Difference between revisions of "Dictator"

Revision as of 17:38, April 13, 2021

vandalism is fun

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-'''Dictator''' is originally the title of a [[magistrate]] in [[ancient Rome]] appointed by the [[Roman Senate|Senate]] to rule the state in times of emergency. In modern usage, it refers to an absolutist or [[Autocracy|autocratic]] ruler who assumes sole power over the state (though the term is normally not applied to an [[monarch|absolute monarch]]). Like the term [[tyrant]], and to a lesser degree autocrat, it was a respectable title in the ancient world, but has some come to be used almost exclusively as a non-titular term for oppressive, even abusive, [[despot]] who rules with no regard for any existing [[constitutional]] [[democratic]] structures, organs or other entities. Almost always the dictator is marked by a resilient resistance to reality and rational thought. This enables the dictator to act in a manner otherwise impossible to a person of [[integrity]]. As such, grave [[human rights]] violations, [[torture]], disappearances, pervasive [[police state]] [[surveillance]] and the repeal of existing [[human rights]] laws and ignoring [[Bill of Rights|constitutional protections]], become the norm in societies ruled by dictators (even when "democratically" elected by the "majority"). Summary [[execution]]<ref>https://www.wnd.com/2013/02/when-a-republican-murders-u-s-citizens by [[Ted Nugent]] Accessed March 28, 2014</ref> by [[Executive Order]]<ref>"Few things are as dangerous to [[America]]n [[liberty]] as the proposition that the [[government]] should be able to kill [[citizen]]s anywhere in the world on the basis of legal standards and evidence that are never submitted to a [[court]], either before or after the fact. Anyone willing to trust President [[Obama]] with the power to secretly declare an American [[citizen]] an [[enemy of the state]] and order his [[extrajudicial]] killing should ask whether they would be willing to trust the next president with that dangerous power." https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/05/us-targeted-killings-eric-holder_n_1320515.html Accessed March 28, 2014</ref> is the punishment of choice for a wide variety of offenses, both [[criminal]] and [[political]], under the rule of a dictator.
+vandalism is fun
-Dictators come to power in a variety of ways. They can be elected fairly and then refuse to give up power; they may seize control of the country in a [[coup d'état]]; or they may be placed in power as the puppet of a stronger country that desires influence in the region. Alternatively, some countries such as the former [[Soviet Union]] are ruled by a single party which appoints a succession of dictators without regard for its people; this is known as a systemic dictatorship.
-Since the nature of dictatorship is fundamentally at odds with the principals of [[democracy]], dictators are usually condemned by the international community. Consequently, many adopt tactics to try and give their regime an air of legitimacy, such as holding sham or coerced [[election]]s, or declaring a "state of emergency" in the country with the implication that democracy will be restored once the "emergency" ceases to exist (almost always this never happens barring a coup; even then the new leader will implement the same practices).
-Notable dictators in world history have included:
-* [[Adolf Hitler]], Chancellor of Germany from 1933–45
-* [[Mao Zedong]], Chairman of the Communist Party of China from 1949-1976
-* [[Xi Jinping]], Current Chairman of the Communist Party of China
-* [[Vladimir Lenin]], Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union from 1917-1924
-* [[Josef Stalin]], General Secretary of the [[Communist Party]] of the [[Soviet Union]] from 1928–53
-* [[Hu Jintao]], Chairman of the Communist Party of China from 2002-2012
-* [[Genghis Khan]], founder and Khagan of the Mongolian Empire
-* The Kim dynasty of [[North Korea]], currently run by [[Kim Jong-Un]]
-* [[Qin Shi Huang]], first emperor of China
-* [[Pol Pot]], head of the [[Khmer Rouge]] and ruler of [[Cambodia]] (or Kampuchea) from 1963–98
-* [[Emomali Rahmon]], dictator of [[Tajikistan]] since Independence
