The Comfort of Dictatorships

 I am transfixed by the political upheaval which is taking place in a great western country.   A large segment of the political establishment comforted by an equally large section of the population is watching in a state of ecstasy bordering giddiness their leader’s indiscriminate assault on core democratic institutions.   Make America Great Again, MAGA is morphing into a monstruous scavenger which feeds on the dismembered federal institutions, world trade, foreign alliances and basic moral values.  In parallel, under the guise of curbing the “woke” ideology, the leader and his tech goons have launched a free speech crusade, aims of which is to suppress diverging viewpoints, fact checking and to fire dissenters.   The leader’s illiberal hegemony is based on a zero-sum game thinking.

One cannot resist drawing parallels with past European events.   Respectively in 1923 and 1933, two charismatic strong men, Benito Mussolini and Adolph Hitler were enthusiastically elected through fully legal processes.  The German and Italian citizens brought them to power principally to improve their livelihood, (solve the economic slump and the political standoff, and regain a perceived loss of national prestige).  Upon becoming prime minister and chancellor, they dismantled democracy by tearing up the Constitution.   Under the watch of the jubilant population, H & M needed a mere 100 days to begin their brutal dictatorships and muzzle the opposition.

I spent fourteen years of my life working under various dictatorships.  During this period, I had a somewhat romantic view of dictatorships.  France’s notable dictatorships were those of Napoléon I and Napoleon III.  The Bonaparte family modernized the single ruler system by adding a technocratic variant and a touch of meritocracy to the tired monarchy regime.  During my youth, dictatorships looked glamourous, they had the face of Evita Peron. Despots claim to have a divine mission to rule a country, and that their autocracy is God given.   Notable dictatorships happened in countries with monotheist religion, highly marked by patriarchy.  Patriarchy was the dominant feature of the power structure of Western dictatorships; habitually the church was firmly behind them.

I noticed the link between monotheistic religion and dictatorship when I was in Haiti.  I spent four very comfortable years in Cape Haitian (1980-84) during the heyday of the Baby Doc regime.   When I was not working, I was partying!  Once, I was invited to attend a Te Deum in the cathedral of Port au Prince for Baby Doc and his glamourous wife Michèle Bennett.   Both protocol and church pageantry were under the direction of the bishop.  Baby Doc kissed the bishop’s ring and everybody else kissed Baby Doc’s hand.   Aid agencies were pouring money into the country, Baby Doc’s kleptocratic regime was regarded as very compassionate compared to his father’s bloody dictatorship.  I never noticed repression, when the feared Tontons Macoutes were driving their trucks around town, few people paid attention.  Soon after I left Haiti, the situation deteriorated.  Western governments got finally tired of Baby Doc’s sticky fingers and lack of interest in political reforms.  Haiti went downhill after that, a failed state marred by permanent violence.

My first sampling of dictatorship was in Brazil (1972-78).  Upon my arrival from Australia, a senior colleague gave me a plain talking briefing: the faceless military brass had a capitalistic disposition and was pro-mining (Brazil military dictatorship was collegial, no personality cult).  Since I hardly spoke Portuguese, I was advised to stick to foreign friends and colleagues and that my life will be very rewarding and comfortable.   It was plain sailing until I moved to the city of Belo Horizonte.  Since my company was providing mining classes to students, I met a few and received a different briefing.   Without grasping the risk, I offered shelter to students who were too afraid to sleep at home.  I understood their concerns, but they were not mine, I regarded myself as a mining mercenary, going where the work was interesting and well paid.

The military regime was clueless in terms of the economy; its inept efforts to rein in the inflation annoyed me; but when its mood turned toxically nationalistic, I decided to leave to work in another dictatorship.   Brazilians had to wait for another six years to see the military go back to the comfort zone of their barracks having miserably failed the economy. 

Bolivia is a coup d’état champion: 190 since 1825 and still counting.  Its collection of caudillos is the stuff of legends and jokes.  The country hardly had a proper democratic government to speak of.   Bolivia is a mining country, possibly the source of its misery.  During the two years I survived there (1978-80) I experienced four golpes, and seven leaders.   Mining was at the center of power struggle with the army fighting the communist mining unions for control.   It may be hard for outsiders to believe but smuggling and corruption helped make life bearable.   A bloody golpe took place the day I was leaving for good.  I was stranded for three days, and we were driven to the airport under military protection.

My last dictatorship experience was in Africa.  It was the heyday of post colonization strong men leaders and one-party states.   My two years in Gabon (1984-86) were a piece of cake.   Oil, minerals and timber provided President Omar Bongo and his sparse local population with comfortable income.  The running of the economy depended on the imported work force from professionals to technicians.  Our mining exploration project had plenty of funds.  I spent days on ends in the jungle, our camp food was imported from France, champagne and camembert had become local stapples.  The Hilton Hotel was my home.  The lack of democracy frustrated the local elite which also complained of the heavy French influence.   Gabon’s champagne days are now over, and the country is politically unstable after a 2023 military coup.

Dictators from Hitler to Bongo managed to keep their population under control by providing good living standards and a sense of pride.  Most people will put up with their strong men’s whims if the going is comfortable, and politic does not affect their lives with loss of income, lost jobs or other disasters.  Is America on the path of authoritarianism?  Is democracy under threat?  It survived the first mandate of the current leader but may now collapse.  To reread Hitler’s 100 days, has become almost passé.

The truly powerful are creators not destroyers, builders not demolishers, life-givers not killers, fixers not complainers, nurturers not bullies.

Thomas Reese