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Are dictatorships a growing trend?

lightspeed

Is history repeating itself again?

It seems like there is wave of dictatorship in recent years.

Venezuela's supreme court basically stripped away the legislative powers of congress at the behest of president Madoras. Although it has since been reversed after protests but he seems to distancing himself from the move as if it had nothing to do with him.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-39468045

In addition, in Turkey you have president Erdogan doing his best to enhance his executive powers and effectively become a dictator.

http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/03/29/the-dictatorship-in-natos-clubhouse-erdogan-kurds-turkey/

Although not a dictatorship, even in the USA we have seen Trump force the environmental protection agency to remove all science and data relating to global warming.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-epa-climatechange-idUSKBN15906G

In Paraquay there seems to be a bit of mayhem over the president trying to extend his term. I suppose people are fearful of what else that could turn into.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/apr/01/paraguay-coup-death-of-activist-threatens-to-reignite-protests

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Jack the Stripper

How valid are your links op?

melloa

the only threat to democracy is a good king

ygolometsipe

lightspeed wrote: »

It seems like there is wave of dictatorship in recent years.

a dictator is the best kind of ship to sail over it.

[Deleted User]

If voting changed anything they'd make it illegal.

I think you'll find dictatorships have been around since the bible OP, no new trend there at all.

dd972

THREAD CLOSED

ygolometsipe

THREAD REOPENED (yay...)

Atlantic Dawn

Kim Jong-un is a great laugh, I do love it when he launches the prehistoric missiles they have in to the air, it's like a few lads chipping in €5 a head and buying fancy rockets on Moore Street and watching them shoot off in to the sunset. If he showed the public of NK bluetooth he would be seen as a god like figure with superpowers.

abdulabduler

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

Kim Jong-un is a great laugh, I do love it when he launches the prehistoric missiles they have in to the air, it's like a few lads chipping in €5 a head and buying fancy rockets on Moore Street and watching them shoot off in to the sunset. If he showed the public of NK bluetooth he would be seen as a god like figure with superpowers.

You will not insult Dear Leader like this. Anti aircraft gun for you.

Mountainsandh

Isn't it all cyclic anyway, the way society/ies evolve ? There is this documentary with Chomsky atm on Netflix, not that I'd take his word on every thing, but one premise is that too much democracy inevitably seems to call for restraint. His view is that the elite (rich and powerful) few will allow democracy to thrive for as long as it serves their interest (people employed, and consuming). When they feel that their control on people in that environment is slipping, they need another cycle of dictatorship to steer things back into the direction they want (power/riches).
Or something like that, too wrecked for this right now.
Something American Dream, Choamsky, Netflix, watch in sections or you could end up catatonic.

Kermit.de.frog

"Heil Kermit!". I'm currently finalising the salute and then will make my move with my growing underground army.

[Deleted User]

Kermit.de.frog wrote: »

I'm currently finalising the salute.

Does it go anything like this? :P

corner of hells

Kermit.de.frog wrote: »

"Heil Kermit!". I'm currently finalising the salute and then will make my move with my growing underground army.

Your tadpole army ?

Arcade_Tryer

lightspeed wrote: »

Is history repeating itself again?

History doesn't repeat itself, but it does rhyme!

[Deleted User]

Democracy has shown itself to be corrupt and inefficient. People want something better but there's no other real options... so they look to dictatorship since they've forgotten the bad and just remember the good of it. Speak to Spanish people about Franco.. Selective memories...

Richard Hillman

Strong leaders are always needed. The media are obsessed with electing people who are husband material instead of great leaders. There is a reason why the likes of Putin and Erdogan are very popular in their countries. They do their job, they fight tooth and nail for their countries.

DEFTLEFTHAND

The fact that classical liberalism has been hijacked by far left regressives is probably something to worry about.

It's a puritanical ideology. They wish to censor words for instance, without accommodating for context. It's a ideology based on child like emotion and 'feelz', not reason or logic.

They're bigots in the truest form.

Utterly intolerant to those with different views.

biko

History is always repeating itself.
We never learn

darkdubh

Deleted User wrote: »

If voting changed anything they'd make it illegal.

I think you'll find dictatorships have been around since the bible OP, no new trend there at all.

