governmental or military pathway and take full command of the military and law enforcement to assume absolute rule after which to depose them becomes very difficult and dangerous.
Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. This adage has held true because human nature is basically flawed and one person is never adequate to the task of complex, bureaucratic decision making and so in faltering resorts to brutality to enforce what their ego desires because the autocrat usually lacks the social, empathetic or reasoning skills to persuade by reason or good policies. This article details the traits of the lowest form of autocrat—the self-made tyrant. A skilled self-made tyrant often rises up with a certain amount of support and popularity because he knows how to appear beneficial to the people for an adequate period to assume full control.
The autocrat is insecure and paranoid by nature. Insecurity and paranoia are not desirable traits. We associate these with mental issues and disorders most of the time. One can easily trace the psychology of an autocrat back to a childhood trauma, real or imagined, that created a deficiency in their self-esteem and and a seething anger or grievance that becomes the basis for their psychotic behavior. Whether an innate or nurtured sociopath, the result is a cold personality that lacks empathy and is the absolute worst personality type to lend power.
The autocrat is delusional. Of course, accompanied by the paranoia is a delusion of grandeur and self-importance. This pathetic trait allows them to justify their behavior as one of destiny or even ordained by God. The autocrat lacks humility and this becomes their greatest weakness. The autocrat is actually an ordinary person with mediocre abilities except in the areas of ambition, callousness and the ability to manipulate.
The autocrat is dangerous. Because they can reduce all problems and needs down to self interest, there is always a disconnect with the true needs and desires of the people and a serious conflict of interest ensues. Therefor the autocrat steadily builds a cocoon of security and corruption to isolate himself further from the people and to repress them in an every increasing manner using ill-gotten gains and resources. Societies that allow autocrats to exist for too long pay a heavy price for each year in power multiplies their power of oppression. Autocrats should be nipped in the bud at the earliest point possible as soon as autocratic tendencies are detected. Allowed to thrive, an autocrat can become an existential threat to World Peace. Never allow an autocrat to thrive by any means possible.
The autocrat is a thief. The autocrat does not have a normal means of gaining sufficient wealth to maintain his network of corruption which is very expensive. Therefor he absconds with wealth like a mobster, exacting protection fees and payments, lucrative contracts. The autocrat in a country with rich natural resources skims the money continuously from the national treasure. He then parks this money in complex financial positions around the world through money laundering and illegal activities. The autocrat relies on espionage to gain advantages and will steal intellectual property from more advanced cultures as much as possible because he must repress ideation and creativity at home.
The autocrat is a liar. Truth is the enemy of autocracy. This is why they always take control of the media and the messaging to create a narrative and a propaganda system that hides the Truth from the people and pacifies them or more often, causes them to be enamored of the “heroic” autocrat depicted. Whatever the autocrat says, believe the opposite to have a clear picture of reality. They will only use a slight mix of truth to obfuscate their lies.
The autocrat is easily manipulated. Because of these personality flaws, almost always accompanied by narcissistic personality disorder, the autocrat is susceptible to flattery and obsequience. Those around the autocrat can gain trust by acceding to the master and feigning loyalty. This eventually leads to their demise because true loyalty becomes less prevalent over time. Besides this, external governments can exploit the autocrat’s personality flaws to operate them as puppets making them react in predictable ways to various psychological manipulations and objectives.
The autocrat outsources corruption. Because the autocrat is but one man he must find like-minded corrupt leaders to place in positions of power to maintain a network of oppression. This is a vulnerability because all it takes is one secret infidel to infiltrate the inner circle or to undermine key programs desired by the autocrat. This fuels the autocrat’s paranoia who is always on the lookout for such vulnerabilities and begins to see them everywhere. Eventually the autocrat trusts no one. External entities should always seek to undermine and penetrate this network of corruption offering better things than the autocrat offers and appealing to higher standards.
The autocrat is predictable. Since the autocrat has a compulsive behavior disorder on top of all the other flaws, they will often repeat the same cycle of behavior and paint themselves into a corner of inevitability. The autocrat is unimaginative and single-minded and very conservative and so can easily be understood and their next move is usually obvious.
The autocrat is the weakest link. Because the autocrat has forced all power to their own hands, merely removing the autocrat causes a collapse in the power structure. The longer the autocrat is in power, the weaker link they become because they have lost the faith of the people and many that feigned loyalty will turn on them as soon as the threat of reprisal is gone. Think of it as an upside-down pyramid with the autocrat at the downward facing point holding up the pyramid where the people will crush him easily with one wrong move.
The autocrat is isolated. The cocoon of security becomes an isolation chamber for the lonely autocrat. They lack true friends and often even (non-sociopath) family members become more distant and disenchanted. As time goes by, the autocrat’s only friends are other autocrats but they too are isolated and so it is a meaningless “friendship” with very few benefits because other autocrats don’t really care about anyone else either. Autocrats are the worst friends possible. Autocrats are steeped in increasing fear up to the end.
The autocrat has a fool for an advisor. Since the autocrat has reserved all decision making and power for himself, he is his own advisor and is therefor incapable of checking himself or entertaining contrary opinions that might be to his advantage. Because he creates an aura of fear and unwillingness to disagree, many of those around him withhold better ideas and smart opinions for fear of reprisal or banning from the inner circle or worse. This leads inevitably to poor decisions that lead to the demise of the autocrat.
The autocrat is always behind. Because the free world moves quickly and advances non-stop due to flowing ideas and free enterprise, the autocrat can never catch up because he has gummed up the works too much at home. It’s one person against the world and the world always wins in the end. On occasion, the autocrat can compensate with espionage or cunning but it’s always incomplete and a mere fraction of what the world is doing ahead of him. The autocrat by nature is old-fashioned and doesn’t belong in the 21st Century. They are often ruled by nostalgia for a bygone era and this is not to their advantage as the world moves on swiftly around them. Because the autocrat is delusional and insular, they will always believe they are on the cutting edge which gives the advantage to their enemies which are myriad.
The autocrat has a terrible ending. Other than small, isolated multi-generation family operations such as North Korea or Cuba, no autocrat has ever escaped the fate of utter destruction except by suicide which is not much of a win. They will have caused unimaginable suffering and pain when the time comes and so quite often this is visited upon them in the form of a barbaric execution or some form of harsh justice. Old man autocrat rarely exists. They never get away for free and so they often become most dangerous toward the end and will lash out with vicious reprisals if given a chance. Capture the autocrat and always execute them the same way the immune system executes a bacteria. In other words, be the unmounted tiger.
The autocrat is an inferior human being and one of the lowest forms of life on Earth and should be treated as such.
Contrary to the autocrat is the elected Democratic Executive. This leader works within a legal framework of Laws that limit his/her power within certain guardrails and to certain terms of service on behalf of the state. This leader has many allies, listens to professional advisors and delegates power to a bureaucratic network of trusted experts. This leader is interchangeable and dispensable in the grande scheme of things and the continuity of the government does not rely on the leader remaining in power. While this leader too may be quite powerful, his/her power comes from the government he/she represents and The People the government works for. It is perfectly feasible for an autocratic type to be elected but their tendencies become apparent and so their term in office is usually curtailed by the people who enjoy freedom too much to cede their rightful power to an individual. Whats more is the system of Laws and co-equal branches is usually also adequate to prevent certain abuses from getting out of hand, though it can happen with an extended term and enough time to corrupt the upper tiers of government or the military. Currently, this is the best we have as a species. This is a superior form of government and can be very stable for a long time with the greatest benefit and safety for the people.
