I have some advice for would-be despots, and there always seem to be a few springing up here or there. If you want to subvert whatever bits of democracy there are in your country, do whatever you can to promote cynicism.
The first step I recommend is to raise small hopes in people -- and then crush them. No, not the people, just their hopes. Be ready with a scapegoat or two for the troubles. External scapegoats are safer to use than internal ones -- remember that people will become angry with those being scapegoated.
The next step is fun but a little dangerous. You need to put incompetent people in positions of authority, and protect them behind-the-scenes. You're then ready to make the public feel they're right to be cynical, and this is very important for the following reason: It promotes passivity, which is just what you need.
Cynical people tend to think of themselves as "realists." That's okay. It inocculates them from hope. If anyone from the outside tries to promote hope, the cynics will actively reject that approach because it doesn't fit their mindview.
In Time Must Have a Stop, Aldous Huxley has a character say:
Cynical realism is the intelligent man's best excuse for doing nothing in an intolerable situation.
A modern despot needs to remember that. You can't maintain a situation that others would find intolerable unless you make sure that there is a good excuse for them to do nothing about it. Cynical "realism" does the job.
Religious faith can be a threat to cynicism. Even when there is no hope for change in the immediate future, a religious person can envision a world different from the existing one. And a person may move in the direction of the vision. That must be stopped! Fortunately, it's fairly easy to do. Promote hypocrisy. Buy off religious leaders if you can, or point out some silliness that they do. Demonstrate hypocrisy yourself. Pretend to be religous. Alternatively you can highlight extremism in the name of religion and call for rejection of religious people for that reason. Deal harshly with any religious minorities; they're the most troublesome because they want a measure of independence. Fortunately dominant groups usually don't mind when only minorities are persecuted.
You may worry that access to modern media will expose your people to ideas of freedom and responsibility. Yes, that can be a problem, so do be sure to have some controls on the media. There are lots of ways of doing this; just look around and see what other despots are doing. State television is your biggest friend. You get to choose what is shown, and what is said. The surrealistic looks real that way, and the cynical viewpoint can be reinforced again and again.
If your people wonder if there are genuine benefits to democracy that they are missing, you need to circulate some conspiracy theories about how things in democracies are not really as they seem on the surface. Talk about puppet masters and challenge your people to look for invisible strings that are being pulled. If you've properly prepared them to be cynical, they'll see malevolence everywhere they look.
Young people seem to be idealistic and optimistic by nature, and of course those traits have to be snipped out. Use your education system to do this. Have teacher salaries be as low as possible and show indifference to the concerns of educators. You want to have in the classroom adults who feel bitter and depressed. Then make sure that the testing system is one that allows for widespread cheating. Your young people will feel cynical in no time.
I haven't mentioned corruption. It's something you want, and the more, the better. Make sure that it's obvious that you reward loyalty over competence. You don't need to take much for yourself, because you can command luxuries to honor your position. You can allow those nearest and dearest to you to start sipping from government troughs as soon as you've loosened the democratic government bonds of accountability.
Fortunately national governments have pretty much backed away from military conquests to gain territories. You're fairly safe and don't have to spend a lot on military matters (unless you want to do so), as long as you remember that to stay in power you kill hopes, not people.
Diplomatic endeavors? Mere hand-wringing. If you enjoy trips to New York City and Geneva and Brussels and other foreign capitals, then do join the diplomatic circuit. You may not be invited to all the social parties, but you can give parties for your own friends.
Economic threats? Sometimes these can cause you pain. Be sure to look out for them and take steps to protect your family and immediate friends.
Ah, do I sound cynical? Just surprised. I hadn't realized how easy it would be in the 21st century to shrug off the progress of human rights. But watch out. Danger to you comes from people inside your country who reject cynicism as an excuse for doing nothing.
The first step I recommend is to raise small hopes in people -- and then crush them. No, not the people, just their hopes. Be ready with a scapegoat or two for the troubles. External scapegoats are safer to use than internal ones -- remember that people will become angry with those being scapegoated.
The next step is fun but a little dangerous. You need to put incompetent people in positions of authority, and protect them behind-the-scenes. You're then ready to make the public feel they're right to be cynical, and this is very important for the following reason: It promotes passivity, which is just what you need.
Cynical people tend to think of themselves as "realists." That's okay. It inocculates them from hope. If anyone from the outside tries to promote hope, the cynics will actively reject that approach because it doesn't fit their mindview.
In Time Must Have a Stop, Aldous Huxley has a character say:
Cynical realism is the intelligent man's best excuse for doing nothing in an intolerable situation.
A modern despot needs to remember that. You can't maintain a situation that others would find intolerable unless you make sure that there is a good excuse for them to do nothing about it. Cynical "realism" does the job.
Religious faith can be a threat to cynicism. Even when there is no hope for change in the immediate future, a religious person can envision a world different from the existing one. And a person may move in the direction of the vision. That must be stopped! Fortunately, it's fairly easy to do. Promote hypocrisy. Buy off religious leaders if you can, or point out some silliness that they do. Demonstrate hypocrisy yourself. Pretend to be religous. Alternatively you can highlight extremism in the name of religion and call for rejection of religious people for that reason. Deal harshly with any religious minorities; they're the most troublesome because they want a measure of independence. Fortunately dominant groups usually don't mind when only minorities are persecuted.
You may worry that access to modern media will expose your people to ideas of freedom and responsibility. Yes, that can be a problem, so do be sure to have some controls on the media. There are lots of ways of doing this; just look around and see what other despots are doing. State television is your biggest friend. You get to choose what is shown, and what is said. The surrealistic looks real that way, and the cynical viewpoint can be reinforced again and again.
If your people wonder if there are genuine benefits to democracy that they are missing, you need to circulate some conspiracy theories about how things in democracies are not really as they seem on the surface. Talk about puppet masters and challenge your people to look for invisible strings that are being pulled. If you've properly prepared them to be cynical, they'll see malevolence everywhere they look.
Young people seem to be idealistic and optimistic by nature, and of course those traits have to be snipped out. Use your education system to do this. Have teacher salaries be as low as possible and show indifference to the concerns of educators. You want to have in the classroom adults who feel bitter and depressed. Then make sure that the testing system is one that allows for widespread cheating. Your young people will feel cynical in no time.
I haven't mentioned corruption. It's something you want, and the more, the better. Make sure that it's obvious that you reward loyalty over competence. You don't need to take much for yourself, because you can command luxuries to honor your position. You can allow those nearest and dearest to you to start sipping from government troughs as soon as you've loosened the democratic government bonds of accountability.
Diplomatic endeavors? Mere hand-wringing. If you enjoy trips to New York City and Geneva and Brussels and other foreign capitals, then do join the diplomatic circuit. You may not be invited to all the social parties, but you can give parties for your own friends.
Economic threats? Sometimes these can cause you pain. Be sure to look out for them and take steps to protect your family and immediate friends.
Ah, do I sound cynical? Just surprised. I hadn't realized how easy it would be in the 21st century to shrug off the progress of human rights. But watch out. Danger to you comes from people inside your country who reject cynicism as an excuse for doing nothing.
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