-* [[Saparmurat Niyazov]], first president of [[Turkmenistan]]
-* [[Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow]], current president of Turkmenistan
-* [[Muhammad Shaybani]], founded the Khanate of Bukhara
-* [[Abu'l-Khayr Khan]], founder of Kazakh Khanate
-* [[Babur]], Timurid and founder of the Mughal Empire
-* [[Saman Khuda]], convert to Islam and founder of the Samanid Empire
-* [[Timur]], founder of the Timurid Empire; conquered central Asia
-* [[Islam Karimov]], previous president of [[Uzbekistan]]
-* [[Nursultan Nazarbayev]], president of [[Kazakhstan]] from 1990 to 2019
-* [[Mustafa Kemal Atatürk]], founder of the [[Turkey|Turkish Republic]]
-* [[Recep Tayyip Erdoğan]], dictator of [[Turkey]] and supporter of Islamist proxies
-* [[Ayatollah Ruholla Khomeini]], dictator of [[Iran]] from 1979-1989
-* [[Ali Khamenei]], current dictator of [[Iran]]
-* [[Ilham Aliyev]], infamous president of [[Azerbaijan]]
-* [[House of Saud]], Islamic dynasty controlling Saudi Arabia
-* [[Muamar Ghaddafi]], long-time [[terrorist]] leader of [[Libya]]
-* Mbasogo dynasty of [[Equatorial Guinea]]
-* [[Isaias Afwerki]] of [[Eritrea]]
-* [[Pervez Musharraf]] of [[Pakistan]]
-* [[Joseph Biden]] of the former [[United States]]
-Some rulers take on the traits of a dictator but have failed to secure totalitarian rule. Examples include [[Fidel Castro]] of [[Cuba]].
-A recent example of an accusation of attempted dictatorship is the example of the [[House of Representatives]] charges brought against [[Republican Party|Republican]] President [[Donald J. Trump]] led by  [[partisan]] majority representatives of the [[Democratic Party]] that he was seeking to become [[king]] or dictator by denying the [[authority]] of [[Congress]] to [[impeach]] him on two counts of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, which was dismissed and resisted as unfounded by the [[Senate]] majority of members of the [[Republican Party]]. The issue "split the country". The House had impeached him. The Senate acquitted him. Chief Justice John Roberts, presiding, read the declaration of the Senate that President Trump "be, and is hereby, acquitted of the charges." Political observers predicted a strong reaction by voters at the polls in the upcoming election.
-==Quotes==
-* [[C.S. Lewis]] wrote:
-:Of all tyrannies, a [[tyranny]] sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most [[oppression|oppressive]]. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral [[busybody|busybodies]]. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own [[conscience]]. [http://www.tsowell.com/quotes.html]
-* "Educate and inform the whole mass of [[citizen|the people]]... They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our [[liberty]]." -- [[Thomas Jefferson]]
-* "When a man unprincipled in private life desperate in his fortune, bold in his temper, possessed of considerable talents, having the advantage of military habits — despotic in his ordinary demeanour — known to have scoffed in private at the principles of liberty — when such a man is seen to mount the hobby horse of popularity — to join in the cry of danger to liberty — to take every opportunity of embarrassing the General Government & bringing it under suspicion — to flatter and fall in with all the non sense of the zealots of the day — It may justly be suspected that his object is to throw things into confusion that he may ‘ride the storm and direct the whirlwind." -- [[Alexander Hamilton]] to [[George Washington]]<ref>From Washington Post article [https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/01/23/prophetic-alexander-hamilton-quote-democrats-say-predicted-need-impeach-trump/ "The ‘prophetic’ Alexander Hamilton quote Democrats say predicted the need to impeach Trump"  - The Washington Post (washingtonpost.com)]. —Accessed 5 February 2020</ref>
-==See also==
-* [[Crime]]
-* [[Dictatorship]]
-* [[List of dictators]]
-* [[Friendly dictator]]
-==References==
-<references/>
-[[Category:Government]]
-[[Category:Politics]]
-[[Category:Roman History]]
-[[Category:Political Terms]]

Difference between revisions of "Dictator"

Revision as of 17:38, April 13, 2021

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