It’s kind of ironic to celebrate this holiday when so many people are out of work due to this horrible pandemic, but I still felt like it is a day worth acknowledging. We, the People, all over the world, are who make this planet run. Not the 1 percent. Not the dictators or the dictator wannabes. Not the politicians. Us.
Those people think they have the power, but it is a fragile illusion at best. If we stop supporting them, if we stop believing them, if we stop trusting them, if we stop freakin’ voting for them, they fall like a house of cards. If we employ critical thinking, arm ourselves with scientific facts, use our voices, and unite, they don’t stand a chance. And they know it.
Recently I read an article entitled, Most Dictators Self Destruct. Why? It gave me a lot of hope.
It described a study done by Daniel Treisman, a political scientist at UCLA. He looked at 218 incidences of democratization from 1800 to the present, and his conclusions were, basically, that when extreme power is concentrated in a single person, that person has ample opportunity to screw it up. He divided their mistakes into 5 categories: hubris, needless risk, slippery slope, trusting a traitor, and counterproductive violence.
In particular I liked the description of leaders failing when they actually believe that the people at their self-serving rallies reflect the mood of the general populous, and they become overconfident and let their arrogance show.
Hmmm…
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The View from a Drawbridge 
Over two months later and still waiting for our wanna be dictator to self destruct. The pandemic and uprisings are giving him the best opportunities to do so, but it’s such a slow, painful process in the meantime. Growing impatient. Wish he’d just resign, but he’s probably fearful of prosecution when no longer under the protection of his position. I fear the intentional damage he’ll inflict before he’s dragged from the White House. He doesn’t accept defeat graciously.
I think he’ll throw himself on the ground and have a proper tantrum. I look forward to seeing that. But yes, it’s a long time in coming.
Here’s his slippery slope… https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2020/06/21/donald-trump-walk-ramp-west-point-graduation-rally-gupta-sot-vpx-tsr.cnn and his tantrum… https://gfycat.com/backdelightfulhoneybadger
😀