Your Guide Book to the Dictator

Your Guide Book to the Dictator

How to identify the Dictator by his deeds?

After my latest two articles about the Dictator, where I compared him to the Dinosaur in the first one and to a Gangster in the second one, I decided to go back again to that title to further shed more light on its meaning in general and during the last century until now in particular.

The Dictator, in brief, is “Every Governor who does not leave the Governorship peacefully”. So, if we agree on that definition, then it does not matter what titles the Dictator gives himself, what he wears, says, or does.

As I mentioned before, the Dictator may chose different titles for himself. Some of these titles show that he does not care about what his people think, such as: King, Pharaoh, Caesar, Emperor, Sultan or Prince. Some other titles may give him a revolutionary cover, not necessarily real, such as: Leader, Commander, Comrade, Father, Brother or Struggler. But he may also chose a more civilized title like Mr. President. On the other hand, he is very generous in raining the people with promises and talking to them about giant projects that will make the country a real paradise. He may sometimes do some symbolic gestures to fool the people and convince them that he is the leader who “fulfills his promises”

Therefore, I decided to write this article to identify the Dictator from other rulers who use different titles and who say and do different things. I will exclude those who call themselves Royalty, because, by doing that, they admit their Dictatorship and don’t try to hide it.

Before defining the Dictator, we should first know the definition of the word itself. It means “The person who dictates to others”, or who imposes his opinion on others and prevents them from exposing theirs. He may jail them, or even kill them if they dare to do that.

We can identify the Dictator by his Deeds that have not been changed for thousands of years around the globe. Such as:

1- Military and Security

The Dictator loves to dress in military uniform in order to look like a hero who can protect his people from the enemies, but also who can break the bones of his people if they ever dare to challenge his authority. He, for the same reason, loves to flood the country with the security and military aspects. So every where you look you see a guard barracks and armed individuals in different uniform styles walking side by side with the civilian citizens, showing their weapons in open so you feel that you live on a military base or a war front.

So if you see such things in a country, then be sure that its ruler is a Dictator!

2- His Family and his Inner Circle

The Dictator depends in full on his ancestral family and his inner circle to run the country, especially the military and the security establishments. And those, openly, will take advantage of that to rip off the country’s resources and then put them in alleged investments to laundry them. So this factory belongs to the Dictator’s son, that farm to his brother, this tourism complex to his uncle, that company to his wife or her brother, this private jet to the security director and that yacht to the commander of the special guards, so you think that the whole country turned into a property of his family and inner circle.

So if you live in a country that became a corporation owned by the ruler, his family and his close circle, where as the majority of the people live at or under the poverty line, then be sure that this ruler is a Dictator.

3- Ruling Forever

The Dictator loves to stay in power to the end of his life. And, in order to accomplish that, he fabricates false elections to win with the famous 99%. He doesn’t leave power unless he passes away, is assassinated, and is forced out in a military coup or in a popular revolution. In the last two scenarios, he will be executed, jailed for life, or he will flee the country.

So if you live in a country where no former ruler lives in his house, then be sure that it is a country ruled by a Dictator!

4- His Language

The Dictator loves to use cretin ringing words and phrases which he keeps repeating during his speeches, so you think that he doesn’t know any others. Such as “Oh our Great People, Struggling People, Heroic People, I Salute your Spirit of Resistance and Sacrifice, We will never give up or surrender, The Conspiracies will be Broken on the Rock of your Will, I hear you and I Understand you, I don’t like to rule, but I’m doing it for your benefit, etc.”

So if you hear a ruler who repeats himself using this kind of language, then be sure that he is a Dictator.

5- The Historic Fantasy

The Dictator loves to add a Historic Fantasy to his image, orchestrated by his media which is the only information source permitted in the country. So, all of his visits, whether foreign or domestic, are historic. All his speeches, statements, decisions and gestures are historic. Even his use of the bathroom may make history too! So you think that history made him its only interest, documenting all his moves and even breaths.

So if you notice such a ‘Historic Fantasy’ surrounding the ruler, then be sure that he is a Dictator.