The op's point is that there's been a recent resurgence in dictator type behaviour from national leaders. No ones suggesting that it's all new.

darkdubh

Richard Hillman wrote: »

Strong leaders are always needed. The media are obsessed with electing people who are husband material instead of great leaders. There is a reason why the likes of Putin and Erdogan are very popular in their countries. They do their job, they fight tooth and nail for their countries.

They've also brought their countries into conflict with The West and clamped down on the media, had critics arrested on trumped up charges or murdered in the case of Putin. I'd rather take my chances with the ineffectual bunch we're used to in this country than have some "strongman" take over.

ArchXStanton

The EU is shaping up nicely...

Richard Hillman

darkdubh wrote: »

They've also brought their countries into conflict with The West and clamped down on the media, had critics arrested on trumped up charges or murdered in the case of Putin. I'd rather take my chances with the ineffectual bunch we're used to in this country than have some "strongman" take over.

But people are happy.

Ralf and Florian

In some ways De Valera was probably the closest to a dictator we've had in this country.

me_right_one

OP since when were dictatorships ever NOT the norm? You do realise democracy isn't even 100 years old in THIS country?

Samaris

It comes and goes in cycles. Countries that haven't had democracy long enough to have the framework laid in so heavily that it's very difficult to remove by a potential dictator are always going to be prone to fall back into it, especially as early-stage democracies are almost invariably corrupt (well, very often!), especially if they've had it forced on them. The West is a bit inclined to declaim that democracy is the only way and you better do it now. That gives people less of an invested interest to build a democracy and aim to safeguard it.

As for the west, well, Europe's last round of dictatorial types are just fading out of living memory, we've just seen a nasty recession coupled with the fear of war, decades of messing in the Middle East coming home to roost, and an interconnected world where, while everyone's benefit spreads to everyone, each others' weaknessess likewise impact other countries. These were all broached under democracy and when a political system doesn't seem to be helping, we tend to move away from it and try find something else that does work - at least for a time.

Personally, I don't think our problem is democracy and I also think that we're about through the worst as long as idiots don't bubble the markets again (which is looks like they are doing). But people will always be people and these swings happen. Hopefully our safeguards are strongly enough in place that they cannot be easily ripped out.

Also, while interventionism ultimately just causes serious issues and to some extent, people need to rise up when they're ready to, perhaps with subtle outside support, if any damn country needed an intervention, it's North Korea. The conditions people live in there are vile, and the sheer level of thought control is insidious and evil. There was an interview some months ago with a young woman who escaped (and the hell that these people go through to escape is unreal) who was raised with the idea that the current Kim could read her thoughts. Imagine that for a moment; utterly believing (and with little evidence to the contrary) that the ruling despot can see your mind. If you don't even dare to -think- that this is wrong, how can you stand up to it? People bitch about not being allowed socially to use certain words in the west, but one's freedom to call someone a retarded n*gger or whatever is really not comparable to one's freedom to think any sort of negative thought about one's political leader.

NK looks funny because of the sheer bat**** insanity of the moron in charge, but under the surface, it's horrific.

mzungu

Richard Hillman wrote: »

But people are happy.

Are they? A fair amount showed up to anti-government protests in Russia recently. A good portion of them were young.

Richard Hillman

mzungu wrote: »

Are they? A fair amount showed up to anti-government protests in Russia recently. A good portion of them were young.

81% approval rating.

Meanwhile transgender Activist and media lovie Justin Trudeau (or just Justin to some media folk) is surfing high at 48%.

Avatar MIA

Richard Hillman wrote: »

81% approval rating.

The only surprising thing about that approval rating is that it's not 100%.

Dictators seem to be more nuanced lately.

bonzodog2

Kermit.de.frog wrote: »

"Heil Kermit!". I'm currently finalising the salute and then will make my move with my growing underground army.

Do you need henchmen, your greenness? I can do you a deal! Also talk to me about hired goons. No questions asked.

Samaris

And always remember to tell your victims The Plan in excruciating detail -after- you've killed them. Sure, you'll look a bit weird talking to a corpse, but it keeps your henchmen on their toes.

Ralf and Florian

Richard Hillman wrote: »

But people are happy.

People are always happy under dictatorships. They're too afraid to say otherwise.