6- The Media

The Dictator loves manipulating his appearance in the media. So all the news barely talks about anybody else but him, the newspapers and the magazines reserve their front pages for his photos and his actions, the publishers and the analyzers have no interests but in articles and subjects that reveal his brilliance, leadership, political talents, and how the people are lucky with his exceptional personality. That is beside, of course, his posters which are flooding the streets, the walls, the government buildings and the markets so you think that the whole country turned to be a huge gallery for his photos. This also applies to the songs and anthems where the words are carefully chosen to draw him as a prophet look-alike person rather than an ordinary person. Even giving him, some times, divine characteristics: so he is the avenger and the mighty, and he is the giver and the forgiver, he is the father and the son, he is the savior and the promised one and he is the master and the teacher, so you think that he is a special creature who was sent by God as a gift or a blessing to the people.

So if you notice such things in a country, then be sure that its ruler is a Dictator!

7- The Symbolism

The Dictator loves symbolic and theatrical moves, to which he gives the images of generosity, fatherhood, nobility and bravery. For example ordering salary raises (the price of goods jumps up a few days later!), ordering free medical treatment for a citizen (if you know the reason you will not be surprised!), giving scholarships (find the relation between the benefited students and him and his royalty!), honoring an artist, a genius or a celebrity (he uses the photos with them as public relation!), cracking down on corruption (find the background of that action!) or waging a Don Quixote wars (Look for what he is trying to hide?). All that makes you think that you live in a live theater.

So if you see a lot of such actions coming from a ruler, then be sure that he is a Dictator.

8- The Conspiracy Theory and State of Emergency.

The Dictator loves to use the Conspiracy Theory and to operate under the State of Emergency. He, there for, claims that foreign (or local) evil powers are planning to attack the country and to remove him from power. But he (the brilliant leader), with the help of God and the nobles of the people, will confront that attack and defeat the enemy. It does not matter (to him) how much hardship the people will go through or the blood they may pay in order to maintain the security and the unity of the homeland which is (and this is still his mentality) more important than the lives of individuals. The oppressed people know now these stories by heart and know that the Dictator uses such stories to justify his oppression.

So if you live in a country where the media always talks about endless conspiracies, then be sure that its ruler is a Dictator!

9- The Blood Thirst

The Dictator doesn’t like symbolic moves when it comes to killing his own people (if they dare to challenge his authority); so he kills, kills, and kills. He is even ready to use the country’s wealth to hire mercenaries to help him in the killing. He, in fact, doesn’t respect his people, maybe because they fear him and fear his oppression. As a matter of fact, more than one Dictator has admitted in open that he doesn’t see his people as human beings, but a bunch of rats or insects, therefore he doesn’t have a problem cleansing them in collective massacres in cases where he feels it is necessary.

History narrates that the only military victories the Dictator can accomplish are those against his almost unarmed civilian people. If he feels that they are threatening his power in any way, he pounds them with airplanes, tanks and cannons; he is ready to destroy whole cities from his country, proudly and with no regret. But when it comes to real wars against real armies, then he is the fastest one to run away from the fighting to save his skin. He may have no shame to claim later that he was the real winner because “He managed to stay in power!”

So if you see a ruler who is dealing with his people with oppression and cleansing, then be sure that he is a Dictator!

10- The Legitimacy Cover

In spite of the fact that the only legitimacy the Dictator has is the one of force, but he, as much as possible, loves to give himself what he claims the legitimacy of law. There is no explanation to this except that he tries to fool the people; he is infected with a duel personality, or both. He usually likes to play the legitimacy game by:

a- Ordering the formation of what he calls a Parliament which only he and his close circle can appoint its lawmakers (through faked election). Then supplying them with rubber seals which have enough flexibility to pass a camel through the eye of a needle, and then ordering them to write a Constitution that fits him and his royalty.

b- Appointing what he calls a Ministry that should implement the laws the Parliament was ordered to make. The ministry may have freedom in some areas such as deciding how to get rid of the garbage.

c- In order to complete his Legitimacy Circus, the Dictator always claims that the legal system is independent from politics, and that all citizens are equals in front of the law. But in reality, he intends to corrupt the legal system to the bones and to be sure that the judges are following the same path of the ministers and the lawmakers.

This leads us to two phenomena’s that coexist in the dictatorial regimes; the Wastta (influence, commonly from an insider) and the Bribe. So where the legislative, the executive and the judicial systems are paralyzed (because of the planned corruption) then the final word belongs to either the Wastta or the Bribe.

So if you notice a lot of such legitimacy in a country, performed in open, and sometimes proudly, then be sure that its ruler is a Dictator!

By: Tarif Youssef-Agha

March 2011

Houston, Texas

http://sites.google.com/site/tarifspoetry